Ale Cry 93

West Lancs Branch

Issue 93 Summer/Autumn ‘11

Pub of The Season

Food is served daily at lunch The Autumn 2011 West Lancs Branch Pub of the guests replacing these.

The Autumn 2011 West Lancs Branch pub is the day on Sundays.

Season is the Tillotsons Arms at Chipping.

Right pub is open from 12-3northand 5-12 or later, 12-12 Arms atThe Chipping.

Right on the on the northern edge of the branchTillotsons area, Chipping on Saturday Sunday do not go there Years ago, on thea Tillotsons w ern edge of the branch area, and Chipping is but someis sometimes out-of-sight out-of-mind for many Monday as the pub is closed then (unless pretimes out-of-mind for many branch serving only keg beers in a v branch members, but the Tillotsons Armsout-of-sight is It isArms quite is a small pub, with rooms, two 2pubs werea owned by B members, but thebooked).

Tillotsons currently front room with the main bar, popular for food, listed in CAMRA national Good Beer Guide, and both regularly listed in the G andto atravel back up room usednorthern for darts, dominoes and is a worthy reason to the sports TV as well as a food overflow.

Now the position has comp reaches.

Theevenings, Sun at the Food is served daily at lunchtime and all top of the st the Talbot, opposite the Till The pub dates from 1836 and landlord Curly day on Sundays. elict for years, surrounded b Neary was born in the village, the greatgrandson of a Jeremiah Joy who was landlord of with no sign of it re-opening, the pub in 1897. He and his partner Jules took the GBG-listed real ale star over the pub 4 years ago and have a relaxed tie on The branch will be there o the cask beers from owners Enterprise Inns. tober about 9pm to try out t This allows them to have 2 real ales on at all present a Certificate to Curly times, and 4 at weekends, with the range varying welcome to join us. between Copper Dragon, Hawkshead currently listed in CAMRA national GoodBowland, Beer and Thwaites Wainwright with occasional Locale Guide, and is a worthy reason to travel up to the guests replacing these. northern reaches.

Years ago, the Tillotsons was a Whitbread pub The pub

from 1836

isCurly from 12-3 dates and landlord The pub open and 5-12 or later, 12-12

serving only keg beers in a village where the other Neary was born in the village, the greaton Saturday and two Sunday do owned not go by there on pubsbut were Boddingtons and were grandson of a Jeremiah Joy who was landlord a Monday asofthe both pub regularly is closed then (unless prelisted in the Good Beer Guide. the pub in 1897. He and his partner JulesIttook booked). is quite a small pub, with 2 rooms, aturned around, The Now the position has completely over the pub 4 years ago and have front a relaxed tie on room with the food, Sunmain at the bar, top ofpopular the streetfor sells real ale but the Talbot, the cask beers from owners Enterprise and aInns. back roomopposite used forthedarts, dominoes and derelict for years, Tillotsons, has been This allows them to have 2 real alessports on at all TVtimes, as well surrounded as a food overflow.

by Heras fencing, and with no sign of it and 4 at weekends, with the range varying re-opening, while the Tillotsons is the GBG-listed between Bowland, Copper Dragon, Hawkshead real ale star of the area.

Dave Linley and Thwaites Wainwright with occasional Locale

Inside this BUMPE

R issue!!!

Contents: p2 Editorial, S Ribble, p3 Prospect Brewery,

p4 Preston, p6 Special General Meeting, p9 Horwich, p10 Chorley, p11 Potters, pg12 Sports Clubs, p18 Harrogate, p20 Locale, p22 Alp, p23 Seattle, p25 Real Ale Reg., p26 George Wright, p28 Heart to Hart, p30 River Pilot, Wheatsheaf, p31 Lancs pub of year, p32 Beer and Music, p34 Landlords retire, Branch details, Pg35 MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM

and much more

:

Editorial The Ties That Bind

communities which depend on them.

`

A few pubs already have that situation. The Swan With Two Necks in Chorley used to be owned by a company called ‘Provence’ and their philosophy was simple:‘we are not licensees we are a property company - so don’t tell us how to rent property and we won’t tell you what beers to sell and for how much.’

The term ‘Free House’ which you see displayed outside many a pub usually means the oposite for most of the licensees, i.e. ‘you are free to serve what ever ales we tell you you can sell.’ It has nothing to do with customer or licensee preferences, but everything to do with selling the most profitable ales for the brewery or pub company. It is when greed

over rules common sense

that things start to go badly

wrong - pubs go down the

swanee and nobody wins

‘Nacky ‘ - except the pubco/brewery, if

now flats they are able to get planning Ridgeway permission for conversion to housing. When Stan at the Old Black Bull on Friargate reached an agreement to free him from being tied by his landlords to buy his beer from a list supplied by them that was ground breaking stuff.

I hoped that others might follow suit but in the two years since Stan’s success - and it has proved to be a success - nobody seems to have been able to emulate his achievement. If the Government would enact legislation to obliterate the ‘tie’ altogether we would be taking a major step towards rescuing our repidly disappearing pub trade and the social life of our

No doubt the big brewers will scream that we would be endangering them. Tough - they have things too much their own way for far too long - they will just have to pull their fingers out and try salesmanship to make their economies of scale matter.

To protect the licensees from excessive rent charges a fair rents commission similar to the one operating in the housing market would have to be created.

We would then be in heaven with licensee freedom to buy from who they want and drinkers having a wide range of choice from the large and medium brewers and the growing number of micros.

So put simply: 1) ABOLISH THE TIE 2) ESTABLISH A FAIR RENTS SYSTEM FOR LICENSEES.

Can it Happen? YES!! Will it happen? be silly!

Don’t

Under 26 or over 60

ed.

You’d be mad no From £14 to join: £20 ret to join CAMRA months membership for al ale vouchers, and 15 the price of 12 (see p35)

South Ribble Scene

ainly packed out on the Friday night). The Railway now has five handpumps, with four beers Black Sheep Bitter, Greene King IPA, Jennings Cumberland Ale, and Lancaster Blonde being available on a recent visit.

Latest news from Leyland is that work is progressing well on the new Wetherspoons pub on Hough Lane, which we believe will be called the LEYLAND LION. At the time of writing there is a sign outside saying that the pub will be opening soon, so it is to be assumed that by the time that the Winter 2011-12 Ale Cry is out then the branch will have its third Wetherspoons pub up and running.

Elsewhere in Leyland, one of the pubs that was reported as being closed in the last Ale Cry has now re-opened. The FOX & LION on Towngate has undergone a refurbishment and is again selling real ale with two handpumps now in place. Looking in on a quiet midweek afternoon, the only beer available was Caledonian Deuchars IPA, but assumedly at busier times there will be two beers on sale. Across the road the ROEBUCK has been selling real ale for about a year now, and in recent weeks the beers available have included Charles Wells Bombardier and Youngs Bitter, with them having a special promotion that handpumped beer has been sold at just £2 a pint. Also on Towngate Barristers continues to go well with a good range of real ales on offer. The pub has six handpumps, and when visited the choice of beers was Tetley Cask Bitter, St Austell Tribute, and Harviestoun Shiehallion.

The RAILWAY AT LEYLAND on Preston Road had another successful Beer Festival in May (the place was cert

Just up the road at the ROSE & CROWN on Stanifield Lane in Farington the landlord has reluctantly been forced to stop selling Theakstons Traditional Mild. On a recent visit there the beers available were Theakstons XB, Greene King IPA, and Black Sheep Bitter, and there is good news for the future with the landlord having plans to get another two handpumps installed as soon as possible.

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In Bamber Bridge the former Top House on Station Road re-opened in July as the WITHY ARMS. Now a cross between a pub and a wine bar, the refurbishment of this former pub of many different names has seen the introduction of some interesting artefacts on display. Most im-

pressively the pub now has four handpumps, with Marstons EPA, Moorhouses Pride of Pendle, Thwaites Triple C, and the mysterious 3.6% Withy Ale recently being the beers available.

Moving to Penwortham, and already this year there have been a couple of changes of licensee. In February Bryn Jarvis took over as landlord of the SIR TOM FINNEY on Central Drive, with him initially stating that it was his intention to introduce a carvery and to have four beers always on sale. Typically Black Sheep Bitter, Jennings Cocker Hoop, Charles Wells Bombardier, and Morland Old Speckled Hen have been the beers available.

There has also been a change behind the scenes at the BLACK BULL on Pope Lane, with landlady Anne-Marie Isles being forced to step down from her position as licensee in May due to illness. The pub remains in the same family, and now has Ian Robinson in charge, who was previously employed there a couple of years ago as Assistant Manager. As this Ale Cry went to press the beers available at the Black Bull were Everards Beacon, Greene King IPA, Marstons Pedigree, and Ruddles Best Bitter.

Prospect Discover There Are Only 24 Hours In A Day Considering that Prospect brewery was only every meant to

be a play thing for Patsy Slevin she seems to be doing a really good impression of developing a serious business. Not only is the cavernous interior of the brewery starting to look a little small (3000+sq ft!) but another employee has been taken on (Ian “Buster” Mathews on account of his knack for busting various parts of his body) and summer help in the form of Mathew Melling.

Prospect have also been asked to produce last year’s favourite “70 BOB” for the British legion again (does 71 BOB work!) as well being represented at the GBBF with Silver Tally and winning the Swindon beer festival for 2009…err that’s right 2009 I guess the carrier pigeon (speckled Jim) stopped off via a few pubs along the way!

The innovations department (John Slevin with a few hours to kill) have been up to no good with the development of beer in whiskey casks. This malty, amber beer is now aging in casks supplied by Loch Lomond distillery and will go by the name of SALOON. There didn’t look to be too many casks on the day I visited so if you want one it may come at premium!

At the PEAR TREE on Leyland Road, there has recently been a run on beers from the Caledonian Brewery. Looking in one day in August the beers on sale there were Caledonian Deuchars IPA, Caledonian Flying Scotsman, and Charles Wells Bombardier. Also recently on sale there has been Caledonian Nectar, the Honey Ale which Caledonian have described as the 'bees knees' of beers.

Staying in Penwortham, CAMRA West Lancs recently held a branch meeting at the FLEECE on Liverpool Road, when the beer range was a little disappointing. I can reassure those people that were present that we were a little unfortunate to catch a bad night. On a subsequent visit the beers available were Charles Wells Bombardier, Tetley Cask Bitter, Black Sheep Bitter, and Adnams Broadside, while Box Steam Brewery's Tunnel Vision has also made an appearance in recent weeks.

On to Longton, where there has been a change of licensee at the RAMS HEAD, with Tim Worthington moving there from the nearby Dolphin. The Rams Head has four handpumps, and the beer range is looking to be much more interesting with the beers available on a recent Sunday being Charles Wells Bombardier, Caledonian Deuchars IPA, Black Sheep Bitter, and Castle Rock Harvest Pale. Further along the road to Liverpool, the WALMER BRIDGE INN is to have a mini-Beer Festival over the August Bank Holiday weekend with seven beers being available. Finally to Much Hoole, and the SMITHY INN on Liverpool Old Road now has a new landlady, and contrary to what was reported in the last Ale Cry, it is selling real ale with two different beers being available. More on this next time.

