November 2025. Cambridge.
Never change, King Street. A row of cars competing for penalty charges on one of the parking lanes closest to town.
I laughed about it with a lad coming out of the Prince who then said ” **** I forgot to pay“.
That new craft bar with its trestle tables won’t win Stafford Paul’s affections, but my next one already has.
I’d been in the Champion of the Thames with Paul in 2024, and as usual found it a wonderfully cosy place for a pint.
Having just left the Charming Prince I remembered the early opening pints here on the day of Charles coronation.
A recent Cambridge CAMRA Pub of the Year, too, which shows you can win big with “beers you’ve heard of“.
£6 your pint of Abbot,
but it’s worth it to experience Greene King as the brewer intended (better than last year, a chewy 3.5+), and luxuriate in that moment when pubs do their magic, drawing in Town and Gown in perfect harmony.
Regulars sitting at the bar,
theology post-grad students discussing confirmation names and the grading of communion wine (19 Crimes a favourite) next to me.
A pint of IPA in a Hungry Horse if you can guess that confirmation name.
The Champ only opened at 4, and by 10 past I’m uncomfortably aware I’m hogging a large table, so I pop in the right hand room, no less magical,
though it was noticeable that laptop chap was sipping his beer rather more slowly than me.
Sipping beer ! Where will it end ?
retiredmartin 
Is that Santa sitting at the bar?
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Must be Dan, in a Greene King pub waiting for the Rocking Rudolph !
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Have I not been paying attention?
Was the previous pub the Handsome Prince or the Charming one? Either way, I’m not sure our present monarch (not King Donald) is an appropriate visual representation, being less handsome and no more charming than our current prime minister. In fact both could be described as “awkward in public”, which is not a good look for a prominent public figure. (Please note date of posting in case we get another one by the time you read this.)
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Prince Charming was where Adam Ant’s career started to nosedive.
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“I’d been in the Champion of the Thames with Paul in 2024” – yes, but I think the Queens Head at Newton stopped it being the highlight of my long overdue four days eastwards fourteen months ago, two nights in Cambridge and one at Sheringham.
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I’m still convinced that sausage roll in Newton was the highlight of your trip, Paul (and I didn’t taste it, I couldn’t just smell it !).
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I was on a train to Sheringham on Friday but got off (as you’ll read soon) at North Walsham. I know nothing about Sheringham pubs.
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Martin, I’ve spent nine nights in Sheringham, from1987 to last year, and the main feature of the pubs now is that they stock London Pride. The only time I ever alit between Norwich and Sheringham was returning last time and at Cromer, my first visit to a town I’ll remember for mid morning cask beer on the pier.
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Never seen a man sip beer 🙂
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That’s reassuring.
I was with a group of four females (including my wife) at the Great British Beer Festival at Birmingham NEC in August and they all outdrank me 😉
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“I laughed about it with a lad coming out of the Prince who then said ” **** I forgot to pay“.”
Blimey. No laughing matter that. 😊
“Having just left the Charming Prince I remembered the early opening pints here on the day of Charles coronation.”
Good excuse for an early pint that.
“and luxuriate in that moment when pubs do their magic, drawing in Town and Gown in perfect harmony.”
All I can think of is Pratchett’s Unseen University and sneaking out for a pint by the side wall.
“Regulars sitting at the bar,”
(looks down)
Santa’s a regular? Or is that a wizard without his robes?
“A pint of IPA in a Hungry Horse if you can guess that confirmation name.”
I’m gonna go with Thomas, as I can’t think of any ‘more’ off the top of my head. 😇
“Sipping beer ! Where will it end ?”
Pfft. That’s how I got started on Guinness back in the day. Wasn’t a big fan at the time and couldn’t drink it quickly, so it was my go to at the end of any evening out to slow down the intake.
Cheers
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Guinness is odd. The whole culture is about drinking it quickly, taking a first gulp to “split the G” (you heard of that?), Guinness pint men etc, but young folk take ages over a pint.
Do you actually enjoy Guinness ? I feel I do but always find it very thin.
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Yep, I’m familiar with “split the G” but that was never my cup of tea.
I was always an ale guy but became a HUGE Guinness fan for a fair number of years. That finally ended in 2012. It’s still not bad on tap, but the ‘widget’ cans lost their allure. A bit flat (or thin as you said) so I gave it up for home use.**
Luckily, my darling wife started buying assorted beers for me to try when I was home from camp and I acquired a taste for pale ales (and IPAs) and they have been my go-to ever since.
Cheers
** – sadly, even in most bars over here, they serve the 16oz Guinness can and not on tap (sigh)
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Split the tea !
Guinness are about to open a brewery in central London. It won’t actually brew THE Guinness !
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And, with more tourists than workers, it won’t bear any resemblance to Guinness’s massive Park Royal Brewery designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, but now demolished, that supplied the southern half of Britain from 1936 to 2005.
It’s bringing back the proper fruit and veg market with 5am to 9am pubs, and rebuilding Euston’s Doric Arch, that’d get me visiting London more often, not having an “attraction” “featuring immersive experiences” and with “an elevated tasting experience once a day, Thursday to Saturday at 3pm only, priced at £95”.
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An “elevated tasting experience” for me is adding crisps to the cheese and onion cob !
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There’s a good chance the guy with the laptop was me…
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You look very small in my photo.
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