The 1974 CAMRA Good Beer Guide recommends 6 pubs in Cambridge.
Nearly 40 years later, only two of those remain open as pubs – the Cricketer’s (now First and Last) and Elm Tree. The Elm Tree is the only one to have kept it’s name and the only one to also be listed in the 2011 Good Beer Guide.
Ancient Druids – demolished in 1982 to make way for the Grafton shopping centre development. A new pub of that name was built on nearby Napier Street and brewed its own beer for a while, but after refurbishments as the Box Tree and Bar Citrus it closed and is now the Tang Chinese restaurant.
Bun Shop – demolished in the 1970s, the pub once stood on what is now Downing Street, roughly where the back of John Lewis is, but was cleared sometime around the development of the Lion Yard shopping centre. The license was transferred to King Street in the early 80s, but last year that pub was renamed the Jolly Scholar.
Cambridge Arms – closed, now d’Arrys restaurant and bar, but not a pub. The Cambridge Arms suffered various refurbishments in the 1990s, renamed as the Brewery and the Rattle and Hum, throwing out the breweriana and traces of it being the former site of the Cambridge Brewery.
Cricketer’s Arms – open but name recently changed to the First and Last, the original but short-lived name of the pub. Cricketers, First and Last
Elm Tree – open and the only Cambridge pub in the 1974 beer guide to retain its name. Little seems to have changed since then; the dart board, bar billiards and fish tank have long gone, but the pub is atmospheric and full of character, one of the best in Cambridge especially for real ale and Belgian bottled beer.
Mill – closed towards the end of 2011 but at the time of writing is on the market as a free of tie lease.
