beerlines the magazine of the North Hampshire branch of the Campaign for Real Ale ISSUE 7 OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2014
FREE pleas e take a copy
In This Issue... • Overton Feature • Basingstoke Canal • Pubs Matter • The Cider Binn WWW.CAM RAHANTSNORT H .OR G .UK
... & LOADS MORE
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North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
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North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
Branch Contacts Editor Jim Turner e: beerlines@camrahantsnorth.org.uk Branch Chairman Committee post currently vacant Branch Secretary Michael Hodson e: secretary@camrahantsnorth.org.uk All officers can be contacted securely through our website (see below): Pubs and Clubs Officer - Andy Wootten Membership Secretary - Brenda Cross Branch Contact / Festival Organiser - Phil Myatt Social Secretary - Dave Newman Branch Treasurer - Doug Cross Webmaster - Ian Butler West of Area (sub-branch) / Regional Director John Buckley
Web: www.camrahantsnorth.org.uk Twitter: @CamRAHantsNorth Facebook: ‘North Hampshire CAMRA’ The Editor reserves the right to amend or shorten contributions for publication. All editorial copyright © North Hampshire CAMRA 2014 Disclaimer: Views expressed in this publication are those of their individual authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Editor, branch committee or the Campaign for Real Ale nationally. North Hampshire CAMRA accepts no liability in relation to the accuracy of advertisements; readers must rely on their own enquiries. It should also be noted that acceptance of an advertisement in this publication should not be deemed an endorsement of quality by North Hampshire CAMRA.
Trading Standards (Hampshire) Montgomery House, Monarch Way, Winchester SO22 5PW t: 01962 833620 e: tsadvice@hants.gov.uk www.hants.gov.uk Campaign for Real Ale Ltd. 230 Hatfield Road, St. Albans, Herts, AL1 4LW t: 01727 867 201 e: camra@camra.org.uk www.camra.org.uk
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© 2014 Capital Media Group. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be transmitted, reproduced, recorded, photocopied or otherwise without the express written permission of the copyright holder.
Editor’s Shout A warm welcome to you
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t the Great British Beer festival held in August (see page 6 for the list of winning beers), CAMRA National Chairman Colin Valentine launched a new campaign to protect our pubs. The ‘Pubs Matter’ campaign will call on the government to make a simple change to English law so that a planning application is always required before a pub is demolished or converted into, say, a supermarket, estate agent, dry cleaners or betting shop. It may seem unbelievable but currently no planning permission is required and this has resulted in a whopping 31 pubs a week being closed and sold to developers. CAMRA is calling for the planning system to be revised in this respect, in order to protect pubs and empower local communities who are faced with losing their local and currently have no recourse to object. The weekly pub closure rate has risen to 31 per week from 28 as of December 2013 and 26 in March of that year. Suburban area are the worst hit with three per cent of the areas suburban pubs being lost over the last seven months. Pubs support over one million jobs in the UK and contribute an average of £80,000 into their local economy each year. Over two-thirds of pubgoers believe that a well-run community pub is as important to community life as a post office, local shop or community centre. So, please support this campaign by visiting our special website www.pubsmatter.org.uk. Also see the article on page 5 of this issue. This is one of the most important campaigns CAMRA has ever hosted and we need every bit of help we can muster if we are to stop the rot. Our front cover picture shows Niall, proud licensee of the Waggon and Horses, Hartley Wintney showing off his Good Beer Guide 2015 award. Photo by Brenda Cross. See page 9 for a feature on the Good Beer Guide. Cheers! Jim Turner (Magazine Editor, North Hampshire CAMRA)
www.camrahantsnorth.org.uk
Capital Media Group 2 Halifax Court, Fernwood Business Park Cross Lane, Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, NG24 3JP t: 01636 302 302 e: beerlines@thisiscapital.com www.thisiscapital.com
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
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North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
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North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
Pubs Matter Action to halt a national disgrace
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With a simple amendm e n t to the General Permitted Development Order 1995, any demolition or change of use involving the loss of a pub would require planning permission. This small change by Government would save hundreds of pubs from closure and give communities a powerful new weapon in the battle to protect our pubs. To support the campaign please go to www. pubsmattter.org.uk
6500+ READERS
If you own or manage a pub, bar or restaurant and serve real ales, it’s never been easier to get your business in front of more than 6,000 people! Beer Lines distributes to all branch area pubs in North Hampshire and advertising costs as little as £55 for 3 months.
