Ale Cry 115

Cry

issue 115, SUMMER 2017 05 07 08 11

Save Our Pubs Pub of the Season: Princess Alice Preston Parade Planning Law Changes

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Beer Scoring Central Lancashire Ale Train Riley’s Rambles: Bolton Good Beer Guide

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My Pint of View The Price of Your Pint South Ribble Scene Chorley Chatter

CENTRAL LANCASHIRE BRANCH

EE FR

Ale

FIGHTING FOR DRINKERS’ RIGHTS IN THE HEART OF LANCASHIRE SINCE 1973

Branch Contacts Chairman DAVE BELL t: 07900 565281 e: chairman@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Membership Secretary JOHN SINGLETON t: 07456 914048 e: membership@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Treasurer PAUL RILEY t: 01772 709272 e: treasurer@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Secretary & Webmaster GORDON SMALL t: 01772 746118 e: secretary@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Pubs Officer DAVE WOOLCOCK e: pubsofficer@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Chairman’s Welcome

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elcome to our Summer 2017 edition of Ale Cry. The magazine continues to go from strength to strength and the feedback that we have received on our new look which was revealed in the Spring issue has been extremely positive. Thank You. I assume that you are reading our magazine because you like beer and you like pubs and if that is true then you are in good company as millions of us in the UK are of a like mind. Some of us may prefer golden ales or IPAs, some of us may prefer a traditional amber ale and some of us may prefer a stout or porter but irrespective, we can all agree that beer and the pubs where we drink it are a great thing, a thing to be protected at all cost.

But what about how we would all define beer or a pub. I think that beer is the easier of the two. The Beer Academy defines beer as “a non-distilled liquid, fermented from cereal (usually malted barley) and flavoured with hops.”

So what about a pub, is there a standard definition? It’s an important question, given that as an organisation, CAMRA wants to protect pubs under threat. A good place to start with the definition of a pub may be “a place in which to drink alcohol (beer) socially with others.” Agreement with this definition is one thing but the issue soon becomes clouded with different views on traditional pubs, micro-pubs, pop-up tents and marquees providing food and drink, the new craft beer and burger joint on the high street. Can they all be classed as pubs? They all provide a place

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to drink alcohol socially with others. The answer is not clear but it’s an interesting debate which continues to rumble on.

One thing we can agree on is that pubs make us happy. CAMRA has previously highlighted the happiness benefits of drinking in a social environment offered by pubs of all types, shapes and sizes, whether we all call every one of them a pub or not.

Pubs are important and have a future.

They may evolve into different forms but surely are all worth protecting.

As ever, if you have any thoughts, comments or feedback, please get in touch with us via email, you will find a contact list in this magazine, or better still, come along to one of our forthcoming meetings or events. Please also remember to visit our website www.centrallancs.camra.org. uk for all the latest information and local news and if you are on Facebook, please search for CAMRA Central Lancs and like our page. You can now also follow us on Twitter, search for CAMRA Central Lancs.

We have also started a monthly newsletter which is emailed to Branch members on the 1st of each month. If you are not receiving this, it will be because we do not have an up to date email address for you. Please get in touch and let us have your email address and we will add you to our list of recipients Enjoy your Summer, preferably with lots of visits to the pub.

Kind Regards DAV E B E L L

Branch Chairman

Pub Protection Officer DAVE LINLEY t: 01772 735628 e: pubprotection@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Cider Officer LUKE HARRISON e: cider@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Social Media Officer MIKE WOOLCOCK e: socialmedia@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Communications Officer MICK CLARK t: 07984 840486 e: communications@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Social Secretary WES TRURAN t: 07766 881252 e: social@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Ale Cry Editor ADRIAN SMITH t: 07495 448555 e: editor@centrallancs.camra.org.uk www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk @CAMRA_CentLancs CAMRA Central Lancashire Branch All material copyright © Central Lancs CAMRA No part of this magazine may be reproduced without permission.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this magazine are those of the individual authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Editor, Branch Committee or CAMRA nationally. Central Lancs CAMRA accepts no liability in relation to any advertisement or article and recommends the reader make their own enquiries. It should also be noted that inclusion of an advertisement in this magazine should not be deemed an endorsement of quality by Central Lancs CAMRA. Design & Layout: Stewart Grieve Design Ltd e: stew@stewartgrieve.co.uk www.stewartgrieve.co.uk Printed by: Printplus, Cocker Avenue, Poulton-le-Fylde, FY6 8JU t: 01253 299620 www.printplusgroup.com

