pub

The Free Press, Prospect Row, Cambridge

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The Free Press is one of three pubs concealed in the interestingly named Prospect Row near to Parkers Piece, each with a different ambiance and beer offering. In recent history The Free Press had limited fame as a non-smoking pub long before they all were. Having occupied the site for 120 years it has not changed much in the time I have visited (don’t ‘refurbish’ it please…), the Greene King beers are supplemented by many other temptations, on this encounter Skinner’s Betty Stogs (4%,’an easy drinking copper ale’) had survived the journey from its Cornish brewery very well.

The bar staff seem friendly and polite, dealing with a large age range of locals and visitors. A reasonably sized terrace beer garden is squeezed into a deceptively small open area at the back, all very pleasant and has the look of a provincial branch line station where there is one of those hidden micro-pubs. There are also tables outside the front next to the traffic free-ish road, all perfect for a summer evening. A proper snug behind its own door adjoins the main bar area and dark furniture and features add to the timeless atmosphere.

As well as wall-mounted collections of tickets, corks and other ephemera there are many newspaper cuttings from the 20th Century on display, Marshal Timoshenko in World War Two and a Daily Telegraph from 1981 commemorating the wedding of Charles and Diana that looks even older…

http://www.freepresspub.com

Queen Edith, Wulfstan Way, Cambridge

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When the Queen Edith opened in April 2015 it was the first newly-built pub in Cambridge for over 30 years. A cause for celebration and a challenge for the Milton Brewery; how do you create a completely new pub rather than adapt an existing, often older and character-filled building?

Well the good news is they have done a good job, an attractive frontage with tables outside and covered cycle racks draw you into the central entrance porch, you then have a choice of the larger public bar or a more intimate side room with high backed booths. Choosing the more spacious area you can see the beer taps, mainly Milton Brewery of course (the ever delightful ‘Justinian'(3.9%) included) and some interesting additions, such as Tolly Roger (4.2%) from Cliff Quay Brewery of Ipswich, described as ‘intensely fragrant aroma of citrus fruit and floral notes, complex flavours of malt, sweetness, bitter oranges, and honeysuckle’.

Even more poetic are the prices, £3 and £3.20 for the pints I sampled, good value for Cambridge.

Sitting in leather armchairs, with part of the Bayeux tapestry on the wall, watching the fish tank and looking through the retro books (eg ‘Biggles, Foreign Legionnaire’?) it is a comfortable and contemplative place to be, an after work stop-off or starting point for heading into town. It could be an ideal place for bands to play, and I should think that once established it should do very well.

In this pub-dry area of Cambridge(nothing else within at least a one mile radius?), it is a definite oasis.

https://twitter.com/queenedithpub
http://www.cliffquay.co.uk/
http://www.miltonbrewery.co.uk/

Corner House, Newmarket Road, Cambridge

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Emerging from the newly opened sterile budget hotel blocks in a strange town you might be very pleased and surprised to find traditional furniture shop J.H. Cooper and a pub like the Corner House on your doorstep.

There are loads of gigs at the Corner House, according to local music folklore all bands play the venue twice, once on the way up and once on the way down…… If you are lucky you can catch some excellent musical nights, though in my experience it can be difficult to track down exactly what is on and when. Not a problem last Saturday, it was free entry to see two highly regarded Cambridge bands (Psychic Lemon and The British IBM)

The stage is at one end of the pub, a bit like the knocked-through front rooms in seventies semis. There is also a smaller public bar with pool table and large TV, not usually on. Outside there are ‘two beer gardens’, these comprise a covered back area and then a more exposed decking section.

It is not an obvious real ale pub but at the front of the cluttered bar there are some delights, Robinson’s Brewery ‘Dizzy Blonde’, a 3.8% amber ale was a very drinkable choice. It was £3.70, not cheap but more than compensated for by the quality of the free music. Books on the mantlepiece, an armchair just inside the back door, all nice touches that add to the comfortable feel.

It always seems a very casual and laid-back place, with a core of locals and a varying cast of band members and their supporters passing through. Long may it continue!

 

Haymakers, High St, Chesterton, Cambridge

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The Chesterton suburb of Cambridge used to be full of pubs of varying quality, but now just the Green Dragon and Haymakers remain. Previously a music venue/pub of some renown before standing empty for a couple of years, the Haymakers has been reinvented and refurbished as a real ale haven.

