Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: March

  • March – March Railway Station (The Lost Link to Spalding)

    March – March Railway Station (The Lost Link to Spalding)

    There’s no access now to the platforms which once served trains en route to Spalding, the service was shut down as late as 1982 and the track was lifted. The decision was a huge error, a typical policy of not preserving the trackbed and instead building a prison on top of part of it. There are now plans to rebuild the line, although it’ll be at great expense and it will require planning decisions not to be passed which build on where the line would need to go, with a decision in late 2018 at Cowbit seeming to be detrimental to that.

    The platforms might need a little remedial work.

    But, at least the platforms and some station buildings are still there.

    Hopefully in the near future this line will be restored, with trains going down this piece of track and veering off to the right to Spalding, via Guyhirn. There’s a strong demand for freight services to use this route, but ideally passenger services could also use the line. Rail Magazine wrote “if the line had lasted just another three or four years, it would surely have made it to the present day”, something which seems accurate.

  • March – War Memorial

    March – War Memorial

    Made of Cornish granite, the town’s war memorial was unveiled in June 1921, commemorating those who had lost their lives during the Great War. The memorial cost £900 to build, the entire sum of which was raised by public subscription. The memorial reads:

    “This monument is erected in grateful memory of those men of March who, at the call of King and country, left all that was dear to them. They made the supreme sacrifice that others might live in freedom. Let those that come after see to it that they are not forgotten.”

    Present at the unveiling was Captain Colin Coote, who was at the time the MP for the Isle of Ely and he had previously been the MP for Wisbech from 1917 until 1918, when the sitting MP was killed in action. Coote was the MP for the Isle of Ely from 1918 until 1922, then he lost his seat to Norman Coates and he never returned to Parliament. He had been aged just 24 when he entered the House of Commons, but he is perhaps more known for his period as editor of the Daily Telegraph, a role he held from 1950 until 1964. He died in June 1979, at the age of 85.

    More names were added following the end of the Second World War and also more recently, when a few years ago some missing names from the First World War were added. There’s a list of the men listed on the memorial available at http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Cambridgeshire/March.html. Pevsner notes that the sculpture of the soldier is “clumsy”, which seems a little direct….

  • March – Public Toilets

    March – Public Toilets

    As far as public toilets can have an architectural interest, these look quite charming in the middle of the town.

    Well, they did, until Fenland District Council mauled them about and made them chargeable. This decision was made in 2011, when a review of toilets saw the council spending £500,000 on overhauling their toilets in a bid to save £60,000 per year. I’m not entirely sure that these sums really add up, even given the £15,000 the toilets were meant to raise across the region. So it takes the best part of a decade just for the council to end up where they were financially, having caused huge inconvenience (excuse the pun) to residents and visitors over that period. Marvellous.

    Although, on the bright side, these toilets fared better than those on City Road in the town, which March Town Council closed in mid-2018. A councillor said that on one day it looked like “a herd of elephants had been through them”….

  • March – 78 to 82 High Street

    March – 78 to 82 High Street

    In the town’s heritage trail, it reads about this building at 78-82 High Street in the town:

    “Looking at this property, currently Cassano’s, it is difficult to believe that the building has such an important history. It was formerly the town’s Guildhall, built on the site of an earlier Guildhall in 1827. Later two wings were added to house the first March National School. It was also used as the town library”.

    I agree, it is indeed difficult to believe this, especially as I can’t find the property on the listed buildings register or any old photos. Puzzling…..

  • March – Georges Pub

    March – Georges Pub

    Sadly, this town centre pub closed a few months ago, although hopefully there’s an opportunity for it to be re-opened. The local newspaper, the Cambridgeshire Times, referred to the landlord as “controversial” when he quit earlier on in 2019 after eight years in charge. That’s normally a word that I use to refer to someone as intolerable, although it seems that he achieved a great deal at the pub during his time there, so I’m sure that the media didn’t mean it in that way.