Gordon Small Prospects latest addition to the range ORESOME seems to be going down well in the pubs the addition of fresh lemons may have something to do with it! Having posted record sales whilst Patsy and John where away on holiday only goes to prove that old adage that you should measure a good leader when they not there, surrounding yourself with good staff is always a brucey bonus.

Wanting to discuss the running of the brewery I turned to Dave to ask him about said facilities. Dave being his usual talkative self kept me nailed to the spot discussing his usual OCD and rituals for making the brewery tick, workaholic just doesn’t cover it!

It’s at this point that I should balance the article with something negative so as not to make it look like I’m taking backhanders…erm thinking, thinking. Patsy isn’t it about time you changed that car or bought a pub! Damn she’s looking to buy the breweries first pub very soon, Watch this space. That just leaves the shed on wheels...Mining truck...Sorry car to sort.

Perhaps a Morris MINER...Groan. Mick Hadfield

ATTENTION: PUBS, BREWERS & PUBCOS The theme for Winter issue is BREWERIES so do yourself a favour and advertise in Ale Cry (see page 34) Ed

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PRESTON

After the debacle from

the last issue where Greyfriars withdrew their 50p off offer to card carrying CAMRA members almost immediately after we proclaimed it on our front page, I can tell you where you can still get a reduction on producing your membership card. The Plough at Grimsargh offers 15p off a pint and 10p off a half when you show it. On the road between Preston and Longridge this comfortable pub with dining areas and a separate public bar offers five changing real ales, often from micros. It has its own bowling green and the landlord has opened a reptile centre for rehomed and rescue animals and there is an owl and bird of prey zoo behind the pub too.

Back in Preston, the Black Horse has a new temporary manager in Chris, who will be in charge until Robinsons get a permanent tenant for the pub.

Chris is the father of Ritchie Thornton, who runs Pickerings in Catterall near Garstang, which sells a variety of real ales, so he is no stranger to looking after real ale.

Once the pub has its new tenant ready, it will close for a short time before reopening as a showcase pub for Robinsons beers. Another pub that will be a showcase for a brewers products will be The Lamb and Packet at

the bot tom of Friargate. Re

cently closed for a complete

renovation, with all the previ

ous fittings, including the

raised area being removed,

it will obviously be like a new pub when it reopens. Warwick the landlord has told us that it will have 4 real ales from the Thwaites portfolio and a guest beer when it reopens, along with a range of foreign lagers.

At the New Britannia on Heat

ley St. food is now being

served. It is called Daisy’s

Diner and is run by Megan.

She opens for breakfasts at

9am with eggs, bacon, beans and black pudding etc (only soft drinks till 11am) and serves until approx 6pm. Using all fresh produce the lunchtime menu has soup, sandwiches and jacket potatoes together with main meals which include locally sourced sirloin steaks with chips, onion rings, tomato and side salad for only £5.95 and chicken curry, rice and poppadoms for £4.25. A little success story down Fylde Rd to Watery Lane is the Wheatsheaf where you can get

4

a variety of real ales frommicro breweries for under £2.

It is owned by Amber Taverns and owner Clive Preston says he has a simple formula for success:- spend money on refurbishing pubs properly, invest in large screens for sports channels and undercut rivals beer prices. It seems to be working with sales up by 63%.

Spending money on pubs is

not always a way to make a

successful pub, as can be seen

at the top end of Fylde Rd. where the Ship Inn closed down suddenly after having £160,000 spent on it by Punch Taverns. Real ale availability was always sporadic here and it will be interesting to see what will happen when the pub is put back to tenancy. One pub where an amazing £600,000 has been spent on a re-fit is the newly named Broughton Inn. At the notorious crossroads on the A6 at Broughton, it has reopened as one of Mitchell and Butlers Vintage Inns country pub restaurants. The good news is that there will be a range of changing real ales available. We will report on it fully next time. I remember going in the pub when it was called the Shuttleworth Arms and there was waiter service for your beers. Lately it was trading as Burlingtons, selling just Tetley bitter. I am sure there

will be a more enticing

range on sale now.

Just up the A6 from

there at Barton is The

Sparling another pub/

restaurant that has

been attractively set up

a modern airy feel to it Reopening last March it is run by Neal and Gill Tripp and it is open all day for food with three real ales to pick from. Thwaites Wainwright has proved very popular and is more or less permanent and on my last visit Fullers London Pride and GK’s Old Speckled Hen also featured. Gill played in the England team at football until an injury forced her to pack it up. Neil says he believes in giving customers great food at affordable

prices.While we are north of

Preston, here is an update on

things Goosnargh. At the

Grapes in the centre of the

village,

Wayne and Angela took over some sixteen months ago. Since then, they have made some small alterations, improvements to the bowling green and gained cask marque accreditation. Of the four ales they have on, the best seller is Black Sheep bitter, the other beers currently include Tetley mild plus two beers from the SIBA direct delivery service. They are thinking of replacing the Tetleys with Naylors thave a more local connection. Live sports are a feature as is

£2. ston oney ns for eems

s a een

ng ailestk to been At has ns e will pub was as e cing

m he ub/

et up to ripp pick r and rs

ntil ves

of n

ver de g e four er, wo re ea s

PARADE

The Old Black Bull

the home cooked locally sourced food available Tuesday through Sunday. Quiz night is Thursday and live music features once a month, usually on Saturday.

Meanwhile opposite it the former Bushells Arms is closed for conversion to housing.

Just up the road on

Whittingham Lane,

there have been some

major changes at the

Stags Head. New

licencees Mike and Charlie have had a new restaurant area installed in the back room, which can be used for functions, as can the enhanced outdoor areas to the rear, featuring a marquee spot. They are maintaining the cask ales as before, which sees five real ales, usually with Theakstons and Wainwrights as permenants and three interesting guests from the Cellerman’s Reserve list.

Moving south of the river, Janet Russell has recently taken over the Mill Tavern in Higher Walton.

It is a Marston’s pub and she reports that cask ales are doing very well. In fact, she sold out in her first three days Stan and Pam are looking forward to offering you a warm welcome in charge. She has had pubs previously in Cumbria and A Good Beer Guide and Casque Mark Pub Macclesfield and hopes to make a success of her latest 33 Friargate - PRESTON - PR1 2AT venture. Four real ales are on sale, with Jennings Bitter, Tel: 01772 823397 Cumberland and Cocker Hoop as permanents with also a www.theoldblackbull.com changing guest from Marston’s extensive guest list. On our last visit it was Wychwood Ginger Beard at 4%. They are open 12-12 Sun- Thurs and 12-1am Fri and Sat. There are no plans for food at the moment, but they do have Sky TV, free wi-fi, two domino tables, a beer garden to the rear, open mike night on Weds and starting a quiz night soon, so plenty of reasons to go down there. They were SIBA direct delivery planning to have a beer fest over the bank holiday weekend.

Cask Marque

Further afield, Chris Goodwin has reLive Sports opened the Black Bull at Moss Side. It is now on the Function Room Available SIBA direct delivery service and has recently had 3B’s Bobbin Bitter plus beers from Bowland on alongside The Beer Garden and Caledonian Deuchars. They are open 12-12 seven days a Bowling Green week and food is served all day and night. They were also to Rear looking to put a mini beer fest on over the bank holiday Open weekend and looking forward to seeing customers old and new.

Mon 5 - 11

Finally the Smithy in Much Tues - Thurs 12 - 12

Hoole has been shut for six Fri - Sat 12 - 1, Sun 12 - 10.30

months, but has also reopened Food Available

under a new licencee and again

real ale sales are booming.

Tues - Sat: 2-2.30, 6 -9

Must be a message there.

Sun - 12- 8

Paul Riley

Now Free of Ties on Cask Beers This allows us to offer up to 9 local and regional Real Ales at all times

Heated Beer Garden 3D TV - Live Sports on 7 Screens Why not meet The Brewer Last Thurs Oct & Nov 8pm Coming up: Norwich and North Yorks weekends A PNE Supporters Pub

THE GRAPES INN AT GOOSNARGH Four Real Ales

5

Why not try our lunchtime offer of two meals for £10

Who Are Ya???

We are the West Lancashire branch of CAMRA.... No you’re.not......... Yes we are...... no you’re not..... Yes we are...... Not for much longer...... Ah..... well.... that’s right.

At the Annual General Meeting the branch decided on a name change. When we were created in 1973 we covered the whole of west Lancashire. Now as CAMRA has grown (to over 120,000 members) branches have sprung up to the west of us and now we’re more like at the heart of Lancashire, more like mid Lancashire more like central Lancashire, and that’s what the members decided.

Notice

Special General Meeting Notice is given that a Special General Meeting of the West Lancashire Branch is to be held at 8pm on Monday 24th October 2011 at the Stanley Arms, Lancaster Road, Preston.

The Special General Meeting is to consider a proposal:

“That the name of the branch be changed from ‘West LanFirstly they decided that they wanted to change to a more cashire Branch’ to ‘Central Lancashire Branch’.” accurate name. Then they decided that of the three alterna- Any member of the West Lancashire Branch is entitled to tives Central Lancashire was their preferred option. attend the meeting on vote on whether or not to accept the proposal or to amend it.

So that’s that then.........No it’s not.......A change of name is a constitutional change, so it needs a two thirds majority If you as a CAMRA member wish to amend that resolution with sufficient notice having been given so that members you must forward your amendment to The Branch Sechave the chance to put amendments to proposals. retary at the branch address (see page 34) or email to the

branch (same page) to reach us by Monday 14th October

So we’ve got to have a Special General Meeting to make 2011. You will need to produce your membership card to the decision :

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

be entitled to vote at the meeting

Malt and Hops Friday Street Chorley 9 Real ale pumps - varying range • Live Football • Quiz Night Wednesday • Poker Saturday • Playstation 3 -Call of Duty Mon & Tues Eve

6

The

Walmer Bridge 63 Liverpool Old Road, Walmer Bridge, Preston, PR4 5QE. Telephone - 01772 612296.

.

New Webmaster and Young Members Officer

Steve Eaves was elected at the AGM so hopefully we can at last move forward with the vitally important web site. It is our intention to have a compresenive web site in place for Guild year particularly for Preston in advance of the thousands decending on the City from over the world desperate to find real ale haunts in the area in advance of the event

Bamber Bridge Football Club QED Stadium Irongate

Off Brownedge Road

Tel: 01772 909695

Friendly Sports Club -Open Daily 7pm until 11pm - weekdays Noon until late - weekends Up to 4 Guest Ales - visitors welcome

Local CAMRA club of the year Regular events Sky Sports Screened Extended function room available for hire For Private Parties and Business Events 7 Competitive Rates

Darts - Wednesdays.

Quiz Night - Thursdays.

Live Football Coverage Five handpumps:

Robinsons Unicorn plus up to three guest beers always available.

Holder of Cask Marque and ACE Award certificates.

Large beer garden with children's play area.

kinetic

At the heart of Chorley’s night life Open Sun - Wed: 12 - 12 Thur: 12 - 2am Fri - Sat - 12 - 3am 3 Handpumps serving real ales from local breweries from £2 a pint Live DJs Thurs - Sat Sky Sports 3D Live Music Downstairs bar available soon for private functions

Attention : Pubs, Clubs, Breweries, Pubcos, Suppliers to the trade Not advertising with us Why not???????