As always when I walk in and see many taps featuring the Milton Brewery classical names I know a good pint is the likely outcome. I chose Justinian (3.9%), described as ‘Crisp pale bronze-coloured bitter. Attractive bitter orange flavours persist into a satisfying lasting finish’ by Milton Brewery and that reads nearly as well as the beer tastes. It reminded me of the delights of the imminent Cambridge beer festival.

It is a large L- shaped pub, free of noise and distraction, featuring a variety of tables and booths and a cosy snug near one end of the bar. Food is mainly pizza, but as you probably have gathered from my other reviews it is usually the beer I am sampling…

There is a large beer garden area out the back, serviceable rather than particularly attractive but it does feature plenty of cycle racks. It was the place to sit during my visit as it did seem a bit airless inside.

There are posters for jazz performances and I think there is a quiz too, so hopefully the pub is again becoming a focus for the Chesterton community, as well as a compelling choice for visiting ale fans from the city centre with a thirst and a bicycle…

 

https://www.facebook.com/cambridgehaymakers

Alexandra Arms, Gwydir Street , Cambridge

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Half way between Mill Road and East Road, the Alexandra Arms has been through some refurbishment over the years to finally arrive at the current comfortable incarnation of wooden floors, two levels of bar and an extensive beer garden with semi-covered areas. This came into its own last October for the AlexFest music event, featuring many local bands including the highly regarded Centimes, Fred’s House and Goldstar.  I was impressed with the friendliness of the staff welcome to this event (I remember these things!) and I will be back there when it is repeated later this year.

Back inside there is a well-presented menu with an emphasis on gourmet burgers and the kitchen is a visible and integral part of the pub layout. At the bar  there is an array of real ale from Greene King and its satellite breweries on display, with some intriguing guest ales too. Next to each tap there are small jars of samples of each ale, which seems to be a growing trend so you can assess the shade of goldeness or darkness of your choice. On my last visit this taste guide led me to a pint of Buntingford Golden Drop (4%) which had a bit of bite to it despite its gentle colouring. There is also the option of having your pint in a handled glass or the perfect symmetry of a straight glass, not a difficult choice for most consumers but quite a nice touch.

So it is a pleasant community pub, with space for larger groups to meet and eat together and very importantly to me there is a real commitment to live, local music.

 

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The Mill, Mill Lane, Cambridge

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As the recent winner of CAMRA Cambridge and District pub of the year 2015, The Mill is flying high, especially now the sunny weather is appearing and customers can spread out onto the grass area behind Darwin College.

The pub has a pleasant interior, a mixture of  light and shade with a snug room, piano and a prominent bar. In the past I have found the beer to be on the expensive side, but with the city centre/tourist location this was no surprise. On this visit however a pint of Buntingford Twitchell (3.8%), after 10% CAMRA discount was £3.24, can’t complain at that!

The radiogram at one end of the bar has a large selection of LP records that are carefully curated by the bar staff, Elvis Presley Hits and ‘Graceland’ by Paul Simon were featured on my visit (spot the connection….). They have responded in style to the resurgence of vinyl, to the slightly older customer the rituals of album sleeves, dust on the needle, jumping grooves and turning over the disc after four songs creates endless fascination and conversational controversy.

The clientele expect to find food in a pub like this and there seems to be an appetising menu available, fish and chips was a popular choice.

I will be back there soon, sitting on the grass or the wall looking over the punts on the river Cam, it’s a good place to be…

 

http://themillpubcambridge.com/

Devonshire Arms, Devonshire Road, Cambridge

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Cyclops, Pegasus, Justinian, Orpheus, Minerva……the poetically named beers from Milton Brewery a few miles away are a very good reason to drop into the Devonshire Arms. Go in on the way to the railway station or meet friends there and linger for the evening.

Since opening in 2010 the Devonshire has been popular in the main ‘beer quarter’ of Cambridge, the cosmopolitan and much-loved Mill Road and its side streets.  This is definitely a pub for the real ale connoisseur, who is always pleased to find a good well-kept selection, with prices on the low side. There are also guest ales, some unusual bottled beers and a bar clear of some of the more depressing corporate lagers. The interior is sparse and dark, there are high back seats and panels separating some of the tables and the ceilings are high so the pub seems surprisingly spacious. Floors are old bare wood and there is a small outdoor area. The food that passes by seems appetising and unpretentious but not the main business of the pub.

