20 Years of CAMRA in Berkshire South East

Cover Story by Mike Smith

CAMRA members from across the branch celebrated at the Old Manor in Bracknell exactly 20 years after the branch was officially founded on 28th June 2003. It was a pleasure to catch up with Adrian Kirk who served on the original committee with me before moving out of the area and continues to volunteer at the Ascot Beer Festival.

An inaugural meeting held at the very same pub 22 years ago attracted huge interest with over 30 Real Ale enthusiasts attending and subsequently forming a sub-branch from the Reading and Mid-Berkshire branch to arrange a variety of campaigning and social events throughout Wokingham, Bracknell, Ascot, Sandhurst and the surrounding villages. I was appointed as Chairman at that meeting, having had experience within the West Berkshire branch in the same role, and was determined to build upon the initial interest and success. After two years, the CAMRA National Executive ratified our request to become independent and the Berkshire South East branch was born. Very fitting that the number one song in the charts at the time was ‘Bring Me To Life’ by Evanescence. Subsequent chairpersons have included Sue Thirlaway, Nick Boley, David Richards and our current chairman, Kevin Lenton.

When we started, Real Ale choice in the area was limited to a few national and regional brands with landlords telling us their hands were tied on what they were allowed to order. We set about encouraging landlords and pub companies to change their policy allowing their pubs to stock locally produced beers – especially the likes of West Berkshire Brewery, Rebellion Beer Co. and the newly founded Loddon Brewery. We launched the Mad Cow magazine in 2005 to help spread the word and have held beer festivals at South Hill Park and continue to run the hugely popular Ascot Beer Festival at the racecourse.

Branch membership has risen from an initial 200 to over 600 today, there are now many pubs serving LocAle and other guest beers, three new breweries have set up within the branch and we continue to enjoy a fantastic social calendar of events.

Come and join us and raise a pint of Real Ale to the next 20 years!

join.camra.org.uk

Mike Smith