Editorial

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elcome to the latest edition of Ale Cry. The ‘new look’ has met with pretty much universal approval and the editorial team would like to thank everybody who has responded, either by email, via facebook or in pubs as we have made our rounds. My request for feedback even prompted some ‘emails to the editor’, and several of these are featured.

As well as the usual favourites, there are a few campaigning articles in this issue of Ale Cry. Sometimes, with all the things we get involved in, it’s easy to forget, that CAMRA is first and foremost a campaigning organisation. No matter how we choose to dress things up, we are campaigning for two things: promoting the brewing, availability and drinking of quality real ale and saving pubs.

Things have improved drastically since the campaign started in terms of variety, quality and availability of real ale. Unfortunately some of the ‘new’ breweries that originally embraced cask ale are now switching to ‘craft’ (they actually mean keg but don’t want to use the word). The reason given is that they cannot make enough money out of cask sales. When you actually dig down into the figures, it turns out that the profit differential between the two versions of the same product for the brewery appears minimal. The truth is that keg is easy at point of sale, and the customer is usually charged significantly more for the privilege.

On the down side, you will probably have read that pub closures across the country still continue at an alarming rate. If this continues, where are we going to be drinking all this wonderful ale? We must continue to campaign against unreasonable pub closures and the Save our Pubs article is about two ongoing battles in our own area. Recent changes to planning law will make it harder for pubs to be demolished or have their use changed without anybody having a say and this is all well and good.

However at this point we are talking about trying to save a pub once the decision has been made to close it. Wouldn’t it be so much better if we were actually supporting pubs by visiting them more often? If everybody who reads a copy of this magazine took the pledge to drink one (just one) more pint a week in the pub (instead of drinking the equivalent alcohol at home) that would generate a conservative £1m for the pubs in our area every year (based on 6,000 copies of Ale Cry and £3 per pint).

This would help the hard working licencees to earn a decent wage and the brewers to sell more beer.

Increased numbers might even convince the breweries and pubcos that pubs are an important part of 21st century living and encourage them to stop this seemingly endless flood of closures.

ADRIAN SMITH

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

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SAVE OUR PUBS!

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sset of Community Value status was awarded to the 200 year old BOARS HEAD in February this year following an application by Barton Heritage Group, supported by local MP, Ben Wallace, local Councillors and almost 600 residents. The pub is the only one in the village, and it is the only pub that Preston Council has ever awarded ACV status to.

The Council accepted, based on the evidence provided, that the Boars Head had in the past been used as an asset to further the community’s well-being and social interests; and that it had the potential to do so in the future.

The owners appealed against the award but the Council’s Director of Development, Chris Hayward, dismissed the appeal. He concluded that the pub has furthered the community’s social well-being and/or social interests in the recent past and says that it is realistic it will do so again in the next 5 years. He concludes that the Barton Heritage Group have demonstrated that their plans have a realistic chance of being implemented. He noted that the pub was first sold by Mitchells confidentially, and therefore this sale does not prevent the pub being listed as an ACV. This is an excellent decision and encouraging for community groups in similar circumstances in the future.

The villagers want to buy the pub as a co-operative to improve local facilities, including adding a library, post office, cash point, groceries and satellite health services.

They have now had a response from the developers as expected asking for details of the bid, so it looks as if the Heritage Group may now make progress.

