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I mentioned in the previous post about unearthing a“treasure trove” of pub and brewery-related material, which I was surewould prove of interest to blog readers - once I’d knocked it into some sort ofshape. I added that much these writingswas out of date, and thus no longer relevant to a modern audience, but I’m pleasedto report that with a bit of tweaking quite a chunk of these ancient “scriptures”can still tell a tale, as well as forming a link back to simpler times. A worldwithout personal computers (desktops or laptops), digital cameras and the most moderncontrivance of all the mobile phone.
What I’m about to reveal now is a rather lengthy account ofa visit I made to Elgood’s Brewery, a classic, country brewery, deep in theheart of the Cambridgeshire Fens. The trip was one of the best and most memorablebrewery visits I've been on, as I’m about to impart. First though, a quick lookback at the final sentence in the previous paragraph, because back in the pre-digitalworld, the taking of spontaneous photos, or indeed of any photos, was quiterare, given the performance around getting one’s snaps developed and printed.Consequently, there aren’t that many photos, or indeed other material toillustrate this post.
I'd noticed a trip to Elgood's at Wisbech, advertised in theCAMRA newspaper, “What's Brewing”. It was organised by Maidstone & mid-KentCAMRA, a branch that I’d formerly been a member of. This was before I moved toTonbridge. I was still in touch with oneor two members of the branch, so without further ado I booked my place, paid mydeposit for the mini-bus and waited for the day of the trip to arrive.
It promised to be aglorious July day, as I set off by train from Tonbridge to Maidstone. Theweather, in fact, had been hot for several weeks, and the sun was alreadybeating down as the train rumbled along the picturesque Medway Valley Linebetween the two towns. The river Medway itself was looking very attractive asit glinted in the early morning sun, and before long my train was pulling intoMaidstone. I alighted at the Barracks station and walked across high-level Medway Bridge towards the rendezvous point for the trip outside Maidstone Eaststation. As I crossed the river I was surprised at some of the changes that hadtaken place since I moved away from the town.
Most of my fellow travellers were already waiting when Iarrived at the pickup point, and after a brief wait the that would transport usto Wisbech and back. It turned out I wasn't the only CAMRA member to come froma different branch because on the way we stopped to collect members fromvarious other CAMRA branches. After that we crossed the Thames at Dartfordbefore joining the M25 and M11 motorways, as we headed towards Cambridgeshire.
We stopped for a short break at the Bishop Stortfordservices, before continuing our journey, arriving in Wisbech with the sunshining out brightly across mile after mile of dead flat Fens. Our hiredtransport took us into the centre of town and then along the north bank of theriver Nene, known locally as the North Brink. This is where Elgoods Brewery islocated. This was not my first visit to Wisbech, because I’d stopped off in thetown in the spring of 1983, whilst on a journey from Suffolk to Leeds. I’dstopped in Wisbech to have a look at Elgoods brewery – externally, and enjoy apint of the brewery’s beer, in one of several pubs tied to the brewery. This was the King’s Head, in the town’s OldMarket Place. My memories of that trip enabled me to direct our driver to thebrewery.
We were deposited just outside Elgoods, but with a couple ofhours before commencement of the tour, it was time for some much-needed liquidrefreshment. We walked back along the North Brink, where two options presentedthemselves. First was the Rose, a pleasant free house, whilst a bit further on,was the Red Lion, an Elgoods tied house. Both pubs were listed in the Good BeerGuide, at the time, but I opted for the latter, as after all, we were there toenjoy the products of the local brewery. I made a good choice, and after a longand hot journey up from Kent, that first pint of the Cambridge Bitter hardlytouched the sides! Whilst at the pub, we pumped into the Elgoods' Head Brewer, andhis assistant who were enjoying a spot of lunch. We introduced ourselves andmentioned that we were due to visit the brewery, later on.
We made our way back towards Elgoods, calling in briefly atthe Rose, on the way. We met up there we met up with the other members of our groupand found an excellent range of beers on sale. These included Cains F.A. plus thewell-hopped, straw-coloured Geoffrey Hudson Bitter, from Oakham Brewery. That definitelywas find of the day, as far as I was concerned, but stay tuned, as there’s moreto come in the next instalment. Follow Blog via EmailClick to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.


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