rhythm and boozeFood, Booze, Bands & News - Issue 11 - January/February 2012

So popular was the pub crawl by bus feature

in the last issue that we’ve researched

another for this one. However, having read

that his Greene King pub served ‘ping ding’

food and “for something fresher, carry on

walking along Lincoln Road until you reach

the Cock Inn”, Mike Chalk, Trainer (sic)

Manager at The Crab & Winkle, wrote to

ask the reason for my comments.

So I wrote back: I can assure you that no

offence was meant, simply that as a Greene

King house you serve the same menu as

other members in the chain and beer brewed

in Bury St Edmunds which is 70 miles from

the pub.

The Cock Inn on the other hand serves

locally sourced home cooked food and many

of its beers are brewed less than 30 miles

away, in fact with Oakham Ales and Castor

Ales being so close, they often serve a guest

ale brewed less than seven miles away.

As I’ve heard nothing further from Mike, I

hope that my reply cleared things up.

Supermarket sweep?

Staying on the subject of Werrington pubs,

The Ploughman (which was awarded Pub of

The Year by Peterborough CAMRA in 2011)

has come under threat from the impending

redevelopment of the Tesco store next door.

Although there are plans to build a new

family pub/restaurant elsewhere in the

shopping centre, it would be offered to the

highest bidder, putting maximum financial

gain above any community aspect (believe

it or not, well run pubs are just as important

as a post office or community centre) and

would more likely than not, be tied to a

single brewery, preventing it from serving

the wide range of beers that The Ploughman

has been commended for. To sign the

petition, supporting the retention of The

Ploughman, visit savetheploughman.com

THEWHITE HORSEA traditional village pub offering good food, real ale, comfortable

accommodation & friendly service

Main Street, Empingham, NearOakham, Rutland LE15 8PS

01780 460221www.whitehorserutland.co.uk

The woes of Werrington

Out 23 January 2012

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Hand & Heart12 Highbury Street. Peterborough PE1 3BE

01733 564653

A traditional back-street pub withup to six real ales at any time

nReal open coal fire in the bar

nTraditional pub games

nRegular beer festivals and live music

nTraditional cider and perry available

nCAMRA Cambridgeshire Pub of the Year 2010

nCAMRA Gold Award Winner 2010

nLocAle Accredited

nMember of the Oakademy of Excellence

nListed in the CAMRA 2012 Good Beer Guide

Occasionally of an evening

in a pub you’ll see people

playing a game with cards

and a peg-board that looks

like a cross between

Battleships and Mastermind.

They are playing Cribbage, a

game apparently invented by

the poet Sir John Suckling in

the early 1600s as a way of

paying off his gambling

debts. Think about that for

a moment, he owed lots of

money, so invented a game to

win money, and people played

him at his own game and they

lost. Cribbage is still one of

the few games that you are

legally allowed to have small

wagers on in pubs, as it is a

game of skill not chance.

The game is played with cards

dealt to the players who opt

to discard either one or two

(depending on how many are

playing) so that they only

hold a hand of four. The

discarded cards form the

‘crib’, an extra hand of four

cards for the dealer. The

remainder of the deck is cut

to show the starting card.

Play continues with each

player laying cards without

exceeding 31. Points are

scored for various plays.

Once all of the hands have

been played, points are

scored again. The dealer can

then score the crib hand as

well. Pegs are moved around

the board to keep a note of

the scores. The first player to

reach the target score (often

61 or

121)

is the

winner.

Cribbage is regarded as the

semi-official pastime of

American submariners with

the wardroom of the most

senior vessel in the American

navy having the honour of

holding a particular cribbage

board. Phrases from the game,

‘muggins’, ‘pegging out’

and ‘streets ahead’ being

examples, have entered into

common parlance.

Cribbage is played in a

number of local pubs and

there is even a local league

and we would like to hear

from any local pubs where

you can play it.

The Surrealist Sportsman’s ClubIn this issue, David ‘Dai’Roll turns his attention to Cribbage.

