The Free Press
A backstreet pub named after a one-issue temperance newspaper.
The Free Press is a backstreet pub on Prospect Row, within walking distance of the heart of Cambridge. By its own account it was first licensed in 1834, when a home brewer opened her cottage to customers. A teetotal campaign had just launched a newspaper called The Free Press, and she borrowed the title for her pub, as a joke. The paper ran for one issue; the pub has lasted almost two centuries.
Inside
The pub says its handpumps date from the 1940s and that the snug is unchanged since it held 59 Downing College students. The bow of the Cambridge boat wrecked in the 1984 Boat Race hangs in the main bar, and printing trays on the walls hold regulars' keepsakes. The pub appears in a historic-interiors register covering East Anglia.
Food, drink and seasons
The pub serves locally sourced food from seasonal menus and a range of awarded beers and ales. It describes itself as a winner of the Guinness Harp guide, an award for pubs serving the best Guinness. There are open fires and a cosy snug in winter, and a courtyard garden in summer. Dogs are welcome.
Practical notes
- Closed on Mondays. The bar is open 12:00 to 23:00 Tuesday to Saturday and 12:00 to 21:00 on Sunday.
- The kitchen serves 12:00 to 14:00 and 18:00 to 21:00 Tuesday to Friday, 12:00 to 16:00 and 18:00 to 21:00 on Saturday, and 12:00 to 16:00 on Sunday.
- The website takes reservations.
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