H

59 Stanifield Lane Farington Tel: 01772 465908

Read on-------------Our quarterly publication goes right to the heart of your customer base. Our 5000 copies don’t go just to local drinkers to read and dump -no - no - no!!

Every pub we go in is given customer copies and also pub copies for drinkers to read and return to the bar for others to peruse.

And it’s not just to local locals - no - no - no. As all our busy bee distributors travel around the country and further afield we leave pub copies in pubs we visit on our travels: from Scotland to Devon; from Wales to Yorkshire; from Canada to Germany; from the States to Poland etc., etc., Contact us (see p30) for full details of where they’ve been left and to find out how to advertise with us Other than word of mouth you won’t find a better way to get your message across Just ask our current advertisers.

Current Prices: Double Page £300, Full Page £175 Half Page £95 Quarter £55 Eighth £35

The Red Herring

MILL LANE, COPPULL, CHORLEY, LANCS. Tel: (01257) 470130 Ste & Mary welcome you to Coppull’s only freehouse: An oasis in a beer desert.

Guest Ales include: Moorhouses, 3Bs and many more Good Beer

Guide -Sat night entertainment, we’re in it.

Sun night quiz Ring Mill function room for hire Monday to Thursday open from 3pm Friday to Sunday open from 12pm

8

Horwich works for me When the Chorley contingent suggested visiting Horwich, which is not in our branch area, to spread the Ale Cry word, I did not know what to expect. I had heard rumours that it was a good real ale place to visit, and as this little trip turned out, these rumours proved true.

Leaving Preston on our minibus and picking up on route, it didn’t take us long to reach our first pub, The Brinsop, which is not in the old town itself, but on the main A6.

It is a very plush pub with a bistro bar and function room with a good reputation for its food. It is also a very friendly place and has an excellent range of changing guest beers.

On our visit we could choose between Thwaites Original, Bank Top Flat Cap, Harts Dishie Debbie, Moorhouses Blond Witch, Lakeland Brewery Stringer and West Coast Blond Pale Ale. There were enough of us on the trip for each to be sampled and the quality was first class.. It is open 12-3, 5.30-11 midweek and all day Fri- Sun. I was told later that in the 1980’s it sold Hydes beers. Good as Hydes is, the present day set up is much better.

We drove on into Horwich itself by way of the Reebock and dismounted at the Victoria and Albert at the south end of the town centre on Lee Lane.

The minibus drove up to meet up with us later at our last pub. The Victoria and Albert has apparently only recently reopened and has been changed from its previous incarnation. It is now is an interesting bar with a stone floor and a comfortable room at the back selling a selection of four real ales which on our visit were Holts Bitter, Holts IPA, Moorhouses Premier Bitter and Hopback Summer Lightning, all of which were enjoyed.

A short walk up Lee lane brought us to the Bowling Green which from the outside didn’t look up to much, but once you got inside, what a gem of a place. With its impressive green tiled bar a vault and best side, it is a good boozer’s pub. With three handpumps serving an ever changing range of beers, all at (in this day and age) an unbelievable £1.90 a pint it deserves to get great support. On our visit, the friendly staff were selling Prospect Nutty Slack, York Guzzler and Toad Brewery Dark Side of the Toad, all of the best quality. It is open 12-12 seven days a week and has live artists Friday and Saturday nights. You can even get take away pizzas.

Next up Lee Lane is the Original Bay Horse, listed in the 2011 GBG. The pub dates from 1777 and consists of a lounge with low ceilings where pool and darts are played and a cosy traditional vault with some football memorabilia.

Live sports coverage on TV is popular and it can get very busy. It has live music once a month. Four real ales were available when we went, Coach House Gunpowder Mild

9

ALE CRY VISITS HORWICH and John Willie Lees Bitter, which are permanents, plus two guests, Bowland Hen Harrier and Bank Top Old Slapper. Again, all were enjoyed greatly. The pub has been in the same family’s hand for many years and apparently is known locally as ‘the long pull’ ( I didn’t think anybody did that anymore). It is open 1-12 Mon-Thurs,12-1 Fri-Sat and 12-12 Sun.

We just had time to walk up to our last call of the evening, the Crown, at the corner of Lee Lane and Chorley New Road. Another 2011 GBG listed pub, The Crown is a Holts tied house and sells both the mild and the bitter along with whatever is the seasonal offering from Holts. This proved to be Humdinger, another of those honeybee beers that seem popular at this time of year. The pub is a local landmark and besides the main bar there is a vault and games room at the rear. Food is available at lunchtime and children are welcome when dining. There is live music on Sundays. The opening times here are 11-11(12 Fri-Sat) and 12-11.30 Sun.

So there you have it, in this small area of Horwich, we had the choice of 14 different beers (19 if you include the Brinsop) and there are other pubs nearby. Horwich is handy for the Reebock Stadium, Rivington Pike and the West Pennine Moors. Lever Park, a gift from Lord Leverhulme the soap magnate is just over the road. Surely this place is worth a visit. We were on a minibus, but Horwich is easily reached by bus from Chorley and Preston using service 125/126 taking a mere 20 minutes from Chorley and 1 hour and five minutes from Preston. They run very regularly during the day, with the last bus back to Chorley at 2315 and the last one to Preston at 2245 reaching Preston an hour later. Give it a go. Paul Riley

Attention Lasses.

The number of young women drinking real ale has soared. You see them at beer festivals almost outnumbering the men.

It’s a natural, often organic, healthy product.

Try it for a month and you won’t go back to your ‘Zombeers’ or alcopops. If it works for you get in touch with me.

Sue Riley (women’s contact)

The Royal Oak at Whittle-le-Woods has had an internal refurbishment recently. Thankfully the layout is pretty much the same and the pub is still a welcoming traditional local.

- Beers on the bar when we visited were Black Sheep bitter, Moorhouses’ Pride of Pendle, and Marstons’ EPA. Staying in the area, the Dog Inn, a short walk from the Royal Oak, now has three handpumps selling Thwaites’ Original, Bomber and a seasonal beer.

- Near Asda at Clayton Green, the Beaumont has been selling beers from Moorhouses, Bowland and Northumbria breweries, whilst the Marston range can be found in the Cavendish Arms at Brindle and the Hoghton Arms near the M65 junction 3.

- Word has it that Lee Thompson of the Sea View has taken over the Lord Nelson at Clayton-le-Woods (technically Brindle). We look forward to a visit to check out what real ales he is introducing to see if it differs from the range on offer at the Sea View, which he will continue to run. Staying in Whittle-le-Woods, the Roebuck is having success with beers from Charles Wells and Caledonian breweries.

- The licensee merry go round continues at the Hinds Head at Welch Whittle. The latest people to run the pub have introduced Thwaites beers in the shape of Bomber and Wainwrights to the bar.

- One of the only two local breweries in our branch area, Hart Brewery of Preston have had their beers on sale recently in the Malt ‘n Hops and the Kinetic Bar in Chorley as well as the

Chorley

Red Herring in Coppull.

- An unusual brewery to our area, Harvieston Brewey from Alva in Clackmannanshire, Scotland has been spotted on the bar of the White Bull in Chorley.

- Finally, Thwaites Brewery has been brewing their very own IPA and very nice it is too. It has been seen on the bar in the Golden Lion in Higher Wheelton and the Royal Oak in Riley Green.

Alan Thompson

You’re guaranteed a warm welcome at the Royal Oak, Riley Green 01254 201445

THE SHAWES ARMS London Road Preston Opening Times: MON-THURS - 12 - 11 FRI-SAT - 12 - 12 SUN -12 - 10.30

3 Guest Ales and Ciders Bar Snacks Sky Sports TV Large rear garden overlooking River Ribble Families and Dogs welcome Pool Table, Dart Boards, Table Football Quiz night and play your cards right - Thursday Fortnightly DJ Karaoke

10

y

y from on the

ry own r in the n Riley

Chatter

The Dog and Partridge at Charnock Richard has been closed for some time with the pub signage being removed. This pub was saved from the builders wrecking ball by a local campaign but recent developments appear to have taken a more sinister turn. Perhaps Chorley council planners can let us know the current situation regarding the pub as a local community amenity being maintained.

Alan Thompson

Charnock Richard’s Only Village Centre Pub - Going to the Dogs!?!

They’re potty at the Potters Steve and Denise of the Potters Arms Chorley returned

home from their holidays to find that regulars had redecorated the outside of the pub. Denise was less than happy with the new purple and pink psychadelic look.

The Alp can confirm that no canbabis was being smoked on the premises during the visit though a Jimi Hendrix track was being played in the background ALP

Alan Thompson is right to voice concerns for the future of Charnock’s village centre pub. Not only would the amenity and leisure facilities be catastrophically affected, house values would be affected. Just because a pub is underutilised is no excuse to close it. The reason may well be poor attention from the brewery or pub company or bad management. Recent legislation to protect community facilities and CAMRAs support for community pubs can help. But nothing can be done without the lead being taken by locals. If the locals don’t want it they don’t deserve it. If locals want a campaign we are committed to supporting them. A text, a phone call, or an email to us and we’ll be there by your side ed

The Original

FARMERS ARMS

Bar and Restaurant • Up to 6 CASK ales at a time.

• A varying selection of real ales • from local micro breweries • Bar open all day until 12pm • A large selection of freshly made bar snacks • from sandwiches to T-bones & Ostrich served all day.

• Special offers on beers all day everyday.

• Excellent bed and breakfast accommodation.

• with en-suite facilities available • Single room from £20 (en-suite from £25) • Double room from £25 (en-suite from £30) TOWNGATE ECCLESTON NR CHORLEY PR7 5QS 11 TELEPHONE 01257 451594

Dog and Partridge 44 Friargate Preston Tel: 01772 252217

House Casks Include: Timothy Taylor’s Landlord, Joseph Holt’s Best Bitter Tetley Mild plus: Weekly Guests From The Punch Finest Cask Range and SIBA Direct Delivery

Smokey-o-Joes 32-Seater Smoking Area Good Value Lunches Including: ‘The’ Curry Fridays The Big Quiz Thursday Night Rock DJ Sunday

CAMRA WEST LANCS BRANCH AND ... SPORTS CLUBS As a CAMRA branch we would like to think that we have a fairly good idea of the number of pubs in the branch area that are selling real ale.

Wainwright, while a fourth beer Youngs Bitter was not yet ready for sale.

CRICKET.

However when it comes to clubs the situation is not quite so clear. By their very nature clubs are something of a mystery. Some clubs operate as pubs in all but name, while others are more selective and are highly protective of exactly who they allow to enter their premises and utilise their facilities.

In the West Lancs branch area we have a good cross section of clubs which cater for a wide variety of people's beliefs, interests, and current or past employment. Many of these clubs sell real ale, and no doubt some will be familiar to local real ale drinkers. Over the years there have been a number of clubs that have tried their hands at running Beer Festivals, while quite a few clubs have at one time or another been rewarded with a place in the Good Beer Guide.

