retiredmartin

September 2023. Chippenham, near Newmarket.

Honestly, it is near Newmarket, though the map is indignant that it’s on High Street, Ely, and Chippenham is a last refuge in that weird bit of Cambridgeshire that encompasses the smart horsey villages. I know this because the Waterbeach MP lives there, and you have to live in the constituency.

Why are Mrs RM and I standing outside the Tharp Arms on a Sunday afternoon after a raid on Sainsbury’s cook-in sauces ?

Why, to meet a pub ticking legend from minutes away (he actually arrived before I’d finished texting him with the obligatory 2 minutes notice of our arrival).

Maltmeister would have finished the GBG years ago if he hadn’t been so easily distracted by beer festivals. It pays to have no interest in beer if you want to complete the Beer Guide, I always say. Having zero interest in football, like me as a Man City fan, also helps.

What a lovely man he is, and I don’t just say that as he’s bought us a beer and lets us nick the roasties and yorkies on his table. One of the cheeriest of men; it’s a trait that runs through all tickrs.

Malt coughs up two quid to join in the meat raffle,

and although we don’t gamble it would probably have been “the done thing” to join in the Sunday ritual.

The Tharp is, unexpectedly, a pub of rituals. “Happy Birthday” sung with alternative lyrics to one of the locals, meat raffle, complimentary hot snacks, lads seated at the bar.

Not at all the upmarket dining pub you expect in a smart Cambs village.

One cask beer (is plenty, often etc etc). Lacon’s Encore is a superb allrounder, served cool and bubbly (3.5).

Obviously, Proper Pubs like this don’t make the GBG in 2023; it’s all brewery taps open 12 hours a week.