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11-13 April 2025
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Close to Parker's Piece, this intimate, friendly pub serves high-quality food and great beer. The rare Greene King XX Mild was its best seller until Greene King stopped brewing it. Pub regulars still cuss when GK are mentioned. Guest beers are from Greene King's seasonal and guest lists, including Jarl from Fyne Ales, a Weston's Old Rosie cider is also available. It has an interesting selection of unusual spirits such as English whisky and a range of bottled beers.
A pub since 1834, it just survived the 1970s Kite area redevelopment. Only the tiny snug is from the original pub. The other two rooms are a loving reconstruction and the quality of the restoration means that the pub is included by CAMRA in its listing of pubs that are Outstanding Conversions or Restorations. Local pictures, historic newspapers and printing type cases containing nick-nacks decorate the walls. The rowing eight bow hanging from the front bar ceiling is from the crashed 1984 Cambridge varsity boat. When students relished a frivolous challenge, Downing once got 59 in the snug. Bench seating out front and a walled garden at the rear. A recent addition is the "press room" in the garden.
Historic Interest
The pub is named after a temperance movement newspaper that lasted for just one edition.
A visit to the Free Press is recommended to see the tiny snug, surely the smallest pub room in Cambridgeshire. The snug is formed by a partition wall with low door and measures approximately 6 ft x 5 ft. The Free Press reopened in the late 1970s after a period of closure as the area around it was redeveloped. Practically all the fittings - bar counter, bar back, dado panelling with fixed seating attached and the fireplaces are 1970s direct replacements for the original ones, including those in the snug but some original material survives including the set of handpumps which date back to the 1940s, but a photo in the pub indicates they are not in their original position.
The layout changes include the removal of a wall that created the off sales alongside the snug - go outside and you can see the door has been blocked up - however, the two original swing seats still remain attached to the partition to the snug. Other changes include the amalgamation of the small right hand bar, which is served via a hatch, with the private sitting room behind which doubles the size of the room; and the creation of an opening between the two bars - the entrance to the right hand bar is no longer used. However, the outside toilets remain, albeit there is now a covered walkway between the pub and them.
A visit to the Free Press is recommended to see the tiny snug, surely the smallest pub room in Cambridgeshire. The snug is formed by a partition wall with low door and measures approximately 6 ft x 5 ft. The Free Press reopened in the late 1970s after a period of closure as the area around it was redeveloped. Practically all the fittings - bar counter, bar back, dado panelling with fixed seating attached and the fireplaces are 1970s direct replacements for the original ones, including those in the snug but some original material survives including the set of handpumps which date back to the 1940s, but a photo in the pub indicates they are not in their original position.
The layout changes include the removal of a wall that created the off sales alongside the snug - go outside and you can see the door has been blocked up - however, the two original swing seats still remain attached to the partition to the snug. Other changes include the amalgamation of the small right hand bar, which is served via a hatch, with the private sitting room behind which doubles the size of the room; and the creation of an opening between the two bars - the entrance to the right hand bar is no longer used. However, the outside toilets remain, albeit there is now a covered walkway between the pub and them.
Restoration
A traditional backstreet pub near the heart of Cambridge. Most of the fittings are from the 1970s but it is a faithful reproduction, making a small pub with exceptional character. The tiny snug is original, measuring 6ft by 5ft. The rest closely resembles the old pub with only the loss of a partition that created the off-sales, and the small right-hand bar amalgamated with a sitting room to double its size. The public bar is centred around a coal fire. There is bench seating out front and a walled garden at the back. The pub sells real ales and ciders and meals.
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This Pub serves 4 changing beers and 3 regular beers.
Free Press, Cambridge
Lunchtime Meals
Evening Meals
Garden
Family Friendly
Dog Friendly
Function Room
Games
Newspapers
Real Fire
Separate Bar
Smoking
Wi Fi
Real Ale
OCR Pub
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