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THE VILLAGE

Mentioned in the 1086 Doomsday Book, Grantchester is less then 2 miles upstream from Cambridge, and is one of the most famous villages in England. Known by generations for its river setting and beautiful meadows, inspiring writers, musicians and artists as varied as Chaucer, Rupert Brooke and Pink Floyd.
 
Lord Byron and Virginia Wolf bathed naked in the river, the Bloomsbury Set and Bertrand Russell picnicked on the meadow. 
 
The walk out along the Grantchester Grind (as the pathway across the meadow from Cambridge is known that inspired the Tom Sharpe novel of the same name) is a popular thoroughfare for walkers and cyclists through out the year, and of course many take an even slower route by punt along the River Cam.

On Boxing Day thousands descend on the village for the annual Barrel Race, a hotly contested relay race through the village with teams from the local pubs rolling empty beer barrels. The Blue Ball has a proud record in both the Mens and the Ladies competition.


During its 250 years to date the pub has had just 24 landlords, one less then the number of vicars the village church has had during the same time - a testament perhaps to the strength of belief in the quality of our beer?

 

Often it is said that the village has the highest concentration of Nobel Prize winners in the world and today the village continues to gain popularity and fame. The ITV series Grantchester is set and filmed in the village, and the cast are regular visitors to the 'set', especially when enjoying the end of shoot party in The Blue Ball.
 
Its also the closest pub to Cambridge Rugby Club, as well as proud to be HQ of Grantchester Cricket Club. Born from the pub team, the cricket club plays on possibly the prettiest ground in the country.


Just behind the famous Grantchester Tea Rooms and opposite the church, the field is set on the edge of the River Cam, and is an idyllic spot for watching or playing cricket, always followed by much needed refreshments back in the pub!

The Blue Ball Inn list of landlords since it opened:

1767-1781      James Butler

1781-1792      Robert Disborough

1792-1799     Elizabeth Disborough

1800-1802     John Disborough

1802-1827      John Mathews

1827-1858      William Loughton

1858-1865      James Launder

1865-1883      William Dilley

1863-1896      Wilfred Bard

1896-1900      George Boot

1900-1922      James Wilson

1922-1929      John Wilson

1929-1933     George King

1933-1940     Walter Rank

1940-1949     George Clark

1949-1961      William Glasscock

1961-1967      Jack Smith

1967-1976     Earnest Morgan

1976-1980     Neil Grundy

1980-1983     Alain Hambleton

1983-1986     George Easton

1986-1997     Peter Jackson

1997-2015     John Roos

2015-             Toby Joseph

Grantchester Cricket Club

Cambridge Rugby Club

OPENING HOURS: Wednesday-Friday 12PM-10PM / FRI-SAT 12PM-10.30PM / SUN 12PM-8PM

© THE BLUE BALL INN 2016     -     57 Broadway, Grantchester, CB3 9NQ, Cambridge     -     T: 01223 846004     -     info@blueballgrantchester.co.uk

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