Pubs in East Anglia. . .

[B-17 Pilot]

Greetings all,

Three of us AAF reenactors are going to make a trip to Normandy next June and want to stop in East Anglia to visit a few of the old Pubs where the 8th AF crews refreshed themselves! I heard of the famous pub in Bassingbourn that still has the ceiling decorated with candle smoke where they put their missions and plane names. Is this still open and what is the name of this pub? I also heard of a good one in Lavenham! Any others anyone can recommend? We'd like them to be vintage pubs that we there in the 40's! We can't visit too many though. . .we'll never make it across the channel!!

Hope someone can help,

Mike

 

[silhouette53]

PADDY'S YR MAN !!!

You only need one man to solve this one - Paddy Middleton the moderator on this here WW2 section has a good knowledge of the old air fields in East Anglia, having visited many of them. I'll wager that he has a more than average knowledge of the pubs near the said airfields as well.lol
I'm sure he'll come up trumps if you PM him

Best of luck in your quest

Colin

 

[nightandthecity]

its not actually hard to find the pubs used by 8th Air force crews - IF they are still open (pubs in England are currently shutting down at the rate of one a day). In rural east Anglia there are very few modern pubs, and any pub near an old airfield will almost certainly have been used by the aircrews. Simply buy the relevant Ordnance Survey maps, find the airfields (again, not hard, there's one every few miles) and then drive into the nearest village(s). You'll find that many pubs still have memorabilia around - old photos, squadron insignia etc. on the walls. A few years ago you would often bump into visiting veterans as well, but sadly they're getting a bit thin on the ground now.

 

[B-17 Pilot]

Hey Colin,

Thanks much for the info! Yea, I figured Paddy might be one to go to!!

I can taste the beer as I pound these keys!!

Later,

Mike

 

[J.B.Saxon]

Hey Colin,

good idea to look for some old pubs in Duxford area the weekend after comming weekend! How about that?

Cheers J.B.

Let´em drink - um - fly

 

[DiabolicalAngel]

Hi Mike,

I looked up a few pubs in the area before I was going to set off for the open day at Bassingbourn last weekend but didn't make it. I think the Red Lion is your call but it would be a good excuse for a pub crawl as the pubs are in walking or staggering distance to each other!

Cheers ! :cheers1:

Red Lion
51, Old North Rd, Kneesworth, Royston, Hertfordshire SG8 5JL
Tel: 01763 249902

The Hoops
74, High St, Bassingbourn, Royston, Hertfordshire SG8 5LF
Tel: 01763 242130

The Pear Tree
61, North End, Bassingbourn, Royston, Hertfordshire SG8 5NZ
Tel: 01763 244068

 

[Mr. 'H']

Sorry to take this slightly off focus, but can anyone recommend where to go in Normandie to get to the WWII sights, the beach, the graveyard etc.?

 

[silhouette53]

SOUNDS GOOD TO ME !

Hey Colin,

good idea to look for some old pubs in Duxford area the weekend after comming weekend! How about that?

Cheers J.B.

Let´em drink - um - fly

Received and understood - over

 

[MikeyB17]

Sorry to take this slightly off focus, but can anyone recommend where to go in Normandie to get to the WWII sights, the beach, the graveyard etc.?

There's loads of it-I'd say a few essentials are:-
Any of the beaches, but particularly Omaha.
Merville battery
Pegasus bridge
Ranville cemetery
D-day museum, Bayeaux
Arromanches esp. the museum on the sea front
Pointe du Hoc (essential)
US Cemetery, Colleville-sur-mer (overlooking Omaha beach-ESSENTIAL)
Ste-Mere-Eglise

This is only a taster, I'd get one of the many books on the subject and look up what appeals to you. Paddy and I both toured the area a few years ago, we both used a company called Leger holidays who do battlefield tours of the area. A pretty hectic schedule and really an overview of the area allowing you a taste of Normandy so you can go back and explore for yourself at a later date, but well worth it IMHO. I did the 2-day tour, I think Paddy did the 3-day which goes further inland and does Falaise and the Corridor of death etc. I'd like to have seen the Tiger Tank at Vimoutiers, but we didn't go that far inland. Our guide, Richard Bass, was superb. The area is crawling with memorials, museums etc-there's something around every corner. Well worth the trip-extremely thought-provoking and moving, but very enjoyable too. Here's one of the old threads here from around the time we went. Good luck!

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=1666

MB-17

 

[Mr. 'H']

That's fantastic information, I appreciate you taking to time to give all the names.

I would love to go soe time over the next few months.

Will post of course when I go.

 

[Mr. 'H']

That's agreat thread, I just read it.

 

[mikepara]

The pub wasn't in bassingbourn...

I heard of the famous pub in Bassingbourn that still has the ceiling decorated with candle smoke where they put their missions and plane names. Is this still open and what is the name of this pub? Mike

The pub your refering to was in fact The Eagle Hotel in Cambridge (not too far from Bassingbourn.) it closed in 1988. There's an article on it in the June 1988 issue of Flypast. No I haven't a copy sorry!

I did my infantry basic training in Bassingbourn before I transfered to the Airborne. God how many times did I run around that airfield![ info only..it was used as the training Centre in Full Metal Jacket]


The other watering holes of the Eighth were:

Five Bells, Rattlesden, Suffolk, 447th Bomb Group
Kings Head, Ridgewell, Essex, 381st BG
Pear Tree, Bassingbourne, Cambridgeshire, 91st BG
Triple Plea, Holton, Suffolk, 489th BG
Wheatsheaf, Upper Benefield, Northamptonshire, 401st BG
The Woodman, Nuthampstead, Hertfordshire, 389th BG

There are as well 100's frequented by the RAF but thats another story.

 

[Spitfire]

The Eagle, Cambridge

In the IWC magazine Watch international from april 2006, there is a nice article on the pub "The Eagle" - with messages, names etc. on the ceiling.
It's NOT closed and the adress is: The Eagle, RAF bar, 8 Bene't Street. Cambridge. Cheers!!!

 

[Harp]

Pub Crawl

Man would those pubs be a hang!

 

[mikepara]

Great News..

In the IWC magazine Watch international from april 2006, there is a nice article on the pub "The Eagle" - with messages, names etc. on the ceiling.
It's NOT closed and the adress is: The Eagle, RAF bar, 8 Bene't Street. Cambridge. Cheers!!!

Yey! Its reopened! Dont know when etc. I hope its still the same.

When it was closed down I thought it would have been redeveloped or flattened. That is great news.

 

[PatC]

Re- Normandy visits

Hello All,
In response to the side issue of where to go when visiting Normandy, I would recommend taking a tour with a company called Battlebus, which are based in Bayeaux. Here is their homepage:

http://www.battlebus.fr/

I used them when I visited last and found them to be very professional and to have English speaking guides which are capable of giving a depth of detail which may be appreciated by the members of this forum. They do both a more general and a very specific unit tour, such as from a viewpoint of the Allies in general right down to a tour devoted to the exploits of one unit i.e. Easy Company 506th, the unit featured in the Band of Brothers series. I really enjoyed my tours and the local knowledge was invaluable, allowing visits to sites that may be unknown or not open to the public.