> CALL 01256 832 832 TODAY
www.camrahantsnorth.org.uk
AMRA has launched a new hard-hitting campaign to urge the Government to close national planning loopholes. The campaign, ‘Pubs Matter: So why can’t we have a say’, aims to give power back to local communities by ensuring planning permission is always required before the change of use or demolition of a pub. Local pubs are currently closing at an alarming rate and every week two pubs are converted into supermarkets. CAMRA says the current planning system too often leaves local communities powerless to act in the face of big companies and unscrupulous developers keen to exploit these loopholes. Under current planning law, pubs can be demolished or converted into several other uses including supermarkets and estate agents without requiring planning permission. CAMRA says allowing pubs to be converted without a planning application is ludicrous – and Government must step in and close these loopholes as a matter of urgency. Tom Stainer, CAMRA’s Head of Communications said: “Popular and profitable pubs are being left vulnerable by gaps in English planning legislation as pubs are increasingly being targeted by those wishing to take advantage of the absence of proper planning control. “It is wrong that communities are left powerless when a popular local pub is threatened with demolition or conversion into a Tesco store. “It is time for the Government to stop standing by while pubs are being targeted due to gaps in planning law.”
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North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
The Great British Beer Festival 2014 The greatest annual event in the real ale calendar
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Photo: Jim Turner
www.camrahantsnorth.org.uk
was privileged to be able to attend the trade day of the festival as editor of Beer Lines. One advantage of attending the opening day is that you can be there when the Champion Beers are announced. Of course, the one everyone wants to know about is the overall Champion Beer of Britain 2014. Presenting the award this year was Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson who was there in his capacity of real ale lover and creator of the popular award-winning beer, Trooper, brewed by Robinson’s of Stockport. There follows the complete list of all categories and winners. I enjoyed my day at this year’s Great British Beer Festival, more so because I was able to catch glimpses of some behind-the-scenes activities. Over 1000 CAMRA volunteers were involved in organizing, setting up and running the festival and it’s a credit to them all that the event went off so smoothly, with 55,000 thirsty drinkers being served over 900 different ales and ciders over this impressive five-day event Jim Turner
Bruce Dickinson (left) after presenting the award for Champion Beer of Britain to Sales Director Grant Simpson and Managing Director Charles Dent from Timothy Taylor’s brewery.
OVERALL WINNERS Gold Timothy Taylor’s Boltmaker – Champion Beer of Britain 2014 Silver Oakham Citra Bronze Salopian Darwin’s Origin MILD CATEGORY Gold Bank Top Dark Mild Silver Branscombe Vale Mild Bronze Castle Rock Black Gold BITTERS CATEGORY Gold Timothy Taylor’s Boltmaker Silver Mighty Oak Captain Bob Joint Flowerpots Flowerpots Bitter Bronze & Sambrook’s Wandle Ale BEST BITTERS Gold Salopian Darwin’s Origin Silver Red Willow Directionless Joint Purity Mad Goose & Bronze Langton Inclined Plain Bitter GOLDEN ALES Gold Oakham Citra Silver Hawkshead Cumbrian Five Hop Bronze Salopian Hop Twister STRONG BITTERS Gold Church End Fallen Angel Silver Blue Monkey Ape Ale Bronze Loch Ness HoppyNESS SPECIALITY BEERS Gold Saltaire Triple Chocoholic Silver Offbeat Way Out Wheat Bronze Peak Ales Chatsworth Gold
North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
LARDI CAKE
THE
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A traditional pub in Andover, one of the few remaining that serve real ale. We pride ourselves on ensuring our customers happiness and our top quality ales. • Real Ales •
• Sports
TV • Pool Table • • Pub Garden • Real Fire • • Live Music • (All teams meet weekly)
Opening Hours Mon - Thurs: 11am - 11pm Fri & Sat: 11am - 2am • Sun 12 noon - 11pm
01264 394810
19 Adelaide Road, Andover, SP10 1HF
www.camrahantsnorth.org.uk
• League Quiz Team • Darts Team • • Cribbage Team •
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North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
Bar Chat News & gossip around the North Hampshire branch area
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f you have any information about your pubs (closures, openings, changes of owner and so on), please contact the editor at beerlines@ camrahantsnorth.org.uk
Beer Lines is pleased to report that the Railway Ta v e r n , Weyhill Road, Andover has reopened under the management of Paul Moorhouse and his team. Paul was previously at the both the Lamb and the Angel in Andover town centre. The pub sells Sharp’s Doom Bar as a regular beer alongside two guests which on the latest visit were Wells Bombardier and Fuller’s London Pride. The pub was particularly busy on Andover
Quick Quiz For answers see page 13
www.camrahantsnorth.org.uk
Each clue has a double meaning but for the same word answer. Rearrange the first letter of each to find a ‘More filled brewery company’ (7 letters).
