Mrs RM is getting worried bout me, scouring MumsNet for entertainment.
Currently (8pm) you can read mums annoyed about their names, their pet hair hoover, the Ritz Hotel, and their boring local walks.*
Some folk, it turns out, have been doing EXACTLY the same walk for the last 3 months.
I wouldn’t have survived since March without a different walk each day, and even I’m starting to exhaust all that Cambridgeshire has to offer. Which isn’t much.
Let’s head into the mysterious Essex/Cambs border. I parked up next to Dalehead Foods, supplier of pork and lamb to the Waitrose customers who make up 97% of Linton with their cupcake fixation.
I couldn’t look the farmyard animals in the face, and headed for the well marked route from Little Linton to (I assume) Big Linton.
Intermittent drizzling, one of Kangaroo Air Force Ventilator’s lesser hits, accompanied me and a gaggle of ramblers round the ponds to the hills. Or minor indentation if you’re from the North.
The presence of a row of poppies suggests that Linton is developing alternative income streams to complement the clinical trials and farming, but perhaps I’ve just been watching too much Ozark.
It feels bigger than Waterbeach, but 4,525 souls tells me otherwise.
Back in 1994, the classic local CAMRA Guide showed four pubs and three recently closed.
Not a classic ale line-up, though of course GK IPA was still revered beer back then.
Well, I walked randomly for half an hour and didn’t see any of them, alive or dead.
Finally I stumbled on a rather magnificent High Street in the local style of scary lion, pale colours and pargetting.
Ah, at last. A pub.
The Waggon & Horses was a rare keg pub back in ’94, before South Cambs became a 100% real branch in the new century and celebrated with a barrel of Fosters. Possibly.
And then it started to rain. So you’ll have to wait for the rest. I don’t get soaked taking photos of Greene King pubs for you lot.
But if the sun shines, there’ll be more tomorrow. And POSSIBLY even some actual beer.
*and their “Dear Husband“, but let’s not go there.
It’s all right for you. My Bass work is ruined and unimportant compared to Mrs TWM winning best teddy bear window display in the village.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And rightly so !
LikeLike
Is the GK IPA the same beer as 25 years ago? I had it in my head that the current IPA was new. Was I just confused by new branding and a renewed focus on the beer by GK?
LikeLiked by 1 person
There was a modest revamp/relaunch of IPA a year ago that Roger wrote about https://protzonbeer.co.uk/news/2019/09/09/greene-king-ipa-gets-a-major-makeover (I doubt anyone noticed)
and I had a few pints last Autumn that were good though I couldn’t tell the difference https://retiredmartin.com/2019/09/12/houghton-mill-greene-king-thrill/
It won a gong at CAMRA awards in blind tasting in 2004, but CAMRA folk have long said “Not an IPA”, “Hop oils” “Not what it was” and other irrelevant stuff. I’ve just never found it that satisfying. Mudgie and others are more positive, and I respect their views.
EXCEPT it was great in the Big 6 in Halifax years back, and unrecognisably good in the Free Press in Cambridge. If you come back to Cambridge in 2024 you should try it in the Free Press and Champion of the The Thames, 2 classic pubs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Really interesting. Thx. I think some of this is what I vaguely remember.
LikeLiked by 1 person
One line jumps out: The number of handpulls on the bar has been re-evaluated to suit each pub’s customer base and smaller sized vessels and aspirators offered to pubs with lower cask beer sales. I’ve been reading some wise men who echo this sentiment.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mentioned before that CAMRA seemed to reward Greene King pubs that added and focused on beers that weren’t Greene King, which is just daft, like Pizza Hut having a guest Big Mac.
A few years ago the newly acquired GK pubs would often see upward of half a dozen pumps (e.g.Black Bull in Preston), few better than average.
LikeLike
But it’s got a horrible metallic taste! On another matter ‘pet hair hoover’ you say? More on that please.
LikeLike
Just to prove it’s not ALL made up…
https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3931799-To-ask-what-is-the-best-hoover-for-pet-hair
Metallic isn’t unfair. Would you EVER choose it nowadays though ? I feel obliged to order it in the new Guide pubs that have it on. It was rubbish (though cheap) in that GK diner in Dinnington, S. Yorks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Only force it down if it’s the only cask on the bar. Now I know where to come for all Mumsnet related info!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Mums are keener to re-open the pubs than the CAMRA members on Discourse and I’m not kidding.
They seem to think men should do household tasks though so I wouldn’t linger.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s a joke Mrs RM.
LikeLike
Actually, there have been a few more new pubs in the GBG with one pump, though rarely GK.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s true. Maybe a few more in future editions depending on how the trade recovers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Who needs “Which”? I now know where to go to when I need advice on buying a new vacuum cleaner.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pleased to be of service.
LikeLike
I had to sheepishly Google the word “pargetting” and then, upon learning its meaning, decided I had no reason to feel sheepish about not being familiar with it. 😉 In all seriousness, thanks for mentioning it: an interesting architectural feature, and certainly one I’d not encountered until now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha ! It’s not a word I knew before reading the 1995 Essex pub guide, Mark. Must be 2,000 houses like that, and a fair few pubs, with that ornamental design. Very Essex/Suffolk. Lavenham is famous for it.
LikeLiked by 2 people