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Why are we called The Exhibition?

The Exhibition Pub & Restaurant was first licensed to sell alcohol in the early 1850’s and we are named after the Great Exhibition which was opened on this day, May 1st in 1851.

Read all about The Great Exhibition below

The following text has been taken from www.thegreatexhibition2012.co.uk/history-of-the-great-exhibition-2012

The Great Exhibition of 1851 was one of the great success stories of the nineteenth century. The idea of holding an international world fair was first suggested by the Society of Arts (now the Royal Society of Arts) in 1845. Their president, Prince Albert, was very enthusiastic but eventually he decided that it should not be organised by the Society. Consequently in 1850 he established a Royal Commission to organise the event, with himself as President.

The exhibition was opened on 1st May 1851 by Queen Victoria in Joseph Paxton’s purpose built “Crystal Palace” in Hyde Park, London. It was the first International World Fair and it grabbed the imagination of the whole country and beyond. During the one hundred and forty one days that the Exhibition was open it was visited by over six million people from all walks of life. There were nearly 14,000 exhibitors from all over the world and more than 100,000 exhibits were shown ranging from raw materials to machines, sculptures, hardware, musical instruments, cloth, pottery, glass etc.

The Great Exhibition saw the development of patent law, the tourist industry and the modern museum as well as encouraging trade and manufacturing. It was so successful financially that the profits were used to purchase a large site in South Kensington, now home to three national museums, Imperial College and the Royal Albert Hall as well as other institutions. The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 still exists to manage its estate and to distribute the profits on its investments in order to “increase the means of industrial education and extend the influence of science and art upon productive industry.”

These 6 million visitors represented nearly a fifth of the British population at that time and is still considered today to be the founding vision of a truly “great exhibition”

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Motorbike friendly pub

The Exhibition is a motorbike & bike friendly pub and restaurant located in Godmanchester, near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire. If you are using sat nav our postcode is PE29 2HZ.

We have a large tarmac car park at the rear of the pub next to a large garden and a covered smoking shelter.

Inside we have a nice bar area serving real ales, bitter, lager, spirits and a wide range of soft drinks including teas & coffees. We have a bar menu if you fancy snacks or a full restaurant menu that can be eaten in the bar, outside or in the restaurant.

If you are organising a tour or day trip and are looking for a bike friendly pub then call in.

Any questions or if you want to let us know you are coming please call Paul on 01480 459134.

 

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Places to eat near A14 – Restaurant close to A14

Are you searching Google for good places to stop for food near Huntingdon and are searching for Restaurants on or near the A1 & A14 at Huntingdon. Great food and a nice places to stop & eat.
We are close to the river and not on some industrial estate.

Well here we are:

The Exhibition is a nice ‘gasto pub’ that serves good food and it’s just off the A14 at Godmanchester, near Huntingdon.

If you are heading South on the A1(M) from Peterborough follow the signs to Huntingdon & Cambridge (A14) and the dual carraigeway takes you over Huntingdon and alongside Godmanchester. Just put PE29 2HZ into your sat nav or click here for a map

If you are travelling along the A14 eith to the M1/M6 junction or the other way over to Felixstowe then we are a great place for the whole family, we are dog friendly too and have an enclosed garden the dogs can stretch their legs in.

 

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Best pub in Huntingdon for Sunday roast

If you are looking for the best pub in or around Huntingdon to enjoy a great Sunday roast dinner then we think you may have found it.

We serve a traditional roast brisket of beef or a loin of pork with homemade Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, veg and gravy for only £9.

Also on our menu at the moment we have the following:

Scotch rump steak, mushroom stroganoff, homemade chips, mixed leaf – £12.95

Hake fillet lightly cajuned, warm potato & crayfish salad, roquet dressing, mixed leaves – £11.95

Crispy shoulder of lamb, patatas bravas, Moroccan spiced ratatouille, tzatziki – £11.95

Red pepper & goats cheese lasagne, garlic focaccia (v) – £9.50

FOR OUR CURRENT MENU CLICK HERE –https://www.theexhibitiongodmanchester.com/menu/sunday-lunch

 

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History of The Exhibition, Godmanchester.

 

Here is a snippet about the history of The Exhibition taken from the new book ‘Thirsty Godmanchester’ by Pam & Ken Sneath” available from Cliffords Chemist or Ethnic Origins at a  price of £7.99.

There are two pub walks planned lead by Ken Sneath on the 3rd & 4th July this year.

The 3rd July walk includes a meal at the White Hart afterwards

The 4th July walk includes a BBQ here at The Exhibition afterwards.

Both walks start at 6:30pm from The Black Bull and places can be booked in advance from Alan Hooker of the Godmanchester Community Association.

 

The Exhibition was first licensed in the early 1850s and the name refers to the Great Exhibition held in 1851. It became a tied house of Jenkins and Jones brewery.

When we arrived in Godmanchester in 1982 the Exhibition was in a sorry state. This was the year before the arrival of Richard and Macha Pumphrey who totally transformed it. Richard explained that the idea for installation of shop fronts in the bar was inspired by a visit to the Castle Museum in York. The shop fronts in York captured the atmosphere of Victorian Britain and were perfect for a pub which celebrated the Great Exhibition. Richard, a keen steam railway enthusiast, also adopted a railway theme for the Public Bar. It was highly appropriate for a Victorian pub. Railway lamps hung from the beams in the ceiling, loco shed and wagon plates adorned the walls and customers sat on buffers, resting their feet on a single rail at the foot of the bar. An imperial ‘blue brick’ was embedded in the middle of the bar, built of metric bricks as a token to a railway platform. This one brick had come from the platform at Woodford Halse on the old Great Central Railway and had originally been laid in the Victorian period. The garden where pétanque was played was also a feature of the pub and it is perhaps no surprise that it won the Best Pub Garden of the Year competition of any Grand Metropolitan tied estate. The prize was a holiday for two in Florida. Our memory of those years was the wonderful and inexpensive food that was provided, the highlight of which was the salad bar. Not surprisingly, the pub was regularly buzzing with people. Macha remembers, ‘most weeks we did around 700 meals and the pub did 400 brewers barrels of beer per year. One barrel is 288 pints, that’s 115,200 pints a year, or an average of 315 pints a day’. Sadly the Exhibition declined rapidly when Richard and Macha departed after five years as landlords. Fortunately, when Willem and Maggie Middlemiss took over the Exhibition, it experienced something of a renaissance.