Along this street, you can visit the home of a Victorian working class artist or sip coffee on the site of a Edwardian brewery.
Anyone who has moved to Cambridge in the last year or two is likely to have been caught out by their pronunciation of place names. Perhaps you haven’t yet learned that Magdalene College sounds like ‘Maudlin College’, or you say ‘cotton’ when mentioning the nearby village of Coton.
One important lesson for newcomers to learn is the pronunciation of Gwydir Street. Not only does this street off Mill Road have three popular drinking spots, but it also holds an important place in the city’s history.
Before we delve further into why it’s crucial that you commit this pronunciation to memory, we will put those Cambridge newbies out of their misery. It’s “gweye-der”, rather than “gweye-deer” or “gwee-deer” – but even if you get it wrong, people should know where you mean.
This tricky name comes from Baroness Gwydir, who owned land in this area during the early 19th century. It was sold by her son to the Reverend Dr James Geldart in 1809 and redeveloped. Unsurprisingly, this is the man behind the name of The Geldart pub on nearby Ainsworth Street.
Two of the most historically important buildings on Gwydir Street stand opposite each other, on the Mill Road end. Next time you head for a coffee at Hot Numbers café or for a wander around The Hive, the next-door antiques shop, take a look up at the building before stepping inside.
You will find a lovely red-brick construction, with arched windows and an old clock mounted on an intricately-designed fixture. Once your eyes reach the roof, you will discover the word ‘Dale’s’ in iron lettering. At the side of the building, the longer sign on top of the roof reads: Dale’s Brewery.
The brewery was named after Frederick Dale, a brewer, wine and spirit merchant who founded the brewery with his first site on Histon Road in 1898. The building on Gwydir Street was constructed in 1902, just at the beginning of the Edwardian period.
Dale’s produced pale ale and oatmeal stout. The brewery achieved an award for its beers in 1911 at the Brewers International Exhibition, before taking home a ‘Champion Gold Medal’ at another exhibition in 1919.
Frederick Dale died in 1930, leading his son to take over the business. It was run by Whitbread and Co from 1954 as a bottling plant, before the last beers were brewed there in 1958. The site was sold to Cambridge City Council in 1966.
If you head just past Hot Numbers, away from Mill Road, and look to the other side of Gwydir Street, you will see David Parr House. This is the kind of attraction Cambridge locals might discover after a few years of living here, rather than one that is obvious during first strolls around the city.
Despite the unassuming nature of this terraced property, its interior is a delight for art lovers. Once home to the working-class Victorian artist, David Parr, this house appears to have acted as a canvas: its walls were hand-painted by Mr Parr in bold patterns.
The opening times for the house vary, with upcoming dates available on the David Parr House website. House visits cost £15 per person, while guided tours are priced at £20 per person.
Further along Gwydir Street, you will find The Cambridge Blue pub, self-styled as “Cambridge’s Real Ale paradise”. Here, you will find up to 14 real ales and seven real ciders, three fridges packed with Belgian beers, and a menu including burgers and pies.
On one corner, where Gwydir Street meets Milford Street, is another popular drinking spot: The Alexandra Arms. Punters here enjoy a regularly-changing list of beers and ciders on draught, alongside a choice of around 10 burgers and ‘pie ‘n’ mash of the week’.
There are plenty of reasons to make your way down Gwydir Street. Just remember: it’s not “gwee-deer”; it’s “gweye-der”.