I have been writing these articles for more than 10 years now, and since the very start had always planned to do an article about clubs in the branch area. However I consider this to be something of a tall order, so for the purposes of this article I have restricted myself to clubs that are associated with outdoor sporting activities, whether these be sports that are aimed at the participant or at the spectator. For practical reasons I did not visit any of the many excellent Sports & Social Clubs that are there to cater for a variety of different sports.

Looking at the availability of real ale, I have looked at five different sports and five clubs associated with these sports. What are the clubs like? What are the beers available? How much do you pay? This is what I found:RUGBY FOOTBALL.

If you have any interest in rugby union then the place to go is PRESTON GRASSHOPPERS RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB which is located at Lightfoot Green in Fulwood. The club bar has long been renowned for the quality of its real ales, and on several occasions has been one of the branch's Good Beer Guide entries. For many years Hoppers have had a close association with Thwaites Brewery and this continues to be the case with them currently being the club's shirt sponsors. On the day of my visit, which was a Saturday during the close season, the beers available were Thwaites Original, Thwaites IPA (my choice at ÂŁ2.80 a pint), and Thwaites

For the real ale drinker, the cricket club that leads the way in off-field hospitality has to be FULWOOD & BROUGHTON CRICKET CLUB, located on Garstang Road in Fulwood. It was match day when I paid my visit, which meant that there was a sizeable crowd, although not everyone was there like me to make use of the club's bar facilities. This is a club that has been selling real ale for over 10 years now, with a changing guest beer always being available which is often from a local micro-brewery. When I was there the beer on offer was Bowland Gold from Bowland Brewery, and at ÂŁ2.40 a pint the beer went down as quickly as the wickets went down on the field of play.

GOLF. There are a number of Golf Clubs in the area and they all have their own individual Nineteenth Hole for golfers to relax after their exertions on the course. The one that I am most familiar with is LEYLAND GOLF CLUB on

Leigh Arms and Station Hotel

66 Chapel Street Chorley PR7 1BS 01257 368383

Newly Refurbished 3 Handpumps

Home cooked food served 12 - 8 All live sport shown Wednesday Night: Curry Night and Quiz 12 Thursday: Grill Night

then the choice would have been even greater.

I think that I have covered all possible sports.

As far as I am aware the branch does not have a Tennis Club in the area that is selling real ale, while the celebrated Preston Curling Club these days carries out most of its activities well outside the branch boundaries.

As I said at the beginning the branch does not have full information on every club in the area.

What we do know is that there are a great many clubs of many different persuasions, but probably most do not sell any real ale. Perhaps this should be investigated further. Gordon Small

Wigan Road in Leyland, and as far as I am aware it is the only Golf Club in the area that has a bar that sells real ale. The club bar is on the first floor of the Club House, with a most impressive view overlooking the golf course. I paid my visit on a weekday afternoon when there were quite a few people in the bar, but unfortunately this was probably not the best time to pick for beer choice as Greene King IPA was the only beer available, with the other two handpumps only in use at weekends. They say that golf is a rich persons sport, and with beer at £3.42 a pint I think it true to say that drinking in a golf club is a rich persons pastime.

CROWN GREEN BOWLS.

Coming Soon:For every issue I receive more articles than I have space for. As a result some articles I promised haven’t materialised. So hopefully in the

next issue we will have the Beer Police article and the return of Peter Pieman.

Hidden away off School Lane in Longton is LONGTON BOWLING CLUB (officially known these days as Longton VM Sports & Social Club). This is a club that has been selling real ale for about four years now, and an establishment that has been getting many good reports from CAMRA members who have found their way there.Once inside this is another club in anice setting, with members having a pleasant view looking out on to the two bowling greens. The club has a steward who is keen on his real ale, and as recently as June the club was host to its first BeerFestival. There are two handpumped beers always available, which on my visit were Tetley Cask Bitter (the regular) and Prospect Pioneer (the guest at £2.50 a pint).

ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL. Preston North End may be the leading football club in the area, but when it comes to real ale then the winning team has to be BAMBER BRIDGE FOOTBALL CLUB at Irongate.

Currently the branch's 'Club of the Year', in past years it has hosted a number of Beer Festivals and on several occasions has been one of the branch's Good Beer Guide entries. Like Hoppers, this is a club that has a licence to operate a little like a pub serving the local community. When I made my visit the beers on offer were Loddon Hullabaloo (the cheapest I had encountered at £2.30 a pint) and Moorhouses Pride of Pendle, while also available was Gwynt Y Ddraig Two Trees Perry. Had I picked a matchday for my visit

13

I am also alerting Breweries which may wish to advertise with us the the theme for the next issue is Breweries

The Railway Inn 20 Steeley Lane, Chorley, Lancs. PR6 0RD Tel: 01257 411449 email: railwayinnchorley@yahoo.co.uk

REAL ALES Jennings Cumberland Ale & Marstons Pedigree Plus 3 other guest pumps featuring the finest ales from Ringwood, Brakspear, Wychwood CAMRA Pub of the Season.

Cask Marque award for excellent real ales.

Free pool every Monday – Darts and Dominoes

The Railway is Chorley’s Premier Music Venue. Live music every Saturday night

<Jon Brindley in Concert

Friday night showcases with up 4 bands plus Music Festivals each season with up to 8 bands The Autumn Music Festival is on Saturday 8th October.

With special guests OXP from France and local legends Jeremiah Ferrari and Liberation Other acts to be confirmed. The music starts about 4pm.

The Railway Jam session/open mic night is held every Sunday.

Musicians of all ages and abilities are welcome and we have a full band set up so come and play in a great easy going musical atmosphere.

Free jukebox every Tuesday

The Old Vic

Also known as the Vic and Station

Tel.No.

Find us

Fishergate Preston

Opposite Preston Railway Station CAMRA Recommended Good Beer Guide 2011 7 Handpumps in action Normally 20 different real ales available during the course of a week Two 3D screens - 4 Sky Boxes Showing: Football, Rugby Cricket, Horse Racing, Darts, Athletics, Tennis, Golf and other major events Traditional pub with traditional lunchtime bar meals Buffets can be arranged

PARKERS ARMS Park Road Chorley 01257 261999

Opening hours: Monday - Thursday: 11am - 12pm Friday - Saturday: 11am - 1pm Sunday: 11am - 12pm Real Ales from £2.40 per pint: Jennings’ Cumberland + guest Fresh food served 11am - 8pm all week Daily Specials 3 Course Sunday Lunch £8.95 Wednesday Lunch OAP Special - 25% off

Down South - Beer and music - A Bus Pass Special

In an earlier issue about my visit to my brother’s entitled “In The Garden” I wrote about Shepherd Neame land. I was there again at the start of my treck by ‘codgers bus pass’ across country to the magnificent Sidmouth Folk Week.

Faversham is the home of Shepherd Neame but my favourite pub there is the free house - The Elephant - on’t wrong side oft’ Railway Station.Whilst in Canterbury I viewed the Cathederal from The Bell and Royal and payed a visit to Kent Beer Festival,where I bought this tee shirt which I was later seen modelling in the Newt in Sidmouth.

Whitstable was holding its annual Oyster Festival. and the musicians performing a jam session in the Coach and Horses had me looking forward to Sidmouth.

After the East to West treck to Sidmouth I renewed old acquaintencies and parked my tent in my old mate John’s back Garden. The music was as good as ever although I spent more time sightseeing than usual and after singing a few songs in the York & Faulkner and the Volounteer and appreciating the singers and muscians around me

eg Sid Landsborough

and Bus Stop Cafe I

spent much time

visiting Weymouth,

Exmouth and Ex

eter. My favourite place is without

doubt the longest village in the country - Branscombe. including the Branscombe Vale Brewery and its brewery tap the Fountain Head. The brewery itself is at the top of the hill with a beautiful view overlooking the beach and a mile from the similarly beautiful village of ‘Beer.’ The photos tell the story. :

Branscombe>>

Amazing duet concertina

<<Beer player Harry

Litherland with the man

who paints the future >>

14 15

15

Melodious Mick.

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    

                

  



16

Golden Lion

Blackburn Road New Front Extension Higher Wheelton (opened November 2010 Chorley Quiz Night Wednesday 9.30 01254 830855 FREE Pie Supper Large Jackpot stuart>swanton@btinternet.com www.sugarvine/goldenlionwheelton.co.uk

Tuesday and Thursday Steak Night 2 Steaks and Free bottle of Wine £13.95 Sunday Roasts 2 for £9.95

6 handpumps: 5 Thwaites

+ 1 exclusive to Thwaites ‘1807 Club’

GLC Outside Caterers Monday - Free Pool Sky and ESPN Sports Channels

Come down and receive a warm welcome from our friendly staff

CAMRA Pub of The Season Spring 2011

17

Riley’s Rambles............................ Hartlepool

Hartlepool has always been something special to me.

My mother came from Hartlepool (or West Hartlepool as it was known then) and for the first 15 years of my life I spent a part of every summer holiday there. With the ever likely looking chance that Preston North End would be relegated looming ominously towards us and the fact that I had recently regained contact with my relatives there, I decided it was time to go back for the first time in 30 years and renew my acquaintance with the place. PNE are due to play Hartlepool Utd on Tuesday 13th September, so hopefully anybody going for the match will have had chance to read this and find the best pubs to have a beer in.

Hartlepool has been transformed over the years and the docks where once the ‘Mothball fleet’were moored is now an attractive marina. There is a lot of parking space there and it is quite close to the ground, which is fairly central to the town centre. On here you will find a modern pub, Jacksons Wharf which offers 3-5 beers from the Marstons range. It is open all day and sells food. The railway station is quite close by and if arriving by train, you don’t have to go far, for there on the station, is the Rat Race Ale House. Good beer guide listed, it is the smallest pub in the north east but crams in the quality with four ever changing real ales at all times with cider and perry. I was really looking forward to visiting this pub, but it closed for a makeover the day before we arrived. It reopened in July and I will be there in September to sample its delights. It has restricted opening hours of 1202-1415 and 1602-2015 Mon- Fri, 1202-2100 Sat and is closed on Sunday. At least it does not have to close for football matches like it used to have to do in the past.

If you want to go further afield, leaving the railway station, turn right up Church St and on the left of Church Square you will find the Ward Jackson, a Lloyds No1 which on our visit proved a bit of a disappointment having only common beers on its handpumps. It is open all day and serves food though. Much more interesting was the Jackson’s Arms past the previous pub and turning left on Tower Street. This busy locals pub has four handpumps selling a changing range of guest beers all at £2.80 pre budget. Again the pub is open all day.

Continuing down Tower St. to a junction with Huckelhoven Way, you take a right turn and snake your way for two hundred yards to Stockton St. traffic lights.

Crossing over and going left for 80 yds you come to Camerons Visitor Centre and Brewery Tap. We made the mistake of not looking up the opening times and it was shut when we went. Another to visit on my next

trip as it is only open 11-4 on Monday to Saturday. I am looking forward to visiting it for it has 2 or 3 ales from whatever is available from the main brewery. I am sure I can remember going in it when it was called The Stranton.

If you continue on for about 200 yds, passing the Blacksmiths which had no real ale on our visit, just after Stranton Church on your right you will come to the Causeway.

This is a multi roomed locals pub that is big on live music. It had a good range of beers when we went, with Banks’s bitter, Camerons Strongarm( their best seller), Wychwood Paddy’s Stout and Jennings Golden Host.