However, it may be difficult to agree a price. The developers who bought the pub from Mitchells apparently paid £350,000 for the whole site, but now want to build 4 houses on the car park, offering only the pub itself plus garden and play area for sale, apparently for £425,000.

The developers say a new car park could be built on the garden/play area but the Heritage Group want to buy the entire site as it’s not just the pub which is essential to community life. The car park has been used not only by the local primary school but also by the village Church for over 70 years. Ties between the village pub and St Lawrence’s Church go back well over 200 years, in fact the church’s stained glass window, features a boars head in its village Coat of Arms.

Becca Hewitson, spokesperson for Barton Heritage Group explained, “For years the previous owners had let the pub run down, but it was still the heart of our community and it made a profit. We need our pub as it’s the centre of village life and part of our heritage. It’s where we have celebrated christenings, cried at funeral wakes, held school PTA and other committee meetings, celebrated our village Rose Queen and gave thanks for the Harvest in Autumn by eating Sunday Lunch together. The pub, its car park and playground are essential for the whole community of Barton.

Hopefully there will be more good news to be reported in the next issue, but in the meantime best wishes to the Barton Heritage Group in their negotiations.

DAV E L I N L E Y

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he OLD ORIGINAL SEVEN STARS on Slater Lane in Leyland is now an Asset of Community Value.

On 21st April 2017, South Ribble Council approved CAMRA’s application to register the pub. The Council has concluded that “Interest from other parties to continue the use of the building furthers the social wellbeing and social interests of the local community.”

This is good news. The pub is currently closed. The current owners, Unique Pub Properties, part of Enterprise, are understood to want the pub demolished or converted to another use to prevent competition with their other pub nearby, the Seven Stars.

However, planning permission will now be required for demolition, or conversion to another use. The owners also have to give notice to the Council if they wish to sell the property. The Council then notify CAMRA, as the body making the ACV nomination.

Solicitors acting for Unique Pub Co. have now notified South Ribble Council of their intention to sell and the Council has notified CAMRA. We have until June 10th to decide whether to require a 6 month moratorium on the sale to give time to raise funds to purchase the pub.

Well, CAMRA don’t have loads of money to start purchasing pubs – membership subscriptions are not that high!

However, we know, as reported in the last issue, that the Withy Arms pub group are interested in buying the pub, so hopefully a deal can be done which will see the pub sold to them and trading with real ale available. Watch this space!

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

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of Pub the season

Summer 2017

PRINCESS ALICE Preston

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he Summer 2017 Pub of the Season is the PRINCESS ALICE on Cambridge Walk, off Aqueduct Street in Preston.

This back street local has been run by Graham & Sue for almost 4 years. They first went into the trade at the Eldon, nearby, and introduced real ale there. However, they were very limited on what beers they could sell and the rent was increasing, so when offered the lease of the Princess Alice they were pleased to move, as the Alice is privately owned and they are completely free of tie.

They introduced real ale, and soon entered into a very good deal with Lancaster Brewery.

Lancaster have been very supportive and as

well as supplying their beers competitively priced, they sponsored Graham & Sue’s Cask Marque application. Usually, two Lancaster beers are available.

There are now 4 handpumps, serving mainly north-west beers such as Bowness Bay and Wily Fox. One frequent supplier is Chadwicks of Kendal, a beer rarely seen in this area. Tim Chadwick learnt his trade at Foxfield Brewery and started in his own right in 2014. One day he knocked on Graham’s door trying to sell some beer, Graham said “send me a range of 4 of your beers”, they sold well and Tim has been a regular and very supportive supplier ever since.

The pub is open from 4.30 Monday to Friday, 12 Saturday and Sunday until 11.30pm and is popular throughout opening hours with ‘regulars’ coming from a long distance, and quite a few lager drinkers converted to drinking real ale.

Friday and Saturday nights there is always live music and the pub is often rammed. It is also very busy before and after Preston North End home matches, being about 15 minutes walk from the ground. Many home fans come in the pub before the game and return afterwards to watch the tea-time televised game.

