Two Ancient Druids and a Light Dragoon!

I was looking at deceased pubs in Cambridge a little while ago; my interest was spurred by the fact that my great-grandfather had a pub, the Fitzroy, which disappeared before I can remember it. There are some mighty interesting names on the list, some of which are readily understandable such as those which denote an occupation, baker, brewer, butcher, carpenter, carrier, coachmaker, cook, cooper, gardener, miller, maltster, engineer and wheelwright… and these show a fascinating glimpse into a bye-gone age with trades which no longer exist, or no longer exist with as much popularity as to give their names to a pub! I wonder who the Ancient Shepherds were, there were two pubs called that – maybe thy were those shepherds who were watching their flocks by night, all seated on the ground? And how nice it would be if as well as a Light Dragoon there was a Slight Dragon!

Then there are the pubs named after people, Burleigh, Churchill, Fitzroy and various dukes and queens and kings, and then there are the intriguing ones, the Bleeding Heart, The Man With The Load of Mischief, and The Still and Sugarloaf; the latter was advertised in local cinemas, “meet your friends at the Still and Sugarloaf, the city’s smartest rendezvous”!

1. Airport Hotel
2. Alhambra
3. Bakers Arms
4. Barley Mow
5. Bell & Crown
6. Bentinck Arms
7. Bishop Blaize
8. Blackamoors Head
9. Bleeding Heart
10. Boot Inn
11. Borough Boy
12. Bowling Green
13. Brewers Arms
14. Brewery Tap
15. Britannia
16. British Queen
17. Brookfield Tavern
18. Bun Shop
19. Bun Shop
20. Burleigh Arms
21. Butchers Arms
22. Cambridge Arms
23. Carlton Arms
24. Carpenters Arms
25. Carriers Arms
26. Chequers
27. Churchill
28. Claremont Arms
29. Coachmakers Arms
30. Cooks Arms
31. Coopers Arms
32. Criterion
33. Cross Keys
34. Crown
35. Crown Inn
36. Crown & Harp
37. Crown & Compasses
38. Crown & Sceptre
39. Crystal Palace
40. Duke Of Argyle
41. Duke Of Cambridge
42. Duke Of Wellington
43. Earl Of Durham
44. Earl Grey
45. Five Bells
46. Five Bells
47. Fitzroy Arms
48. Fleur De Lys
49. Foresters
50. Freemasons Arms
51. Gardeners Arms
52. George
53. Globe Inn
54. Golden Cross
55. Golden Rose
56. Grafton Arms
57. Granville
58. Great Eastern Tavern
59. Great Northern
60. Grove
61. Gwydir Arms
62. Half Moon
63. Hat & Feathers
64. Haymakers
65. Hearts Of Oak
66. House Of Commons
67. Indian Chief
68. John Gilpin
69. Jolly Butchers
70. Jolly Millers
71. John Gilpin
72. Jubilee
73. Kings Arms
74. King William IV
75. Little Rose
76. Locomotive
77. Lord Nelson
78. Malt & Hops Inn
79. Maltsters Arms
80. Man Loaded With Mischief
81. Marquis Of Granby
82. Masons Arms
83. Merry Boys
84. Merton Arms
85. Midland Tavern
86. Mill
87. Nine Pins
88. Norfolk
89. Norwich Arms
90. Oak
91. Old Abbey
92. Old English Gentleman
93. Old Guinea
94. Plough Arms
95. Plume Of Feathers
96. Prince Albert
97. Prince Of Wales
98. Prince Of Wales
99. Prince Of Wales Hotel
100. Queens Arms
101. Queen Edith
102. Rose
103. Rose & Crown
104. Royal Arms
105. Royal Engineers
106. Royal Standard
107. Royston Arms
108. Seven Stars
109. Ship
110. Sovereign
111. Spade & Beckett
112. Star
113. Station Hotel
114. Still & Sugar Loaf
115. Sun Inn
116. Suffolk Hotel
117. Tailors Arms
118. Three Tuns
119. True Blue
120. Victoria
121. Volunteer
122. Volunteer
123. Wheatsheaf
124. Wheatsheaf
125. Wheelwrights Arms
126. Willow Tree
127. Woods

I wrote about the Bleeding heart once before:

was intrigued by the pub which I had never ever heard of before, and researched it a little; it was in Chesterton, once a little village now a suburb of Cambridge, and it became the Co-Op; however it was demolished and there is modern housing on the site. I then came across an article on The Cambridge Time Traveller site, which wondered if Conan Doyle was thinking of the Bleeding Heart in Chesterton, when he was writing his short story ‘The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter’,

In the Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter, Sherlock Holmes tells Dr Watson:

“I have had a blank day, Watson. Having got the doctor’s general direction, I spent the day in visiting all the villages upon that side of Cambridge, and comparing notes with publications and local news agencies. I have covered some ground: Chesterton, Histon, Waterbeach and Oakington have been explored, and have each proved disappointing.”

What public houses Arthur Conan Doyle was thinking about in this short story, which is believed to have been set in about 1896, we will never know. Could he have been thinking of the Bleeding Heart in Chesterton, that was converted into a Co-op Shop in the 1920s and has now been demolished?

In actual fact, Doyle could have been thinking of any of the many 1900’s pubs, the Green Dragon, the Pike and Eel, the Haymakers, the Wheatsheaf or the Bowling Green, however, what struck me was the coincidence of mentioning of Holmes and the Bleeding Heart in one article!