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Adore not scoring in tennis Say No to rubbish Religious holiday island Taste a specimen One renting out by post Starve quickly No good and cut down
Brenda Cross
Carnival day in July when the procession passed right by. Hotdogs and burgers were selling well from the outside barbecue with Woodforde’s Wherry and Moorhouse’s Pendle Witches Brew to wash them down. (MB) The Red Lion, Mortimer West End now has an Italian restaurant. (DD) The Barley Mow, Oakley is now serving traditional pub food again. (AW) The Angel, Andover reopened at the end of August after a short period of refurbishment. The incoming licensees are Karen and Paul from the Exeter area. Greene King only supplied IPA and Old Speckled Hen for the pub opening but Karen told me that they do intend to have a wider and more interesting range in due course. It is also the intention to offer home-cooked food once the kitchen has been sorted out. (MB) The George & Dragon, Hurstbourne Tarrrant reopened on Bank Holiday Monday, 25 August. Beers available at that time were Betteridge’s Jenny Wren and Upham Punter. Having won the North Hants CAMRA Club of the Year 2014 we are delighted that Odiham & Greywell Cricket Club has also achieved Runner-up in the Wessex Regional Club of the Year 2014 competition. The region spans 11 CAMRA branches across Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Wiltshire, the Isle of Wight, Guernsey and Jersey, so this is a great achievement. (BC) The Red Lion at Water End (A30 by Andwell turn) has been re-named the Y Knot Inn as a tribute to a pub featuring in the novel ‘Moonfleet.’ It is now open again for real local ales and food. (BC) The Derby Inn at N. Warnborough now gives 20p off a pint to CAMRA members on production of a current membership card. (BC)
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North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
CAMRA Good Beer Guide The nation’s foremost guide to decent real ale
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he 2015 Good Beer Guide has just been published and includes 25 local pubs from the North Hampshire area. Entry is achieved based on the quality of the beer in the pub or club, as assessed by CAMRA members visiting the pubs at different times, sampling the real ales and then submitting their scores for the beer(s) using the National Beer Scoring System (NBSS). Our congratulations to all pubs that have been awarded an entry: they can’t buy their way into the Guide (like some other well-known publications!) so they should be proud
2015
to be delivering beer that real ale drinkers rate highly. Keep it up! You can purchase the Guide at good bookshops or through CAMRA. Members get a discounted rate. • Painstakingly researched listings of over 4,500 of the best real ale pubs • Compiled based on recommendations from CAMRA members all over the UK • Listings include Northern Ireland, Scotland, ales, England, the Isle of Man the Channel Islands • Detailed contact information, facilities listings and opening hours • ‘Places Index’ allows quick reference to pubs near you • An essential resource for information on every real ale brewery operating in the UK today.
The Y Knot Inn We are a recently re-opened Pub, which had been closed for just about a year. That makes a change from all the gloom & doom of pubs closing down.
A warm welcome awaits you, So YKnot drop in to see us! Water End, Old Basing, Basingstoke, Hants RG24 7BB Tel 01256 762675
www.camrahantsnorth.org.uk
Our aim is to provide a traditional Pub feel, with good beer, good food & service all at a sensible price.
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North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
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North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
What’s Happening? North Hampshire Branch Diary & other events Friday 3rd – Sunday 5th October Hampshire OctoberFest at Basingstoke Sports & Social Club. Tickets: www.hampshireoctoberfest.co.uk Friday 17th – Sunday 19th October Winter Beer Festival, Prince of Wales, Farnborough Saturday 18th – Sunday 19th October Isle of Wight Beer & Buses weekend. All routes start and finish at the Isle of Wight Bus Museum in Newport. Four routes and 26 pubs. www.iwbeerandbuses.co.uk Saturday 25th October Meet the Brewer – beer tasting evening and supper at the Whitchurch Silk Mill. Brewers from Longdog and Red Cat. www.whitchurch.org.uk/events/ meet-the-brewers-beer-tasting-evening-and-supper/ Friday 7th – Saturday 8th November Woking Beer Festival. The organizers are looking for CAMRA volunteers to help with the setup, serving beer and cider during the event, and take-down afterwards. Check their website for more details: www.thelinehans.me.uk/wbfstaffing/ Thursday13th – Sunday 16th November Egham United Services Club Beer Festival Saturday 15th November CAMRA Regional Meeting hosted by Portsmouth & South East Hampshire branch. Full details to be advised, but it will have a pre-Christmas socialising focus.
