YOUR CLOSEST GBG PUB TO THE CAMBRIDGE PUNTS

September 2025. Cambridge.

The town of my birth, if not my heart, was experiencing a quiet period in the week before the students return.

Cambridge gets steady Asian tourist trade, most of which succumbs to the charm of foppish undergrads and books a £30 (ouch !) punting tour by the Quayside.

If you do one thing in the University quarter you ought to punt, and if you’ve got children you should get them to steer for you.

Just across lovely Magdalen Bridge, this year’s Beer Guide sees the return of the ancient Pickerel, one of Greene King’s better pubs in town.

“Taylor Walker” ? Folk will revive anything these days.

I spent the first hour of my last day in the NHS here so it’s hard to dislike too much,

but it’s never going to compete on beer with your other town choices, though perhaps Woodforde’s and Theakston are back to being cutting-edge.

My only issue is the seating, high tables dominating in what looks a wet-led town pub at 5:30.

OK, no Hi-Vis to rival Atherstone, but there’s few obvious tourists (I can spot them a mile off, wondering how to order a pint at the bar).

Wordless, perfunctory, service, but a high quality pint of foamy Wherry (NBSS 3.5), a difficult beer to do justice to.

Sometimes I think I give the GBG too much praise, you know, but it rarely gets it wrong.

Unlike me, trying to steer that punt to shore at the Mill Pond in 1983 and going in head first.

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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.

19 thoughts on “YOUR CLOSEST GBG PUB TO THE CAMBRIDGE PUNTS”

  1. Was it a Watneys (badged Norwich Brewery) pub in years gone by? We certainly walked past it rather than entering. It certainly didn’t have anything to do with Taylor Walker/ Ind Coope/ Allied Breweries.

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    1. Jack TAYLOR-WALKER
      Current appointments
      Total number of appointments 1
      Date of birth December 1997
      THE GREAT BRITISH BEER COMPANY LIMITED (12183606)
      Company status Active
      Correspondence address
      3-4, Lichfield Road, Stafford, England, ST17 4JX
      Role Active Director
      Appointed on 2 September 2019
      Nationality British
      Country of residence England
      Occupation Managing Director

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    2. It was indeed. I remember it still bore Steward & Patteson livery in the early seventies – and no doubt Norwich bitter and mild inside (I didn’t go in, preferring Tolly Cobbold Cantab elsewhere).

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  3. I’ve been in the Pickerel more than once and found it just about GBG quality, though it maybe had more beers on than the throughput I observed seemed to warrant. But I didn’t do an exhaustive survey, just enjoyed being there.

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    1. It’s always been solid enough in a managed pub way, though surprising to see a GBG re-entry with Abbot, Old Peculier, Wherry and Tribute.

      Less food trade than, say, the Mitre over the bridge, which probably makes it a more obvious CAMRA choice.

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      1. I shall look out for your suggestion, although presumably you will leave the date until next spring, in order for participants to enjoy Cambridge during the better weather?

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      3. It was me, Martin, but as I commented from my phone, I either forgot to log in (unlikely), or Word Press is playing tricks again.

        (This is in response to the comment on Yahoo). All this synching, and linking, over-complicates things, and I have enough trouble at work, where some colleagues have become obsessed with One Drive. Those data banks are going to take over the world, if we’re not careful!

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  5. “and books a £30 (ouch !) punting tour by the Quayside.”

    And read that as books at £30. Understandable but only if, as this is Cambridge, they explain life, the universe, and everything.

    “If you do one thing in the University quarter you ought to punt,”

    For a second you were talking about the Cambridge Rugby Club.

    “I spent the first hour of my last day in the NHS here so it’s hard to dislike too much,”

    Good man! After all, they could hardly sack you.

    “but there’s few obvious tourists (I can spot them a mile off, wondering how to order a pint at the bar).”

    That would be us North Americans who are more used to table service, even for a drink.

    “Sometimes I think I give the GBG too much praise, you know, but it rarely gets it wrong.”

    People tend to forget it’s the good BEER guide, not necessarily the good PUB guide.

    “Unlike me, trying to steer that punt to shore”

    That’s why, in the song, Michael rows the boat to shore, not steer (hallelujah).

    Cheers

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    1. You’ve heard of the Big Mac index ? Measures the relative cost of a standardised food item across the world. I suspect the price of an hour’s punting as a passenger over the years would provide a good index of UK inflation. I’m sure it was £18 last time I took the in-laws.

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      1. Yep, familiar with the Big Mac index (they have memes over here about getting a short term load during checkout for it).

        And agreed a punter’s index might be a good idea; although some folk will just think that’s another term for the betting odds.

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      2. The one thing I’ll say for these craft beer bars (I guess you have some out your way) is that they have big price lists and you can see what prices have gone up by over the years. (If you care).

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    2. Definitely a beer guide than a pub guide, though there’s a lot of overlap. I was reading in one of the CAMRA magazines covering Atherstone of a 75 year old who spent his birthday in a craft (keg) bar called Hobo Kiosk, “his favourite pub”, which pleased me immensely.

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