Avoid The Winter Blueswith live music on Saturday nights

The Golden PheasantMain Street, Etton, Peterborough PE6 7DA - 01733 252387

www.thegoldenpheasant.net

January7th - Claddagh (four piece Irish band)

14th - Ain’t Misbehavin’ n 21st - Pennyless

28th - Country Knights

February4th - Rocket ‘57 n 11th - Dr A's Rhythm and Grooves

18th - The Jazz Pidgins (tbc)

9-11 Oundle Road, Peterborough PE2 9PB - 01733 703495

www.cherrytree-inn.co.uk

Winner of a CAMRA Gold Award, find us in the Good Beer Guide 2012

THE CHERRY TREEnFive Real Ales availableincluding Landlord, White

Dwarf plus various LocAles

nOpen all day, everyday

nQuality food at sensibleprices, served daily

nAmple parking

nChildren’s play area

nCovered smoking area

nLive music every weekend

Pub ScrawlThere’s a busy few months

ahead for the arts in the

Fenland area; starting with

the Whittlesea Straw Bear

Festival, held in Whittlesey,

from 13-15 January.

On 14 January Poets United

will be performing at the

town’s library from 12.30 to

13.30, and between 15.30 and

16.30, while the Cambridge

Storytellers can be found at

the United Reformed Chapel

on Queen Street from 12.30

until 15.15.

Time is running out to find

the first Fenland Poet

Laureate in a competition

organised by Atelier East and

the Wisbech and Fenland

Museum. If you live, work or

study in the area, then you

have until 17.00 on 27

January to submit your poem

on the subject of Fenland. For

rules and further information,

visit www.atelier-east.co.uk

The excellent King’s Lynn

Literature Festival is always

worthy of an early mention;

this year it will be held over

the weekend of 9-11 March

and further information can be

found at www.lynnlitfests.com

Overlapping this Fenland-

based event, which has been

running since 1984, is the

Oundle Literature Festival.

Held from 10-18 March,

further information on the

festival, which is in its’ tenth

year, is available at

www.oundlelitfest.org.uk

With his beloved Brighton &

Hove Albion playing at

London Road on 21 January,

‘ranting’ poet Attila the

Stockbroker (pictured

above) will be topping off

his trip to Peterborough

with an appearance at The

Coalheavers’ Arms, Park

Street. Performing a selection

of his poems and songs –

aided by Nelson, his mandola

– expect a mixture of classic

material and tracks from new

album, Bankers & Looters.

The parishes of Barnack

Ward, which includes

Helpston, have issued a series

of leaflets offering walks

around John Clare country.

Handy and informative, they

are just right for those of us

who fancy a stretch of the

legs across the old Northants

landscape and are available

from the Visitor Destination

Centre on Bridge Street, John

Clare Cottage in Helpston and

online at www.parishnews-on-

line.co.uk/index.php/clare-

country-walks

This issue’s Local Hero is

someone I should have

mentioned ages ago, the

wonderful June Counsel.

June served in the WRENS

and during WWII was part of

the large team at Bletchley

Park who (building upon the

Polish success before the start

of the war) broke the

ENIGMA code. Moving to

Peterborough, she became a

teacher and her first book,

Mostly Timothy, was

published in 1971. Her 1984

book, A Dragon in Class 4,

was followed by a series of

sequels and her adult short

story collection, Once upon

Our Time, was published in

2000 by Glyndley Books,

with illustrations by Marcus

Sedgewick. She inspired

many children (and adults) to

try and write, and for that she

deserves to be awarded the

title of Local Hero.

Finally, World Book Night

takes place on 23 April. If you

know of any pubs or clubs

that are planning to celebrate

it then drop me a line at

cardinalcox1@yahoo.co.uk

nCardinal Cox is an enthusiastic amateur drinker

who contributed the film notes

for Peterborough Film

Society’s last season.

by C

ard

ina

l C

ox

The Cardinal’s Calendar 3 January/7 February – Poets United meet for a mixture of readingsand writing to a pre-set theme. Ring Viv on 01733 340560 for details.

4 January/1 February – Peterborough Science Fiction Club at the

Bluebell Inn, Dogsthorpe, meetings start at 20.00.

11 January/8 February – Pint of Poetry, Dash of Drama open mic

nights at Charters Bar. Starting at 20.30, anyone wishing to read

should arrive about 20.00, as it can get quite busy.

Unlike last issue’s trip

between Werrington and The

Ortons, a pub-crawl on Kimes

Buses, from Peterborough to

Oakham, requires military

precision. Not only is the

Number 9 an hourly service,

three of its journeys don’t

run on a Saturday, meaning

you will have to miss out

Stamford and Oakham.