Tuesday 25th November CAMRA North Hampshire branch meeting at the Y Not Inn on the A30 near Andwell. 7.30 for 8.00 pm. Bus there, transport provided for return to Basingstoke.
Thursday 18th December Branch Christmas Social at Odiham & Greywell Cricket Club. 7.30 for 8.00pm, £5 per head. Transport can be arranged. Contact Brenda Cross. For more info contact social@camrahantsnorth. org.uk. If you would like to have your event/real ale activities published here please contact the editor at beerlines@camrahantsnorth.org.uk for magazine deadlines.
Current in our area • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Pubs
Mill House, North Warnborough Overton Memorial Institute (The Stute) Sun Inn, Dummer Eagle Inn, Abbotts Ann The Crown Inn, Upton Leather Bottle, Mattingley, near Hook Fur and Feathers, Herriard Prince Regent, Whitchurch White Hart, Hook The Woolpack Inn, Totford Red Lion, Overton The Fox, North Waltham Odiham & Greywell Cricket Club Derby, North Warnborough Bourne Valley Inn, St Mary Bourne Northbrook Arms, East Stratton Watership Down Inn, Freefolk Barley Mow, Oakley White Hart Charter Alley Plough, Grateley Plough Inn, Little London near Silchester
Visit www.camrahantsnorth.org.uk to see the latest list with a map link
www.camrahantsnorth.org.uk
Friday 21st – Saturday 22nd November Whitchurch Beer & Cider Festival at the Sports & Social Club. www.whitchurch.org.uk/events/whitchurchbeer-and-cider-festival/
Sunday 14th December Annual ‘Winchester Wander’ - start at the Albion 12 - 12.30pm. Christmas and Farmers’ Markets also on that day. Contact Brenda Cross for info.
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North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
Photo: Jim Turner
The John Russell Fox
Wetherspoon’s Changing the face of the pub scene
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ove them or hate them, you can’t please everyone, but few can dispute that the J D etherspoon pub company has, in the last twenty years or so, become a force majeure on the UK pub scene. In the North Hampshire CAMRA branch area there are three outlets owned by the etherspoon group: Andover has the John Russell Fox in the High Street. Housed in the former premises of Holmes Son, printers and publishers, the pub displays examples of old printing machinery and has
www.camrahantsnorth.org.uk
Photo: David Dry
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press cuttings on the walls from past issues of the Andover Advertiser, originally published by the company. Like all etherspoon pubs there is no background music. In Basingstoke the JD pub is the Maidenhead Inn, originally a bank, then a grocers and on the site of the original pub of that name that closed in the early 1800s. Although small by comparison to many etherspoon pubs, there are four levels including a downstairs bar which is sometimes reserved for private functions. Situated in an area known as ‘Top of Town’, well known for its Friday night/Saturday night revelries, the pub can get very busy at times despite there being no music. The pub is a keen supporter of Basingstoke Young Carers and organises fund-raising activities throughout the year. Also in Basingstoke is a Lloyds No. 1 bar at the edge of the restaurant sector of Festival Place shopping centre. Conceived and built Photo: Jim Turner at the same time as the rest of Festival Place this 2014 Good Beer Guide entry features a large bar with discrete (some say too discrete) lighting and numerous TV screens and background music. Friday and Saturday evenings can get quite busy and noisy.
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North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
Answers to Quick Quiz [on page 8] 1. Love; 2. Refuse; 3. Easter; 4. Sample; 5. Letter; 6. Fast; 7. Useless. The ‘more filled brewery company’ is FULLERS.
