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CAMRA HITS 40!!

IN THIS ISSUE: PLOUGHMAN CELEBRATES PUB OF THE YEAR |PUB NEWS | RHYTHM AND BOOZE | OAKHAM AWARDS | JOIN CAMRA & MUCH MORE Peterborough & District Branch of CAMRA | www.peterborough-camra.org.uk

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Issue 158 | April - May 2011

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Your Award Winning local with FIVE Real Ales available from ÂŁ2.00 a pint!

Sky Sports BEER FESTIVAL - First weekend in July Happy Hour Mon - Fri, 5-7pm Live Entertainment (See Rythm and Booze section) Karaoke every Sunday with Mighty Mouth Trev Function room for hire at reasonable prices Join our Facebook group The Ploughman

THE PLOUGHMAN Staniland Way, Werrington centre PE4 6NA Tel: 01733 327696

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Chairman’s Corner | 3

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Chairman’s Corner

ello again folks. One of the aims of this newsletter is to keep readers, (whether CAMRA members or not) informed of what is happening in pubs around our area.

We can only provide that if we are given the relevant information first. I’ve lost count of the number of times that a licensee has made a comment to me, on not receiving any support or recognition about an event held in their pub.

The effort to publicise an event in your pub should be surely of prime importance, if you want it to be a success and attract as many people as possible?

Which brings me on to our recent Pub of the Year presentation at the Ploughman in Werrington. A very substantial crowd of around 150 crammed themselves into the pub for the award being presented, including local MP Stewart Jackson. First point is I do believe it was the largest turnout for any award that we have held and, also the first time that we have managed to attract the presence of any MP to a CAMRA pub event. This happened due to the efforts of The Ploughman’s licensees Andy and Stewart Simmons, in publicising the event.

As I mentioned in the last issue of BAE we have managed to ‘top’ up our committee team, including the return of Social Secretary John Hunt. He has already made some plans for visits and pub crawls in the forthcoming weeks/months.

Some are even as I write well supported. The down side is that we are not immune from the ever rising cost of fuel, so increases in transport costs mean a higher charge for places on these trips. They are nonetheless good value, and a great opportunity to get out and about to rural pubs that are normally only accessible by public transport during daytime hours. Have a look at our Diary Dates to see if there is an event that you would like to attend, but remember, places are often limited so don’t delay!

One event that I would like to draw your attention to is the naming ceremony of our fourth lifeboat at Skegness on April 16th. We have

ordered a larger bus and hope to take as many as possible to that event. After all it was your ‘chuck it in the bucket’ loose change at PBF that has paid for it. (Details in the Diary dates.)

A regular comment from me amongst many others is the continual rising cost of our beer.

The increase in VAT in January did as we expected force a rise that nobody welcomed.

With the average rise around the ten pence mark as we predicted, it was with some dismay to see in one local pub company a rise of 15p on a pint, making several beers ending in a five pence. To make matters worse two halves of the same beer were rounded up, thus imposing an increase of twenty pence a pint! Kill the golden goose at your cost I say!

A new feature that we hope to introduce is an update from the Chairman of our PBF committee Mike Lane, on the state of play in regards to the 2011 beer festival. This will be a short report on any changes or otherwise in the organising procedure of our premier event in August. All we need to do now is actually tell him what to do! That’s it for now.

Cheers.

David Murray - Branch Chairman.

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Oakham Ales News| 5

Oakham Ales Takes Top Award

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Oakham Ales in Woodston, Peterborough, has been recognised as one of the best in the country, after winning a Silver Award in the National Beer Competition held by the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), announced last week in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Oakham’s, Akhenaten, won the Silver Award in the Premium Bitters (4.6%-5% A.B.V. category) after progressing through a series of regional and then national judging sessions. It was one of only 52 beers to take away a medal - a great achievement considering that over 1,400 beers enter the initial stages of the contest.

Adrian Posnett, Oakham Ales Managing Director says, “Akhenaten is a beer we originally brewed for a beer festival, and it is rewarding to receive this public recognition. It is currently available alongside our popular core range which includes; JHB, Inferno, Citra, White Dwarf and Bishops Farewell.”

Julian Grocock, chief executive of SIBA, said, “The quality of craft beers produced by SIBA brewers improves every year, so our Awards go to brewers who are truly ‘the best of the best’.

Oakham Ales skill, passion and dedication to creating great craft beer, make it a deserving winner.”

Oakham Ales is one of around 450 local brewers belonging to SIBA. Last year, sales of local beers grew by 8.8%, compared to an overall decline in the UK beer market of 3.9%, thanks to growing demand for the quality, flavoursome beers produced by local brewers.

(Pictured (l-r) Adrian Posnett, Managing Director, Oakham Ales receiving the award from award sponsor, Paul Corbett from Charles Faram & Co.) While Oakham continue to win awards, they also continue to create brand new beers for us to enjoy. Two new beers to look out for in the near future are a 4.9% red beer brewed for J.D.Wetherspoon’s forthcoming Spring Beer Festival called ‘Taipan.’ Later in the spring will see the release of another new beer, a pale 4.4% brew called Scarlett Macaw. If it proves a success as the brewery hope, then you may well see it stick around for a longer stay!

News on their “new” pub venture, the Mansion House, just a six hit away from the Oval cricket ground in London, is more positive with all systems now go after what seems like an endless hiatus with various hitches. We’ll keep you informed on its progress.

Dave Allett

www.real-ale.org.uk

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Life begins at...

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ello once again readers, and welcome to the Spring edition of your local CAMRA newsletter.

It has been a very difficult Winter trading period for the various industries involved in supplying the nation with real ale. Breweries & pubs have both suffered due to the vast increases in the cost of fuel, utilities & raw materials, and a successive annual VAT increase of 2.5% was akin to showing the camel a straw while patting its back!

There’s not a great deal of joy in the international news at the moment either, with Japan reeling, and in apparent meltdown, following the tsunami that destroyed tens of thousands of lives in an instant; the Allied forces called in to protect the rebels in a Libyan civil war, (when we’re still discussing why we interfered the last time in a situation like this?) and of course, le coup de grace, England surrendering themselves to the Irish, and blowing away the best chance of a Grand Slam in 8 years!

The media have also been consumed with events of St Patrick’s Day; the cricket world cup and the resurgence of POSH in League One! So, in all honesty, how many of you noticed, or were aware that Wednesday 16th March marked the 40th Birthday of CAMRA? Four men - Michael Hardman, Graham Lees, Jim Makin and Bill Mellor, formed CAMRA in 1971. Whilst visiting a pub during a fishing holiday in Ireland, the quartet discussed how they had become deeply disillusioned with the domination of the market by a handful of national brewing companies, determined to push a lower quality of keg beer brands into the market, displacing smaller, local breweries from pubs. www.real-ale.org.uk

None of those four founders could have anticipated that within just 2 years, over 5,000 fellow beer lovers would have signed up to support their whim. The Campaign for the Revitalisation of Ale (as it was then known) held their first AGM in a pub in Nuneaton, Warwickshire and the organization you now know as CAMRA was on the march, destined to become one of the most successful consumer rights groups in history.