Retrace you steps to Stockton Street and go back towards the centre until you come to Victoria Road. Turn left up there and go up to reach the War Memorial square. In the south west corner you will find the King John’s Tavern, a Wetherspoons pub which usually has more than five real ales on sale. It is open all day for food and drink and when we were there, they were having one of their beer festivals, so we went there a couple of times. As is usual with Wetherspoon pubs, there are interesting pictures showing the history of the town, including the occasion when it was bombarded by the German fleet in 1914. I can actually say that, in the words of Oz from Auf Wiedersehen Pet, that ‘they bombed mi Granny’. The pub takes its name from the fact that the town was granted a right to hold a market and elect its own mayor in 1201 by King John. One of their most famous mayors was of course H’Angus the Monkey. There, I nearly got away without mentioning one of the most famous things about Hartlepool. Legend has it that a French warship foundered off the coast and the only survivor was the ships mascot, a monkey dressed in a tunic. Never having seen a Frenchman before, the townspeople arrested the monkey as a French spy and it was tried and duly hanged.

Which brings me back to Hartlepool v PNE. Deepdale Duck will be up against the club mascot of Hartlepool F.C. who happens to be H’Angus the Monkey. Where will my loyalties lie on the night? Without a doubt with Preston of course. I will wish Hartlepool well when they play anyone else, but fondness can only go so far. Paul Riley

18

ol

19

Following the lead of other CAMRA branches, CAMRA West Lancashire branch first launched a LocAle scheme in 2009.

Basically this meant that the branch was putting into place an initiative that we would actively support those licensees in our area who were selling at least one beer that had been brewed within 30 miles of their pub premises.

Two years on there are currently 30 establishments (29 pubs plus one club) which have been identified as being eligible to take part in the branch's LocAle scheme. There have been one or two changes since the last Ale Cry came out, but this is an up-to-date list of the branch's LocAle participants:- • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

BRIDGE, Adlington (various).

SADDLE, Bartle (Thwaites).

SITTING GOOSE, Bartle (Thwaites).

TILLOTSONS ARMS, Chipping (various).

BLACK HORSE, Chorley (Holts).

KINETIC BAR, Chorley (Prospect).

MALT'N'HOPS, Chorley (various).

POTTERS ARMS, Chorley (Three B's).

SWAN WITH TWO NECKS, Chorley, (various) WHITE BULL, Chorley (Bank Top).

OLD ORIGINAL FARMERS ARMS, Eccleston HORNS, Goosnargh (various).

GOLDEN LION, Higher Wheelton (Thwaites).

BOATYARD, Hoghton (Thwaites).

SMITHS ARMS, Lea (Thwaites).

WAGON & HORSES, Leyland (Thwaites).

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

BULL & ROYAL, Longridge (Thwaites).

GOLDEN CROSS, Preston (Arkwrights).

LAMB & PACKET, Preston (Thwaites).

MOORBROOK, Preston (Thwaites).

NEW WELCOME, Preston (Thwaites).

OLD BULL, Preston (Moorhouses).

OLD VIC, Preston (various).

SUN, Preston (Thwaites).

PRESTON GRASSHOPPERS RUGBY CLUB (Thwaites).

ROYAL OAK, Riley Green (Thwaites).

NABS HEAD, Samlesbury (Thwaites).

NEW HALL TAVERN, Samlesbury (various).

WELCOME TAVERN, Walton-le-Dale (Thwaites).

RED LION, Wheelton (various).

DOG, Whittle-le-Woods (Thwaites).

It is the intention that West Lancs CAMRA members will regu

larly check all these LocAle accredited outlets, and if any are

found to have stopped selling a local beer then they will be re

moved from the list.

Since LocAle was first launched the local brewery situation

has improved significantly. After long being one of the few

CAMRA branches without a real ale brewery, CAMRA West

Lancashire is now able to boast two breweries within its bound

aries. Both located in Preston, ARKWRIGHT'S BREWERY is

based at the Real Ale Shop on Lovat Road, while HART OF

PRESTON BREWERY is based on the Oxheys Industrial

New Welcome Estate.Additionally, and looking to the not too far distant future, the hope and expectation is that there will be even more micro-breweries opening up in the branch area.

Just outside the branch boundaries there are many other breweries which are close enough to qualify pubs in the CAMRA West Lancs area for them to be able to participate in the LocAle scheme. As well as relative giants like Moorhouses and Thwaites, there are nearby breweries like Bank Top, Brysons, Burscough, Fuzzy Duck, Hop Star, Lancaster, Lytham, Prospect, Southport, and Three B's which can often be found on the bars of local pubs.

In each issue of Ale Cry a selection of the branch's LocAle pubs will be featured. This time it is the turn of:GOLDEN CROSS, PRESTON. These days the Golden Cross on Lancaster Road is effectively the brewery tap for Arkwrights Brewery, with at least one of their beers always being available alongside other guest beers. The pub has four handpumps, and on occasion things have been changed round with a real cider sometimes being on offer. On the day of my visit I was expecting to find an Arkwrights Brewery beer, but it was actually to be a double whammy with Hart of Preston Brewery also being represented. I was there on a weekday afternoon and the beers available were Arkwrights Trouble't'Mill, Hart of Preston Lancashire Mild, plus one other beer from a little further afield.

20

NEW WELCOME, PRESTON. Hidden away off Garstang Road, the New Welcome on Cambridge Walk is an out of town pub that is well worth seeking out if you want to find an example of a good old fashioned back-street local. A Thwaites tied house, the range of beers may not be as great as some of their bigger pubs, but as long as it continues to serve real ale then it deserves support from local drinkers. I was there on an early weekday evening and the Thwaites Original was as good as you will find anywhere.

OLD BULL, PRESTON. Yes the Old Bull on Church Street is back on the real ale scene, as for quite some time now it has been selling beers from Moorhouses Brewery of Burnley. For many years a keg-only establishment, this is a pub that is in an area of Preston that is seeing something of a mini-revival of real ale availability. Unfortunately there is no real ale in the more prominent New Bar, but go down the alleyway to the larger main bar and you will find the pub still recognisable from its Bull & Royal days. On my visit the beers available were Moorhouses Premier Bitter and Moorhouses Blond Witch.

Look out for pubs and clubs in the West Lancashire branch area that are displaying LocAle 2011 promotional material.

These establishments are to be recommended if you wish to support those licensees who are doing their bit for local breweries (and for the environment).

Gordon Small LOCALE UPDATE - TWO NEW THWAITES PUBS FOR PRESTON? Anyone using the 'Find A Pub' facility on the Thwaites Brewery website will need to exercise a degree of caution. I suppose it may be possible that Thwaites are looking at re-locating two of their pubs to the Preston area , but I think that this is highly unlikely. However according to the 'Find A Pub' map on their website the Bull & Royal (really on Derby Road in Longridge) is now located in the Withy Trees area of Fulwood, while the New Holly (really on the A6 near Forton) is now located in Preston city centre close to Lancastria House. Hopefully there will have been no one unfamiliar with the area who has been misled, but I wonder how many more of their pubs are wrongly flagged on this map?

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Ambling Alp ----Intro: Last Autumn Toad gave me an article on North West America which I had no space for.

The Alp has now submitted this article on the same subject so I have asked Toad to amend his so we can print the two together Ed

Ale on the Canadian Pacific

On a recent journey to Vancouver on the Canadian Pacific coast the Alp discovered a real ale revolution in the land of the cannucks. This has involved an explosion in micro breweries, brewpubs, and the unique Canadian phenomenon of Brewing on the Premises where the shop provides the place, equipment and ingredients, and the customer does the brewing.

This avoids any duty and tax as the customer is merely buying the ingredients – wonder if we could get away with that in Cameron’s Britain?

In the British Columbian real ale revolution two breweries stand out in Western Canada. The first is Spinnakers Brewpub situated in Victoria on Vancouver Island. This was the first proper brewpub in North America to brew traditional English real ale – opening in 1984.

The second brewery is Granville Island Brewing, situated within the city of Vancouver, this was the first Canadian micro brewery to produce both draft and bottled real ale.

A more recent kid on the block is Central City Brewing based in Surrey a large suburb of Vancouver.

Founded by brewmaster Gary Lohin in 2003 this brewpub produces over 7000 barrels a year from its range of Red Racer beers.The Alp sampled the Red Racer Pale Ale at 5% - a strong flavoured beer with loads of American Yakima hops from the neighbouring Washington State. Located right next to Simon Fraser University this brewpub has won the prestigious Canadian Brewpub of the Year for 2010. Another brewpub within the Surrey area of Vancouver is Big Ridge Brewing which opened back in 1999. This pub produces five real ales solely for

consumption on the premises.

The beers includea Cream Ale,

an Old Sullivan Porter,and a

cask Harvest Lager which is

aged in the cellarfor six weeks

The Alp sampled some of these

brews while chatting with the

brewer Tariq Khan who it trans

pired learned his trade at Brewlab Sunderland – working at York Brewery and Dark Star before taking his expertise back to Western Canada.

Tariq has been using American hops but hopes to import and grow English hops for his beers in the future, these American hops can be something of an overkill’ he told the Alp, `not as subtle as English varieties such as

If Vancouver could combine its Pacific mountain scenery with English real ale then surely heaven on earth will have been achieved The Alp was very curious about the Brewing on the Premises phenomenon which has been sweeping across Canada.In the Delta region of Vancouver there is Glacier Beer and Wine Makers. Here local people come to brew their own beer using ingredients and equipment provided by the shop.

The staff also give advice and help to the uninformed novice to steer them in the right direction. The Alp was given a short tour of the shop with its fermenters and cool storage facilities and was suitably impressed with the idea. These brew shops may well take off back here in the UK with the steadily rising prices for a pint of beer! Despite the attraction such a move would surely be yet another death nail for many pubs who already struggle to compete with supermarket chains and off licenses over the price of a pint.

A note of caution must also be added in that many of these shops both filter and carbonate their beers before storage and customer collection. Two other places which are also wortha mention in Vancouver are the Steamworks Brewery,situated in the historic Gastown area of the city.The Steamworks Brewery utilizes the famous Gastown steam line which runs through the premises – the instant heat being used to steam fire the kettles during the brewing process The Alp sampled the Empress India Pale Ale and the Signature Pale Ale. Ale.the bar cum restaurant situated at the side of the brewery. From here a drinker Which is can enjoy some great views of

The Alp? Vancouver harbor and the Alaska cruise liner moored by the docks.Historic Gastown is also home to the Alibi Pub which has up to ten local micro beers on the bar at any one time. This was a place highly recommended by Tariq, the head brewer at Big Ridge Brewery.All in all a great picture is beginning to emerge of a real ale revolution in the pacific northwest of Canada. A revolution which will hopefully sweep away the strangle hold of Coors, Molson and Labatts. A real ale revival which first began on the west coast of the United States has now moved across the 49th parallel into Canada.

A Hop to the States

With one huge stride the Alp hopped over to the States - to the Yakima Valley, home of American hops.

22

----- Crosses the Pond

Following Interstate 84 along the mighty Columbia River in Oregon the Alp headed east, tracing backwards the old Lewis and Clarke route to the west.

