This edition of ALE went to press just before the pub reopened but Ollie Thain from CambsCuisine kindly gave us a sneak preview. The left hand side of the building now operates as a pub and the right hand as a restaurant. The pub part includes a small back room, created out of a former kitchen area, and has its own garden, complete with verandah. This will develop as a cottage garden in contrast to the more formal layout on the restaurant side, still dominated by the large oblong pond. The four real ales comprise Milton's Nero stout (instead of Guinness) plus beers from Milton and other local breweries. Cromwell Cider is also on the bar. No "knife and fork" food is served in the pub area. New kitchens, toilet block and conservatory have been built and the outside is painted in a pleasanter shade of blue than before.

When we called, opening was only ten days away and an awful lot still seemed to need doing - but no doubt it all came together on time. We'll report further in the next issue.