GETTING TO THE HEART OF PAPWORTH

 

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Let’s have a look at the Official Register of Requests for Place for Me to Blog About.

PLACE          NUMBER OF REQUESTS

Goole                           Nil

Carluke                      Nil

Cwmbran                   Nil

Papworth                    One  (Marty. No relation to a bear I still have)

Democracy, folks.

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21 minutes !

This is getting silly.  Only 21 minutes from home to the centre of Papworth (Everard) says as much about the reduction in traffic as the transformative value of the new A14 you use to reach the A428.

You’ll know the lockdown has seen nature reclaim the cities; dolphins in the Cam and monkeys on the streets of Maidenhead.

In Papworth it’s the bypassing of Ermine Street and the closure of the legendary heart hospital that have relegated the village of 2,880 to dormitory status.

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All quiet on Ermine Street

Before it closed last year I used to bring gentlefolk here for their sleep apnoea appointments, in return for them telling me about their childhoods in Kent and Dorset.

I used to park in Car Park A and wander the site looking for street art, a fruitless endeavour.

Today a pleasant but bored security guard saw me taking photos said “Hello” and denied the site was being turned into the worlds biggest Brunning & Price.

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Not a great time for a leisure development

You can still visit Papworth Hall and its rolling grounds though.

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Future Sam Smiths

But a few yards east of the fenced-off hospital you hit the woods and open countryside.

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Bucolic Cambridge

And I’ll say this.

It’s tremendous.

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Bullrushes inspired by Weller

I walked aimlessly for an hour out toward Elsworth and back along well marked tracks.

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Almost interesting

For months and months I’ve told you no-one ever walks anywhere in this country. Today I passed at least thirty walkers.

All of them said “Hello“, rather than “Get out of my way” or “He doesn’t bite“.  And none of them had a dog.

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Blue skies and dogless walks
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Best I could do on the street art front

Papworth has never troubled the Beer Guide while I’ve been doing it, though the classic 1994 Cambridge CAMRA book describes Kisby’s Hut as “the pinkest pub in the area”, which suggest GBG tickers had visited in the past.

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Classic beer ranges in 1994

Now, mirroring my own Slap Up, it’s an idyllic looking curry house, so not a total loss.

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Not that Shilpa

Taking the reigns from Kisby’s as the village pub, Rocky’s is the “social club on the recreation ground” model.

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Karaoke and Doom Bar, why haven’t I been ?

Which leaves us with the central shopping area,  Fish and chips, deli, Nisa Local and micropub.  I’d have popped in the micropub but you know how it is.

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More people in the woods than in the shops

And that’s your lot. One of the best bases for walks in South Cambridgeshire. But I doubt you’re flying over from Michigan for those.

Oh, there’s Papworth Brewery. But it’s actually in Earith. Might go there tomorrow if anyone asks.

Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

24 thoughts on “GETTING TO THE HEART OF PAPWORTH”

  1. Another cracking article about nearly nothing ! And that’s two more today.

    Where does the “Everard” come from ? Any connection with the brewers of the same name ?

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  3. “Oh, there’s Papworth Brewery. But it’s actually in Earith. Might go there tomorrow if anyone asks”.

    OK, as everyone else is clearly “otherwise engaged”, I’ll ask. Please go to Papworth Brewery and its environs tomorrow, and then compose a picto-blog about it.

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    1. Papworth St. Agnes is only two miles up the road. Would have made an interesting annexe to this trip. Next time, perhaps.

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      1. Etu, Whitstable Brewery’s production site is at Grafty Green, a tiny hamlet to the south of Lenham. This puts it as roughly halfway between Maidstone and Ashford.
        It’s still nowhere near Whitstable, but the reason they went for the Whitstable name, is the brewery is owned by the renowned Whitstable Oyster Company.
        I did notice in the local press that the WOC are planning to move brewing operations to a site in Herne Bay – just along the coast from Whitstable, but much closer than Grafty Green. The application is subject to planning permission etc, and was submitted pre-lock down, so whether the dreaded Coronavirus will impact on these plans is anyone’s guess.

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  4. “in return for them telling me about their childhoods in Kent and Dorset.” –Loved this. I reckon you very much considered it a fair trade, and then some.

    I can’t imagine people in England saying to complete strangers “Get out of my way”, but perhaps I haven’t visited England often enough.

    I reckon Rocky’s is the least promising establishment I’ve seen mentioned on your blog, but I expect you’ll prove me wrong by reminding me of a place you went to in Maidenhead. 🙂

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    1. There’s a lady who walks along East Road in Cambridge saying “EXCUSE ME. Get out of my way !” in a loud voice. I haven’t seen here for two months.

      During the lockdown some folk seem to love to feel you’ve physically attached them if you don’t cross the road to avoid them while they’re 100 metres away. The zigzagging habit.

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      1. Steady, Martin.

        Some of the regular posters in the world of pubs will act as if you have physically assaulted them by your using “metres”, instead of feet, furlongs, or whatever.

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  5. Nice work! Rocky’s is closed now so now it’ll never make the guide….

    So many villages; you could certainly mine this vein for a while. Where next?

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    1. Closed permanently? I guessed a refurbishment during Lockdown. That leaves Papworth a little bereft.

      I’m struggling to find places locally I haven’t done to death so might do Fens Proper.

      Blogging on a place without a trip to see the Old Boys in the pub is going to be unsatisfying though….

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      1. Fenland – where better to start than the capital of the fens: “Wisbech, the Capital of the Fens, is the perfect place for a day out or a break to get away from it all.” According to the fenland tourist agency anyway. Beats Sutton Bridge as a destination.

        US readers may appreciate a trip to Mildenhall or Lakenheath?

        Although I’m worried that you’re now getting instructions from anonymous real ale fans on the internet and this could end in a very dark place.

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  7. You’ve reminded me that one of the Bird in Hand’s most loyal customers passed away a few years ago on an operating table at Papworth.

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