Heading north across the great river on Interstate 82 the Alp headed towards the Yakima Valley in Washington State where 75% of Americas hops are grown. This is an area of dramatically different geography, as the mountains and lush forests of the pacific west give way to a parched desert landscape east of the Cascade Mountains.

Luckily the Yakima Valley is well irrigated by the Yakima River which flows through it. The valley is also home to the Yakama Indian Nation who have inhabited the land -for many thousands of years before European immigrants arrived in the 19th century.

This fertile valley also makes an ideal region for wine production and fruit farming.

Unlike traditional English varieties the hops grown in Yakima have a strong and often overwhelming taste to many a palate. Yakima hops are however used by many English micro brewers in their quest to produce a light hoppy beer that can appeal to younger drinkers reared on lager. An early example from this region was Cascade hops, developed by Oregon State University in 1956, this is a cross between Fuggle and Serebrianker, a Russian variety. Cascade now forms a regular part of the brewers ingredients here in the UK. Other varieties include Amarillo, Apollo, Chinook, Galena, and Mount Hood named after a large mountain in the Cascade range.

Of particular interest at the present time within real ale circles is Citra hop, which has only recently been introduced and is a cross between German Hallertauer, Bavarian Brewers Gold, American Tettnanger, and English East Kent Goldings.

This Citra hop is one of the most powerful in terms of sheer aroma and flavour, often completely blitzing any other more subtle flavours that might lurk within a beer.

It has however proved very popular with drinkers and is presently used in many new beers including Allgates Citra, a now regular American Pale Ale at 4.2%.

From Seattle to Yakima

This is an edited and abridged version of the article I wrote last year about my trip to Washington State - Seattle and the Cascade Mountains to the north where most of the hops for USA beers and exported hops (many to the uk) are grown.

I stopped in a picturesque village called North Bend about 20 miles from Seattle. The biggest hazards were the steep hill to the apartment and the threat displayed on the sign halfway up the hill warning

to keep your eyes open for bears.

Whilst in Yakima I received a phone call informing me that one of our CAMRA activists (who covered theAdlington area for Ale Cry), my good friend Ebeneezer had been run over and killed by a lorry. We were devastated and made preparations to return home to the UK. The local bar put on a magnificent wake for us.

The following day back in North Bend

ash tray the local bar ‘The

sculpture Pour House’ put on

outside the a magnificent do to

Pour House celebrate Ebeneezer view from Pour House beer garden rising from the dead.

Just Down the road is Snoqualmie Falls with its Railway museum, Waterfall and Brewery/Brew Pub. Not one for mainstream USA humour I appreciated some of the signs in the bar.

Ambling Alp

The Alps reference to Yakima - the hop centre of the States - attracted Toad last year in the hope of bumping into some of his pal’s Welsh reletives

Ed >>>>>>

Real Ale -

Organic healthy, with limitless flavours.

A living product unlike: phoney Zombeers

23

Drink Real Ale

Some of the signs read:“Ladies- If you

must use the men’s room the men of the brewery respectfully request that you put the seat back UP where it belongs” “The customer is alw ays right. The bartender decides when you are no longer a customer” “Beer - the reason I get up every afternoon”

From Seattle to Yakima (cont) Next to Snoqualmie is Fall City and my favourite bar in Washington State - The Last Frontier - looks tiny but is a ‘Tardis’ a place of excentric character full of excentric characters.

The nearest town to North Bend (in the States a Town is bigger than a City) is Issaquah. Rogue brewery has a base there - the Issaquah Brew House and it too has its excentricities. I was

shown round the Brewhouse but can’t find the photos or remember the name of the brewer From Issaquah my next call was a return to Seattle. The Whisky Bar run by a family from Sunderland, The Pike Brewery / Brew housewhich in its early days counted our own Sam Smith as one of its founders.

In 2007 they had traditional handpumps operating but in 2010 the clips were turned round.

A suitably named bar for Brian and myself had some character - The Alki Tavern

From there Brian wanted to visit some of his wifes welsh reletives in Yakida. So we headed north.

We went a bit out of our way to call in at Roslyn a famous UFO site only to find it was a mining village and we’d got the name of the UFO site wrong. Still ‘The Brick Tavern is famous in the area the back bar having been shipped from the UK via Cape Horn at the turn of the last century.

From there to Yakida itself. We were disappointed to find no welsh speakers there - It was Yakima not Yakida and is the home of US brewing with its eco-system perfect for the job (see the Alp’s article.)

It is where Bert Grant the pioneer of American craft brewing set up his brewery. I had managed to acquire the famous book about him‘The Ale master’ and with camara in hand set off to photograph the brewery.

Unfortunately it had closed the previous year so it didn’t matter that my camara battery was flat.

There were some excel-

lent bars in the town so it

was disappointing that the

camara wasn’t working.

There was an excellent

blues duo Tuck Foster and

Steve Lefebre performing

in a bar called Tim’s

Place. They were good

enough to give me the

poster for the evening

which now adorns one of

my lounge walls.

From there it was back to North Bend and from there back home to the

UK

Toad

24

REAL ALE PUBS REGISTER

- In each of the last three issues of Ale Cry we have included a list of all known real ale pubs in the CAMRA West Lancashire branch area.

- This time round it has been decided not to print out the full list, but instead just to detail the changes that have taken place since the list was last printed in the Spring 2011 Ale Cry. Again there have been a number of additions and deletions with the number of real ale pubs recorded continuing to show a steady increase.

- There are 8 pubs that need to be added to the list: • SPARLING, Barton.(re-opened) • BROUGHTON ARMS, Broughton.

(former restaurant now selling real ale) • LEIGH ARMS, Chorley • HARPERS, Chorley.( now selling real ale) • SPRINGFIELD, Coppull

(now selling real ale) • FOX & LION, Leyland.

(re-opened, and selling real ale) • SMITHY, Much Hoole.(re-opened • WHEATSHEAF, Woodplumpton.

(after a period of closure) - There are two pubs that need to be deleted from the list:• WHITE HART, Chorley.(closed) • GUILD MERCHANT, Ingol.(no real ale) - The above changes mean that there are now 205 pubs in the CAMRA West Lancashire branch area that are on our Real Ale Pubs Register as currently selling at least one real

ale This compares to 190 pubs that were listed in

the Autumn 2010 Ale Cry; 195 pubs that were

25

25

listed in the Winter 2010 Ale Cry; and 199 pubs that were listed in the Spring 2011 Ale Cry. The 205 pubs comprise 82 pubs located in the Chorley borough area, 56 pubs located in the Preston borough area, 15 pubs located in the Ribble Valley borough area, and 52 pubs located in the South Ribble borough area.

- The good news is that we have now reached and exceeded the landmark figure of 200 real ale pubs in the CAMRA West Lancs branch area. It is also reassuring to see that as each subsequent issue of Ale Cry has been produced there has been a small but steady increase in the number of pubs that have been recorded as selling at least one real ale - It is with the best of intentions that CAMRA West Lancs branch are maintaining this Real Ale Pubs Register. Although we now have 205 pubs recorded as selling real ale, the practical situation is that there are probably slightly fewer pubs than this number actually selling real ale at this time. As this Ale Cry went to press there were a small number of pubs that were temporarily closed, while there were also a small number of pubs that could not be relied upon to always have a real ale available.

- This will probably be my last Real Ale Pubs Register article as I have now relinquished the role of Pubs Officer.

However the Real Ale Pubs Register will continue to be maintained as the branch has a number of important projects coming up in the near future. All being well there will be a Preston Guild Real Ale Guide produced sometime in the middle of next year, while there are also plans for the branch to get a Pubs Database up and running on-line which may be accessed by both CAMRA members as well as by the general public.

Gordon Small

All Right at it is malted at Warminster, the oldest floor maltings in the country and had an interesting proposition of owning a mobile malting unit that would travel the country. He revealed that his water is burtonised (i.e. various salts are added to the local water to resemble the ideal brewing water of Burton on Trent). He uses whole flower hops from Kent, the USA, New Zealand and Poland depending on the brew.

(Did you know that the nearest plant to hops is the cannabis plant). He maintains his own strain of yeast which he got originally from Burtonwood’s Top Hat (if you can remember that beer) which came itself from a strain of Thwaites.

These are the four primary ingredients for the production of beer and as we stopped the presentation for our Hot Pot supper, he convinced us that the use of the best of ingredients is needed for the production of a quality product.

Suitably refreshed from our delicious hot pot,(don’t forget we could fill up our glasses at any time), the entertainment resumed with further amusing explanation of the brewing process. He told us how the malt is milled just prior to mashing to ensure freshness , added to the mash tun with the water at exactly the right temperature thanks to the computer controls, and then, after mashing, transferred to the copper and boiled for 1¼ hours, with bitter hops in at the beginning and aroma hops added at the end.. The copper is a copy of a big brewery one with a ‘chinaman’ hat, and side spraying onto the cone. The wort is then passed through heat exchangers to cool it down ready for fermentation at 6ºC for five days after which it can be casked or put in tanks for two weeks at -2ºC ready for bottling, which is all done in house.

We then proceeded to walk round the brewery and we could admire the state of the art yet traditional plant the beers were being brewed on. It was very impressive, but Keith said that, although it was computer controlled, he still had to get inside to empty out the mash tun and copper. The spent malt went to feed cows and the hops sent to local allotments. I bet there are some happy cows and plot holders round there.

We were also showed some one way casks containing

Fourteen lucky people came on our trip to the George Wright Brewery at Rainford. There were two empty seats on our bus and those two missed out on not just a trip round a brewery but a very entertaining evening, lead by our master of ceremonies, owner and brewer Keith Wright. If he gave up brewing I am sure he could make a living as a stand up comedian, for at times he had us in stitches with his anecdotes and jokes throughout the evening. I will not give away too much of his patter, as it would spoil it for any other group going on a trip there.

Keith met us at the door and immediately told us to get a glass and help ourselves to one of the three beers available to us on his bar. These were Longboat, a good hoppy bitter at 3.9%, Pipedream, a refreshing best bitter at 4.3% which won a silver at the Champion beer of Britain in 2007 and Cheeky Pheasant, a strong malty bitter of 4.7%. He told us to fill our glasses up any time we wanted.

Keith then began his thoroughly entertaining explanation of how the brewery was started and his brewing process, using a powerpoint presentation. He told us that he originally came up with the idea of starting a brewery to supplement the meagre pension arrangements he had. With his original business partner they decided George Wright sounded better than the Keith Wright Brewery. In 2003 they bought a 2½ barrel plant from Wolf Brewery and after a few months, finding this much too small, upgraded to a 5 barrel plant purchased from Tomlinsons of South Wales. It was soon apparent that although the quality could be produced on this plant, the quantity and consistency could not, and the momentous decision was

made in late 2003 to purchase a brand new brewery. It is a fully computerised 25 barrel plant housed in a 7000 sq foot unit and was designed using a CAD 3D model that allowed you to ‘walk around’ the brewery before it was built. This model can still be seen at the brewery.

