PETERBOROUGH.

 Best known for its beer festival:

 This is one of the oldest pubs in Peterborough. According to the talkative landlord it started life as a farmhouse and only later became a pub in 1665! That's right, they had pubs early in these parts. There are three drinking areas, a bar, a lounge both with fireplaces for warm winter nights and a wood paneled snug for those cuddly moments. If you fancy a game or two then you can play shove ha'penny, if that's your bag? Plus there is a children's play area for the summer. The pub served us some decent Elgood's Cambridge Bitter and Greyhound. There were also guest beers, though not when we were there. The building is Grade 1 listed with parts dating back to an ancient 1598. No accommodation though, but it is worth stopping over if you are passing through. (D. Simon)

This pub has had a recent refurbishment after it was closed for a while. This pub has been many things in its life, even a homebrew shop! Once called the Ostrich it is now a good real ale pub that serves six changing cask ales  plus more than sixteen bottled beers. It's a lively place and can get busy. Food is served here, though check to see if evening meals are served too. The kitchen was taken over the drinking space in the last refurbishment so we are not sure of the food quality and variety, but they promised a full bar menu in January 2005 The pub is not far from the station and from the Brewery Tap of Oakham ales. No music or pool so you can drink in peace. On the summer side it has a small beer garden, though there is no grass, just concrete. Try it on a crawl around the town, well worth it. No accommodation here.

 This is the latest addition to the Peterborough nightlife and it's where Oakham Ales now brews all its beers. The outside in pretty inconspicuous except for the large copper top over the doorway. This leads in to a large open bare floor space. The bar is in front of you and serves a good selection of Oakham Ales plus they also do a number of guests. The far wall to the right is a glass one and you can  see the brewing vessels behind it. They look all clean and still. I can never understand  why people want to see them. Seating is stools at the bar and modern looking tables and chairs around the  edge. There is also an upstairs balcony area with the same tables and chairs. Food is served during lunch and evening seven days a week and is all Thai. There are many choices, a large selection come with a vegetarians option, rice and/or noodles are extra. This is not a bottle bar for the Saturday night loop crowd, but it does have a large selection of wines and a couple of draught Belgian beers. Very trendy in side  - it is all light bright wood, etc. Worth a visit to find almost all of the regular Oakham Ales on at any one time. Downstairs OK for disabled, but balcony off limits. Open all day from 12 noon. Car parking close by as is the railway station. No accommodation here.

The pub is a Dutch barge built in 1907 and now moored upstream of town bridge. In fact it is opposite the site of the Peterborough beer festival and provides a haven from the afternoons when the festival is closed. It was pub of the year 1994. There is a large restaurant above the drinking area with good wholesome food - now doing oriental food at lunchtimes 12-2.30pm and evenings 6-10.30pm. It now owns Oakham Ales and stocks their full range which is great. The beers on sale at the time were Oakham JHB, Hunky Dory and Old Tosspot, Bass and Fuller's London Pride. There were also three other guest beers that often include porters. There always 10 beers on sale!!!! It is also one of few pubs using oversized glasses, though that means you get a head - yuk! No accommodation of course (worse luck), though there are plenty of places to stay within a stone throw. Try calling the tourist information. Bound to be busy around festival time as they had something like 50,000 visitors last time - I accounted for at least four of those!

Originally converted from two cottages back in the early 19th. Century, the Public House and land as it is now has been transformed and renovated into a spectacular area whilst retaining the overall original traditional feel and style of the buildings. Serving home cooked food at reasonable prices, the Cherry Tree has mini jazz festivals and other events throughout the year. Real ales feature here and there is usually one, maybe two on. Food is available Monday to Saturday 12-2pm and 6-9pm, Sunday 12-6pm. Sunday lunch is a little expensive at £7 or so, but is filling. No accommodation here.

Another new pub in Peterborough and it looks as though it will be a good one. On this visit it had only just opened (early for the beer festival) and so was still being decorated. Nonetheless, the beers were excellent. An outlet for Milton beers, there are three on permanently (Minotaur, Babylon and Pegasus), plus four/five guest ales. On during the beer festival were beers from Mighty Oak Bronze, Tring, Iceni and Lidstones. All were served without sparkler and tasted great in the oversized glasses. A real cider is also sold. The decor is still in flux, but here will be a flagstone floor being laid at the time and dark wooden benches and tables. These are set about the single room in the nooks and crannies and use the chimney breast to good effect. Some high stools are also on offer around tall round tables. The toilets are down some steps and will be the last thing to get a make over, though no sign of a disabled toilet. There will be a beer garden too, where you can soak up the sun and watch the dogs run about (two big ones). The bar welcomes you to the left of the entrance and has eight handpumps on it - all full. We were not sure there would be any food when it is fully open and so we recommend you call in advance to check. Well worth a short detour if you are on your way to the Palmerston/Cherry Tree/Charters. On the south of the river, not far from the beer festival and London Road where there is lots of accommodation.