In more recent years, successful national campaigns and incentives have helped convert more young drinkers, both male & female, away from Alco-pops or lager and on to real ale, and the health benefits gained by drinking responsibly. The campaigns membership shot through 50,000 in 1997 and had reached the magical 100,000 barely a decade later. (The current total is approaching 125,000 I’m informed.)

Many of those national brewing companies that threatened the industry and the future of real ale all those years ago are no longer players, having cashed in their chips or sold their shares to another, a member of an even more voracious species, a pub company. Strange, that after four decades of shouting the obvious, coupled with the huge increase in membership for support, successive governments have done nothing to stem the destruction of local communities, accelerated by the loss of so many rural and community public houses.

I have mentioned this subject numerous times before, but the situation won’t go away, so neither will I. Either stop taxing this industry to the hilt in a misguided effort to solve the problems of binge-drinking, or curb the powers of the greedy supermarket and pub company owners?

Another strange coincidence is that many of CAMRA’s current objectives still embrace the aspirations of the founder members. The concern

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Editor’s Rant | 7

for ‘local brewers being displaced in the market place by national brewers’ still rings true. With the pub companies owning the majority of pubs, they can demand high profit margins from the larger regional brewers to supply their estate with a ‘tied’ list of ‘guest’ beers, which are sold on to their hosts at ridiculously inflated prices. In the meantime, the same brewers offer their wares to the free houses at half the price, and…Oh, well you do the maths!

And then there are pubs that are tied to an actual brewery. More than half of the local & regional breweries in operation back in 1971 have closed. Greedy competitors swallowed up most when they sought to build huge pub estates as they strived to conquer the market. Many famous brand names live on, but in name only.

The beers now often produced hundreds of miles away from their original source bear no resemblance to their famous counterparts.

When Greene King purchased, and promptly closed Hardys & Hansons Kimberley brewery in Nottingham five years ago, it was that proverbial straw that did for Nottingham CAMRA stalwart, Steve Westby. Having previously experienced the closures of Shipstones by Greenall Whitley in 1991, and Home Brewery by Scottish & Newcastle in 1996, this left one of the major real ale cities in England without a recognized regional brewery. Concerned that most of the beers being served in the hundreds of outlets of this historic city were now being trunked by road hundreds of miles just seemed a bit mad, and when he realized that at least twenty micro-brewers were producing some deliciously crafted beers within just a few miles of these pubs, then something needed to be done.

The result of this as I’m sure you’ve already guessed was the launch of the LocAle scheme.

Pioneered by the Nottingham branch in 2007, it was rolled out nationwide just two years later, and the Peterborough Branch now has well over 100 known outlets for locally produced ales.

People have always been proud to support local companies, and LocAle has gone from strength

to strength. Pubs that once served John Smiths rough or Greene King IPA are now offering Oakham’s JHB; Tydd Steam’s Barn Ale or Digfield’s Fool’s Nook, and such is the popularity of locally produced beers, many drinkers now search these out rather than meekly accept national blands.

Coors-Molson recently purchased Sharp’s brewery in Cornwall, primarily to acquire the rights to their successful Doom Bar brand, although they were one of the first Global Giants to awake from their slumber and realize the resurgence of real ale in the modern day, as they have installed a new brew plant at Burton-upon-Trent to produce historic ales under the William Worthington banner.

What kept them? They own the rights to the oldest and one of the most famous beers in Britain - Draught Bass - and yet they choose to contract the brewing out to a major competitor?

No worries, there are now almost 800 craft brewers in the UK, and for the first time in many years, they now have an opportunity to sell their wares. The Society of Independent Brewers Association (SIBA) helped to establish trading agreements with the major pub companies, enabling local breweries to supply pubs in their immediate catchment area with a selection of their beers. LocAle has helped encourage more licensees to use the ‘Direct Delivery’ scheme and promote local products and reduce ‘beer miles’.

CAMRA has championed many of the causes we benefit from today, especially more flexible drinking hours. As an organization, there are many ongoing issues still to face, not least the campaign for a full pint! Essentially though, the aims of CAMRA are still what they were 40 years ago - The freedom of choice! To be able to enjoy a pint or two of locally brewed ale, sat in a well run community pub, discussing with your mates just when England might get another chance at a Grand Slam? It just had to be Ireland didn’t it?

Cheers

Bram www.real-ale.org.uk

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8 | Pub News

Pub News

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t may seem unfair but I’m starting to acquire a reputation akin to the Angel of Death when it comes to mentioning pubs.

No sooner do I comment that a pub is doing well by providing good beer, good cheer and a good, time that the bloody place closes! It may come to a point when landlords will be pleading with me not to mention their pub lest they lose their life savings! My traditional schmoosing time at the Trade Session of our beer festival will have landlords diving for cover behind stillages and feigning illness to avoid contact with me when I sweep into view with my notebook!

So, who has benefited from the Steve Williams Kiss of Death this time?

My enthusiastic outpourings with regards to the Boy’s Head in Oundle Rd may have been premature. I was impressed with CJ, Pam, Matt and Brian the chef who had some great ideas about what could be done with the pub, but alas it came to nowt and the pub is currently closed. It seems strange that we should have people who were willing to try something different and save a pub to be so underwhealmed by public support. It feels as if the local community were offended by the pub reopening? Quite what the answer is I just don’t know. I suspect that it may have become popular over time but a business can’t stay afloat while it waits. Nice try. To save any embarrassment of anything premature happening again I’ll keep thinking of non pub thoughts so I don’t disappoint.

The Scotgate in Stamford was mentioned a couple of times just recently when I pointed out that their Wherry was some of the best I’d ever

www.real-ale.org.uk

had. Unfortunately Robbie and Trina couldn’t make the place pay and have now moved on, resulting in the pub closing for a couple of months. In their place comes new landlord Johann Goree, a 23-year-old hopeful who learned his trade in Shrewsbury and sees the pub as a great opportunity. He’s hoping to attract younger drinkers and is currently restoring the business to its roots as a ‘pub and not a restaurant’. Johann has already reduced Scotgate, Stamford prices to make them more competitive and hopes to install Sky Sports in the near future. Woodforde’s Wherry and Adnam’s Bitter are the current ales on offer but this may change. Let’s hope that me giving him a mention will not affect his prospects.

Another pub I reported on recently is The Hare And Hounds in Greatford that has unfortunately closed. I’m assuming this is just a temporary situation and hopefully it will be open by the time you read this?

My worries about the Black Swan in Farcet have been firmly laid to rest. No longer will I awake at 3am in a cold sweat mumbling incoherently about objecting to planning permission.

The pub was recently bought by a local businessman who already owns a pub in the vicinity and his intentions are to reopen it as a pub as soon as possible. Hurrah! I like to think the beer quality and choice will be similar to his other pub. Details will appear in the near future.

A festival or two Mama Liz’s has recently had a beer festival that proved popular with locals and visitors alike.