Continuing his presentation, Keith told us of his brewing process. He actually grows his own barley and last year grew 70 tonnes and it is malted for him. He showed us how

26

throw away - one way casks a special beer that was brewed on the plant by a man from Barcelona and these were on their way to Spain, so if you are around Malaga, look out for them. We went

George Wright

back to the bar and had an informal natter until it was time for us to go. It had cost us £12 for the visit (includes beer and hotpot) and £8 for the coach. Not bad for a good night out.

There had been 14 of us and they usually like at least 20, so they had invited some people from the nearby Pilkingtons Glass factory (now owned by the Japanese) to make up the numbers. They are fully booked up (no wonder) till at least next March, but you never know, you might be able to tag along on somebody else’s trip. You can contact the brewery on 01744 886686 or go on the website www.georgewrightbrewing.co.uk Their beers can often be found in our area.

They appear regularly at Wetherspoons and are always on the bar at Pickerings in Catterall near Garstang.

It was only left to say a good thank you to Keith for our visit and we left with the overall impression that he definitely was one happy brewer. Paul Riley

Over 700 branch members but only a couple of dozen active.

If you are one of the inactive majority don’t you fancy doing a bit to help fight the cause?

Any help would be appreciated so why not get in touch (see P34) Ed

The Award Winning

Spinners Arms Cowling Road, Chorley, Lancs.

01257 265144

TWO FINE REAL ALES ALWAYS ON TAP Good Home Cooked Food Tues: Sat. 12 - 2, 5 - 8.

Sun: - 12 - 6. 3 course Special Tues: 5 - 8. Pensioners’ Special £3.50 Wednesday: Quiz Night

Trader Jacks Mark and Ciara would

Hollinshead Street Chorley like to welcome you to

our traditional 5 room pub with 3 cask ales available, newly fully licensed function room, large beer garden at the rear of the pub and regular entertainment.

Also the home of the ‘Chorley Wildhartz’ 27

Heart to Hart - Visit To Hart Brewery It is many a year since our branch has had a visit to a brewery in Preston itself. Not since the days of the Little Avenham or the short lived Preston Brewing Co have we been invited around a brewery in our branch area, so when John Smith, owner and brewer at the Hart Brewery asked us to come and visit him for an evening celebrating his return to his home town, we jumped at the chance.

Arriving at the brewery on the Oxhey’s Industrial Estate on Greenbank St. we were instantly told to help ourselves to one of the four beers set up for us to enjoy. We had the choice of Lancashire Best Bitter, a pale 3. 9% beer with a pronounced hop flavour, Dishy Debbie, at 4% by far their best seller, Ice Maiden, also 4% but brewed using only pale ale malts and a new brew Monkey Brau, a real lager beer in cask form, only 3.8% but packed with flavour.

As it was such a pleasant evening, we sat outside the front of the brewery waiting for everyone to turn up, meanwhile reminiscing on the ups and downs in John’s time as a brewer. The story has been told many times, but it does bear being told again, so here it is.

Whilst working at the nuclear fuel factory in

Salwick, John started brewing in his garage at home. The beers were so good, that when he was raided by the custom and excise people, they advised him to go legitimate and so he started brewing officially at the Cartford Arms in Little Eccleston 15 years ago. John admits that the 12 years when Andrew and his family were in charge at the Cartford were the good times and he honed his brewing skills while he was there. Andrew was admired for his cellarmanship and taught John all about how to look after beer. Unfortunately, Andrew decided to sell up and the next three years became a period of attrition between John and the new owners, who seemed to have a different agenda to John. He could probably have got some advice from a book of Charles Dickens (Bleak House) where there is an interminable law case of Jarndice v Jarndice where all the money goes to the lawyers and there is non left. It was not as bad as that, but John would admit that the advice ‘don’t go to law’ has its attractions.

Anyway the upshot was that John got his move from the Cartford, but due to events beyond his control, four months were to go by before he could brew again. As John admits on his website, those four months were the worst in the brewery’s history, with aborted moves to the Golden Cross and Nonno’s.

During that time when he was not brewing, he lost a lot of accounts. However, he thinks he has now got the ideal site back in this home town, and having taken a three year lease, his fighting spirit to get back on top is driving him on.

By now sixteen of us had turned up for the brewery visit (which considering we have hundreds of members wasn’t many) so we went back inside and had an informal tour of his plant. He showed us his newly wooden clad vessels including his mash tun and copper and his fermentation vessels and the

cold store where he keeps his fresh ingredients. He told us of his bottling plant which was hard work, but finally taking off.

We were told that his four core beers were the three we were sampling plus Golden Guild, a 3.7% pale hoppy beer made with premium malt and a good session beer but he might give Squirrels Hoard another go. Besides the Monkey Brau, he was doing a new one for winter, an oyster stout. He told us of his last attempt to do this recipe, where the woman delivering the oysters got lost and turned up too late for the boil.

He instigated a question and answer session in which he was quite frank in his replies. He told us he needed our help to spread the word on the quality of his beers, as he was currently brewing only three times a week, which in the long run is not viable. We assured him of our support and proceeded back to the bar, were the enthusiasm in which people were knocking back the beer showed that he should have no worries on that point.

The rest of the evening was taken up in informal chats, during which he reminded us that he is proudly brewing in Preston, that he does a free local delivery on two boxes of his bottled beer and also on his cask beers. He has got in additional casks, including 36 pint party specials for those occasions where you want real beer at home.

Parties of a minimum of 15 people are welcome to arrange a trip of their own around the brewery. They will receive a history of the fifteen years of the brewery, a look at the ingredients that go to make a great Lancashire ale, four real ales on the bar for you to try and a hotpot provided by Thurst Events Co. The cost of this is £20 per person, but there are other options, including not having food and weekend trips. Why not go on their website and check it out. It also has an interesting array of photos of the move and lists their beers and how to contact John. Go to www.hartbreweryltd.co.uk or phone on 01772 437651

Paul Riley

A warm friendly welcome awaits you from Gillian

Wellington

124 Tulketh Road - Ashton on Ribble - PR2 1AR Tel: 01772 726641 3 different cask ales available - changed weekly Open mic nights 2nd and 4th Monday Live artiste Saturday Karaoke Friday and Sunday nights Quiz Sunday

See our Facebook page for details of upcoming events Wellington Pub - Preston

28

Our Lady & St. Gerards - Lostock Hall 2nd Annual Beer Festival

War of the Roses

In support of the clubs chosen charity

22nd-25th Sept 2011 Free Entry - Live Music all Weekend C l u b Te l : 0 1 7 7 2 3 3 9 4 5 9

Date

Event

Club Open

Thursday 22nd

Open Mic Evening

7-11pm

Friday 23rd

Shot in the Dark - Live

5-12pm

Saturday 24th

Route 66 - Live

3-12pm

Sunday 25th

Boxwood - Live

12-11pm

Sunday all beers just £1.00 per pint - Food available Sat & Sun W i d e s e l e c t i o n o f R e a l A l e f r o m L a n c a s h i r e & Yo r k s h i r e B r e w e r i e s WHY NOT SPONSOR YOUR OWN BARREL FOR JUST £45?

Benefits to include: Your name & logo will appear in our professionally designed fes val guide Leaflets displaying promo onal material displayed on the clubs no ce board 2 FREE pints plus food vouchers (Sat. & Sun.) - 2 FREE Commemora ve glasses.

A great way to adver se your business to local people whilst also suppor ng a very worthwhile charity.

O u r L a d y & S t. G e r a r d s 2 Guest Ale Handpumps rotated on a weekly basis Sports Channels - Sky Sports & ESPN Snooker Table & Pool Table Live Entertainment & Function Room Quiz Night every Tuesday Memberships Available

The Friendly Club 29

Pilot Re-opens The Ribble Pilot on Preston’s Docklands has re-opened after a long refurbishment. This Marston’s pub has been extended at both ends, making an already big pub appear very large.

However, on a recent lunchtime visit, I was surprised to find it is now operating as much as a restaurant as a pub.

Food prices are not cheap, table service is available for drinks, and all food has to be ordered (and paid for) at the table. You can order drinks at the bar, but service was slow as most staff were taking orders at, and serving, tables.

Although tables are not actually set for food, or reserved, as

you find in some country pubs, the whole atmosphere did not make for a comfortable drinking environment.

Wheatsheaf is Back In the last issue of Ale Cry, it was reported that the Wheatsheaf at Woodplumpton was a real ale loss. Fortunately, this was a short term problem.

The good news is that three real ales were available, Jen- Just as we went to press, a nings Bitter and Cocker Hoop new landlord took over. Dave and Marston’s Pedigree.

Cook told me that under a previous temporary manager They must be doing something the pub had become very run right though – the pub was very down, with no real ale and the busy on a weekday lunchtime. kitchen closed.

Dave Linley

Dave has come from Fylde Rugby Club, a big seller of real ale, and as soon as he took over the Wheatsheaf, he introduced 2 real ales – Caledonian Deuchars and Theakston Best Bitter. He

is tied to the Scottish & Newcastle i.e. Heineken list for cask ales, but told me that the Theakston is not sellking well, so it will be replaced by Wells & Young Bombardier.

He also wants to put in two more handpumps, rearrange the cellar (which is not set up well for real ale at present) and maybe get permission to hold a beer festival in a marquee in the garden.

He has also refurbished the kitchen and by the time you read this food should be available there.

Dave Linley

30

Newt for that lking ed by dier.

two ange et up sent) on to mar-

d the you d be

Lancashire Pub of the Year:-Swan with Two Necks

Our entry to this annual competition, The Continental, has been beaten again in the final voting, but it lost to a worthy winner.

The Swan with Two Necks in the pretty village of Pendleton, near Clitheroe is popular with both diners and real ale enthusiasts. With five ever changing real ales, mostly from micros and two ciders, it has been run by Steve and Christine Dilworth for the last 25 years. Both are CAMRA members and offer the added incentive of 10p off a pint and 5p off a half to card carrying CAMRA members. When I went, we were made very welcome by Morag behind the bar, and when Steve came in, he found time to talk to us about beer and pubs in general. It is a true local, with a friendly, relaxed atmosphere and also sells traditional home cooked food using ingredients from local suppliers lunchtimes and evenings till 9.30 and up to 6pm on Sunday.

The pub opens 7-11 Mon, closed on Tuesdays, 12-2.30, 6-11 Wed-Sat and 12-10.30 on Sundays. You can see some good pictures of the pub on their website swanwithtwonecks. co.uk

Paul Riley

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91A Friargate, 01772 823442

5 cask ales, 3 foreign larger,

Bottled beers from around the world, As well as a great wine selection and cocktails Your sure to find something you like

Open 11am till 12am 7a days a week Bar food served 12pm till late

Fully Refurbished You wont believe your eyes Grand reopening 20th August

Beer The Continental’s Beer Festivals are fast becoming as renowned for the range of great live music acts on offer as they are for the hundred-plus range of ales, ciders and European bottled beers in the Beer Hall, with the May festivals traditionally seeing the bands housed in a large, specially erected outdoor marquee. The Preston pub’s ‘6th Beer Festival’ (actually the eighth if you include the 2009 Cider Festival and last year’s Christmas Beer Festival in the city centre) in May was no exception to this, with a total of eleven great acts performing over the three days. And, as with every festival before it and no doubt after, the run-up was a rather stressful business with last-minute cancellations and replacements aplenty.

