I can certainly endorse that.
The Devonshire is a cracking good pub and is not at all far from the station. It is a Milton brewery pub, with seven of their beers on when I was there, plus a guest from Tydd Steam and lots of ciders.
The out of town pubs, the Queen Edith and the Haymakers, are also Milton brewery houses, which takes some of the sting out of not going there, as the beer options are much the same as the Devonshire. If you must, the
Haymakers is a fairly easy walk from Cambridge North station, which will be quicker than the bus from the centre. The
Queen Edith is a bus ride away from the Devonshire, and although it twists and turns through some housing, it's fairly quick. I didn't find the pub particularly welcoming.
I would recommend adding the
Kingston Arms, which is a short walk from the Devonshire and has eight hand pumps: Ossett White Rat, Tring Side Pocket for a Toad and Draught Bass are ever present, with other beers changing (there was a Tring tap takeover starting the day after I left Cambridge, which I regretted missing; others perhaps not so much). This pub is under new management and is not yet in the Good Beer Guide, but is definitely worth a visit.
The bus that runs along Mill Road towards the city centre stops just around the corner from the Devonshire, and should be caught to St Andrews Street, which is only a few minutes walk from the Maypole. (Google maps says
10 minutes.)
The Maypole should not be missed - eight hand pumps with beers from eight different breweries when I was there - and as it closes between 2:30 and 5:30 I would suggest either going there straight from the Devonshire or perhaps pop into the Kingston and then catch the bus into town.
Then return via
Champion of the Thames, Elm Tree and Free Press. (Completists with a bit of stamina may be interested in the
Pickerel and the
Castle Inn, which are short walks from the Maypole - although
in the opposite direction to all the other pubs - and they may well have some good beers on. The former had eight on the go when I was there, while the Castle is an Adnams house with six of their beers on.)
I didn't go in the
Earl of Beaconsfield when I was in Cambridge last week (it is not in the GBG any more - at least it's not on the web app that I use), and I found the
Royal Standard a bit too much like a cafe. The Calverley Tap no longer has real ale and has been deleted from the GBG, but that may not be off-putting for some. By the time I got around to the
Cambridge Blue, Alexandra Arms and
Geldart I was perhaps a little bit pubbed-out, so I can't give a full hearted endorsement; the Cambridge Blue in particular was too much like a beer festival for my taste, and not so much a pub, but it would be a strange pub crawl that went to Cambridge and missed out that one...
The
Live & Let Live had three Nethergate beers the first night I was there, two of which I tried and were very good; I called in again on my way to the station on my last day and had a rather disappointing stout. Make of that what you will - on the whole I'd say it's a must visit. The
Old Ticket Office at the station is an option for those who have a longer wait than expected for their train, rather than one to make a point of visiting.
It's worth bearing in mind that some of the platforms may be a bit further from the gate than you might have remembered.
Sorry I can't be with you on 5th April. Hope you all have a great time in Cambridge.