A group of us caught the

10.40 service from Bay 9 of

Queensgate Station, buying a

£6 Adult Rover and arriving

at Empingham in Rutland at

11.45. Getting off just after

the crossroads, walk a short

way forward until you find

The White Horse (www.white-

horserutland.co.uk) on the

opposite side of the road.

Time was tight, so we were

unable to try the pub’s

extensive menu but were

able to warm ourselves by

the open fire and enjoy a

well-kept ale; three out of

the four hand pumps were in

use, offering a selection of

Sharp’s Doom Bar, Adnams

Southwold Bitter and Timothy

Taylor Landlord.

Leaving the pub, we turned

left and walked to the stop to

pick up the 12.20 towards

Stamford, getting off four

minutes later at The Plough

(www.theplough

-greatcasterton.co.uk) in

Great Casterton. The bar,

found by entering on the left,

is a cosy room (complete with

open fire) that serves Greene

King IPA and Wychwood

Hobgoblin; for those with

time to eat, there is a menu

offering locally sourced and

seasonal food.

Once you leave The Plough,

turn left and keep walking a

short while until you reach

Great Casterton’s other pub,

The Crown Inn (www.crown-

inn.net), which has a menu

offering bar snacks, pub

favourites and a wide variety

of pizzas. The beers on offer

were IPA and Charles Wells

Bombardier; unfortunately

the IPA had turned but the

landlady swapped our drinks

for Bombardier with no

problems and sent someone

off to change the barrel.

From the bus stop, just

Bussed in for a pint

Our crawl started at The White Horse in Empingham.

outside the pub, we caught

the 13.24 service for the

longest part of our journey,

with the exception of the trip

to Empingham. Looking out

of the window as we went

through Wittering, I noticed

a pub called The Phoenix.

Taking a look at its Facebook

page (bit.ly/vo7Qdo), I’m

glad we didn’t stop there,

and instead arrived in

Wansford at 14.03.

From the bus shelter, walk

back to the crossroads where

the Old North Road meets

Peterborough Road; continue

onto Bridge End, walking

across the bridge (taking care

to avoid the traffic). On the

left is the Haycock Hotel

(www.thehaycock.co.uk),

which includes the AA

Rosette Award winning

Orchards Restaurant. Three

of the bar’s four hand pumps

were in use, offering Crouch

Vale Essex Boys, Bass and

Southwold Bitter.

Over the road is The Paper

Mills, where we were very

impressed by its Sunday

dinner, not to mention the

bread and butter pudding, on

a visit to the area at the start

of last year. The beers on

offer during this visit were

Bateman’s Victory Ale,

Woodforde’s Wherry and

Fuller’s London Pride.

Sadly The Cross Keys was

closed, not to reopen until

18.30, so we walked back to

the bus shelter to catch the

15.03 to Castor, arriving

outside Fratelli’s Restaurant

10 minutes later.

A bit of a breather

As there wasn’t another bus

until 17.23 – the bus leaves

Stamford 10 minutes later

than usual on this run – we

hoped we could grab a bite

to eat. Unfortunately The

Prince of Wales Feathers

(princeofwalesfeathers.co.uk)

stops serving food at 14.30,

so our late lunch was made

up of crisps and nuts.

Thankfully, the beer selection

more than makes up for it,

offering Tydd Steam Leveller,

Welton Headless Horseman,

Breconshire Cribyn, Adnams

Broadside and Imperial

Palace Ale, brewed by the

village’s own Castor Ales.

There was also a hand pump

dispensing Cromwell Cider.

Leaving the pub, we

retraced our steps past

Fratelli’s and on to our final

stopping point, The Royal

Oak. A menu was written up

on the chalkboard by the bar

however, like the previous

pub, we had arrived too late.

The beers on offer were

Jennings Bitter and familiar

faces from our other stops,

Landlord, Southwold Bitter

and Wherry.

After a couple of rounds,

we went to the bus stop

outside to board the final

service of the day, the 17.23

to Peterborough. Earlier on

we had planned to stop off at

Longthorpe and then walk

along Thorpe Road, but after

a long day, everyone agreed

that it was time to go home.

The Plough is one of two pubs in Great Casterton.