This is made very easy by one of Graham’s specialities. There are 15 televisions and 3 Sky boxes, so that wherever you are in the pub you have a choice of 3 different programmes including all Sky and BT sport.

Quiz night is Wednesday, and there are also Pool, Darts and Welsh Don teams.

The presentation to Graham and Sue will take place on Thursday 27th July at about 9pm. Hope to see plenty of you there to see what this pub has to offer.

DAV E L I N L E Y

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

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Preston parade

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ormally Paul Riley is the author of this article but unfortunately he had an accident resulting in a serious knee injury, with surgery and a 6 week lay-up. Paul usually gets around a bit and people go to him with little snippets of news, but obviously that hasn’t happened this time. Hopefully he will be ‘up and running’ again very soon, but I have been asked to fill a rather large hole while he is incapacitated.

Not having the extensive network of spies I’ve decided to have a look at some pubs in the Preston area, but outside the city centre, ones which haven’t had a mention for a while. This ties in with another article in the magazine about the battle to save the Boars Head at Barton – the only pub in the village. The ones I’ve chosen are the only ones in their particular location and, whilst they are not under threat at the moment, would cause a lot of anguish for the community if they were.

First up is the GREEN MAN at Inglewhite, the northernmost pub in our area, which is idyllically positioned by the green at the village crossroads, looking out towards nearby Beacon Fell.

The Punch Taverns owned pub is the start and finish of the 6 mile “Tasty Lancashire Cheese Walk” and the pub is well frequented by walkers as well as cyclists. It is primarily food-led, ranging from light bites up to chef specials with many of the ingredients being locally sourced, including the cheese.

The pub has been run for the last year by Kerry Ricketts and she is passionate about the food, but also about the cask ale and they have Cask Marque accreditation. Moorhouses Pride of Pendle is the regular and she says that “the domino team would leave if that wasn’t on...and wasn’t in perfect condition.” She also has a guest beer from the Punch list, which, at the time of my visit, was Timothy Taylor’s Knowle Spring, a 4.2% blonde beer that I had not heard of. If the quality of that was anything to go by, the domino team should have no fears. Kerry occasionally puts on a third beer around Halloween and Christmas and other special occasions but always tries to have a range of styles on offer.

The pub has a contemporary feel with 5 distinct areas with a main bar area, games room, comfortable seating room and dining areas with open fires; and outside is a garden patio area looking out onto their small camping and caravan field, and views across the fields beyond. The pub is used for various community activities and hosts occasional meetings and groups such as vintage car rallies.

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The SMITHS ARMS near the Springfields nuclear plant at Lea Town is near the north west border of our area only three-quarters of a mile from the Windmill at Clifton in neighbouring Fylde branch’s area. Licensee for the last 2 and a half years is Deborah Druce but the pub is run by husband John and son Matthew who says they have worked hard to restore the pub’s reputation after a few lean years. This is an open plan country pub with a main bar area leading to a lower-level area specifically for food, and an outdoor garden seating area. At the rear is a covered smoking area with a real log fire and leather sofas.

The Cask Marque pub was an entry in the first Good Beer Guide back in 1974 and being a Thwaites tied house has been fairly consistent over the years. Alongside regular beers Lancaster Original and Wainwright, there are guest beers, alternating with seasonal beer from the 1807 Cask Club range (Marstons). Thanks to drink-driving laws they avoid higher strength beers and Brakspear Oxford Gold at 4% was waiting to go on next. Don’t forget your CAMRA membership card when you visit, to enjoy a 10% discount off cask ales.

Typically for many rural pubs it is food led and it can get busy, particularly on Friday nights and Sundays. The pub attracts boaters from the nearby Preston-Lancaster canal, campers from a caravan site up the road and is on route 62 of the national cycle network.