    When talking to the press, the landlord said:

    “There were battles of: eviction, arrest, re-arrest, application to remove my license, FDC health and safety, electrical notices, noise safety notices, planning validation notices, DPPO violation, battles with the Summer Festival, Battles with St Georges Fayre committee and food safety risk scores. These were just a few battles I fought on a regular basis, many of them carrying financial and possible imprisonment risks. Trying to run a business in March is simply too much of an uphill struggle.”

    Sounds like an eventful pub, I think that I would have liked it.

    I’m not quite that I entirely understand who the pub was aiming at, there seems to have been an attempt to offer real ale, gastro-pub food, live music, a coffee house and a community pub all at the same time. Good luck to anyone who can pull that much off successfully, seems rather ambitious. But, since I never got the chance to visit, perhaps it was excellent and the food does seem to have been well reviewed.

    Sad to see the pub like this….

    At least no-one has pinched what is left of the A-Board. Anyway, onto TripAdvisor:

    “I have looked into this issue and have disaplined the individules reponsible , they do have the descretion to pop out and get mushy peas to order and i am looking into why they failed to do this . ref the scampie , it is as im sure you are awear cooked in deep hot oil and there for has to reach the right tempriture , is it lost some tempriture there must of been a delay geting your product to table. i have review who else eat at the same time and there was a similiar table severed within 10minutes of yourselve which was 2 x scampie who gave a great review . so i am sorry there was a delay in geting your food to your table again i have enquired as to why my staff had a delay . Tarter source, these things happen clealy you were given old stock it was the “best before date” , and not the “expiry date” however not acceptble and disaplinery action has been actioned .”

    With this response to someone’s cold scampi, I’m never entirely sure that the reference to disciplining staff is always entirely wise…..

    “from a publican to a fellow ex publican , the opening and closing times are up to the landlord , there are no requirments since 2005 for pubs to call last orders .”

    The pub landlord is right on this. I’ve heard this from a few customers over the years, claiming that they are publicans and then claiming that bar staff don’t know the law, with it usually transpiring that they do….

    “Biggest dump in March. Full of kids, space cadets and drinkers banned from everywhere else. Owner is a moron and on another planet”

    One helpful review….

    “Sorry it didn’t suit you :)”

    And the pub’s perfect reply   🙂

    Anyway, I suspect that this pub had a lot of character and I’m rather sad that it’s closed, I still think that I would have probably have liked it. Pubs can sometimes be just a little too bland.

  • March – March Town Trail

    This is the town trail that I’ve had a little walk around this morning, produced by Fenland Tourism. Due to the way that they’ve produced it, anyone looking at it on their phone might have to turn it upside down…..

    March Town Trail (.pdf format)

  • March – Old River Nene

    March – Old River Nene

    The course of the Old River Nene, part now of the Nene-Ouse Navigation Link.

    Very peaceful, running through the heart of March.

  • March – Ye Olde Griffin Hotel

    March – Ye Olde Griffin Hotel

    This is a grand former coaching hotel and it is much larger than I had expected, quite a quirky building. It’s operated by Stonegate, who purchased it from Bramwell Pubs when they went under a few years ago. Bramwell had commenced a large refurbishment of the premises, with an upgrade to the hotel rooms upstairs, and some modernisation throughout. CAMRA note that there are rumours that the pub is haunted and if anywhere does have ghosts, this is the type of pub that would.

    The grand interior of the hotel and the listed buildings records note that there are elements from the sixteenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (the side wings were added during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries), so it has been most changed over the years.

    I looked through some old newspapers and I quite liked the ad in 1900 that the hotel placed, looking for “a sharp, active boy, about 14, wanted as a billiard marker”. What kind of job is that? Sounds a good one though.

    There were six real ale options on, again for today, surprisingly generic. I opted for the Sea Fury from Sharp’s as I’ve never had that and it was fine, clean tastes, appropriate temperature and all that. I’d have rather had a darker beer though, the choice was a bit all too similar for my liking. Anyway, I ordered my half a pint and was told that it was £2.70. I must admit to saying “£5.40 for a pint of Sea Fury?” in an unimpressed manner and the staff member remembered he had poured me half a pint eight seconds before and told me that it was £1.35. That pricing is very reasonable indeed.

    What an awesome menu for anyone going in on their own. Really well thought through that is. Anyway, onto TripAdvisor.