R E V I E W SJames Apollo

The Malt Cross, Nottingham – 22 November

There’s no shortage of pubs in Nottingham

and a fair number of them feature music of

some sort or another. A recent addition to

my list of good venues in the city is The Malt

Cross in St James Street, just off Maid Marion

Way. They have regular gigs there and I went

along to check out American singer/songwriter

James Apollo on his recent visit to the UK.

It is a fascinating pub – a long, thin building

with a galleried upper floor which gives it the

overall feeling similar to being inside an old

ship. The bar is on the ground floor and takes

up most of one wall with a good choice of real

ales plus various continental beers on draught

and in bottles. The coffee’s not bad either.

The small stage area is at the far end of the

room on the upper level and James Apollo and

musicians, upright bass plus mostly-brushed

drums and percussion managed to share this

with The Cadbury Sisters, who not only were

the very fine support act for this tour but also

provided backing vocals for James and hand-

clapping as required.

James’ songs tend to revolve around mostly

dark, emotion-filled lyrics wrapped within

shifting rhythms which see him arched over

his guitar, producing a stirring blend of music

which reflects his exceptional broad range of

interests and influences. Behind the musicians,

the lighting was casting huge shadows on the

tall wall, adding to the almost gothic

atmosphere. He was naturally featuring

material from his current album, Til Your Feet

Bleed, such as the deceptively titled Happiness,

a few samplers for the next one he is already

working on, plus songs such as Call Off The

Violins from his splendid record Angels We

Have Grown Apart. A cover of Bill Withers’

Ain’t No Sunshine brought the set to a close.

It was fascinating stuff but sadly only a few

had gone along to listen to this emerging talent

on a Tuesday night and those of us who wanted

to enjoy it had to compete with the chattering

classes and casual bar tourers. Both performer

and venue deserve better nights than this

and both are certainly worthy of further

investigation. Perhaps someone else can drive

next time though? David Brown

Secret Affair

229 Club, London - 26 November

Harrington jackets, striped jackets, shiny

suits, tab collars, Ben Sherman and Fred Perry

shirts, even a couple of ladies wearing

knee-length PVC boots. Oh yes, it must be a

mod revival night.

A good night it was too with two revived

outfits plus a DJ playing some suitable sounds

from the likes of The Small Faces and The

Who through to Eddie & The Hot Rods to keep

us singing along between sets.

First up were The Lambrettas for a fast and

furious 45 minutes of mod music that remained

true to the sound that gave them some success

in the period 1979-1982 with singles and

albums released on Elton John’s Rocket

Records label. From the off the crowd were

shouting for Poison Ivy, which gave them their

biggest hit in 1980, and singer Doug Sanders

promised they’d get it, but not until they blown

the dust of a selection of their finest like the

ever-cheeky Cortinas.

Less than half-an-hour after The Lambrettas

had scooted off, Secret Affair took to the stage,

the 21st century version of another band that

did us proud back in ‘79-’82. The original

four-piece band formed by Ian Page and Dave

Cairns, survivors from the New Hearts, had

made an almost instant assault on the charts

with Time For Action, a song whose lyrics

seem as apt today as they did back then.

Currently an eight-piece line-up with extra

punch provided by a brass section plus some

fine Hammond organ riffs, they gave us their

hits such as My World, Let Your Heart Dance

and Sound of Confusion, together with the

moody sax-laced Streetlife Parade and even a

couple of Motown classics for good measure.

Their Glory Boys anthem and style statement

as adapted by their loyal followers was saved

for the first encore and while we might have

heard the band sound better in the past, it

was good to see and hear them in action again.

It was certainly a night worth getting dressed

up for. David Brown

I ♥ Peterborough

The Key Theatre - 24 November

Written by Joel Horwood, who won a Cameron

Mackintosh Award for the play Mikey the

Pikey, I ♥ Peterborough is a black comedy

which follows junkies Gary and Tiger as they

attempt to honour the memory of their friend

Stig. From getting chucked out of Stig’s

funeral to a plot to steal and scatter his ashes,

the pair lurch from one disaster to another with

hilarious, if occasionally tragic results.

As a scripted read through, in preparation for a

visit to the Edinburgh Festival, there were

limited props but shouted stage directions and

an atmospheric soundtrack, performed by

Doctor Who’s Arthur Darvil, filled in the gaps.

Despite it’s title, and the odd mention of Eye

and Burghley Road, there’s little to connect the

play with Peterborough. However I’m sure that

ambiguities such as “those posh boys from the

public school” can be fleshed out a little before

its Edinburgh debut. That niggle aside, I’m

certain the play can go onto bigger and better

things, perhaps even as a short film.