Our Stamford Pub Spy tells me that the ales

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Pub News | 9

were excellent and featured Cottage, Great Oakley, Banks and Taylor, Digfield, Ossett, and Potbelly amongst others as well as Jollydale and Addlestone’s cider. More festivals are planned.

While I’m on the subject of beer festivals I should give a few pubs a mention that will be holding beery related events in the near future.

First of all Easter will mark the first ever beer festival for the Walnut Tree in Market Deeping.

Lynn the landlady tells me that it’ll be more than just beer drinking with a host of activities such as a scavenger hunt on Friday afternoon and local band on Saturday evening with a bouncy castle and other attractions during the afternoon. A prize draw on Sunday followed by a quiz. Monday will be for mopping up the left over ales I suspect. The Walnut Tree has three

Prince of Wales Feathers, Castor

ales on permanently. Also during Easter the Rose & Crown in March will be having a festival but more of that later. We will of course have the ever-popular Hand & Heart Beer Festival at more or less the same time that will run from 21st to 25th April. The Prince of Wales Feathers in Castor will have their festival on 12th to 16th May. The Ploughman will have their annual fest during the first week in July, The Bluebell in Helpston will have theirs on July 8th to the 10th and our friend Dick Morgan of the renowned Ye Olde Dun Cow in Cowbit will be holding a bit of a bash on July 15th to 17th. The Dun Cow will have 16 ales, ciders, live music, all day BBQ, tug of war and the host of other stuff.

The view from Werrington I haven’t mentioned the Ploughman for over an hour now, so they’re due another write up! As we all know Andy and Stuart Simmonds have been awarded the Peterborough Pub of the Year for 2011 for their turning around of a nightmare keg only pub into something more user friendly.

At the award ceremony on the 23rd February the place was heaving with standing room only, it’s a good job I’m quite thin or I wouldn’t have got in the door. The beer and sandwiches flowed, if that’s the right word for the movement of butties, and everyone had a fabulous time. Mr Chairman gave his Party Political Broadcast before congratulating the brothers and handing over the award. So, how do the Simmonds brothers improve on this? Well, every successful business likes to expand and so that’s why they may be taking over a second pub locally. Look out for the new pub company called ‘Simmospoons’!

As an alternative to heading to the city centre for a beer at the weekend you could do worse than head for Werrington. You now have a choice of 6 pubs to visit all of which serve real ale. Live music will be on in at least 2 of them and you can have a meal in at least a couple of them too.

Just in case you don’t know them all, here goes, starting in the old village..... Bluebell, Three Horsehoes and the Cock Inn, further out we have the Crab and Winkle, Ploughman and the Dragon. For those fans of public transport, the Continued Overleaf

Crab and Winkle, Werrington

www.real-ale.org.uk

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41 St.Peters Road, March PE15 9NA Cambridgeshire Tel:-01354 652077

Tel: 01354 652077

Easter Beerfest Friday 22nd till Monday 25th April 2011 20 REAL ALES +CIDERS • LIVE MUSIC SATURDAY NIGHT - BECKY RAINER SUNDAY NIGHT - LOIS McLAINE

Children’s Bouncy Castle, Raffle, Bubba Grills BBQ 12 noon – 7pm www.real-ale.org.uk

OPENING HOURS Fri,Sat and Sun -12noon to midnight Mon-12noon till 11pm

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Pub News continued | 11

Citi Number 1 omnibus will get you there and back from town.

A Grand Day Out: Pubs in March Being a bit of a fan of public transport I do like to venture out around our area and visit a few hostelries, sampling what they have and generally making notes for this little column. A recent outing to the Fenland town of March threw up a few surprises which made my day even more enjoyable than it would have ordinarily been.

As you know I have a network of Pub Spies on my books and I like to meet up with them occasionally to make sure their cover isn’t blown, swap microfilm and make sure they're alright in what can only be described as a life of clandestine beer drinking subterfuge. Eric is our March contact and meeting up with him is always a pleasure as he usually gives me a few pointers as to where to go for a decent pint. Our first pub of the day was the Little London Inn on Dartford Road on the way into the town. This was originally known as the Men of March before becoming Bar 23 and finally a short while ago, the Little London Inn. The pub is owned by Marstons and has 4 beers on offer with the pub doing a roaring trade in food, even though this was early in the week. A friendly welcome was forthcoming and we were made to feel quite at home, an approach some other pubs would be well advised to adopt. An excellent find and one

of John Moray Smith, an Italian artist during the 1940’s. Most of his work can be found as murals in or on the outside of Norwich pubs but the Little London Inn had at one time 6 paintings by him. What happened to them nobody knows but they’d be worth a small fortune if they came to light.

We strolled past the hoardings covering the Hippodrome Cinema, soon to become Wetherspoons newest outpost (or probably is by the time you read this) and mused whether it will do any damage to the existing pubs or not.

A short stroll through Broad Street towards the river brought us to the nicely situated Ship Inn in Nene Parade.

This one time Greene King pub now sports 6 handpumps selling amongst them a couple of local ales as well as 3 ciders. The layout of the pub is open plan in the front bar with a smaller area to the rear. It’s good to see the Ship is a success at last after so many years of ebbing and flowing fortunes. They will be holding a beer festival in the near future so do keep an eye out for more information. One of the features of the building is the 16th century ceiling beam that holds this little riverside pub together. Legend has it that it was one of two beams misappropriated from a shipment of wood enroute to Ely Cathedral while parked outside on a barge!

Just a short hop over the town bridge and you’re in Market Place and the Griffin Hotel.

This is a large hotel in the town and commands a corner plot on the Market Place. Refurbished a couple of years ago it still retains small areas in which to enjoy the reasonably priced food and the two beers it had on offer, Bombardier and Broadside. Busy but still friendly is my view on the place and children appear to be welcome.

Ship Inn, March

pub I will definitely frequent again when in town.

For those of you who like a bit of a mystery the pub was one of several that featured the works

The next place that would have been visited was the George in the High St which has seen mixed fortunes of late. It was closed on our visit but the good news is that by the time you read Continued Overleaf

www.real-ale.org.uk

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12 | Pub News Continued

who knows whatever else. Worth a visit even without a beer fest!

There are obviously other pubs in the town but we didn’t have time to do them all. If those landlords who missed out this time get in touch I’ll try and rectify things.

George Inn, March

this it should be up and running, and hopefully thriving. The new incumbents are Steve & Marion who come from many years looking after 2 pubs, one in Norfolk and one in Cambridgeshire.

They have apparently had a bit of success in the past by taking on low turnover pubs and introducing homemade food and real ales and building up the businesses. One of the features of the new George will be a minor name change to ‘George’s’ and the featuring of ales and ciders in an ‘ale shed’. Quite what this entails we’ll have to wait and see but generally signs are good.

The Oliver Cromwell is a large hotel just off the High St and has all the nice trimmings of a quality establishment. It also seems to be Eric’s favourite place as I think he sometimes meets double agents in the bar so I thought it only right and proper that I buy him a pint here.

We took our beers and settled into big comfy sofas and discussed the day thus far. We spoke of many things and ‘chilled’. The Hotel has three handpumps and more often than not local brews are on the menu.