www.camrahantsnorth.org.uk
All three of these pubs sell a variety of real ales and occasionally real ciders. All are worth investigating if you are a real ale drinker looking for some unusual brews or even some of the regular house brews, which include Ruddle’s Best, Adnam’s Broadside, Coor’s Sharp’s Doombar, Fuller’s London Pride and Greene King Abbot. The appearance of a etherspoon’s or Lloyds No 1 pub in a town or city is generally welcomed by those looking for an imaginative choice of quality real ales and food at lower prices than are charged by neighbouring hostelries. They tend to open quite early for breakfast (and beer) and close late. On the other hand, licensees of some existing pubs in the same areas may fear a downturn in trade as they feel unable to compete on prices and beer choice due in part to the blinkered policies of some pub companies from whom they are forced to buy beers at massively hiked-up prices as well as pay sky-high rents. However, etherspoon’s Lloyds pubs are based on a business model that actually works. Conceived in 1979 by entrepreneur Tim Martin who campaigns passionately on platforms such as unfair tax policies that favour supermarkets over pubs, the 900-plus outlets may not be to everyone’s taste. If you prefer a cosy back-street local or village inn then you may not be a fan, as etherspoon’s pubs tend to be on the large side and lack (some say) the intimate atmosphere of a traditional local pub. You takes your choice. However, the etherspoon’s ethos has certainly helped fuel the interest in real ale, started by CAMRA. The chain champions beers from smaller breweries including those boasting unusual avours and ingredients, re ecting the growing interest in new styles of beers. Again, not to everyone’s taste: one disgruntled regular in the North Hampshire area, whose preference is generally for beers from the ve-per-cent range, complained vociferously to me recently that during the chain’s beer festivals he is denied access to his favourite tipples, Abbot and Broadside, as these beers tend to be taken off to make room for what he termed ‘strange tasting’ beers. You can’t please everyone. Jim Turner
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North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
The Cider Binn Welcome to our new Beer Lines cider column
www.camrahantsnorth.org.uk
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orth Hampshire is a bit of a cider desert at present so I have asked local CAMRA members to let me know when they find a pub selling real cider and Perry (the proper name for what some manufacturers are calling ‘Pear Cider’). To date I have had only three nominations, and one of those is more of a restaurant than a pub. Until recently JD Wetherspoon and Lloyds bar in Basingstoke normally had a couple of ‘bag in box’ containers (also known as polypins) on dispense from their wine chillers. Real cider is not always available outside of their occasional festivals but it’s worth checking. In order to build up a list of real cider and perry pubs can I ask all licensees who sell real cider or Perry, as well as CAMRA members and non-CAMRA members who drink the real stuff, to email beerlines@camrahantsnorth.org.uk and I will give the pub a mention (and a visit!). If you’re a licensee and you don’t sell real cider or Perry why not give it a try? Most producers will sell their products in a long shelf-life polypins or bag in box. Real cider is a bit of a minefield. Just because it comes out of a hand-pull (or beer engine) on the bar and not from a gas dispenser that looks like a fizzy lager tap, it does not mean that it is automatically ‘real cider’. The CAMRA cider and Perry subcommittee (APPLE) defines two grades of cider: Category A and Category B. Unfortunately cider producers do not always label their products sufficiently clearly to inform their customers what category their ciders fit into! Look out for occasional special event festivals in pubs where ciders may be on sale as well as beer. For example JD Wetherspoons will promote ciders at special events. Tony Binns
So, now we know what we are looking for, where can it be found in our area? It’s a small list at the moment (see below) which will hopefully grow in future issues of Beer Lines.
Current Pubs with Real Cider or Perry • Purefoy Arms, Preston Candover: Usually has a Weston’s cider on hand-pull • New Inn, Tadley: Currently has Westons Rosies Pig • Swan Inn, Sherborne St John: Regularly has a Weston’s cider on dispense
Category Definitions Catergory A is a definition agreed by APPLE to denote the very best of cider and Perry, with nothing added or taken away. Category A covers the majority of craft cider makers but only a small proportion of the total volume of cider made. Category A ciders must: • NOT be pasteurised before or after fermentation • NOT be filtered • NOT receive enzyme treatment • NOT contain preservatives or colouring • NOT have the natural yeast replaced by a cultured yeast • NOT have a nitrogen source added unless essential to start fermentation • NOT be diluted • only contain sweeteners if labelled Medium or Sweet (and
then only if they are shown to be safe and do not affect the taste)
• be produced from only freshly-pressed fruit, and • NOT contain concentrate • NOT contain extraneous carbon dioxide
A larger number of real ciders differ in some small respect from the above but are sufficiently authentic to be designated real cider since the taste and character of the cider is unaffected. These are Category B ciders. Category B ciders must: • NOT be entirely made from concentrate • NOT contain extraneous carbon dioxide
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North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
Bentworth Blues Festival Beer & blues always go together
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he Star Inn at Bentworth near Alton is an excellent country pub by any standards with good beer and tasty food, just outside the local CAMRA branch area. However it is being featured in Beer Lines for organising this unique annual event in an unlikely Hampshire village setting. This three-day festival has a much to offer both the beer fan and those with a liking for Blues music. Bentworth Blues Festival is a ticketed event with camping available as well as free parking. The festivities are staged around the pub with the open green opposite having a large marquee and stage area, as does the pub garden. The main bar also features live music. All facets of the Blues genre are catered for with 27 bands at this year’s festival and up to 600 revellers enjoying the vibes. The Star also has a full calendar of Bluesstyle acts throughout the year on Fridays and at weekends and is renowned for collecting many thousands of pounds for varying children’s charities along the way. This year’s Blues Festival beers featured by the licensee - Matt illiams - and his wife aren were Bentworth Blues Bitter (possibly Caledonian
80/-), Fullers London Pride and Seafarers, Upham Punter Caledonian Deucheurs IPA and Triple fff Alton’s Pride. The Star Inn, Bentworth, Alton, Hants GU34 5RB 01420 561224 | www.star-inn.com Book early for next year’s event! David Dry
www.camrahantsnorth.org.uk
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North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
Brewery News Local brewery updates Andwell Brewing Company 01256 761044 www.andwells.com Sales have been buoyant and brewery tours are proving very popular. Gold Muddler is now included in Punch Tavern’s Finest Cask list. The Golden IPA is selling really well and the Craft Beer Bottling Company which is located on part of the Andwell estate has commenced bottling operations.