The pub is the proud winner of “Thwaites Pubs in Bloom 2016” after being runner-up the previous year, and it hopes to win it again this year. Occasional Classic Car Club and Bikers Clubs meets are held there if you wanted to join in or have a look. Matthew also says that they are very proud to have helped out the Salwick Bowling Club when the adjacent green at the Springfields plant was under threat of closure, by getting together with some local partners to ensure a rescue package. The bowlers themselves repay that faith by meeting in the pub twice a week.

A long standing rural pub trying hard in trying times to provide a warm welcome in pleasant surroundings with good food and good beer and a commitment to the local community.

The village of Woodplumpton lies astride a single main road and, apart from houses, has a school, a wonderful church St Anne’s dating back to around 1600, and a pub, the WHEATSHEAF which is reputed to be 300 years old with the fireplace dated 1767. It is a comfortable village pub with two rooms on either side of a central bar - one side a typical old rural style lounge with part flagged floors, low ceilings and beams and an open fire; the other more modern, light and airy with a pool table and access to the pleasant and sunny beer garden. The pub has recently undergone a facelift both inside and out and now has one bedroom available on a bedand-breakfast basis.

The pub has suffered from regular change of licensee and periods of closure over the years but some stability has returned since partners Peter Robinson and Ness Wilkinson took over 4 years ago, moving over from Bedale, north Yorkshire which is near Masham, the home of Theakstons and Black Sheep breweries. Peter says that they are about to sign an extended lease for a further 5 years and that consistency and giving the customers what they want has been the key to the stability.

As with most rural pubs, food plays a major part in supporting the business and there is a choice of good pub dishes, sourced locally ALE EMPORIUM Fylde Rd. Pete and Trish have sold the business and the new owner took over on the 16th May. The good news is that it is Alan Chester who is the former manager of the Wellington at Ashton, which he took to a branch Pub of the Season award and 2 entries in the Good Beer Guide. Let’s hope that Alan carries on, or even improves the Ale Emporium as one of Preston’s best real ale outlets.

ANGEL Lune St. There have been some reports of running out of cask ale, but hopefully this is just down to starting the new venture or a larger than expected number of real ale drinkers. Hopefully lessons learned will prevent it happening again.

BROOK TAVERN Brook St. Has a new landlord, Savannah, who is a real ale drinker herself and is keen to increase sales. She has already replaced Doom Bar

by Sharp’s Atlantic as the locals prefer it.

CONTINENTAL South Meadow Lane Two extra handpumps have been added, now giving 8 real ales plus a cider.

FIVES Guildhall St. Is now open and jogs a

where possible and Ness’s home-made pies are a speciality. The Wheatsheaf has 2 permanent beers – Theakstons (unsurprisingly) Best Bitter and Theakstons Lightfoot, the latter being the best seller and good at the time of my visit – plus one from the Caledonian range, which at the time was Deuchars IPA. Peter and Ness have tried to encourage more community involvement and the Post Office operate a small branch in the pub on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Quiz nights on Thursdays attract 50-60 contestants, possibly lured by the free chip butties for entrants, and Monday nights see the Woodplumpton Ukulele Players meet and strum away.

Focussing on the community has brought its rewards with the Wheatsheaf being named Star Pub & Bars national winners for the category “Heart of the Community” in 2015 and 2016. I wouldn’t bet on them not achieving the hat-trick this year!

So there you have it. Three good rural pubs still serving their communities after many years and all worthy of our support … and a tasty pint of cask ale in all of them!

S T E V E JAC K S O N

few memories for visitors of many years ago. However there is only craft (keg) beer available. It was stated though that the ‘basement’ bar will re-open as a pub in summer and it will have cask ale on offer.

HEARTS OF OAK Adelphi St. Seems to have closed as fast as it opened – rather a shame.

PLUNGINGTON HOTEL Lytham Rd. Fulwood News that a change of management is taking place. Let’s hope the recent revival of real ale offering continues as it was developing into one of the area’s best.

PRESTON MARKETS It looks like someone from Preston Council may have visited, and enjoyed, the Bob Inn in Chorley. On an online community blog a Council spokesperson stated that they are open to applications for a variety of outlets including ‘real ale bars’. If the Bob Inn is anything to go by this could be a great addition.

