retiredmartin

19th September 2022.

The Queen’s funeral. A chance to thank Elizabeth for her service and show respect;

But what would the pubs do ?

While Mum and Dad followed the progress of the cortege along the A40, I went to Cambridge to find out.

The town was surprisingly bust at midday, though the White Swan (where I had the final pint of my leaving do) looked a bit sad.

Mill Road and its offshoots has had its ups and downs of late, but there’s still plenty of pub life,

but let’s be boring and do the Blue shall we, eh ?

If I ran a feature called “Don’t take them for granted“, the Cambridge Blue might be Exhibit No. 27.

The go-to pub for intellectuals (people who understand the Schleswig–Holstein question), CAMRA coach trips from West Suffolk, and young families for 30 years or more, the Blue was pleasingly busy (20+) on Funeral Day.

If you’re going to have too many pumps, make sure the beer is up to it. Nene Valley Brewery seem to the 2022 equivalent of Oakham or Nethergate, ubiquitous in local Greene King pubs as well as free houses, and I’m happy with that.

Whenever I tell you a pub was busy I then produce the evidence to the contrary.

They were all in the garden ! This was another of those days of the endless English summer that the Southworths will know about, and in 2022 you can call it working from home as long as you’re drinking Bitburger 0.0 and are pretending to use a laptop.

As I sat enjoying my “juicy” NVA (3.5) they all made their escape via the back garden, the last of them making a spectacular mess of climbing that wall and falling in the cemetery (pics only available to patronised readers).

I followed them. I’m not sure you’re really supposed to, but it was a public holiday so all bets are off. I think the entrance to the Blue via the graveyard may be one of England’s great approaches.

Mill Road cemetery is a thing of beauty.

Perhaps I’ll tick cemeteries now I’ve done the Guide. There’s a great section on South London in Deserter’s first book.

Or perhaps not….