retiredmartin

Enough of Franconia, until I read Ron Pattinson’s articles on Forcheim pubs and head back there on my own.

You’ll know by now how much I love home comforts and the joys of routine, and my regular Thursday trip to St Neots got me back in touch with England’s glories very quickly.

Little Paxton is a large but anonymous village a pleasant half-walk from St.Neots Wetherspoons (I use Spoons as an indicator of a central point).

My parents used to come up here quite a bit on their boat (about 3 months from Cambridge at a brisk pace), but the village has virtually doubled in size since then, though seemingly without any additional facilities.  The Mills have been converted into smart housing priced to take advantage of proximity to the A1 and the famous gravel pits.

A few older buildings as well, and attractive parish church.

The riverside walk and nature reserve were fine, but don’t expect Bedminster-style street art here, unless this counts;

Just the one pub, so a good job it’s an all-rounder. Serving scratch-card, stamps and Stella, the Anchor opens from 9am. The Landlady was impressively cheerful and chatty at lunchtime, given the early start that implies.

Little Paxton has never had a Beer Guide entry; Huntingdonshire has been a GBG backwater since the first edition when someone had to a last-minute stagger along the A14 to search for entries.

But the Anchor got my approval for serving just the one beer, and for making that Bass. Only a half (NBSS 3),so no pint glass to show you, but clearly cared for. It’s very rare I see it this far east, and I hope it’s on again.

It’s a typical Hunts pub in other respects, a few old boys (drinking wine), West Ham paraphernalia, all the hits from 1979 you’d hoped you’d forgotten.  A lovely village pub.