STAGS HEAD Goosnargh Understood that the £330K redevelopment will commence around June 1st with the aim of having the pub reopened by July 1st.

STANLEY ARMS Lancaster Rd. Is about to be refurbished with the aim to remove

the sports bar image in favour of a “lounge style hostelry”. Let’s hope that real ale makes a re-appearance on a regular basis.

UNICORN North Rd. After a very short period in charge Mark and Graham have left the Unicorn on North Road Preston to move to the Swan Hotel Pub in Kirkham.

Another landlord is expected very soon and it is understood that Mark is going to train him in keeping and serving cask ale, which by account was cheap and a good quality.

55TH DIVISION ASSOCIATION CLUB Church St. The building housing the club is up for sale and a range of new uses would be considered by the owners. As the club is essentially the members themselves, it is possible that they may purchase the premises or find a suitable alternative.

HART BREWERY Now back in production after the recent sale to a Nelson beer distribution company and you may already have spotted their ales locally.

More information in the next edition when fully re-established.

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

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Branch Pub of the Season Summer 2017

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PLANNING LAW CHANGES

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ou need permission to knock a pub down, don’t you?

At the moment, only if the pub is listed or in a conservation area, or is designated as an Asset of Community Value!

You need permission to change a pub to a shop or an estate agent don’t you? At the moment, no you don’t unless the pub is an Asset of Community Value!

Worryingly, there are “permitted development” (PD) rights at the moment which allow demolition or making these changes without needing planning permission. This has allowed demolition of valuable pubs to create a site for redevelopment, or conversion of pubs such as the Ridgway Arms at Adlington to a Tesco Express.

Over 2,000 pubs in England have already been designated as Assets of Community Value which perhaps has made clear to the Government how important pubs are, concrete evidence of the extent to which pubs are valued by their communities.

CAMRA has been campaigning to have this changed and it looks as if the campaign will be successful. The House of Lords forced through an amendment to the Government’s Neighbourhood and Planning Bill to remove these permitted development rights for pubs. The Government agreed to accept this amendment and not try to overrule the Lords, and the amended Bill passed through Parliament on April 27th, becoming law on May 23rd.

The Changes The amendment commits the Government to update the PD Regulations and they have promised to expedite this. July was the likely implementation date although this may now be delayed as the minister who will make the regulations may be too busy campaigning.

The changes will remove the PD rights to change the use of premises from Use Class A4 (public houses) to A3 (restaurants/cafés), A2 (financial and professional services offices) or A1 (shops). The right to demolish public houses will also be removed.

Changes of use to other things such as houses and flats, universities etc. already needed planning permission anyway.

There is of course a risk that Pubcos will rush through demolitions or changes of use before the rules change. The main Pubcos and breweries, including Punch, Star Pubs & Bars, Ei Group (Enterprise), Marstons and Admiral Taverns, have promised not to jump the gun, but whether they stick to their undertakings, or whether smaller groups try it on, remains to be seen.

What these changes do mean is that one of the benefits of ACVs will no longer apply. The rules on change of use and demolition will be the same for all pubs. ACVs will still be vital for community groups trying to buy pubs which are in danger of being sold off to developers, but there will no longer be a need for CAMRA branches to act as community groups and nominate pubs as ACVs simply to remove permitted development rights. CAMRA can and will continue to support community

groups trying to buy pubs for their communities.

So, for example, CAMRA applied for the WELLINGTON in Ashton to be an ACV last year and was disappointed that the nomination was rejected because Preston Council considered that “the asset fails to meet the definition of an asset of community value as set out in Section 88 of the Localism Act 2001 and the Asset of Community Value (England) Regulations 2012. The Wellington operates as a successful Public House, providing a range of services appropriate to clientèle. However, this only provides services for a limited section of the local community and does not demonstrate the range of diversity of provision which is required to meet the legislative threshold.”