The Stage, 16 Market Place, Market

Deeping, Peterborough PE6 8EA

So popular are the pubs that serve food in

Market Deeping, it’s often difficult to find

somewhere to sit at lunchtime. Unusually on

my visit to The Stage, there were plenty of

tables available. After a look through the menu

I decided on the Stage Burger – a bacon

cheeseburger – while my colleague, who went

to place the order, fancied the home made soup

of the day.

After some considerable time my colleague

returned, having been delayed by a faulty card

reader. As we talked, we managed to lose track

of time and it was only as I was finishing my

pint of Timothy Taylor Landlord that I realised

that we had been forgotten about.

Asking a waitress what was going on, we were

given a mumbled “I’m not sure”, with no hint

of apology, and had to wait a bit longer before

our food finally arrived.

The tomato soup was home made as promised

and came with a massive chunk of crusty

bread, while the Stage Burger was 100% (good

quality) beef and was accompanied by hand-

cut, double-cooked, chips which could easily

have come from one of Market Deeping’s

award winning chip shops.

Thankfully, the food made up for the delays we

had faced, if not the piped Christmas music,

and I was even given an excuse to have a

second pint during my lunch break.

LISTINGSCock Inn

1305 Lincoln Road,

Werrington

Peterborough PE4 6LW

01733 322006

January

07 - The Wash

14 - The Sound Injectors

20 - The Returns

21 - Electric Warriors

27 - The Rainmen

The Blue Bell Inn

Welland Road,

Peterborough PE1 3SA

01733 554890

January

06 - Jelly Fish

07 - Retrolux

13 - Hooker

14 - Porky Pig

20 - On The Ceiling

21 - High Rollers

27 - Kit Kat Disco

28 - Jamin

The Cherry Tree

9-11 Oundle Road

Peterborough PE2 9PB

01733 703495

January

07 - Sweet revenge

13 - Citizen Smith

14 - TBA

20 - Attic til Dawn

21 - Grumpy Old Men

27 - Black Rose

28 - Frankly my Dear

February

04 - Slide to open

10 - Alladinsane

17 - Porky Pig

18 - Or wat

24 - Sellout

25 - Cutting loose

The Golden Pheasant

Main Street, Etton,

Peterborough PE6 7DA

01733 252387

January

07 - Claddagh

14 - Ain’t Misbehavin’

21 - Pennyless

28 - Country Knights

February

04 - Rocket ‘57

11 - Dr A's Rhythm and

Grooves

18 - The Jazz Pidgins

(tbc)

The Hand & Heart

12 Highbury Street,

Peterborough PE1 3BE

01733 564653

January

05 - Irish Music night

08 - The Contrast

19 - Captain Backwash

and the Barley Boy &

Girl Rafter Raisers

21 - Ian Graham & Kat

Moore

26 - Cheese Club

February

02 - Irish Music night

09 - Open Mic Night

16 - Captain Backwash

and the Barley Boy &

Girl Rafter Raisers

18 - Filthy Lucre

23 - Cheese Club

The Ostrich Inn

17 North Street,

Peterborough PE1 2RA

01733 746370

January

01 - The Davidson-

Woods Band

06 - The OverDubs

07 - Slide To Open

13 - Pearology

14 - Under_Covered

20 - The Influence

21 - Halo

27 - Eclectic Ballroom

28 - Leon

February

03 - One Eyed Cats

04 - Mid Life Crisis

10 - The R'n'B Band

11 - Frankly My Dear

17 - Retrolux

18 - The System

24 - High Rollers

25 - Taking Care Of

Business

Prince of Wales Feathers,

38 Peterborough Road,

Castor, Peterborough

PE5 7AL

01733 380222

January

14 - Karaoke

25 - Burns’ Night

February

04 - One Eyed Cats

* All listings given in

good faith, Rhythm &

Booze cannot be held

responsible for any

discrepancy.

To submit listings for the

March/April 2012 issue

of Rhythm & Booze, or

to enquire about

advertising, email

simonstabler@aol.com

before 9 February

2012.cember 2011.

Rhythm & Booze, Issue 11 - Jan/Feb 2012. All written material, unless otherwise stated, © Simon Stabler

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