CAMRA's annual National Pubs Week takes place from 18-25 February and
sees the launch of our "Pubs in Time" initiative. This celebrates pubs where
events of historical significance have taken place by presenting them with
commemorative plaques. The first eight will receive their plaques during Pubs Week.
<- The Eagle entrance
So, which pubs in the Cambridge area might deserve a plaque? Top of the list
- and hence one of the first eight nationally - must be
The Eagle in
Bene't Street Cambridge. It was here, on 23 February 1953, that Frances Crick and
James Watson announced to fellow drinkers in their lunchtime local that
they'd discovered the secret of life - DNA. Crick and Watson worked at the
nearby Cavendish labs and John Gribbin's book
In Search of the Double Helix
is a gripping account of what they and others achieved.
<- The Eagle courtyard
The Eagle offers more history in its "RAF bar" where the ceiling is adorned
with names and messages inscribed by RAF and USAF personnel during the
second world war. There's yet more history outside, where the galleried
courtyard is a rare survival of a traditional coaching inn yard.
The Eagle closed for four years in the late 1980s and seemed doomed at one
point. Fortunately planning wrangles were resolved and the pub reopened in
1992, albeit greatly extended and with a new front entrance on Bene't Street.
The extensions were well done and the panelled room to the right of the
entrance is a particular delight. On the real ale front you can get well-kept
Greene King IPA, Abbot, Old Speckled Hen and a guest beer.
<- The Queens Head
The Queens Head at
Newton has long been one of CAMRA's favourites and
belongs to the very select band of pubs which has appeared in every edition
of the
Good Beer Guide.
Adnams ales are served straight from the cask and
simple, satisfying food is freshly cooked to order. There have only been 18
licensees here since 1729 and the present guv'nor, the redoubtable David
Short, has been in charge since 1971. The building itself dates back to 1680
and is notable for its imposing tall chimney. The historical fact of interest is
that in the halcyon days before the First World War, King George and his
cousin, Kaiser Wilhelm, stopped here for a drink. The shah of Iran and his
wife also called for lunch some time in the 1960s. A more recent historic figure
was Belinda the Goose who adopted the pub in 1987, patrolling the car park
and hissing at any driver who double parked. You can still see her - stuffed
and mounted in a glass case in the public bar.
Not far from Newton is Fowlmere, where
The Chequers dates back to the
sixteenth century. Samuel Pepys, the diarist, made regular journeys from
London to both Cambridge and his family home at Brampton. He used a
variety of routes and stayed at many inns along the way. Fowlmere was one
hard day's ride from the capital and he dined and lodged at The Chequers on
24 February 1660, a day after his 27th birthday. He mentions in his diary that
he "played cards until supper and then dined on breast of veal, roasted". Later
in its history, The Chequers served simultaneously as an inn and as a chapel
of rest, thus being able to offer overnight accommodation both to the living
and dead! Nowadays, The Chequers is an upmarket, food-oriented inn though
the area to the left of the bar has a good pubby feel and drinkers are made
entirely welcome. Real ales are Adnams Bitter and two changing guests
(Nethergate Greedy Pike and Archers Marleys Ghost on a recent visit) and
their quality has earned the pub regular appearances in recent Good Beer
Guides.
We also have several pubs whose names commemorate historic events or
places. For instance the ever-wonderful
Blue Ball at
Grantchester was named
after a hot-air balloon flown from Trinity Hall to Wickhambrook Suffolk in 1785.
The Fort St George in England,
Cambridge is named after Fort St George,
Madras, India (so the "In England" was added to avoid any confusion!). At
Reach,
The Dyke's End
is indeed at the end of the Devil's Dyke, a 6th century defensive earthwork.
For more information about National Pubs Week, please visit the website at
www.pubsweek.org