    “We advertise on booking.com /laterooms etc that at the weekend we are open until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays at 2am , we even supply earplugs to the rooms.”

    Someone complained about the noise and I think it’s fair to say that if you want to operate a hotel, having loud music until 2am is beyond brave. The hotel has some of the poorest ratings in the town, it’s not exactly a surprise reading this management response.

    “Really sorry for your nights sleep but we can’t do any more to inform customers of the weekend noise and looking back over TRIPADVISOR it is mentioned on numerous occasions.”

    And another poor review about the noise. It could be suggested there’s an obvious thing that the pub could do about the loud music that they play until 2am… And I’m even slightly humoured that the hotel is surprised that this is a recurrent problem on TripAdvisor.

    “All rooms have secondary glazing and we offer earplugs.”

    It’s almost as if there’s a theme here in the reviews that the hotel has to reply to….

    “When we arrived at ye olde griffin car park we greeted by the sight of a man urinating openly and we saw his private parts too , don’t think that was necessary as there where men’s toilets inside the pub,”

    At least this customer had a different issue.

    During my visit the pub was having problems with some customers who were being a little too exuberant. By ‘having problems’, I mean that they weren’t doing anything about it. But, ignoring the near riot going on, the pub was otherwise clean, comfortable and there were plenty of quiet areas to hide in. The prices, once queried, were cheap and the food being brought out seemed fine, with the food being well reviewed in the pub.

  • March – The Acre

    March – The Acre

    This town centre pub is operated by Greene King, taking its name from the road that it’s located on, Acre Road. It has a decent location near to the river, I can imagine it’s rather pleasant during the summer months.

    The pub interior, which was clean and comfortable. There was a choice of different tables throughout the pub, with a contemporary feel to the whole design.

    The choice was, well, let’s just leave that there. It’s a Greene King pub which nearly always means that it isn’t going to trouble the Good Beer Guide.

    This was the pub’s effort at serving half a pint, pretty dreadful. The real ale itself though was well kept, at the appropriate temperature and had a depth of flavour, so I was not displeased at their Timothy Taylor’s Landlord. Their food reviews are also towards the higher end for a Greene King pub, with many people dining when I was there. On that subject, onto TripAdvisor…

    “Your continual reference to your close friendship with Gordon Ramsey failed to impress, as did your general conduct in this unfortunate incident. It would perhaps be better to take your future custom to establishments that are impressed with your famous friends but not the Acre.”

    This is the pub’s reply to a review and I can quite imagine how this one played out….. I do like listening to a customer who claims that they’re well-connected.

    “As we don’t do a dollop of chillie , you were charged for chillie and chips with an extra charge for the loading of cheese and bacon.”

    A customer ordered chips with “a dollop of chilli” and wondered why the pub got confused…. Although, I like the idea of a dollop being an official menu item.

    All in all, this was a perfectly acceptable pub, although the craft beer options are zero and the real ale options aren’t going to set the world alight. The environment was comfortable though and all the customers appeared to be enjoying their food, so it’s probably a reliable choice for food.

  • March – The Ship Inn

    March – The Ship Inn

    This is one of two pubs in March which are listed in the Good Beer Guide and it’s the only town centre pub of the pair. It’s located in an interesting building which dates to 1680 and which has two storeys and an attic, along with a thatched roof. I did note through a search of old newspapers that in March 1906, a Louis Fytche was fined 10 shillings, with 5 shillings costs, for being drink at the Ship Inn. This might not be particularly notable, other than he was the landlord….

    The welcome was friendly and efficient, with the pub being clean, warm and comfortable. The beer selection didn’t particularly excite me, although they did have five real ales on. The options were unfortunately what I’d consider to be quite generic, I’d rather have had something a little more innovative, especially as CAMRA report this to be a freehouse which can therefore order what it wants. The Timothy Taylor’s Landlord was not the best kept that I’ve had, although it was drinkable and not quite at the stage I needed to return it.

    There was nothing particularly wrong here and it’s clearly a popular pub with locals, but I couldn’t help thinking that I wasn’t sure that there was anything notable I could mention.