When I started this, England had been in some form of lockdown for about 18 months and at various times during that period, pubs had either been open, not open, selling beer, not allowed to sell beer, open (but only serving outside), or open (serving inside, but with a limit of six people).
Its my belief that a pub is a cornerstone of society in Britain (and in Brentford FC’s case, literally the cornerstones: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griffin_Park) and with the great reopening (for now) after lockdown, I (your humble narrator – Chunky Rough Cut) have decided to retread some old ground and visit all the pubs in Cambridge within a year in order to at least say I’ve done my part in giving them some custom.
The last time I tried this was in 2005, and I only missed out on three pubs. From memory, the number of pubs in Cambridge seems to either be the same or increased, giving the same level of challenge. But times have also changed, and unfortunately a few of the pubs that were on the original list last time are no longer with us.
But it should be a fun trip to visit places that I go all the time, places I go rarely, and places I’ve never been before.
What it’s not…
I’m not going to review the pubs I go to. It’s such a subjective topic that me applying some element of saying whether something is good or not seems ridiculous.
I’m also not going to review the beer. I might have a real ale, I might have a Guinness, I might have a lager (very unlikely). But again unless I was having the same drink in each place (which they probably won’t have) it’s hard to make a comparison.
What you’ll get
In each pub I’ll post a picture of the beer I’m drinking (complete with the name – it appears to be part of the template!) and, based on Toby E’s statement that “you can’t say that you really know a pub until you can draw a map of where the toilets are…”, I’ll include a description of where the toilets are from the front door. You can use it in a bluffers’ guide.