November 2025. Ely.
Two hours to kill in a freezing Ely before the 3 hours back to Sheffield, with all the pubs that would have offered warmth and comfort packed with a Christmas market crowd. Celebrating Christmas ! On the Cathedral grounds, too.
Cromwell, latterly of this parish, would turn in his grave, if we knew where it was.
Luckily, by the time I’d necked that pint of Carlsberg in the Townhouse a small table had emerged from the chaos in the Hereward across the road.
A Stonegate pub, formerly styled Smith & Jones, and succinctly summed up on the CAMRA website;
“Large popular city centre pub. TV screens on every wall.”. Blimey, makes those 1975 pub descriptions seem effusive.
The Hereward has never graced the GBG, though I can think of a fair few Pub Men who’d love this beer range.
If the beer’s good, of course.
There seems to be table service on one side, an unexpected feature..
But what a joy a busy room is. I must be one of the few CAMRA members who actually like the way the festive season fills up our pubs.
The Rev James, a bellwether pint, arrives in a thinner glass than ideal, and for a minute I can’t work out if it’s brilliant or off.
Cool, foamy and (yes) chewy, it’s a 3.5. A triumph for your “Boring Brown Bitter”. You’d stay for a second if your train wasn’t leaving in 12 minutes.
My late lunch was a curate’s egg, the cod portion (£16) looking a bit stingy,
but tasting unexpectedly fresh and tasty. Posh pea puree, too.
A sticky, scruffy, Spoons, I’d thought before. But I found it oddly endearing, and you get the first airing of Oliver Cromwell’s favourite Yuletide tune.
Can’t be too long before the first airing of “Stop The Cavalry“. Mudgie will be thrilled.
retiredmartin 
It’s ten days since I heard Feliz Navidad in a pub.
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Is this a comment on how early in the year it was first heard, or what a dreadfully long time it has been since you heard it? I think this particular song is probably top of my Hope I Never Hear This Bl**dy Song Again list.
Though it’s one of those lists where almost every Christmas record ever released inevitably gets to number one every single year.
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The first, Will.
However, “True” can be heard all year round.
I haven’t yet heard “There ain’t no Santa Claus on the evening stage” though.
So here it is.
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“Celebrating Christmas ! ”
The heathens!
“Cromwell, latterly of this parish, would turn in his grave, if we knew where it was.”
(slow golf clap)
But, it’d be hard to know where his grave was, what with his head bit stuck on a pike and not with his body bit, that was hopefully buried?
“The Hereward has never graced the GBG, though I can think of a fair few Pub Men who’d loved this beer range.”
Agreed. Also, is the lack of being in the GBG due to too much competition in a ‘large popular city centre’?
“If the beer’s good, of course.”
What!
Oh, wait; you meant the Pub Men, not the GBG.
“There seems to be table service on one side, an unexpected feature.”
That must cause some confusion. What if you sit on the wrong side of the table?
“I must be one of the few CAMRA members who actually like the way the festive season fills up our pubs.”
True but hey, Christmas only comes once a year, so most can just grin and bear it. 😇
“and for a minute I can’t work out if it’s brilliant or off.”
(looks down)
Why is the foam/liquid meniscus** level slightly wobbly?
** – I know that’s technically only at the top of a glass or whatnot, but… 🫠
“You’d stay for a second if your train wasn’t leaving in 12 minutes.”
High praise.
Also, you could order a 2nd, quaff it in 4 minutes, and work up some warming sweat by running to catch the train.
“the cod portion (£16) looking a bit stingy”
I’m reminded of a television commercial over here in the 80’s with the catch phrase “where’s the beef?”.
“But I found it oddly endearing, and you get the first airing of Oliver Cromwell’s favourite Yuletide tune.”
Gah! I have convinced my darling wife to hold off on the Christmas music until December. Mind you, she’s already decorated the outside of the house, as well as the inside. 🎄
“Can’t be too long before the first airing of “Stop The Cavalry“. Mudgie will be thrilled.”
May I suggest the wearing of very thick earmuffs. Works wonders with the cold and will block out the Christmas music.
Cheers
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I thought you’d have had more comments by now, after this post got boosted on that Discourse this morning.
About Oliver Cromwell turning in his grave, wasn’t his body dug up at the Restoration and his head impaled on a spike? Puts a different slant on writhing uncomfortably in your grave.
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There is some doubt about whose head the Royalists actually dug up years after his death and some suspect he was reburied under a nail salon in St Ives (Cambs).
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Filed away for future reference, as all such facts should be.
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Was that dill in the pea puree?
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I believe it was, Lana. It was a surprisingly sophisticated fish and chips in what I thought was a Spoons clone.
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I think that’s the first time I’ve encountered “sophisticated” and “Spoons” in the same sentence.
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