About Our Pub
Welcome to the The James Figg! Let me tell you a little about the pub. We’re a free house offering various British Ales including XT brewed just down the road in Long Crendon, Mad Goose from Stratford-on-Avon’s Award winning Purity Brewery and regular changing guest ales from across the UK. We also offer four fantastic lagers including Estrella, Peroni, Meantime and Becks Vier poured to perfection by Tom and the team. If that’s not your flavour there’s Aspall Suffolk Draught Cyder and Aspall Harry Sparrow as well as a selection of spirits and mixers. Our wine list contains some really convivial drinking, all available by the glass or bottle. Thame is a lovely English market town with The James Figg at the heart of it. The English pub, with the tradition of drink, socialising and simple, satisfying, honest pub food. Our pub offers a fantastic open fire for those cold wintery days, going well with a nice warming glass of red wine, or even a bottle. We also have a fantastic beer garden set behind the stables, an idyllic space perfect for lazing on sunny afternoons with a pint in hand or a nice chilled bottle of wine.
It may be my name above the door, but let me introduce you to some of the team who run the show, day to day, on my behalf.
Tom Goldsmith, Landlord
Tom’s lived all his life near Thame. Home was in Long Crendon and his first job at the tender age of 18 was behind the bar of his local, the Mole & Chicken down the road in Easington. Nothing really inspired him to go to uni so behind the bar he stayed. After leaving to do a spot of travelling, he landed back at The Old Fisherman in Shabbington, spending his time between the bar and the kitchen. A stint at the kitchen sink came next, in the lovely surroundings of The Angel in Long Crendon, and then what Tom describes as his all-sorts phase, tackling everything from fixing fruit machines to painting pubs. A cheeky pint in our sister pub The Thatch down the road ended in him working there, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Jonathan Taylor, POD Director
Half Scouse and born in Bedfordshire, Jonathan (also known as JT) is a familiar face in the Peach team. Joining the hospitality game at 14, as a pot wash in a local restaurant, Jonathan’s career was soon flying. He moved on to The Birch, in Woburn, where he worked his way up to become assistant manager at just 18 (impressive indeed!). He then developed his skills with Peach during his twenties, where his hard work was nationally recognised, winning an Acorn Award in 2013. He then flew the nest for a few years before reuniting with us as a POD Director.
A true foodie, Jonathan believes real quality lies in local and spends much of his time seeking out independent restaurants, cafes and bars when away visiting different places. If you ask him about the best steak he’s ever had, he’ll be sure to tell you about a back street restaurant tucked away in Campos, Majorca, a place highly raved about by the locals. Along with a sharp taste for food, he has a passion for wine, and we can’t help but love his “I don’t drink bad wine – life’s too short” approach.
On his days off you’ll find Jonathan on the search for vintage watches, playing badminton for his local team, or making the best cauliflower cheese in the UK (a title awarded by his wife).
Say hi if you spot him in the pub!