If you’re at Cambridge and you haven’t yet partaken in the Granchester pub-lunch-followed-by-tea-at-The-Orchard experience, then you are massively missing out. Tempus fugit. Carpe diem. Memento mori. You only live once, etc. So get over the fact that you always have work, and take up a more laissez-faire attitude to academia for an afternoon and go.

Grantchester is only a twenty-five minute walk away from the Sidgwick Site and as long as it is sunny you can guarantee it will be worth the (minor) effort. Once you have walked through the pretty meadows that lie between Cambridge and Grantchester – watch out for the bulls en route (don’t wear red) – you arrive at the pink and green building which is the Red Lion. Try not to be put off by the unattractive outer décor – the food served here is hearty and delicious, and the portions are nothing short of generous. They serve fish and chips, burgers with thick-cut fries and a seriously tasty mushroom risotto among a variety of other dishes. During weekdays, the pub tends to be very quiet but on the weekends, and especially Sundays it is, as expected, suitably raucous.

Just down the road from the Red Lion pub is the Orchard. The Orchard is a fairytale corner of Grantchester; huge trees with sprawling, twisted branches create little alcoves in which there are deck-chairs and tables where you’ll find robins perching. In the autumn, apples and pears which have fallen from the trees lie strewn across the grass. The Orchard is the quintessential destination for the quintessential afternoon tea. You can eat scones where Virginia Woolf ate scones, sip tea where Wittgenstein sipped tea, crunch poetry where Rupert Brooke crunched poetry. The scones are huge and delicious and ideal served with clotted cream and strawberry jam while the cakes are all home-made classics, baked to perfection: take your pick from Victoria sponge, chocolate fudge, coffee and walnut, apple pie, carrot, or the gluten-free but equally delectable Dime slice, Snickers slice or lemon cheesecake. 

The Orchard is idyllic at any time of year – it is undoubtably one of the best things about Cambridge, especially following a delicious pub lunch, so set down your laptop, grab your copy of Brooke and head over to Grantchester to bask in its afternoon tea-based brilliance!

If you’re lazy and don’t want to go to The Orchard, then here is a recipe that will quell any sweet-food cravings. This recipe may or may not be the recipe for fruit trifle, with added sprinkles, cider and Angel Delight.

 

Ingredients:

2 (8 or 9 inch) white cake layers, baked and cooled

2 pints fresh strawberries

1/4 cup white sugar

1 pint fresh blueberries

2 bananas

1/4 cup orange juice

1 packet instant vanilla pudding mix

2 cups milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup blanched slivered almonds

12 maraschino cherries

Multi-coloured sprinkles

Angel Delight

Cider

 

Method:

Slice strawberries and sprinkle with sugar. Cut bananas into slices and toss with orange juice. Combine pudding mix with milk and mix until smooth. Cut cake into 1 inch cubes. Use half of cake cubes to line bottom of large glass bowl. Layer half of all the fruit. Spread half of pudding over the fruit. Repeat layers in same order.

In medium bowl, whip cream into stiff peaks and spread over top of trifle. Garnish with maraschino cherries, slivered almonds, a whole tub of multicoloured sprinkles, a dollop of pre-made Angel Delight and a generous splash of cider.