Cambridge for the first time

Young Master Matthew, or perhaps not quite so young Matthew, has been on leave from work this week. I’d been promising him a day out for some time, and after turning down his suggestion of London – we always seem to gravitate towards the capital, I proposed somewhere further afield. Salisbury was the first destination I came up with, but after checking rail fares, we decided I was rather on the dear side, for Matthew at least, seeing as he doesn’t possess a railcard.

Cambridge came up next and, as the pricing was a lot more sensible, we decided on this city, best known for its famous university. Now it might seem a little strange but having reached the ripe old age of sixty-something, I have to confess to never having visited Cambridge. I’ve by-passed it by car and ridden through it by rail and have even changed trains there, but having never left the confines of the station, I can hardly say that I’ve been to the city.

The crazy thing is that with the introduction of Thameslink rail services, Cambridge is easier than ever to reach by train, from Tonbridge. The journey involves just one change of train at London Bridge, and then it’s a direct Thameslink service to Cambridge. So, none of that messy changing of stations in London, that used to characterise rail journeys to East Anglia.  For example, cheap rail travel to Norfolk, in order to visit my parents, used to be possible with the aid of a Network Southeast card. It involved taking the train to Kings Lynn, which at the time, was part of British Rail’s Network Southeast. My father would then drive to Kings Lynn to collect me and the family.

It was still a pain transferring from London Bridge to Kings Cross, even when using the old Thameslink station in Pentonville Road, but after privatisation we switched to the Liverpool Street-Norwich option which, whilst easily walkable from London Bridge, was not favoured by Mrs PBT’s, who preferred a taxi instead! I am digressing a little but having now experienced the advantages of the seamless travel offered by Thameslink, wanted to make the point.

Our journey on Thursday saw Matthew and I catch the 09.35 train from Tonbridge, and then transferring onto the 10.16 Thameslink train at London Bridge. Matthew even had time to pick up a couple of sausage rolls, as a late breakfast, before boarding the train. My only criticism of the service relates to the rolling stock, as the seats on the lengthy, seamless trains are hard and rather uncomfortable. I get the impression they were not designed with long journeys in mind, but with the return services to Cambridge we used, the trains originated and terminated at Brighton. Also, there are no buffet car facilities – again probably due to most of the journeys being short distance, covering limited sections of the Brighton-Cambridge run. These are small gripes, and we enjoyed a pleasant journey all the way from south of the Thames to Cambridge’s spacious and recently expanded station.

After experiencing a 10-minute delay, just outside Finsbury Park, we arrived in Cambridge shortly before midday, and then set off to walk into the city centre. I hadn’t bothered to print off a map from Google, prior to our journey (big mistake!), as I was relying on finding the Tourist Information Centre. My family mock me for diving into these treasure troves of information, every time we visit a new location, but why take the p*ss over something that is both useful and in the long run, time-saving?

Coming from a different generation, Matthew told me to use my phone instead – something I did end up doing later on, but he then became embarrassed because the volume, from the Google assistant, was too loud. Sometimes you just can’t win!  We found our way into central Cambridge without too much trouble and found the place booming. First impressions were the number of Chinese restaurants we passed, most of which seemed much more authentic (judging by the Chinese writing/characters), than the “westernised” versions we are used to locally. There were also several Korean restaurants – something that reminded me of my visit to Japan. After stopping for a coffee just off the Market Square, we made our way to Kings College and sat on one of the stone benches opposite to enjoy our drinks.

I had it in mind to take a look at the world-famous chapel at Kings, although my philistine son wasn’t quite as keen. “Do we have to?” “I bet you have to pay!” Well of course you do, but just to make sure we wandered across to the entrance to enquire. Tickets were available from the Kings College Shop opposite, with final admissions at 3pm. Whilst there I asked the porter if he could recommend a decent pub nearby.

Without hesitation he suggested we try the Eagle, which was down a side street, virtually opposite the college. I’d carried out some prior research, so knew all about the Watson & Crick connection, but still listed patiently to the story again. Ten there was the one about the US Airmen who used the pub during World War II.

We thanked him and walked over to the pub, both with a king-sized thirst, and after entering the main bar at the front, to order our beers. There was a woman in front of us, complaining about the price of her gin and tonic – she had never been charged so much. Without wishing to stereotype, she was from up north, so perhaps careful with her money, but she seemed to forget she was in a prime tourist spot.

Matthew and I looked at each other with knowing glances, and I shall leave the matter at that, but to me, the £10.20 we paid for a pint of Milton Pegasus plus a pint of Estrella seemed reasonable, given the pub’s location. I asked the barman about the room containing the airmen’s signatures, and was informed it was at the rear of the pub. We made our way through, but the room was packed out, mainly with American veterans, judging by their baseball caps.