As ever, the opening Thursday night was music-light as CAMRA members and regulars arrived en masse, got their bearings and dug into delicious ales like Brentwood Gold, Brew Dog Alice Porter, Castle Rock Harvest Pale Ale and the ever-popular Harviestoun Bitter & Twisted before any of them had the chance to run out! Friday night saw the start of music line-up proper, with a raucous kick-off provided by relatively new local combo False Flag – a very talented four-piece with a solid, punky sound giving way to elements of ska and dub reggae as the set progressed.

- The lads had a lively, appreciative crowd to back them up as did another local outfit, the heavy rock duo (although apparently usually a trio!) This Dirty Swamp. Bearing colossal, powerhouse riffs, the band went down a storm, with heads nodding everywhere one looked and no doubt a few ears left ringing in their wake. Headlining the evening's roster were cult Manchester indie three-piece Former Bullies, who visibly took more than a few drinkers back to their youths as they transformed the packed marquee into a jangly old-school indie echo chamber. The band made quite a few new fans that night, with dozens approaching them afterwards for contact details, CDs and future gig dates.

- Saturday’s music kicked off early in the afternoon, with a bit of fun from acoustic duo Black Sheep, who amused an initially tiny but gradually swelling audience with a set list of quirky delights, including most amusingly an Oirish folk style rendition of Madonna’s ‘Like a Virgin'. Next up was more acoustic goodness from another local duo, The Three:Four, in their third visit to the venue, providing perfect, gentle music for a laid-back Saturday afternoon. Roots are another fairly new Preston combo who were pleasantly surprised to find themselves with a large, appreciative and vocal crowd at one of their first ever gigs. Light and zesty ‘nu-folk’ for what was, at this point at least, still a pleasantly sunny afternoon.

- One of the highlights of the day was a set from Manchester-based singer-songwriter Ian Bailey, a purveyor of indie-tinged blues and Americana with a huge following in the area. While a sudden downpour may have initially sent

Ian Bailey scores of people scurrying into the tent, said people were still there long after the sun had returned. Andy McKinney is another hugely talented Preston singer-songwriter, and one who clearly has a bright future ahead of him.

- The surprise act of the day was perhaps Cocoshackle, a local quartet fronted by a talented and confident female vocalist with a mixture of covers and their own works-in progress. Populist and just about the right side of cheesy, they were a resounding success with the now hundredstrong audience, many of which had initially just come in to escape from the rain - two hours earlier.

- Fears that the rest of the evening was just going to turn into a big singalong were allayed as soon as the first of the evening’s headliners stepped onto the stage. Lancaster's The Lovely Eggs drew an audible collective gasp from an audience drawn from all walks of life when they kicked off their set with a little ditty entitled 'People Are T**ts'.

However, the same crowd was well and truly won over by the lovable Lancastrian oddballs, who themselves were afterwards introduced to the cidery delights of Gwynt y Ddraig's Dog Dancer.

- The night was rounded off with another Lancaster act, Dan Haywood’s New Hawks, a veritable ‘supergroup’

made up of members of some of that fair city’s most popular bands. Elements of folk and country rock are overlaid with a faint but pleasing hint of psychedelia, with Haywood's unusual, distinctive vocal stylings high in the mix.

With the darkness outside and the eight piece illuminated by the coloured stage lights, a truly magical atmosphere came being to being for the fifty-odd minutes of the festival's closing set.

- Since May, an extra Continental Beer Festival has been held as part of the wider Preston Riversway Festival held on the city's docks in July. The 'mini-festival' was dubbed the 'Continental 20:12 (in anticipation of next year's Preston Guild celebrations, held every 20 years) Beer Festival', which saw a 'greatest hits collection' of past favourite Conti

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an

and

Music ......

Beer Festival ales and ciders, from Brew Dog, Bowland Brewery, Marble, Castle Rock, Saltaire, Pictish, Gwynt y Ddraig and many more.

- Continental programmers They Eat Culture and music promoters Tuff Life Boogie arranged a brilliant music lineup for the Friday, headlined by 80s punk legends The Membranes, led by John Robb (also of cult act Goldblade) with support coming from King Creosote label-mates Withered Hand and Kid Canaveral. However, aside from the headliners it was local lads Evil Blizzard (who share a drummer with This Dirty Swamp) who stole the show with their thunderous rock apocalypse and were encouraged to step up for an extra set afterwards. The second night, organised by Preston City Council, was curated by

Quiz:

another Continental gig veteran, folk stalwart Ken Nicol, who rounded up a roster of his musical muckers including Phil Cool and The Houghton Weavers.

October 13th sees The Continental's 7th (or rather 9th!)

Beer Festival come around. While the Conti's 'Oktoberfest' is 'all about the beer' (usually with a full range of lovely Oktoberfest Specials in evidence), no doubt there'll also be some more fine acts winning themselves plenty of new Prestonian fans over the weekend.

Rob Talbot Forget your X Factor. Get youself to the ‘Conti’ or the Railway or Hop Pocket at Chorley or any of the many local music venues and see for youself how quality music mixes with quality real ale. You’ll see that Britain has an abundance of talent Melodious Mick

The Lancashire Walks Ale Cry Quiz No 6 Quiz set by John Griffiths

and Bob Clare of www.lancashirewalks.com .

1.

Where in Lancashire does a scarecrow festival take place each year in April?

2.

Who did Seve Ballesteros beat to win the 1979 Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes?

3.

What is the name of the recently opened nature reserve close to Junction 31 of the M6?

4.

What is the highest point of the Forest of Bowland?

5.

Who haunts the Sun Inn at Chipping?

6.

Bank Hall Park Burnley is on the site of what type of industrial activity?

7.

What Lancashire monument has been referred to as the Taj Mahal of the north?

8.

What did Alizon Device confess to on 30th March 1612?

9.

Architect Ian McChesney designed which feature in Preston winning an International competition in 2005?

10. Who was born in Bury in 1788 and commemorated with a tower?

Answers page 34

Hart of Preston Your local brewery

5 Oxheys Industrial Estate Greenbank Street PRESTON PR1 7PH Tel:01772 437651, 07865 249091 Bottled beer now on sale Party and Gift Packs 12 bottle mix packs 36 pint pins for your barbi Free local delivery on two boxes and all cask beer Now Permanently on sale at The Black Bull Great Eccleston

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Branch Details:

Good Beer Guide Landlords Retire

Two of our longest serving landlords of Good Beer Guide pubs are retiring this year.

Officers and Contacts:

David Cropper who, with his wife Margaret, has run the Robin Hood at Mawdesley has already left the pub which his father-in-law before him also ran. During the pubs period as a Whitbread tied house David re-introduced real ale when that company did a U-turn and decided to brew cask ale once again. Now under the ownership of Enterprise Inns the pub is noted for its wide selection of real ales, many from local breweries. As we go to press the news is that Enterprise have leased the Robin Hood to Tom Murray of the Best Pub Co. and that the long serving cellerman, Steve Reynolds, will be. staying on.

Branch Contact And Treasurer Womens contact: Chairman

Vice Chairman Secretary

Webmaster and Young members Social Secretary Communications (inc. membership & editor)

Although not yet retired an equally long serving landlord, Keith Burgess who,with his wife Alma,runs the Euxton Mills has given in his notice and will be leaving towards the end of the year. The pub has always served cask beer, originally from Burtonwood and now from the Marstons group. During his time Keith has introduced the twice yearly beer festivals when a wider variety of ales are available.

Branch Meetings (8pm): Branch / Socials* Committee # You’re welcome to attend any of our meetings Sept 8 #Trader Jack’s (Chorley)

19 *Continental (Preston) Oct 6 #Plough (Grimsargh)

Paul Riley 01772 709272 Sue Riley 01772 709272 Alan Thompson 01257 276363 Dave Linley 01772 735628 Gordon Small 01772 746118 14 Bank Parade Penwortham Preston Steve Eaves steveneavesuk

@yahoo.co.uk Steve Enderby 01257 410146 Mick Clark

07984 840486

All emails to: wlcamra@rocketmail.com

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#Ale Cry Distribution,*Chipping Area / inc Pub of Season Pres. Tillotsons Arms

Let us hope that both these pubs will continue to fly the

24 *SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING flag for real ale and the Enterprise and Marstons appreci Stanley Arms (Preston) ate these two gems which they own and the people who Nov 10 #Victoria (LostockHall) have cared for them over the years. Dave Marsden

21 *Wellington (Glover’s Court Preston)

ARMS

BROOK STREET. CHORLEY

Black Sheep Bitter .

3B’s Doff Cocker Guest Ales Good Beer Guide 2011 at great double prices

Trips Nowt arranged so far - the Alp’s been in North America and was adopted by ‘Big Foot’. If ever returns he’ll pull his finger out and we’ll let you know via the web ed

*Bus leaves Preston Old Vicarage at 7.15 Pres. 9pm

Contact Paul Riley for details: 01772 709272 if you want to join us or want more details of any trips or meetings Deadline for Adverts and Articles for Summer Edition:: 14/11/11 Expected Publication Date: 28/11/11 Published by: The West Lancashire Branch Of The Campaign for Real Ale Disclaimer: The views expressed in Ale Cry are not necessarily those of the Editor, the West Lancashire Branch of CAMRA, or of the Campaign for Real Ale

Quiz No 6 Ans.: 1) Wray, 2) Jack Nicklaus, 3) Brockholes 4) Ward’s Stone 561m.,5) Lizzie Dean, 6) Coal Mining, 7) The Ashton Memoriable in Williamson Park, Lancaster,8) Being a witch, 9) The Pavillion Information Centre and tea room, Avenham Park, Preston, 10) Sir Robert Peel 34 Quiz kindly donated by:www.lancashirewalks.com

Proud supporter of traditional,

AMAZING OFFERS FOR REAL ALE DRINKERS

healthy, British made, real ales & CAMRA in its fight to

Accordingly, in association with CAMRA, we are pleased to announce the AMAZING offers:

£20 of JD Wetherspoon beer tokens 15 months membership for the price of 12 if you agree to pay by direct debit Once you have joined, if you live in West Lancashire CAMRA area -

bring this healthy, organically

Chance to Win 24 pints of

produced example of

real ale for encouraging friends to join

British culture to more people’s attention.

You don’t need an existing member to recommend you to join CAMRA, but if one has, he or she could win 3 gallons of real ale , just by insterting their details here.

Name Membership No Phone No

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So fill in this application form below asap and post it to : FAO Gary Fowler, Wetherspoons Membership Offer CAMRA 230 Hatfield Road, St. Albans, Herts, Al1 4LW

Award Winner - Best Bar None Open: Mon - Thurs: 12pm - 11.30pm Fri - Sat: 12pm - 12am Sun: 12pm - 11pm

The Victoria

54 Watkin Lane LOSTOCK HALL Live Music Catering Karaoke DJ for Private Functions

Sky Sports Monday Night Quiz All Live Premiership, Pool Table and Darts Championship & Parking International Football, Heated Smoking Area Boxing & Other and Beer Garden Major Sporting Events Charity events - Other Special events Open Fire - Friendly Atmosphere 2 Minute Walk From Train Station

4 Cask Ale Handpumps Beers Rotated On A Weekly Basis Supporting Local Breweries