retiredmartin

Cambridge folk are supposed to be at war with Peterborough, something to do with a Dion Dublin hat trick in 1989, but I’ve always got on fine with the ones I understood. It appears I also have relatives in their fine city, so I will tread carefully here.

Best known for their giant, KeyKeg friendly Beer Festival, ‘Boro has for many years had one of the finest collections of Beer Guide pubs in the country.

Certainly it’s one of the most varied, including heritage John Smith pubs, a barge, a brewery tap and some great estate pubs. Not forgetting the only Wetherspoon where I’ve ever awarded an NBSS 5 (in the last century, mind you).

Shame about the shopping centre, which no doubt did for some basic pubs years back, and which I revisited now in the interests of ironic appreciation.

This is the place I studied for my final year of accountancy exams, making regular trudges from Eastfield to admire the cathedral new CDs in HMV.

The city, enlivened by Graduation ceremonies, looked oddly alluring in the drizzle.

It really is a magnificent cathedral, a must visit.

How would Peterborough’s first (but not last) micro compare as a tourist draw ?

The Bumble is a pleasant, cheery small pub, full of middle-aged blokes at 7pm (says I), with proper beer mats but without pubby seating. I guess you guessed that.

Top marks for a beer range that included some proper BBB;

The Butcombe was decent and beautifully presented, but clearly not the beer of choice for the sort of knowledgeable and adventurous beer crowd you get in Peterborough.

A pleasant crowd were largely debating that micro pub staple, Cloudwater Brewery, whose bottles were dominating the fridge.  How micros have changed since 2005.

Quirky highlight, though, is the toilet twinning (last seen in Worthing) with a latrine Guatemala.