The Alexandra Arms (GK, Gwydir Street) and the Spread Eagle (Laurel Pub Co., Lensfield Road) are advertising for new landlords.
The landlord and landlady of the Haymakers (Pubmaster, Chesterton Road) moved in April to the George, Girton (Pubmaster).
The Live & Let Live (Mawson Road) held a Bank Holiday weekend beer festival in May and kept up the tradition of celebrating St George's Day.
The Mitre, Bridge Street, has replaced the fake handpump and fizzy Addlestones Cider with a real handpump dispensing unpressurised Addlestones. This means that the pub will no longer be ruled out of contention for the Good Beer Guide due to use of a misleading method of dispense.
Borders Books Music Cafe opened on 22nd June, beginning the overdevelopment of the Market Passage area with bar/cafe/nightclub venues.
Also new to Cambridge is the "aspirational"
Parisŕ Café Bar in Green Street,
next door to the rear entrance of Borders.
Parisa used to be just an off-licence chain within the old Greenalls group but now
has several dozen cafe-bars featuring food, wines and claims to have beer from its own microbrewery.
The instant impression of this one is that it's similar to All Bar One
and a lot of space is given over to restaurant tables.
There's no real ale but alongside the usual keg suspects there's their own "Silver Ale", which is surprisingly good,
however we understand it's brewed for them by Ryburns Brewery (Yorks.),
in spite of their claims.
[ALE 304 follow-up]
Scottish & Newcastle are rebranding their Rat & Parrot theme pubs - we've yet to hear what'll happen to the two here.
Pubs which could be under threat of change include all the ex-Whitbread ones and the community pubs of Scottish & Newcastle, plus pubs in groups such as Punch Taverns and Nomura (Inntrepreneur, Unique). Generally, the managed pubs in major theme chains seem least likely to be sold, such as Hogsheads and All Bar Ones. Essentially any pub belonging to a pubco could be sold to help buy others deemed "better".
All information is believed correct at time of going to press. If our spies have got anything wrong, please contact the editor, who will be happy to print a correction.