We opted for the garden instead and found a vacant table overlooking the courtyard. It was then that we witnessed another act of a demanding (some might say terminally stupid) customer. There was a group of tables opposite us, with canopies above and, as we subsequently discovered, overhead heaters. One of the women sitting there, called a member of staff over and asked if she could have the heating on?

Bearing in mind this was mid-May, and the temperature was a shade under 20°C, I would have told her where to go, or perhaps suggested she put on the coat that was casually draped over the back of her chair. Totally oblivious to rising energy costs and global warming in general, this “entitled”, and rather selfish woman got her way – but really?

The beer was good though, and slipped down well, so suitably refreshed we departed by the side entrance to do a spot of sight-seeing. This involved wandering down to the river, standing on the bridge to photograph the Mathematical Bridge, and then having a look at the visitors queueing up at Scudamore’s Boatyard. Matthew wasn’t keen, as he can’t swim, but having been there and done that (in Oxford, rather than Cambridge), I wasn’t too bothered at missing a punt, especially as it would mean wasting valuable drinking time.

We were both feeling peckish as well, so without further ado, headed back into the city centre, skirting past Newnham College on the way. I was making for the renowned Free Press pub, but having not managed to obtain a map, I was relying on my phone.  I managed to navigate us there successfully and was really pleased that we had made the effort, as the Free Press was a smashing little, multi-room, back street boozer. Unfortunately, we’d arrived slightly too late for something to eat, as the kitchen closes at 2pm weekdays.

A packet of crisps tidied us over until something more substantial could be obtained, but meanwhile a beer was in order. Although the Free Press is tied to Greene King, guest beers are available and the 4.4% abv Spring Ale from Twickenham Brewery that I chose, was the second good pint of the day. St Austell Tribute and Robinson’s Unicorn were the other choices, but being something of a lager lout, Matthew went for the Prahva Lager from Prague.

We had a brief look around, before settling for a table in the right-hand room. There were a few other people in the pub, and I got the impression that the Free Press is a pub for both serious drinking, but also serious conversation. It seemed very much like my sort of pub, and it would have been nice to have stayed for another, but the lack of solid nourishment, meant it was time to move on.

The area surrounding the Free Press had the appearance of a very pleasant neighbourhood, with an abundance of white-painted Victorian cottages. I said as much to Matthew, but I don’t think he quite appreciated what I was saying, especially as my thoughts had been influenced by the presence of several other attractive looking pubs nearby. The Elm Tree, the Cricketers, and the Clarendon, all looked worthy of a visit, and in truth I haven’t seen such a concentration of back street locals for many years. Maidstone and Sevenoaks both used to have areas like this, but sadly no more.

The next pub was the Cambridge Tap, which I somehow mistook for the Cambridge Brewhouse – surely an elementary schoolboy error! The former is a McMullen’s pub, just off the city’s main shopping area, which surprised me with its absence of McMullen’s cask beer. However, having studied the food offering posted outside, there was no way we were going to pass by the chance of something to eat, just because there was no cask.

The food offering was excellent, and I enjoyed one of the best burgers I have had for a long time, with a thick, tasty and really succulent chunk of ground, minced beef. The beers were from McMullen’s Rivertown Brewing subsidiary, which effectively is a craft-keg operation. The 5.6% IPA I opted for went really well with the food, and according to the website is brewed with Mosaic and Rakau hops, chosen for their fruity properties. Matthew, true to form, went for the Pilsner, which he too enjoyed.

Whilst ordering, I had a chat with the bar staff, the Tap is a new venture for McMullen’s in Cambridge, and whilst the bar only opened in December last year, it has proved a great success. I questioned the lack of any McMullen’s cask, and the feeling was it might be introduced at a later date. That might be doubtful, as looking at the clientele it seemed obvious that the brewery was targeting a younger, mainly student market, and if I’m brutally honest the craft-keg IPA was far better than any of Mac’s cask offerings I can recall.

We did a spot of shopping, before heading back to the station. I have been trying to find a plain, white, long-sleeve shirt, of the type suitable for wearing with a suit – it’s for the cruise you see! M&S in Tunbridge Wells were unable to provide one in my size, and whilst their Cambridge outlet could, they were only available in a 3-pack. I don’t want three, particularly when the pack is priced at £45!

Being semi-retired, I am winding down from that sort of stuffy dressing. John Lewis had white shirts, in my size, and sold them singly, but they were all branded, and quite frankly I don’t wish to fork out £75 just to advertise the names of Calvin Klein or Tommy Hilfiger!

Apart from that it was a good day out, even though we really only scratched the surface of Cambridge. There will be some more thoughts to come, on that subject, in a separate post.