The Champion of the Thames

The Champion of the Thames is a pub in King Street, Cambridge, England. The pub's name derives from an oarsman who won a sculling race on the Thames before moving to Cambridge in 1860. He required that all mail to him be addressed to "The Champion of the River Thames, King Street, Cambridge".^[1] The rowing connection continues, the Champion of the Thames rowing club being sponsored by the pub.

It is a Grade II listed building,^[2] and its late-19th-century interior is unaltered.^[3] It is on the Regional Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors for East Anglia.^[3]

The pub is mentioned in Tom Sharpe's novel Porterhouse Blue, in which it is said to be the character Skullion's favourite pub, although Sharpe changed the pub's name to The Thames Boatman in the novel.^{[citation needed]} It is one of the smaller pubs in Cambridge and is part of the King Street Run, a pub crawl with the object of consuming one pint of beer in each pub in King Street in the quickest time.^{[citation needed]} Since 1992, a team from the pub has played an annual cricket match against a team from the St Radegund for the King Street Trophy.^[4]

In 2024 the Cambridge and District branch of the Campaign for Real Ale declared it their City Pub of the Year and overall Pub of the Year award winners.^[5]

References

^ "Club History - Champion of the Thames Rowing Club". championrowing.org.uk. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
^ Historic England. "The Champion of the Thames Inn (1100277)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
^ ^a ^b Shaw, Andy. "Real Heritage Pubs Online Guide". pubheritage.camra.org.uk. Archived from the original on 5 July 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
^ "1992". Archived from the original on 6 February 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
^ "Pub of the Year 2024". Cambridge & District CAMRA. Cambridge & District Campaign for Real Ale. 30 March 2024. Archived from the original on 11 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.