The Rose and Crown in St Peter’s Rd is known to all who seek quality real ales. Here you’ll find up to 6 handpumps in use with a variety of special and lovely beers, including on our visit, a Tinners beer and one from Nelson Brewery. Add to this the fact that they have 7 ciders available and you have a destination pub worth the train or bus fare alone. Paul & Jackie also hold their beer festival during the Easter holidays which will include live music, a raffle and www.real-ale.org.uk

So, an excellent day out with a couple of nice surprises. I’m sure March will attract more people to the town centre when the Hippodrome opens but why wait, there are plenty of superb boozers to try already.

My ride home on the Number 31 bus unfortunately coincided with school chucking out time and my travelling companions for some distance towards Peterborough were noisy, boisterous and ever so slightly odorous. How could I retain my

Rose and Crown, March

personal space in the face of such adversity?

Only one thing for it. In my over refreshed state I would dribble, snore and mumble the words to 'the wheels on the bus go round and round’.

Success!

Pubs Officer 1 Irksome Little Twerps 0 Best wishes, thanks to my Pub Spies and keep the news coming in.

Steve Williams - Pubs Officer

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14 | LocAle Update

LocAle scheme in Peterborough goes from strength to strength

John Rice presenting the LocAle certificate to Mama Liz’s of Stamford (Pub of the Year 2010 winner)

T

he Peterborough and District branch of CAMRA is getting ready to celebrate its second year of promoting ‘LocAle’, the scheme aimed at getting local pubs and clubs to sell locally produced real-ale.

the City and into neighbouring parts of Stamford, Northamptonshire and Wisbech.

The idea behind the scheme is to reduce the miles that beer on sale travels from brewery to bar in order to support local business and the environment. Once approved participants of the scheme are given a LocAle certificate and pump clip crowners which they can then display to their customers on the premises. Each year an annual check aims to ensure that standards of quality and availability of LocAle are being maintained.

Since LocAle was first introduced in April 2009 to just a handful of pubs the number has grown significantly. There are now over 110 members across the branch area which spans right outside www.real-ale.org.uk

The first members of the Peterborough LocAle scheme in 2009(l-r): The Brewery Tap, (John Rice), The Cherry Tree, Charters Bar

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| 15

The current roster of LocAle suppliers includes well established breweries such as Elgoods and Oakham as well as micro-brewers like Castor and Ufford Ales. Such is the popularity of locally produced beers that some LocAle suppliers have had difficulty keeping up with demand. In 2007 Will Neaverson, owner of the Tydd Steam Brewery, set up business in a converted agricultural barn and was producing 1,400 pints a week.

Within two years the operations had expanded and capacity had increased to 3, 500 pints a week – a remarkable increase of over 200%.

LocAle officer, John Rice, took on the task of recruiting pubs right from the beginning and has been instrumental in the roll-out and the development of the scheme. Explaining the reasons for its success he said: “More people are drinking real-ale and seeing what is available locally definitely appeals to those drinkers.”

Following on from the campaigning success to raise LocAle awareness the focus now is on keeping up to date on individual pub progress. “It can be tricky getting to all the pubs in the branch area, especially on public transport” John admits.

With the number of premises requiring a yearly visit to keep an eye on though he is certainly clocking up the miles even if the barrels are not.

If you are a CAMRA member interested in helping with the Peterborough LocAle scheme or you would like to join CAMRA then please visit the website www.peterborough-camra.org.uk and see the contacts section for a full list of branch contacts.

www.real-ale.org.uk

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of Two Halves

A Campaign

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Forename(s)

(UK & EU)

Date of Birth (dd/mm/yyyy)

Joint Membership

Address

(Partner at the same address) For Young Member and concessionary rates please visit www.camra.org.uk or call 01727 867201.

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I wish to join the Campaign for Real Ale, and agree to abide by the Memorandum and Articles of Association

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I enclose a cheque for Signed

Partner’s Details (if Joint Membership)

Date

Applications will be processed within 21 days

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Forename(s) Date of Birth (dd/mm/yyyy)

12/10

Campaigning for Pub Goers & Beer Drinkers

Enjoying Real Ale & Pubs

Join CAMRA today – www.camra.org.uk/joinus Instruction to your Bank or Building Society to pay by Direct Debit Please fill in the whole form using a ball point pen and send to: Campaign for Real Ale Ltd. 230 Hatfield Road, St.Albans, Herts AL1 4LW Name and full postal address of your Bank or Building Society Service User Number To the Manager

Bank or Building Society

9 2 6 1 2 9

Address

FOR CAMRA OFFICIAL USE ONLY

This is not part of the instruction to your Bank or Building Society Membership Number Postcode Name

Name(s) of Account Holder

Postcode

Branch Sort Code

Please pay Campaign For Real Ale Limited Direct Debits from the account detailed on this instruction subject to the safeguards assured by the Direct Debit Guarantee. I understand that this instruction may remain with Campaign For Real Ale Limited and, if so will be passed electronically to my Bank/Building Society.

Instructions to your Bank or Building Society

Bank or Building Society Account Number Signature(s)

Reference

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Banks and Building Societies may not accept Direct Debit Instructions for some types of account.

This Guarantee should be detached and retained by the payer.

The Direct Debit Guarantee This Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay by Direct Debits.

If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd will notify you 10 working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed.

If you request The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit by The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society - If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when The Campaign For Real Ale Ltd asks you to You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society.Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify us.

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20 |

The Ploughman, Werrington Peterborough & District CAMRA Pub of the Year 2011 Andy & Stuart Simmonds

O

n 23rd February the Peterborough and District branch of CAMRA was very proud to present the licensees of the Ploughman in Werrington their award for winning Pub of the Year for 2011.

with a chequered past history into a welcoming real-ale establishment has paid off, and is one of the main reasons why it caught the voters eyes.

The presentation was held in front of a packed house of regulars and supporters including city MP Stewart Jackson who had previously written to congratulate joint pub landlords Andy and Stuart Simmonds on their receipt of a CAMRA Gold award last October.

The Ploughman which is located within the grounds of a 1980’s estate and shopping centre was until recently earmarked for demolition as part of a multi-million pound redevelopment plan. Following a “Save Our Pub” campaign in April 2010, which was backed by hundreds of local residents, the licensees were able to postpone any further expansion by the neighbouring Tesco store.

The award marks the high point of over twelve months hard work by the Simmonds brothers.

Their vision of turning round a tired looking pub

During this time the pub began to develop a reputation for selling an excellent range of top quality real-ales and acquired accreditation

www.real-ale.org.uk

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Pub of the Year 2011 | 21

through the LocAle and Oakademy schemes. It wasn’t long before local CAMRA members started to take note of what was happening and soon the branch was adding it to the shortlist of possible nominees for an award.

The result of the Pub of the Year was announced in January, in the same week that the landlords received the news that their lease had been extended for a further two years, clearly demonstrating the success of the campaign to keep the pub open.

During the celebrations Andy Simmonds revealed that the renovation work had unearthed an original pub sign from almost 30 years ago bearing the logo of “Home Ales” of Nottingham.