Milton Brewery have reinvigorated the Haymakers on the other side of Cambridge and hopefully at some point the rebuilt Queen Edith in the pub desert in the south of the city….watch this space…

 

https://www.individualpubs.co.uk/devonshire/

http://www.miltonbrewery.co.uk/

Liberty Belle, Forehill, Ely

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A  recent welcome development for pub goers is the appearance of the ‘micro-pub’. This is when a disused shop, post office or café is converted to a one room pub, lovingly cared for by a beer enthusiast or a group of locals.

The large and low bay windows and the two level interior of the Liberty Belle show its origins as a shop halfway up the steep (for Cambridgeshire!) hill into the city centre. It is a welcoming place, the inner décor is retro and comfortably cluttered: mainly a transport theme with railway destination posters and parts of engines, there are also old radios and a 1953 Bush TV showing documentaries of the time on the small curved screen.

You can sit in the window or retreat to comfy sofas at the back, watching as the landlord frequently disappears to fetch a tray of pints direct from the barrels in the back room. I chose the Norfolk Kiwi (3.8%) from Jo C’s of Fakenham, a delicious award-winning golden ale. The available food hits the spot, the artisan pork pies have a choice of pickled egg or onions on the side, with gourmet crisps and plenty of French-style mustard.

I suppose the new micro-pubs aim to create the idea of a pub in your living room, the Liberty Belle certainly does.

 

http://www.jocsnorfolkale.co.uk/

Now changed hands and name to The Drayman’s Son….another visit soon…
And now reviewed on this site..
https://cambridgepubreviews.com/2015/12/25/draymans-son-forehill-ely/

The Fountain, Silver Street, Ely

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Venturing out from Cambridge, from miles away the initial view towards Ely is of an island in the flat fens, dominated by the splendour of the cathedral. Of course it has been like this for centuries, but the image became recognised world wide when framed by two large metallic faces on the cover of the 1994 Pink Floyd album ‘The Division Bell’. So it was no surprise to see a large print of this picture on the wall of this unassuming freehouse,  just out of the centre of this small city.

Adnams beers dominate the bar, including some of their newer ‘craft’ offerings. My beer of choice was the pleasant 3.7% copper coloured Southwold bitter. The pub interior is a mix of old (wooden floor of varying contour) and newer (many framed prints of country scenes, group photos of the neighbouring Kings School, cathedral pictures and much more). You can sit on a choice of church chairs with hymnbook holding sections, 1930s dining chairs and even a dentist chair(!?). There is a newspaper on the bar, board games and relaxed locals with large docile dogs….

It is all very comfortable and calming and the multiple covers showing inclusion of the pub in past CAMRA good beer guides displayed in the window shows that its timeless qualities are well appreciated.

 

https://www.facebook.com/FountainElyPub

The Boathouse, Chesterton Road, Cambridge

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The Boathouse fortunately survived the recent fire that caused major damage to the adjoining pub The Tivoli and has now fully reopened.

Last Saturday the pub was buzzing: free-of-charge downstairs were four musical acts, mainly acoustic troubadours but also a full electric performance from highly-regarded Cambridge band The Motortapes. There was music upstairs too as this pub has an excellent function room, discretely hidden away but easily accessible and bookable for parties, events or sometimes used as part of multi-venue music festivals. In my experience the arrangement of bookings, food and additional bar provision is all very well organised.

Back in the main pub downstairs it is very much a Greene King standard food and drink venue, with a modernised interior but retaining some interesting features such as ends of boat-race type boats hanging from the ceiling, a small snug room and an excellent stepped terrace down to the river Cam out the back, perfect for early summer evenings. The bar area is quite small but the friendly staff work it efficiently, finding their way around the forest of beer dispensing machinery that seems to grow in height in pubs such as this with every refurbishment. It would not be a prime beer destination pub for me, but in amongst the high-rise high-tech taps was the more traditional and very drinkable Belhaven Grand Slam, a 4% amber beer brewed for six nations rugby watching.

I will continue to visit, especially as they seem to be showing a big commitment to live music.

 

http://www.gkflamegrill.co.uk/locations/boathouse-cambridge