CAMRA does not agree with this, but it will become less important in the future as planning permission will still be needed to convert the Wellington to any other use, or demolish it, so a planning application would be needed and it would be possible to campaign against that.

So, please let the Central Lancashire Branch know if you hear of any plans to change the use of a pub or demolish it, so that we can make sure a planning application is submitted, and if there a case, campaign against that application.

DAV E L I N L E Y

Hoppy Days M I C R O P U B

L O N G R I D G E

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

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Beer Scoring , Beer Scoring and the Good Beer Guide

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ou are probably aware of the ‘Good Beer Guide’, CAMRA’s flagship publication which lists the best pubs in the UK. But what you may not know is how those pubs are selected to appear in the Guide. The answer is that it is largely via beer scores submitted by CAMRA members from all over the country. So if you are a CAMRA member you can send in beer scores, If you’ve ever wondered why your favourite pub isn’t in the Guide, this may well be because you, and others, haven’t entered scores rating the quality of beer there. By beer scoring, you can contribute to the process of selection of pubs that go in the Good Beer Guide.

So how do I score the quality of the beer?

You don’t have to be an ‘expert’ to begin scoring your beer. However, it is not about your personal favourite beer receiving the highest scores!

You may try a beer that isn’t to your normal taste but what you need to consider is the quality of that beer, how well the pub has kept it and served it, and score it according to the general guide below. It is a simple system of a ten point range from 0 to 5, with half points being used if your opinion of the beer falls between two categories.

0 No cask ale available 1 Poor Beer is anything from barely drinkable to drinkable with considerable resentment.

2 Average Competently kept, drinkable pint but doesn’t inspire in any way, not worth moving to another pub but you drink the beer without really noticing.

3 Good Good beer in good form. You may cancel plans to move to the next pub. You want to stay for another pint and may seek out the beer again.

4 Very Good Excellent beer in excellent condition. You stay put!

5 Perfect Probably the best you are ever likely to find. A seasoned drinker will award this score very rarely.

How do I submit my scores?

In order to submit your scores you need to login to CAMRA’s online pub guide www.whatpub.com either on a computer or by smart phone. Here you will find a list of nearly 36,000 real ale pubs from all over the UK; these are not all Good Beer Guide pubs, merely pubs that serve real ale.

In order to start submitting scores via you need to: 1 Login. To do this you need your membership number and your CAMRA password.

2 You can then search for your pub by name. Be careful here as there are many pubs in the country which share the same name. My advice smart phone is to search by the pub name and the town. The web page also gives you the option to search for real ale pubs nearby, very useful if you are in an unfamiliar town.

3 Once you have found your pub a ‘Submit Beer Scores’ box will appear on the right hand side of the screen (or on the bar underneath the pub photo if you are using a smart phone).

4 Simply fill in the date and your score then as you begin typing the brewery name should automatically appear underneath were you are typing. You do not have to enter the name of the beer you are drinking but if you wish to do so once you have entered the brewery name you should be able to click on the arrow in the Beer box and a drop down list of that brewery’s beers should appear. In some cases the beer you are drinking may be new or a one off by the Brewery so may not appear on the list, if this is the case you can simply type in the beer name. Select the correct one click ‘submit score’ and your score will be entered into the database.

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It is as simple as that. An added bonus is that the site keeps a record of your scores so you can look back to see what beers you have had and how you rated them if you want. This facility is only available on the desktop version – look for the ‘View All’ sign underneath the scoring card. The results can be sorted by date, pub or town; so an ideal way of looking back on where you’ve been and what beer you’ve tried.

When I became Pubs Officer about 4 years ago, we were getting about 700 scores a year. With a bit of publicity this has gone up to about 2,200, which while an improvement still isn’t great. We currently have 244 pubs and clubs listed on as serving real ale. In the last 6 months we have had scores in for 117 of these – which means we are missing any feedback on over half the pubs in our area. Of the 117, the majority only had one or two scores, with only 25 getting 10 or more scores.

