Country pub of the week: The Old Crown, Girton

Few pubs survive on beer alone, especially if they’re of substantial size, or out of the way. Adapt or die might be every successful publican’s motto. In Girton, a pretty but unattractively named village north of Cambridge, is the Old Crown. Rumours abound that it is the largest thatched pub in the country; the present building has been here since the 1930s, though a pub has been on the site since 1860.

It is a pub proper, with good beer, a telly showing the football and a decent garden. Dogs are welcome, parking is free. But now it draws a crowd for its first-rate Nepalese cooking. The place smells of garlic and chilli spice. Curries and much else are cooked to order. Waiters will ask how hot you want it, and smile meaningfully at those being too brave. They’re tweaking it as they go along; the changes keep locals coming back. Adapt or die, that’s the ticket.