Betteridge’s Brewery
www.camrahantsnorth.org.uk
07771 966058 www.betteridgesbrewery.co.uk
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Betteridge’s Brewery started business in April this year and after ve months has established a good local following in the Hurstbourne Tarrant and upper Test Valley area. The three main ales being produced provide a good choice for all. Serious Black is an easy drinking cream stout, Private Sector is a full avoured best bitter, and Jenny Wren is a crisp golden ale which has proved a best seller this summer. The brewery has provided beer to seven pubs so far including the George at Vernham Dean, the Red House in Highclere, the atership Down at Freefolk, the Three Cups in Stockbridge and the Clatford Arms in Goodworth Clatford. The highlight of the year has been the re-opening of the George and Dragon in Hurstbourne Tarrant (only 200 yards away), and this started with a local village celebration where two session ales were made available for tasting and evaluation by the local population. The idea was that a locallychosen brew would become the house ale. The result is a good southern English-style traditional session bitter called HBT Village Ale which will always be on sale in both bars.
Owner and brewer Mark Betteridge is now looking forward to the Octoberfest in Basingstoke where all three core beers will be represented.
Longdog Brewery 01256 324286 www.longdogbrewery.co.uk Longdog has supplied many beer festivals this summer; some old favourites and some new to the brewery. Bunny Chaser was well received at the GBBF and the brewer was there to try a few different ales and meet up with a few like-minded brewing friends. Their summer special, Kismet, has proved popular with the area’s hopheads and has featured frequently in the brewery’s ‘quality control regime’(!). Phil Robins and wife Lisa have started planning next year’s brewing schedule so that they can get their hops on contract to avoid having to pull beers due to hop availability issues. By the time this is published their kids will be back at school and Lisa will be able to spend more time in the brewery giving more focus to selling beer and (hopefully) learning to brew.
Mash Brewery 01962 795023 Twitter @MashBrewery www.mashbrewery.com MASH Amber was voted beer of the festival at the recent Fleet Lions Pieces of Eight Beer Festival. Monster Mash (MASH Gold) is now available in bottles and forty- ve cases were sold in August via the Of cial Monster Raving Loony Party. The brewery continues to expand their outlets with the Nag’s Head and Alehouse in Reading taking their draught beer. Caviste is now available
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North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
at the Newlyn’s Farm Shop which is becoming a regular customer for their bottled beers. The brewery ran a stall and bar at Trout n’About in Stockbridge recently, which proved to be very successful and is now running stalls at the inchester and Peters eld Farmers’ Markets about once a month.
Sherfield Village Brewery 07906 060429 www.sherfieldvillagebrewery.co.uk SVB has lots of plans for new brews this autumn, including a new porter and some more single-hop varieties to try. A limited supply of bottles of four beers will be appearing in selected outlets over the autumn.
Wild Weather Ales 0118 970 1837 www.wildweatherales.com It has been a busy few months for ild eather Ales, supplying cask bottled beers to many of the local festivals and pub events in the Thames Valley area.
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
ild eather is very proud to have been selected to supply Sundowner (3.6% ABV) to the Great British Beer Festival at Olympia in August. ith so much competition from excellent breweries around the country, it is nice to see a new up-and-coming brewery being selected as one of only three representatives from the North Hampshire area. Owner and brewer Mike Tempest created a couple of seasonal brews for the summer: Warm Front (3.6% ABV) is a light refreshing golden blonde ale with subtle oral and fruity notes with a hint of ginger, and Cumulo Citrus (6.0% ABV), a single-hopped wheat IPA balancing tropical and citrus notes with lime and pineapple.