Another tasteful JD Wetherspoon conversion at the top of town, not far from the Fitzwilliam below. There is the usual no smoking area at the far end and a small walled beer garden to the left of the entrance here. Sensible prices for real ale are matched by sensible prices for food which is served all day until 10pm (though service can be slow at lunchtimes). Their 2 for £5.99 deals are so legendary that other chains have had to follow suit, though portions are not what they were. Guest ales on at the time were: 100 Century Ale, Hopback Summer Lightening, Exmoor Gold, Grainstore Gold and Caledonian Merman XXX. These good ales were complimented by the smoke free area and the lack of piped music.

This is a traditional Greene King pub serving the three main ales from the Suffolk brewer. Food is served Monday-Saturday 12-2 & 6.15-8.30, Sunday 12-2. There is a no smoking area for eating and drinking. Access for the disabled is possible.

This white building is the size of a shop front outside, but goes back quite a way. In fact it has a pool room and a reasonable amount of seating. The floors are bare and it can get a crush at times. The walls are plain with a few things dotted about them. The Flower serves up to 5 real ales, Everads Tiger, Felnland Sparkling Wit, Grainstore Ten Fifty, Oakham JHB) all well kept and served. They also stock quite a few wines for those who do not like beer. Food is served lunch 12-2 Monday to Saturday and 7-9pm Wednesday to Saturday. Open 11.30-11pm, it is closed all day Sunday. Situated just off Westgate first block down. Disabled access is bad as there are steep steps. No accommodation here.

The beers tend to be served with a tight sparkler here, but don't be shy, ask them to take it off. This is a single roomed pub at the top of town (follow The Broadway to the top and round to the left). The bar covers the compete frontage of the pub and has mostly pine furniture with stools and square tables, though there are a couple of padded benches along wood walls too. The strange thing is the  high wood screen directly in line with the door as you enter. There are only  stools behind which actually clog up the bar space. The bar is long and there are plenty of Payne beers to choose from. Access for the disabled is fair as there is only a small step into the pub as can be seen from the picture (right). To the left of the entrance is the sitting area and to the right is the pool table which has a lot of space around it. There is no food served here at present. Outside at the rear is a large beer garden with a play area for children. There is also lighting here for dark evenings. There is no accommodation here but there is the De Rosalia Hotel just 20 yards away (01733) 341128.

Additional Notes:

The Yard is not far from the Peterborough Beer Festival site next to the river and not far from the famous passport office on the edge of town. The area is not so salubrious, but the pub has a warm welcoming atmosphere and three guest ales on - a blackboard by the bar informs you of this week's selection - beer prices tend to be around the £2 mark. There are two rooms to this pub both served from the one 'L' shaped bar. Both rooms resemble an estate pub in decor and it can be dark inside during the day. The walls are covered with local memorabilia, and there are plenty of nooks and crannies to relax in and feel private. There is also a large conservatory which receives plenty of light in the summer and you can eat your weekday lunch here (they don't serve evening meals or at weekends). Other highlights include a no-smoking area and a children's play area which is adjacent to the beer garden and car park. Access is also available for the disabled to most areas of the pub. For those travelling to Peterborough by train, the Yard is on the opposite side of town, but as the centre is not that big, it is within half a mile.

A good pub that serves up to four real ales and one is always a mild. The building dates from the 1930s and has decor to match in places. It is relatively untouched. They like their pub teams here and the public bar has lots of them for most of the usual sports. If you get the chance look out for the Warwick's Brewery window - another long lost brewer closed by competition. No accommodation here but see other entries on this page. Children welcome in the back room.

Another would be Hogshead style freehouse. All pine wood and tall shelves this time with wooden booths and soft cushioned bench seats. Owned by the brother of the Wetherspoon pub group, only not as successful. They do serve over 5 real ales at any one time, though they tend to stick to the more well known ones for some reason. Food is served all day and is traditional, choices for vegetarians have got better since our last visit. Disabled access is good, no accommodation. Pleasant enough atmosphere, though can get busy Friday/Saturday night with the youth crowd. Well worth a visit during the week and for the real ale and food.

