Location: Midsummer Common,
Cambridge, CB1 1HA,
UK
Part of the
Cambridgeshire-owning
Greene King brewery and
pub company,
Fort St. George maintains its own identity on the banks of the
Cam. Placed near Town Centre yet bordering the expansive
Midsummer Common (complete with
cows and
everyfing! - well, until the onset of
BSE in
2000 anyway) on one side and the Cam on the other, the Fort has managed to withstand the modern pace of commercial/touristy Cambridge, only 10 minutes away (I'm looking at you,
Lion Yard).
The name
From the official page, paraphrased:In 1639 a small fort was erected on the present site of Madras by the East India Company, and it was named Fort St. George after England's patron saint. Many years later, someone decided that a hostelry on an island in the river Cam bore a resemblance to the fort, and the pub became known by its present name, which stuck.
The Fort is no longer on an island, as the Cam's been rerouted, but it is still right next to one of the main
bike- and
foot-bridges and sees brisk traffic daily. There's a good deal more of the history in news clippings, but as they are plastered all over the inside walls I which I haven't seen in over a year, I am not too sure of the facts. I do recall that it was once located right next to the Cam ferry - which either burned or sank, I believe in the early 1900's. The ferry was replaced with a bridge...
which also burned! Then the Cam was rerouted, the island became a
bank, and a second bridge was built which still stands and is, as mentioned, one of the main ways to get from the
Chesterton Road and
Arbury residential areas to
Town Centre, if you're on foot or bike.
Some features:
4 main congregation areas (5 if you count the large outside area, complete with its own bar, open on warm days), 3 of which are
gambling machine free (!) - in fact there are only two quite forlorn-looking machines in the main area. Each area (the
Main, the
Lounge, the
Restaurant and the
Snug) has its own character, created by clever architectural tricks like raised/lowered floors, extraneous interstitial walls and narrow passageways. There are indeed
darts.
The perfectly good Greene King
Abbot Ale and not so exciting
IPA are always on
real tap, as are your standard
Stella,
Guiness,
Carlsberg and
Strongbow. There's always at least one
guest ale, but they're fairly predictable: you will usually find
Bombardier or
Hen's Tooth, with the occasional
Summer Suffolk thrown in - they don't get all that adventurous, but perhaps it is that Cambridgeshire is not known for an overwhelming presence of breweries.
The St. George boasts a thorough and splendid
menu, although being spoiled by
Austin'
s cheap eateries I found myself goggling in horror at the prices, which start at 8 squids a dish and only go up. I must admit I've only ever had the English specialties of
fish and chips. The chips are particularly good, being actually well...chip-like, and not the thin, tasteless, greasy sticks that show up all too often. Instead they're robust, thick and potatoey, wonder of wonders. While I cannot say I am a Cambridge pub
cognoscenti, I have visited quite a few - and the St. George truly has the best chips. If you're requiring hearty fare, give the sausages & mash a try. Fuel for the whole day, easily. There are quite a few other dishes, from
vegetarian chili to
brie and
grape baguette, to "
linguini with spinach, mushrooms, shallots, crushed garlic & pine nuts in olive oil". There's also the surprising
Thai salad.
For the
visitor unused to non-24hr food providers, lunch is served from noon to 2:30pm Monday through Friday (12-6pm on Saturday), and 6pm to 9pm Monday through Saturday. Then there's the mystical
Sunday Roast, from noon to six.
The Fort has three primary moods; the
quiet, the
festive, and the
familial. It's quiet through most of the week, with few visitors and little staff - being a bit farther away from Centre will do that. On Friday nights it explodes to capacity and beyond with celebrants of all drinking ages; the following weekend it's more of a family place, since the Midsummer Common draws such and it is
right there. Finally, a rare fourth mood is on it as assorted festivals occur on the Common itself - once again, it is its proximity that draws in the passersby. At any time there will be an interesting cross section of pub-going folk there, either enjoying a bitter or engaged in intent conversation. There's nothing really special about it, but perhaps it is that quality that is special in itself. Stop by for a pint.
Sources
http://www.fortstgeorge.com
Near-daily visits over most of the year 2000