OVERHEARD … … at a Dorset pub real ale festival in August. Punter: “What have you got that’s like Stella?” Bar staff: “We’ve got some flavoured fizzy water.” Priceless. EXPERIENCED … … in a Dorset pub. “What local beers do you have?” Response was a finger pointing at a Carling font. Don’t they train bar staff anymore?
The
CRICKETERS ARMS An old Drover’s pub with a cosy atmosphere, built in the 16th century and set in beautiful countryside. • Good Quality Home Made Traditional English Food • Cask Beers • Inglenook Fireplace & Wood Burning Stoves • Seperate Dining Room & Bar • Function Room • Scandinavian Timber Style En-Suite Chalets Available Closed Lunchtime, Monday to Thursday
www.camrahantsnorth.org.uk
Clarke's Ln, Tangley, Andover, SP11 0SH
01264 730283 • www.thecricketers.eu
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North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
Wilts & Dorset Day Out
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
Punters at the Sixpenny Brewery Open Day.
A recent branch social
O
www.camrahantsnorth.org.uk
n a Saturday evening in July, North Hampshire branch members enjoyed a day out to Salisbury and beyond. Travelling by train to Salisbury we joined with the CAMRA Surrey/Hants Borders Branch for a bit of a crawl around this fascinating city. First off we visited one of the city’s oldest hostelries, the 15th-century Haunch of Venison where some enjoyable pints of local brewery Hopback’s GFB were consumed. Next stop was Qudos in Castle Street where, disappointingly, Hop Back Crop Circle was not in the best of condition. This was pointed out and the beer was duly taken off. That left only Sharp’s Atlantic or the ubiquitous Doombar. Most went for the former which was O . e then parted company with the Surrey/Hants branch to catch the bus to the village of Sixpenny Handley where the Sixpenny Brewery was having an Open Day. It seemed that most of the village
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(and more than a few outsiders!) were there to support this popular annual event. All the currently available Sixpenny brews including Gold, Jimmy and IPA were available as well as entertainment and locally-produced food. There is an actual pub on the brewery site – The Sixpenny Tap – which was narrowly beaten in the contest for smallest pub in Britain, due to the fact that the outside area is also licensed. One of the highlights for me was being shown around the brewery by one of the senior personnel, whose name and position I confess I have forgotten. Blame the beer! One memorable event was the beer equivalent of the currently popular ice-coldbucket-of-water-over-the-head charity stunt which is currently going viral. The Sixpenny version substituted old beer (well I sincerely hope it was old beer) for water. This was held in a transparent lavatory cistern complete with chain. The hapless volunteers had to sit in a makeshift cubicle and endure a gallon or so of beer cascading onto their heads. Very enjoyable for those watching. Not sure about the victims! e left the Open Day feeling much refreshed (!) and caught the bus back to Salisbury where, purely by chance, we encountered the Surrey/Hants branch on the last leg of their Salisbury crawl. A pint or three in the Deacons saw us off and we really had to get the train back to Basingstoke. All in all, a great day out. Must do it again next year. Jim Turner
beerlines
North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
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beerlines
North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
Basingstoke Canal
All photos: David Dry
A country walk via pubs
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n easy, mainly flat walk from Basingstoke town centre to North Warnborough of about 7.2 miles (11.6 km) taking the wanderer through history and along the route of the Basingstoke canal. Oh, and there are quite a few pubs, all serving cask conditioned beer, for those easily bored by walking and culture! A few minutes’ walk from both Basingstoke’s main line station and the bus station is the ‘pub start’ of this canal walk with a pint, or breakfast, at the Lloyd’s No 1 Bar (Wetherspoon’s), built on or around the old canal basin. Follow the signs taking you in an easterly direction along the foot path through Eastrop Park - the canal originally ran along Eastrop Way adjacent to the park and a line of trees follows its course. At the end of the park the walker
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will pass under the Basingstoke ring road flyover and after about fifty metres note the entrance through to the field on the right and the footpath across Basingstoke Fen - the path is obvious with wooden walkways across the marshy areas - exiting onto Redbridge Lane. Turn left on Redbridge Lane towards Old Basing and over the skew Red Bridge (No canal now, sadly). The lane joins The Street, Old Basing where the walls of the Civil War ruins of Basing House are to be seen on the right hand side of the road, as is the Crown pub, on the corner, for another pint. Take the turning adjacent to the side of the Crown (predictably, Crown Lane) and onto the boring slightly up-hill road section of the walk that leaves the canal route behind, entirely. This road, the end section, becomes Hatch Lane and takes you down to the A30 trunk road where straight in front is the Hatch pub (A Chef and Brewer hostelry) for yet another pint. Exiting the Hatch from the back entrance follow the lane to the left and, on the right, is a pedestrian footbridge that traverses the M3 and drops you into a field with a clearly marked footpath past some farm buildings. The walker has a choice here: turn right and after a short walk there is the Gamekeepers pub, or turn left towards Greywell Lane, following the main walk. At the T-junction, turn right towards Greywell. Now, the difficult bit. After about threequarters of a mile (1.2 km) metres there is a large