Part of the large shopping centre in the heart of Peterborough, this seems to be a Greene King pub, but it does serve the occasional guest ale. Lots of dark wood inside it does have large windows out back to let light in. The bar is a semi-circular thing at one end. Food is served at lunchtimes and through the afternoon, but the pub becomes a youth haunt in the evenings. Pop in if you are in the shopping centre, you have to leave the centre for about 10 yards to find the entrance, but it's not too bad a place.

As Cambridgeshire CAMRA pub of the year 1998 the Palmerston Arms is like a house from the front and once inside is just the same with low ceilings and a mix of 1960's furniture that is reminiscent of a landed estate pub. There are two bars, lounge and public. The lounge carpet is dark and heavily patterned and it's only the reasonably bright walls that give it enough light. On the walls are pub mirrors and notice the ashtrays used as wall plaques. A real fire place is redundant due to electric wall heaters. Seating is old tables and chairs plus three benches/pews and a sofa. The bar is wooden with a hops overhang. Three handpumps adorn the bar - all guests. On this time were Taylors Dark Mild, Black Sheep Riggleswelter and Woodforde's Wherry. The public bar has a tile floor and the ceiling appears spookily higher. The real fireplace holds a fake effect electric fire and the walls are adorned with cigarette cards in frames. Furniture matches that in the lounge. No food here but crisps/snacks. Access for the disabled is not good; a large step down into the pub, steps to toilets. Toilets are basic but clean. Outside there is a small beer garden/patio walled from the road outside. The railway station is across the river and you can cut across via a footbridge/cycle path. A cosy friendly pub that you should visit given the chance. No accommodation here.

At the top of town not far from the Wetherspoon and the Oakham Brewery Tap. More a live music venue, but it does serve lots of real ales until 2am Thursday to Saturday. No accommodation, but would you want to stay here with all that noise! A beer garden for the daytime is available, note the blues brothers mannequins, see last picture below.

	Symbols:		Open:	Monday-Saturday:	Sunday:	Map	Pics
				11-11 (2am Thu-Sat)	12-10.30	View

Perfectly placed this pub is a short hop from the railway station and you can see the Oakham Brewery Tap from the front door. So, well worth a stop, though not necessarily for the choice of beers as it only serves Sam Smith's OBB. However, it is kept well, and cant be found everywhere. The food is also good, with large portions on our visit, though the range is traditional and there is a limited choice for vegetarians. Prices are fair for the food. You enter in the middle almshouse and the bar is in front of you, though you have to choose to go left or right to get to it. To the right is the no smoking area with a small bar area - there is seating in the window at oblong tables. A further two areas are beyond this, the final area being the larger where square tables and chairs are set out on a flag floor with a large fireplace. This area is naturally smoke free and people free as sadly people still like to drink with their smoke. This born out by visiting the right hand side of the pub - incidentally where the toilets are - again a small bar area serves customers at bar stools and has the window seats and pews. However, and despite there being no more than a handful of smoking customers, the smoke in this section as bad - or maybe it was having sat in the no smoking part for some time. In any case, the toilets are here and you must brave the cloud. Access for the disabled is possible to the bar area, but the toilet are up a step - unless there is a disabled toilet that is not labelled on the level, but we saw no evidence for it. No accommodation here, but there is plenty available in Peterborough.

	Symbols:		Open:	Monday-Saturday:	Sunday:	Map	Pics
				11-11	12-10.30	View

(Try also Silks Bar at The Thorpe Lodge Hotel, 83 Thorpe Road, Peterborough, 01733 348759. Oakham ales and guests. )

The Fayre Spot and Goodly, Bretton Centre, Peterbourough. Real ales. Music Friday eve. Food: 11-2.30pm (Sun 12-2.30pm). 01733 842518. www.cresset.co.uk

Cock Inn, 1305 Lincoln Road, Werrington, Peterborough. (01733) 572408. Daily food, TV, beer garden, new guest ales every month, live music.

Eight Bells, 211 Lincoln Rd, Peterborough. (01733) 897489. Adnams Bitter , Landlord, Adnams Broadside. Live music, pool, beer garden. Open: Mon Closed, Tue-Thu 5-11pm, Fri 4-11pm, Sat 2-11pm, Sun 5-10.30pm.

Other pubs without recommendation are: