ALE Winter 2002/2003 No. 308

Pub News - Cambridge

News round-up

Apart from the belated opening of the huge B bar, the main news is that The Carlton is now a real ale pub. If you've been to the Cambridge Beer festival, you'll have heard Jethro on the tombola. Now you can hear him "up Carlton Way", as he and his partner have taken over the pub and have Adnams Bitter and Wells Bombardier on tap. The pub is in two halves: the lounge is no-smoking and the public bar has pub games. After kitchen refurbishment, food should be available in the New Year.

[The Brewery frontage] Greene King has managed to do even worse than its 1998 refurbs of the Baron of Beef and the Cambridge Arms: the latter has been stripped out again and transformed from the Rattle and Hum to The Brewery, which is a "pizza bar".

By the time the comes out, the Boat House on Chesterton Road should have come out of an 8-week refurb by its new owners Greene King and the Old Spring further along completed its treatment in October.

The Fort St George on Midsummer Common has spotted an opportunity in the market for breakfasts with the demise of the Athena Cafe on Norfolk Street. It's doing them between 8.30-11 Mondays-Fridays.

For the record, Bar 8 (alongside the Corn Exchange) has become Coco Bar and The Snowcat (in Arbury) has been transformed by GK into The Grove, another pub with the of-the-moment "cool & comfy" decor.

Cox's Yard Brewery

Many will remember the products of the brewery at the Ancient Druids (now Bar Citrus), behind the Grafton Centre. It was active between about 1984-1994, then Charles Wells moved the kit to Cox's Yard in Stratford-upon-Avon, where it produced some fine beers such as Jester, often seen in Wells pubs such as the Elm Tree. Sadly Wells have now put the five-barrel plant on the market for £30,000, claiming there's not enough of a market for viability.

All information is believed correct at time of going to press. If our spies have got anything wrong, please contact the editor, who will be happy to print a correction.

ALE Winter 2002/2003 No. 308 : Next section
Cambridge & District CAMRA