beerlines
North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
come to one of the prettiest pubs in Hampshire, The Mill House - the mill pond and gardens are spectacular. The food is excellent as is the beer. By this time you have surely had enough? Leave the Millhouse, turn right, tracing your way back to the nearby bus stop (half hourly service) and a bus ride back to Basingstoke bus station. Phew! David Dry
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gap in the left-hand hedgerow, take this fork through the trees and, once again, pick up the canal. The canal will be blatantly obvious by being the rst stretch to actually have water rather than a memory of past glories. The walk, on the left-hand side of the canal, will be found to be beautiful, quiet and tranquil. You will get bitten by insects and stung by nettles as you negotiate the remains of the marked towpath, but this is, after all, the country: no pain - no gain! After an hour or so of enjoying yourself communing with nature, you will see the canal disappearing into a large tunnel portal - this is the now disused (except by a large colony of Long Eared Bats!) Greywell tunnel. hen rst built, this was, allegedly, the longest tunnel in the country. Take the path over the tunnel across a eld (with cows!) and, at a break in the right-hand hedge, to the back garden of the wonderful Fox and Goose at Greywell. More pints and lovely pub food of course (pub stays open all afternoon so no worries! Free camping is available, if you have carted a tent all this way). If, by this point, you have not had enough, drag yourself out of the Fox and walk up Deptford Lane opposite the pub car park entrance. 50 metres on the left is a footpath sign. This will take you over the eastern tunnel portal and down onto the canal towpath. Points of interest are the bridge where the canal crosses the hitewater stream - yes, really - and the ruins of King John’s Castle - never a pub, apparently. (However … the now demolished Castle pub in Basingstoke, later re-named Poison, was named after King John’s Castle, as witness the original pub sign – Ed.) At the next road bridge over the canal, step up onto the road. This is the village of North arnborough and, as you walk to the left, northbound, along the road you will
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
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beerlines
North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
Overton A village of history, industry & change
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e hear too often of villages losing their only pub so it is a joy to write about one with three continuing pubs (out of six originally) that have all featured in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide, as well as a thriving club. Add a growing busy community, a superb location in the headwaters of a chalk stream famous for trout, and a major industrial unit and you begin to understand the mechanics of Overton. As a busy market town there must always have been alehouses although these were cut to one per village in an early clamp-down on drinking. The first named inn is the 15th century White Hart Hotel which is currently closed (see below). The Huguenots arrived in the 17th century, including Henri de Portal who realised the importance of the local water for silk- and papermaking. Using local mills to make both, he established the banknote factory that is now the De La Rue (Portals) complex near the station and still the main local employer. The Red Lion (on the old north-south crossroads) and the Greyhound (on the east-west crossroads by the Sheep Fair) both date from this time as did the Fox now a private house opposite the Red Lion. The Red Lion trades as a bistro pub with the Greyhound being more of a village meeting place. In the 18th century a royal post road from London to Exeter passed through the
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village (the toll house is near the Red Lion) and what is now London Road was built from the top of Two Gate Lane (the old main road) to the corner by the White Hart which enlarged itself to be a staging post. A new inn (called just that) was built opposite as a rival. 100 years later the railway came and upstaged the coach traffic so the New Inn was demolished to make way for a school (now the library). After World War I, Portals built a new pub, The Old House at Home, which took the name and trade of the official ale house across the road. The pub is now a Thai restaurant and takeaway as well as a local. Portals also funded the nearby Memorial Institute which is also a real ale venue. Both were set up to cater to an enlarged working population. As I write there are rumours that Upham Brewery have taken a long lease on the White Hart to re-open it as a hotel, much needed in this busy place. Of the pubs, the Greyhound is changing hands at the end of October and we must wait to see what the new owners will do with it. I commend this village to you – on a recent visit there were 14 real ales available, all of them different including four from Hampshire. Tony Morwood-Leyland
beerlines
North Hampshire Branch of CAMRA
Issue 6 | SUMMER 2014
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