SON OF SYD TO THE BARLEY MOW

 Two or three miles west of Longstowe is the village of Little Gransden, which is reached by a Stagecoach bus.

Here we find the Chequers pub, a fine free house with Son of Syd's Brewery within its walls.

A Chiltern Travel minibus takes us to our next village, Gamlingay, a few miles to the south west..

There's two pubs to do in Gamlingay. First up is the Cock, a Greene King establishment.

Close by was a free house, the Hardwicke Arms, but, sadly, it's closed now. Another one bites the dust!

Directly to the north is Abbotsley. Again this was, until recently, home to two pubs. The Eight Bells is still open.

The Jolly Abbot, once owned by Paine's Brewery of St. Neots, is the one that is a pub no more.

Taking the B1046 in a westerly direction, we approach the town of St. Neots, but before we get there, we find what seems to be a suburb, called Eynesbury. There are three pubs to look into here, all of which, according to the internet are still in business. First, a Charles Wells tied house, the Cambridgeshire Hunter.

The two other pubs are both in the free trade; the Chequers and the Hare & Hounds.

Conveniently, there's a new road that will take us to another part of the outskirts of St. Neots, a place called Eaton Socon, with the church in its centre.

There's some nice spring flowers to look at!

The road through Eaton Socon runs parallel with the River Great Ouse, which is navigable, with boats using Eaton Socon lock.

Beside the Great Ouse is the Rivermill Tavern, which usually has a decent range of beers.

There are several other pubs in Eaton Socon. One of them is the Waggon & Horses.

Our next stop is the White Horse, plenty of history here.

Then we come to the Crown, another free house.

Our last pint in Eaton Socon is at the George & Dragon, where Greene King beers are sold.

Contiguous with Eaton Socon is Eaton Ford, where there's another Greene King house, a good one called the Barley Mow.

Stagecoach buses serve Eaton Ford, but it's only a short walk over the Great Ouse into St. Neots town centre....

....but that will have to wait until the next post.

CAMBRIDGESHIRE CALLING

I told you it was a long walk to the railway, but eventually we find it, as a down train passes behind 'Atlantic' 4402.

Despite Ashwell village being in Hertfordshire, Ashwell & Morden station is in Cambrdgeshire. United Counties (Luton & District/Hitchin Bus) used the yard as an outstation. Bristol VR 805 in 1986 (Photo by Richard Huggins).

Three miles to the north, even further away than Ashwell, is Steeple Morden, the other village that  Ashwell & Morden station pretends it serves. Here, there is the Waggon & Horses, for our first Greene King pint of this post.

Somewhat to the east of Steeple Morden is Abington Pigotts and a fine free house, the Pig & Abott, which describes itself a 'Queen Anne period' pub.

Not far away is Bassingbourn airfield, still used for military purposes. Back in 1978, my late father visited for a flying display and took these pictures.

We now follow the A1198 (Ermine Way) northwards, to the village of Arrington, where Messrs. Jennings kept their buses.

At Arrington is the Hardwicke Arms, with its origins in the 13th Century, but mainly retains the features of a 17th Century coaching inn.

Where Ermine Way crosses the former LMS Oxford to Cambridge railway was a station in the middle of nowhere called Old North Road.

To be fair, Old North Road station was not too far away from the small village of Longstowe, which once boasted two pubs. Sadly, the Golden Miller is no longer with us.

On a happier note, Longstowe's other pub, the Red House, is open and ready to serve us pints.

We'll rest awhile in the Red House and I'll see you in the next post.

TWO OUT OF THREE AIN'T BAD

It was dark when we left Henlow, so it's just as well the walk to the north end of Arlesey isn't too far. Here we find the Old Oak, a Greene King pub.

Just around the corner is the Vicar's Inn. A good free house, but with limited opening hours.

The next morning, a look at Arlesey station, on the East Coast Main Line. It closed in 1959, but reopened in 1986

The long village of Arlesey, circa 1910.

The centre of Arlesey was served by Three Counties station, long closed. Here it is in Great Northern Railway times.

The signal box lasted until the early 1970s.

The name "Three Counties" derived from Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire. In this post we visit the first two and remain in Bedfordshire for the moment as we arrive at the Stag at Stotfold.

The Tudor Oaks, a pub/motel on the A1 at Astwick is nearby and once had a good selection of real ales.

As darkness falls again, our next stop is in Hertfordshire, at another Greene King pub, the Three Horseshoes at Hinxworth.

Moving on, we arrive at Ashwell. Our first stop is the Three Tuns - more Greene King.

Even more GK beers, at the Rose & Crown.

Our final port of call is a free house, next to the church - The Bushel & Strike.

Be warned. It's a very long walk to the railway station, called Ashwell & Morden. It can wait until the next post. Good night.

MEET CHEEKO!

 We're still in Bedfordshire and our first stop is the village of Clophill, where there's an interesting church.

There's also a rather good pub, the Stone Jug.

Two or three miles to the east is the village of Campton, where we find the White Hart in Campton.

From Campton it's not far to the small town of Shefford. Here's an old postcard.

Right in the middle is Greene King's White Hart.

Local brewers, Charles Wells, own the Bridge, a pleasant local.

Close by is the brewery of Banks & Taylor.

B&T own a pub in the town, naturally, it's called the Brewery Tap.

We follow the long closed railway to Henlow Camp, still an active (at the moment) RAF airfield. The Blockbuster Video shop here was converted into a micropub, the Old Transporter.

North now to Henlow itself, where the first pub we see is the Crown, very much food led.

The Five Bells in Henlow is pleasant enough, with Greene King beers.

Real ale enthusiasts flock to Henlow for the Engineers Arms, a permanent beer festival.

There's a "steam-up" happening outside.

Let's go inside, to the front bar.

Sadly, the famous pub dog, Cheeko, is no longer with us. A real character.

Soon, it's time to leave, but to where? Find out in the next post.