He explained: “The plan is to get the local college to renovate it so that we can have it up on display inside the pub”. To have a little bit of real-ale history on show would be a fitting touch for this young pub with a bright and promising future.

During the presentation, branch chairman Dave Murray, gave an impassioned speech highlighting the problems faced by the pub trade from cheap supermarket alcohol, unfair levels of taxation, and the high rents and “beer tie” restrictions imposed by pub companies.

CAMRA LocAle Officer and Werrington resident, John Rice, went on to praise the efforts of Andy and Stuart for bringing the pub back to life.

He also congratulated them and the regulars for raising £4,000 for charity in the last 12 months.

(L-R): Stewart Jackson MP, John Rice (CAMRA), Andy Simmonds (Ploughman)

Exotic Thai Food & Handcrafted Beers

Beer of the Month

Europe’s Largest Brew Pub 80 Westgate, Peterborough PE1 2AA

Tel: 01733 358500 Web: www.oakhamales.com

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22 | Please support our advertisers

Lincolnshire CAMRA Pub of the Year 2009

Peterborough & District CAMRA Pub of the Year 2009

• 5 real ales • A Right eer Royal B Festival ril to 29th Ap y M 2nd a

• Food served daily • 12-3pm Monday - Sunday 6-9pm Friday & Saturday • Sky HD and 3D showing Football and Rugby •

t. 01780 755141 w. jollybrewer.com

www.real-ale.org.uk

Foundry Road, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 2PP

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Music Listings| 23

Rhythm and Booze Jolly Sailor, Ramsey PE26 1HH

Every 2nd & 4th Thursday Backroom Acoustic Music Club (Open Mic)

The Rose, Peterborough PE1 2QB

Every 2nd & 4th Thursday The Rose Open Mic Sessions

Letter B, Whittlesey

April 16th Grumpy Old Men 9pm Sunday 24th April Lloyd Watson & Band 9pm Saturday May 14th Frankly My Dear 9pm Sunday May 29th Lloyd Watson and band Sat June 18th Les Woods 9pm

Ploughman, Werrington

Fri April 1st Influence Sat April 2nd Groove Cartel Friday April 8th Under Covers (girl fronted) Sat April 16th Frankly My Dear Fri April 22nd Leon (GOOD FRIDAY) Sun April 24th The Nuggets (easter Sunday) Fri 29th April Filthy Lucra (Sex Pistols Trib Band) (royal wedding day) Sun May 1st The One Eyed Cats (May Day) Fri May 6th The Sound Injectors Sat May 7th Hooker Fri May 13th Twenty Four Fri May 27th Monkey Boy Sun May 29th Pigs (Police Trib Band with Colin Smith "SMITHY")

Corn Exhange, Bourne Fri April 1st Wishbone Ash The legendary British band, pioneers of the twinguitar rock that influenced groups from Thin Lizzy to Iron Maiden, stop off in Bourne as part of their World Tour to perform such classic tracks from their multi-million selling albums as The King Will Come, Throw Down The Sword & Blowin' Free.

Sat 14th May Who’s Who WHO’s WHO are respected for their interpretation of the original sound and are widely regarded as the best (and closest) that anyone will ever get to evoking the feeling and energy of The Who at their peak!

Mama Liz’s Voodoo Lounge

Friday 8th April Boomerang Returns presents Re-entrants + Farino Sunday 17th April Mama Liz's Sunday Sessions presents - Steve Bean Thursday 21st April Voodoo Lounge Live presents - The Static Age + Brothers + Cancer + A Great Notion Saturday 23rd April Roosters Rock and Roll present - The Swinging Dice (France) + DJs Poor Boy Paul and Mama Guitar.

Saturday 14th May Miles Hunt – (Wonderstuff) + Erica Nockalls

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24 | Please support our advertisers

Pub Merit Awards & Gold Awards The committee feel that pubs outside of Peterborough are missing out on Gold Awards and so they have introduced a new Merit Award for pubs that are continuously outstanding. If you know of a pub in our area that deserves a Merit Award or Gold Award then please complete the following form and send it to our Secretary.

Pub name:

Pub address/town/village:

Reason for award:

Your name:

Your phone number or e-mail address:

Your membership number:

The Bluebell Inn 10 Woodgate, Helpston Peterborough, PE6 7ED 01733252394

Helpston. Offering a warm welcome and a typical English pub A atmosphere. The antidote to uncluttered “cool�.

Pictures by Michael Slaughter

traditional country Inn set in the beautiful village of

We serve up to six real ales from national breweries and local microbreweries including Tydd Steam, Elgoods, Adnams, Fullers, Wells and The Grainstore Brewery. All changing weekly. Permanently available, exclusive to us John Clare Bitter 4.3% from the Grainstore.

Good home

cooked food served Tuesday to Sunday. Traditional

Sunday roast served from noon and daily 2 course lunchtime specials.

Small parties can be catered for Funerals, christenings, birthdays etc...

Ample customer parking.

8th - 10th July Beer Festival

Also conveniently close to the hourly Peterborough - Stamford bus route (mon - sat)

20 + Real Ales & Ciders

www.real-ale.org.uk

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Birmingham | 25

A Brum Trudge and a couple of Peterborough connections

T

here are many places within an hour or so train ride of Peterborough worthy of a visit. Places that have pubs with decent beer, pubs with interesting architecture and even some pubs with connections to our very own city. A recent trip to Birmingham provided all of these for our newly crowned Membership Secretary, Steve Saldana and myself.

Birmingham is a city of a million souls and was once the powerhouse of the midlands and to a certain extent still is. Industry abounded here, from metal bashing companies to manufacturers of a girl’s best friend, chocolate that is not diamonds.

One of the ‘must do’ pubs when in the city is the Bartons Arms in Aston. Once part of the Mitchells and Butlers brewery empire it lay

makers Minton and Hollins. Not an inch of wall escapes their eye for detail with wall to ceiling tiles in places, a large frieze of a hunting scene and even a nymph of a lady in the throes of wispy disrobement. All done in the best possible taste as they say.

It was landlord John Wilson who gave us a guided tour of the pub, a man who obviously has a passion for the place, as well as serving a decent pint. One of the reasons for my visit was to have a look at a photograph now hanging behind the bar that was donated by the Brum chapter of the Laurel & Hardy Society, known as the Laughing Gravy Tent. The photo shows the comic duo outside the Bartons back in the 1950’s and Paul Hook was presented with the picture back in July last year as a reminder that the pub had played host to an abundance of theatrical types over many many years. Which was not surprising considering that the Aston Empire was next door until its demolition in the Continued Overleaf

unloved and decaying until rescued by our very own Paul Hook and Oakham Ales in 2002.

Built in 1901 on the site of an earlier pub, which was probably built on the site of something even earlier the building is testament to the craft of long gone tile

Left and above: The exterior and resturant of the Bartons Arms

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26 |

An example of the stunning tiling in the Bartons Arms 1980's. Laurel and Hardy are always good for a bit of publicity so the local paper took a few shots of Paul being presented with the photo with a couple of look-a-likes taking the lead in a few comic poses. All good fun.

