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Cambridge & District CAMRA
"Frequently Asked Questions"
Some of these answers are subjective and are those of the current Branch Secretary/Webmaster.
They do not necessarily represent the views of Cambridge & District CAMRA.
- General enquiries & membership
- CAMRA Action Line - 01727 867201
- for all enquiries relating to campaigning and prospective membership.
- Q: what is CAMRA?
- A: (on HQ Web site)
- Q: what does CAMRA campaign about?
- A: see CAMRA Campaigns
- Q: how do I join CAMRA?
- A: CAMRA Membership
- Q: ... and the Branch?
- A: Branch membership
- Q: when is CAMRA's annual Good Beer Guide published?
- A: around the first half of October.
- Q: is there a local CAMRA Beer Guide?
- A: see Best Real Ale Pubs In And Around Cambridgeshire
and Ales from the Isle
- Q: what local breweries & cider producers are there?
- A: Local Breweries.
- Q: what info is there on the Web about Cambridge public transport?
- A: see the Links page, in particular the
Cambridge Web Guide.
- Q: what online maps are there of Cambridge?
- A: see the Links page.
- Q: recommendations for a Cambridge City Centre pub tour?
- A: try the various Cambridge pub guides on the Links page,
such as my own Guide to Cambridge Pubs.
- Q: where can I get Mild in Cambridge?
- A: see National Mild Day, May 2001.
- Q: recommendations for accommodation?
- A: see my list of pubs with B&B.
- Tenison Road, the Parkers Piece area and Elizabeth Way (for instance) have a number of B&Bs.
- The Arundel House Hotel and its sister establishment the Ashley Hotel of Chesterton Road are reliable family-run hotels.
- The other big hotels in the City are: Garden House Hotel, Crowne Plaza,
The Regent Hotel, University Arms Hotel,
Royal Cambridge Hotel, Gonville Hotel.
- See the Links page for further info.
- Q: recommendations for pubs between the railway station and the Cambridge United football ground?
- A:
- The Live & Let Live, Mawson Road
- free house with ever-changing guest beers plus old favourites;
food every session.
- The Cambridge Blue, Gwydir St.
- another free house with ever-changing guest beers plus old favourites;
no-smoking;
food every session;
large garden with Children's Licence.
- The Alexandra Arms, Gwydir St.
- an excellent Greene King pub with a walled garden;
- The Dobblers, Sturton St. (Charles Wells);
- The Wrestlers, Newmarket Rd. (Charles Wells), specialising in Thai food
- sometimes closed on football match Saturday afternoons.
- See also A Guide to Cambridge Pubs.
- Q: recommendations for pubs between the railway station and the city centre?
- A: this is much harder than the previous answer! Try the various pub guides
but pubs which appear on many people's list of pubs with
good selections of real ale (or otherwise worth a visit) include:
- The Flying Pig at the junction of Station Road and Hills Road;
- The Fountain, Regent Street;
- The Regal, St Andrews Street;
- The Maypole, by the entrance to Park Street car park;
- The Pickerel, Bridge Street;
- The Castle Inn, Castle Street.
- Q: when & where is the next Cambridge Beer Festival?
- A: it is in the last full week in May, just before the Bank Holiday, on Jesus Green.
- For 2004:
- Mon 17-May - Mon 24-May : 31st Cambridge Beer festival set-up
- Mon 24-May - Sat 29-May : 31st Cambridge Beer Festival open
- Sun 30-May - Fri 4-Jun : 31st Cambridge Beer festival take-down
- Q: and the next Winter Ale Festival?
- A: See the Cambridge Winter Ale Festival 2004 Web page.
- Q: when's the next edition of ALE magazine out?
- A: the accurate answer is "when the slender volunteer manpower has had time to produce it".
There are usually four editions per year, not counting any Festival programmes.
See also the News pages.
- Q: can the Branch help me organise a beer festival?
- A: CAMRA has considerable investment - intellectual property - in the set-up of
beer festivals so care has to be taken in this area.
Joint festivals, using the CAMRA logo, have to go though a formal approvals process
to ensure that they are viable, have sufficient staffing support and won't discredit the Campaign.
Other forms of cooperation, such as merely advising, are essentially ruled out, for a number of good reasons.
- In practice, this branch (at least) puts its full effort into its own festivals and has no
spare capacity to help with anyone else's - the small number of activists simply don't have the time.
- Specific practical requests, such as hire of bar counters or supplying old stocks
of beer festival glasses, may well be possible in some circumstances.
The hirer/buyer would need to organise the transport and provide any necessary insurance cover.
- CAMRA HQ has a fundraising unit which may be able to set up a stall.
- The Branch does not normally have the resources to man a products+membership stall at others' festivals
(however much we'd like to) - not enough activists.
- Q: can the Branch help me with a pub or restaurant guide?
- A: similar considerations to beer festivals apply. We can't do anything to harm our own
products (e.g. the Good Beer Guide)
and the limited available time that activists have goes towards Branch activities.
A limited amount of general advice may be possible but surveying pubs is unlikely to be possible.
- We would welcome any opportunity to have a CAMRA "angle" or "presence" - perhaps a membership form and
marking pubs as "CAMRA recommended".
- Q: what is Real Ale?
- A: see Back to Basics - "What's That Then?"
- Q: what's a "free house"?
- A: a free house means a pub that's free of a tie to a brewer (or equivalent supplier).
It's not directly relevant in this context who owns it.
- To put it another way, the landlord has free choice as to where to buy beer.
He/she may of course choose to use a big company as sole supplier, giving the appearance of a tied house.
- And then there's the grey area of pubs which are owned (leasehold or freehold) by the landlord but
the purchase came with a deal to use the previous supplier for n years.
Cambridge & District CAMRA