One of the pubs included in the Guide is the local branch of CAMRA’s 2019 Pub of the Year, the Chestnut Tree, West Wratting, which has been in every edition since 2014.
Alistair Cook, Pubs Officer said: “We have over 200 pubs in our area so to be one of the 26 is an achievement in itself. As some pubs come into the Guide, it is inevitable that others will miss out. I’m sure that their licensees will be hoping they make a swift return. The standard was again impressive and several fine pubs only narrowly missed out.”
Each year local branch members are invited to give their opinions, both directly and by beer scoring, on the area's pubs. The top 26 eligible pubs are submitted to go into the Good Beer Guide.
The Cambridge area is renowned for its excellent pubs serving a fine range of well kept, often locally brewed, real ales. The Cambridge and District branch’s entries reflect the diversity of the best pubs, urban, suburban and rural, free houses and tied, large and small, those that do food and those that don’t. What they all have in common is the quality of their real ales.
Consistently high beer quality is not about a pub’s bricks and mortar; it is down to the hard work and cellar management of the licensee and pub staff. If a pub has a change of licensee and there is no continuity in the cellar-work then that pub is excluded from the Guide.