Getting to the Bartons Arms by public transport is extremely easy, if you pay attention to the correct timetables! Our choice of conveyance from just around the corner from New St Station was the 907 service, which takes you right past the pub. Unfortunately we wanted to get off at the pub and not speed past it like the 907 tends to do. As we sat on the top deck glancing longingly at the Bartons as it sped past we were wondering what we had done to upset the bus driver who was now re-enacting a scene from the film ‘Speed’. Where was Keanu Reeves when you need him? The next available stop turned out to be Perry Barr, the home of a nice modern establishment by Wetherspoons called the Arthur Robertson. Not wishing to spoil our appetite for Oakham Ales we decided to do a bit of a U turn, get on the right bus and www.real-ale.org.uk

head for our first beer of the day. For those of you less stupid a more sensible bus to get would have been the number 33 or 51. This will drop you off just outside the Bartons and when you've had enough Oakham Ales, if such a thing is possible, you can just pop outside and get the bus back to the city centre. As you can imagine the Bartons is worth a visit even if you’re not interested in Minton and Hollins as they have lashings of Oakham Ales on offer.

Once back in the city centre we decided that a stroll over to Digbeth just south of the centre would be a good bet. Here, according to my sources were several pubs worth a look.

Due to more bad planning and my inability to read an A-Z correctly, it was some considerable time before we found the Anchor in Bradford St. This was just as I remember it, a multi-roomed pub dating back to the early 1900’s with a history way beyond that. A nice selection of beers and even Erdinger, one of my favourite bottled beers, just waiting for me. As we had

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Birmingham continued | 27

chosen a Monday to do a pub tour it was inevitable that some places would be closed.

One of the pubs I rather fancied from reading a write up on the interweb was the White Swan in Bradford St. At this time it was closed but judging from the sign on the door ‘regulars only’ perhaps I wouldn’t have bothered anyway. Just to reiterate the message a sign on the other door said ‘strictly regulars only’. If there was another door it presumably would have said ‘which part of sod off don’t you understand’. I haven’t heard anything about this on the grapevine so the situation may just be a temporary one, so don’t cross this nice boozer off the list just yet.

A pub we did like the look of was the Old Crown in Deritend. This place has the look of an ancient inn but having stood at the bar for over 15 minutes with no sign of bar staff despite shouts of ‘hellooo’ and ‘coo-eee’ we regrettably moved on. Pity really, as I liked the look of the ale on offer. Better luck next time perhaps.

The Lamp pub in Barford St is deceptively large. The main part of the pub being the front bar which is small and snug. A much larger room looks like it is used for functions and is to the rear. We received a warm welcome but the beer I was looking forward to had just gone off.

Looks like I’ ll have to revisit for a pint of Stanway Bitter another day. The rest of the beers on offer were excellent.

The Old Fox in Hurst St is a light and airy type of pub. An enthusiastic gentleman who appeared to be over refreshed was very insistent that he accompanies us on our adventures.

Even after a lengthy and polite discussion pointing out that we’ re quite happy drinking without his help he still believed that we would benefit from his company. We effected our escape by pointing to a hypothetical distraction in the other bar and made an exit in a timely and secretive manner. A couple of hand pumps were in use here.

The last port of call was the Wellington in Bennetts Hill. A pub more enthusiastic about real ale you will be hard pressed to find anywhere

in the country. A pub that lives and breathes the stuff is a fair description. Most pubs would be content with scribbling a few words on a blackboard as to what beers are on at any particular time, the Wellington goes several steps further by utilising technology and having a real time real ale display. This is updated as beers come and go and we can assume they went all ‘techie’ because they were spending too much on chalk such is the speed of the hand pumps in here.

Not only do they list the beer and the strength but they also tell you what colour it is, which is a nice touch. The next step would I assume be a personal message to me saying ‘you’ll like this one Steve, it’s a bit like the one you had the other day’! The pub is usually busy and I’ve been here quite a few times over the years and I’ve yet to see it quiet.

The Wellington is also not too far from New Street Station so it’s a perfect last pint pub before the journey home. Alternatively you could stay here for most of the day and you probably wouldn’t repeat your ales but you’d miss so many good pubs.

So, our day involved getting the wrong bus, getting lost in Digbeth, drinking some superb beers in some superb pubs and watching our Membership Secretary plough his way through two kebabs. And the Peterborough connections I alluded to at the beginning of this short missive? Well, the obvious one is the Bartons Arms and its association with Oakham Ales and Paul Hook. The other? The Arthur Robertson pub in Perry Barr. Arthur, although born in Scotland was educated at King’s school in Peterborough and excelled at cycling and athletics, winning the One Mile race in record time. He went on to win a gold and silver medal at the 1908 Olympics and retired back to Peterborough to run a sports and cycle shop with his brother. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? It's in Cowgate and it’s called Robertsons!

Pubs Officer and Membership Secretary on Tour www.real-ale.org.uk

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28 | Please support our advertisers

th Ju ne S at u rd ay 11 R a il way Ne ne Va lle y

L o c a l Re a l A

le s

ut... great day o family for a e ol h w e th Bring

lown Children’s C s” “PennyLes agon Bouncy W yard ying in the la p s a m o h T way Model Rail

Transport from all NVR stations Peterborough, Orton Mere, Ferry Meadows and Yarwell.

Free bus service from the Brewery Tap - 12 noon, 2pm and 4pm. Additional stops along Oundle Road, please call for details.

Diary Dates APRIL

Sat 9th Heritage Pubs Trip visiting York by train.

Contact Mick Slaughter.

Sat 9th Breweriana Sale, noon – 5.00pm, Coal Heaver’s Arms, Peterborough PE2 9BH Fri 15th – Sun 17th CAMRA Members Weekend & AGM, Octagon Centre, University of Sheffield, S10 2TQ Sat 16th Naming Ceremony of the lifeboat “Peterborough Beer Festival IV” at Skegness.

Fri 22nd & Sat 23rd Breweriana Sale, noon 5.00pm, Hand & Heart, Peterborough PE1 3BE

For further information ring 01780 784444 Nene Valley Railway, Wansford Station, Stibbington, Peterborough PE8 6LR

Tue 26th Fullers Brewery trip. Visit to the Chiswick Brewery by train.

Wed 27th, 8.30pm Committee Meeting, Ploughman, Werrington, Peterborough, PE4 6NA

MAY

Sun 15th Mystery Tour by bus.

9A North St, Stamford Lincs PE9 1EL 01780 765888 www.mamaliz.co.uk

Royal Ale Sale Friday April 29th - 2nd May plus Cajun Grills For all further enquiries call 01780 765888 or mail: voodoolounge@mamaliz.co.uk

Peterborough CAMRA PUB OF THE YEAR 2010 www.real-ale.org.uk

Mon 23rd, 8.30pm Committee Meeting, Cherry Tree, Peterborough, PE2 9PB Fri 27th 6.00pm Working Party trip by bus to the 38th Cambridge Beer Festival

JUNE

Sat 11th 11.00am Visit to Oakham Ales Brewery, Woodston.

