You left me one pint of 6% Green Devil down, and Brighton one-up on Derby, to the joy of no-one. Possibly not even Brighton.
It’s a good job I know the Chesterton area of Cambridge better than anyone semi-alive, having had my first balanced ledger and doner kebab there.
I literally bumped into Leon and Charlotte on the bus stop outside across from the Haymakers, a pub recently slagged by BRAPA and resolutely defended by me.
Quieter than it is at 6pm when the young pros pop in for pizza, but graced by the Milton Brewery founder Richard Naisby himself.
If you’re expecting beer tasting notes you’ve come to the wrong place. Charlotte and Leon were great company to chat with about the regeneration of Bradford and Halifax and how Leeds get weird as you cross the A1, but I’ll leave that there.
I thought the Milton Beers were OK (NBSS 3). Charlotte had been championing the cause of the visiting Stockport beer; we should have taken her advice.
Mrs RM will tell you about the time I met a visiting groundhopper (from Mansfield, unbelievably) on his way to the Abbey Stadium and got him completely lost. Twice.
Luckily Leon knew to follow the canoes.
They led us, probably, to the Green Dragon, traditional pre-match stop for U’s fans.
At 2pm the only match was more traditional.
Look how much effort those lovely Greene King folk have gone to to convince you they have interesting guest beers.
But I care little for provenance. That Late Hopped Pale Ale was superb (NBSS 3.5+), so what do I know ? The Dragon was bustling and cosy and I’ve warmed to it recently.
By now Leon had 20 minutes to get across the Common to the ground, so I held him up by taking photos of abandoned boxing gloves, a tradition that dates back to 1675.
A quick pint had turned into three, so it was inevitable I’d find my train back home delayed by 20 minutes, legally necessitating a quick half in the Old Ticket Office.
I can’t claim that Cambridge’s station bar is the cosiest place in town, but it’s got the widest cross-section of pub life (FACT !) and lovely beer that’s just below cutting-edge.
So I get my Almasty fix, the Posh Lady gets her two halves of Bulmers, and a drunk Scot gets to ask for a top-up on his NVB Simple Pleasures. Twice.
I do hope Charlotte and Leon enjoyed our wonderful city. We try our best.
retiredmartin 
Any of you have that best bitter? If so, how was it? And you do give an enjoyable tour of Cambridge.
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That doesn’t remind me of the Cambridge pubs I’ve occasionally used since 1973.
I last stayed there in 1993 so Cambridge is on my long list of places that are due a return visit.
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Proper Day Out ?
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Er, yes, and hopefully some time this year.
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I guess Cambridge became a free house haven in mid 90s when the Mill Road run of pubs came to the fore.
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It’s probably just me but I find tip boxes on bars really annoying.
I don’t tip my postman for delivering a letter – why should I tip someone for pouring a pint ?
If this sounds unduly curmudgeonly it’s Day 13 of my no drink and first-ever diet regime.
It’s not the sub-1000 calories per day hunger pangs which I actually rather like but the sheer boredom that gets to me.
How do people live without going to the pub ?
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P P-T,
Maybe your postman just delivers a letter, or worse has the characteristics of Viz’s Postman Plod http://viz.co.uk/category/postman-plod/
I was a postman with a deep rural duty for ten years and December was a most lucrative time with dozens of tips from £2 to £60 and more wine and whisky that I would drink in a year.
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The abandoned boxing glove looks especially forlorn and a typically observant shot on your part. I hope the Old Ticket Office doesn’t get into the GBG soon as Cambridge is the sort of place that takes a long time to get to (for me) and by car is especially congested. They always seem to slip a new one in though.
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I’d almost guarantee one new City Pub Co entry, possibly the Waterman. They own 7 pubs now, only the Mill in GBG, an upmarket version of Wetherspoons.
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Cambridge is suddenly looking far more plausible 🍻 a couple of good boozers there…surely GK is locale by you 😉
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Of course 👍. Actually less Green King pubs than you’d think, mainly free houses in centre. Hard to say what the national beer of Cambridge is (it’s Peroni).
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Mrs BB is currently enjoying a bottle of the Italian lager!
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Lovely write up, we really enjoyed Cambridge, and we both concluded it was a notch above Oxford. Less said about the match the better, but the two wins this week have made it seem an OK point.
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Er … which bit of Leeds are you referring to? Apart from the small handful of villages where I live, on the fringes of Leeds, there isn’t any Leeds the other (East) side of the A1?
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By the time you acquisitional lot finish you’ll be putting Selby pubs in the Guide under Leeds.
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There are no Leeds CAMRA GBG pubs East of the A1, the nearest is The CVhequers at Ledsham which is current Rural POTY. No Wakey CAMRA pubs neither, in fact not much of West Yorkshire East of the A1 at all. Like I say just the narrow strip where we live.
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Now I know you occasionally try for humour, but really, Selby pubs in the guide?? Who would ever believe that.
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The Spoons is a permanent (serves good Kelham Island). No Proper Pubs in the GBG though.
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Like the Cricketers, but not a lot else to drag me out when I visit my Auntie there. Better country pubs in the vicinity.
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Indeed. Village pubs (Bures ?) still get decent cask turnover compared to towns like Sudbury and Hadleigh.
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…and not one mention of Cambridge being the worst place in the UK to get drunk and avoid being hit by a cyclist in…
Great Pub game tick there.
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