Wed 29th, 8.30pm Committee Meeting, College Arms, Peterborough, PE1 1RS

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Selected Beer Festivals (CAMRA events shown in bold)

APRIL

April 29- May 1 Peterborough Rugby Club - Beer Festival

Wed 13th – Sat 16th Newcastle Beer & Cider Festival, Northumbria Students Union, 2 Sandyford Road, Newcastle, NE1 8SB

April 29- May 2 Jolly Brewer, Stamford Beer Festival

Thu 14th – Sat 16th Doncaster Beer Festival, The Hub, Chappell Drive, Doncaster, DN1 2RF

Sat April 23rd Letter B, Whittlesey - St Georges Beer Festival

Wed 20th - Sat 23rd East Anglian Beer Festival, Apex, Charter Square, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 3FD Thu 21st – Mon 25th Hand & Heart Spring Beer Festival, 12 Highbury Street, Peterborough, PE1 3BE Thu 21st – Mon 25th Charters Easter Beer Festival, Town Bridge, Peterborough, PE1 1EH Fri 22nd – Mon 25th Green Man Easter Beer Festival, 29 Scotgate, Stamford, PE9 2YQ Fri 22nd – Mon 25th Rose & Crown Easter Beer Festival, 41 St. Peter’s Rd, March, PE15 9NA Fri 22nd – Mon 25th Walnut Tree Beer Festival, 32 Horsegate, Deeping St. James, PE6 8EW

April 28- May 2 Crown, Elton - Beer Festival

Wed 27th – Sun 1st May Reading Beer & Cider Festival, Kings Meadow, Reading Fri 29th – Mon 2nd May Woolpack Beer Festival, 29 North Street, Peterborough Fri 29th Blue Bell Royal Beer Festival, 9 High Street, Easton-on-the-Hill, PE9 3LR

MAY

Thu 5th – Mon 9th Coal Heavers Arms Spring Beer Festival, 5 Park Street, Peterborough, PE2 9BH Thu 12th – Mon 16th Prince of Wales Feathers Beer Festival, 38 Peterborough Road, Castor, PE5 7AL Mon 23rd – Sat 28th Cambridge Beer Festival, Jesus Green, Cambridge Thu 26th – Sat 28th Lincoln Beer Festival, The Drill Hall. Free School Lane, Lincoln, LN2 1EY

Fri 22nd – Mon 1st May Boat Inn, Whittlesey - Beer Festival to celebrate the Royal Wedding and St Georges Day.

Thu 26th – Sun 5th June Norwich City of Ale Fest, check www.cityofale.org.uk for details

April 22-24 Golden Pheasant, Etton - Beer Festival

Fri 27th – Sun 29th Newark Beer Festival, Riverside Park, Newark, NG24 2NY

April 28- May 1 Cambridge Blue, Cambridge - Beer Festival

May 27-30 Coach House, Market Deeping

Apr 22 - May 2 Pig n Falcon, St Neots

Please contact our Social Secretary John Hunt for bookings & more information unless stated otherwise.

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30 | Please support our advertisers

Easter Beer Festival Starts Midday Thursday 21st April

30+ Real Ales • Plus ciders, perry & continental bottled beers Live Music - Ian Parker 10pm Saturday 5 Miles High 3pm Sunday FREE ENTRY

Saturday 7th May ArtandSoul Live Night, FREE Entry

Saturday 28th May Gizz Butt’s Red Black and Blues Band, FREE Entry

Quiz Night every Thursday 8pm FREE Entry

Town Bridge, Peterborough PE1 1FP

Tel: 01733 315700 Web: www.oakhamales.com

fro m

Spring at The

Annual

GOLDEN

Easter Beer Festival

Pheasant

Ju s Pe On t off ter ly t bo six he A rou m 15 gh iles Cit yc en tre

22nd to 24th April

20 Real Ales plus ciders and fruit beers

Music Fri night, Sat afternoon & evening and Sun afternoon

in the marquee

The One Eyed Cats headlining on Saturday night.

Starting Good Friday lunchtime

Food available throughout.

Royal Wedding Garden Party!

Open Daily: Mon – Thurs 12-3pm and 6-11pm Fri/Sat 12-11pm Sun 12-11pm

2pm onwards Friday 29th April Live music, BBQ and Bouncy Castle

1 Main Road, Etton, Peterborough PE6 7DA Tel 01733 252387 Email kateshinkins@hotmail.com Web www.thegoldenpheasant.net www.real-ale.org.uk

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32 | Please support our advertisers

The Prince of Wales Feathers Castor, Peterborough

Tel: 01733 380222

Award winning village local in historic Castor.

Close to the Nene Valley Railway & Ferry Meadows. Š Mick Slaughter 2009

Serves 5 guest ales & real cider. Walker & dog friendly.

Home cooked food every lunchtime and NOW available midweek evenings too!!

BREWERY TAP OF CASTOR ALES details at: www.princeofwalesfeathers.co.uk

Beer Festival 12th - 16th May • 30 Beers Live music from the Dead Rabbits on the 14th May and Elvis Tribute act on the 15th May

Featuring a New Ale from Nuns Thumb Brewery and a range of Castor Ales

www.real-ale.org.uk

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Please support our advertisers | 33

Blue r a~ B~oEye Selection of Real Ales including Oakham Ales Sky HD • Regular live music and Karaoke Bar snacks Thurs to Sat lunchtimes Home cooked Sunday Lunches Small conference room available (Weddings,Christenings and more)

BEER FESTIVAL! 8th to 10th July FREE 46 High Street, Eye, Peterborough PE6 7UY Tel: 01733 222234

The Cherry Tree 9 - 11 Oundle Road, Peterborough PE2 9PB Tel: 01733 703495

FIVE Real Ales available including Landlord, Pedigree, White Dwarf plus 2 changing guests.

OPEN ALL DAY EVERYDAY FOOD SERVED LUNCH & EVENINGS AMPLE PARKING • CAMRA GOLD AWARD

GOLD A WARD WINNE RS

For intro ducing a range of new real ales top cond offered in ition!

www.cherrytree-inn.co.uk

www.real-ale.org.uk

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34 | Please support our advertisers

29 North Street, Stanground.

PE2 8HR. Tel 01733 753544 Friendly village pub with riverside mooring.

Large garden • Dogs welcome • Open all day

Mon 2nd May Friday 29 April -

ide 12 Real Ales outs 5 inside. (undercover) and

Food served: Tues to Sun 12.00 until 2.30pm, Mon to Sat 6pm to 9pm.

Quiz night Sundays - cash prizes.

ay early evening Live Music - Frid rnoon. and Saturday afte group Join our facebook for details.

Nestling alongside the picturesque river Nene, this 17th Century thatched inn has served locals and travellers for 400 years.

Beer Festival

Delicious & hearty pub fayre served all day Monday to Saturday.

3rd - 5th June

Traditional cask-brewed real ales a speciality.

14 Real Ales + Ciders Hog Roast 4th June BBQ 5th June

Opening Hours: Mon - Sat: 11am-11pm Sun: 12 midday-10.30pm

Church Street, Wadenhoe, Northamptonshire PE8 5ST Tel :- 01832 720024 www.wadenhoekingshead.co.uk www.real-ale.org.uk

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Birmingham | 35

IPA is Dead!!

M

ike Lane, Steve Saldana and myself joined Brew Dog and friends at the Dean Swift in London for a six-course dinner to celebrate their new range of dry hopped Indian Pale Ales.

Before we started however, we had a drink of Thornbridge’s Hark and Raven beers in the newly opened Euston Tap, situated in one of the old ticket offices on Euston Square. This quaint little pub on two floors serves eight cask beers, twenty keg beers and over 150 bottles with no Carling or Guinness in sight. Then off to London Bridge and the Dean Swift, this little food-orientated pub had four constantly changing beers, which to our amusement included Oakham Ales’ White Dwarf. With each of the food courses we were given little samples of Brew Dog’s beers as set out below. The evening was rounded off with a sample of Brew Dog’s Tactical Nuclear Penguin at a mere 32% ABV.

Menu Punk IPA (5.6%) Seared scallops and Cauliflower veloute

IPA is Dead Citra (7.5%) Wild boar, apple & pistachio marsala wine jus

IPA is Dead Bramling X (7.5%) Braised wild English rabbit & caramelised pear

IPA is Dead Nelson Sauvin (7.5%) Spicy lamb tagine

IPA is Dead Sorachi Ace (7.5%) Kaffa lime & lemongrass panna cotta, ginger lemongrass green tea jelly

Hardcore IPA (9.5%) Neals Yard Dairy British cheeses & oat crackers

Matt Mace

The Jolly Sailor, 43 Great Whyte, Ramsey PE26 1HH Tel 01487 813388

Traditional Town Centre Pub with a Warm Welcome!

5 REAL ALES + CIDER Including Wherry, Bombardier, Abbot, London Pride and an ever-changing guest beer Pub games including Crib, Dominoes and Darts Good sized Car Park Heated smoking shelter www.real-ale.org.uk

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36 | Please support our advertisers

12 Highbury Street, Peterborough PE1 3BE

01733 564653

A superior charming Country Inn Cambridgeshire Pub of the Year 2010

5 rotating cask ales and 2 regular

Gold Award Winner 2010 Delightful Garden Area

Full Chef’s Menu 7 Days a week served between 12-2pm & 5.30pm - 9pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday 12-9pm

National Inventory Listed

2nd St Georges Weekend Beer Festival • 21st - 25th April

Sunday Roast 12-2.30pm from £7.95 for 2 courses

Beer Garden with Smoking Area Childrens Play Area 12 rooms with en-suite accommodation available Full English Breakfast included

featuring over 30 beers, hot and cold food available at most times.

Live Music Friday, Saturday & Sunday between 4pm & 10pm (among the 20 bands already lined up include Retrolux; The Vow; Beatles 1964; Ignition; McThing & The Jazz Pidgins)

Breweriana Stall on the Friday & Saturday.

Main Street, Dyke, Nr Bourne PE10 0AF

Tel: 01778 422970

www.real-ale.org.uk

event ID: 20110302-3455-7695

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Contacts and Information | 37

Branch Committee Secretary: Harry Morten 49 St Margarets Road, Peterborough PE2 9EA 01733 764296 07900 056940 08707 620848 (fax) info@real-ale.org.uk Chairman: David Murray 01733 560453 chairman@real-ale.org.uk Treasurer: Paul Beecham 01733 311981 07710 008693 treasurer@real-ale.org.uk Vice Chair: John Hunt 07923 489917 vice-chair@real-ale.org.uk

Beer Around ’Ere Editor: Paul (Bram) Brammer 07922 604988 bae-editor@real-ale.org.uk Distribution: David Murray (see Chairman on the left) Advertising: Chris Shilling and Steve Whadcock 01778 421550 / 420888 chris@shillingmedia.co.uk Magazine & Advertising Production: Daniel Speed 0845 838 7581 dan@tamoko-design.co.uk Postal Distr: Daryl Ling 01733 235881

Brewery Liaison Officers Blue Bell: John Hunt 01406 330453 Social Sec: John Hunt Castor Ales: Mike Lane 07923 489917 07850 334203 social-sec@real-ale.org.uk Digfield: David Waller 01733 348760 Pubs Officer: Steve Williams Elgoods: John Rice 07802 896641 07759 342702 pubs-officer@real-ale.org.uk Hopshackle: Noel Ryland Press Officer: Karl Simpson 07944 869656 Melbourn: Lew Clayton 07737 297072 01780 765063 press-officer@real-ale.org.uk Oakham Ales: Dave Allett Young Members: Alix Botton 07966 344417 07806 625574 Tydd Steam: John Hunt young-members@real01406 330453 ale.org.uk Ufford Ales: Matt Mace 07809 629241 Membership: Steve Saldana 07988 067260 Trading Standards membership@real-ale.org.uk 08545 040506 www.consumerdirect.gov.uk Festival Org: Mike Lane 07850 334203 Check out our new website at: festival-organiser@realwww.peterborough-camra.org.uk ale.org.uk

The next issue of BAE will be available on: 26th May We must have your stories, news and advertisements by: 3rd May Late copy cannot be guaranteed entry.

Please contact Chris Shilling 01778 421550/07736 635 916 or Steve Whadcock 01778 420888 / 07985 240365 steve@shillingmedia.co.uk for all of your advertising needs.

Steve Williams pubs-officer@real-ale.org.uk or 07802 896641 is always looking for pub news.

Please send stories and other copy to Bram (Paul Brammer) bae-editor@real-ale.org.uk 07922 604988 Beer Around ‘Ere is published by Peterborough & District Branch of CAMRA Copyright © 2011, The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd. Views or comments expressed in this publication may not necessarily be those of the Editor or of CAMRA.

LocAle Officer: John Rice 07759 342702 locale@real-ale.org.uk www.real-ale.org.uk

BAE 158 Prog:Layout 1 23/03/2011 10:15 Page 38

BAE 158 Prog:Layout 1 23/03/2011 10:15 Page 39

BAE 158 Prog:Layout 1 23/03/2011 10:15 Page 40

ree At Least Th

Real Ales!

More than just a Carvery!

A

great welcome awaits you at The Farmers, Yaxley.

We are famous for our fresh vegetables and great carvery meats, succulent and served with all the trimmings, then finished off with a tantalising hot or cold dessert!

Check out our new lunch time grill menu’s and our ever changing specials boards. Put it all together with three fine cask ales and you have the perfect place to enjoy dinner with friends or a family celebration.

We have a self contained function suite which is ideal for parties, weddings and all of life’s celebrations.

Open Every Day 10am - 5.30pm All Day Menu & Coffee

So if you’ve not been before give us a try and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Midday - 2:30pm Carvery & Specials Menu 5:30pm - LATE Carvery & Grill Menu Sunday Open From 12 Noon - 9pm All Day Carvery

200 Broadway, Yaxley Tel: 01733 244885 Email: thefarmers@btconnect.com www.thefarmersyaxley.co.uk