So who’s getting the highest numbers of scores and who’s serving the ‘best’ beer?

The GUILD ALE HOUSE in Preston tops the chart for number of scores with 101, with SHEPHERDS’ HALL ALE HOUSE (83) and MALT‘N’HOPS (75) in Chorley making up the podium. No great surprises there – SHEPHERDS’ HALL ALE HOUSE also tops the list for the number of different visitors scoring with 24.

Looking at the highest average for pubs with 10 or more scores, the winner with 3.9 (10 scores) is BLACK BULL in Penwortham, closely followed by TOP LOCK, Heapey and CONTINENTAL in Preston. All these pubs are in the current Good Beer Guide – so no real surprises there.

If you’re a CAMRA member, why not help us selecting pubs for future guides by contributing to the scores. If you’re not a CAMRA member, why not join us – see page 31 for details.

ADRIAN SMITH

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Ale Cry

13

A

(Central Lancashire)

Ale Train

A

nyone who has been on the Pennine Ale Train between Batley and Stalybridge, or any other routes, will know what a cracking day out it is, travelling between stations with a bar on the platform or a nearby pub – all selling real ale of course.

Well now we have one within our branch area. It’s not official and the pubs and railways don’t know about it yet so, for now, it’s a little known secret between me and you, the reader.

The route starts at Preston or Adlington and stops at all stations in between, including Buckshaw Parkway – the missing piece of the jigsaw now has a decent real outlet nearby but check out its opening times before you go.

I went with a couple of friends to test run the route late afternoon on a Friday tea time from Preston to Adlington which took 20 minutes although you could start at either end. There are trains every hour during the day with an extra one thrown in at tea time and it’s the same going in the other direction. It’s worth checking the times of the next trains before you leave but Northern Rail produce a booklet for Route No. 27 available at railway stations.

Starting the trip at Adlington ascend to Railway Road, turn left to the main junction then right on Church Street for a couple of hundred yards to the SPINNERS ARMS, a regular Good Beer Guide (GBG) entry.

The Thwaites’ sign outside was totally misleading as, of the 6 beers on offer, none were from them nor any of the 9 lined up to come on next. Food is available and is reputed to be good and well priced.

A 5 minute rail journey takes you to Chorley where there is a good choice of pubs in a very short distance. Depending on which platform you arrive the 2 nearest are the Ale Station or the Malt‘n’Hops. For the ALE STATION cross the bypass and continue straight ahead down Chapel Street and after about 30 yards you will find it. It’s a smart micropub serving up to 6 changing beers from local micro breweries, including a dark or mild, plus real cider. Food offerings are restricted to crisps, but there are a couple of takeaways a few doors down if you are hungry.

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ISSUE 115 SUMMER 2017

Just past the takeaways on the other side of the road is Chorley’s first micropub, the SHEPHERDS’ HALL ALE HOUSE, the branch’s pub of the year 2015/16 (George Lee Memorial Trophy (GLMT)) and consistent GBG entrant. 5 ales from local micros to choose from, plus 3 real ciders.

Food for ale lovers here includes pork pies and pickled eggs!

Had you exited the station from the other platform, and turned left on Friday Street in 100 yards you will arrive at the MALT‘N’HOPS, the 2016/17 GLMT winner and also a current GBG entrant. There are 8 changing beers plus a mild (no cider). Filled rolls and pork pies are usually available.

Should you wish to try more Chorley pubs, opposite the pub use the railway underpass, turn left to the station then head for the above micros.

Back on the train, 3 or 4 minutes brings you to Buckshaw Parkway and something a bit different. A longer walk for a start about 400 yards. Head towards Tesco then turn right on the road before it. At the roundabout go straight on towards the industrial unit surrounded by beer barrels and enter the FILLING FACTORY NO 1.

Opened in November 2016, this bar is housed within Morrow Brothers Bottling and Canning Plant. There are up to 3 ever changing real ales and up to six interesting ‘craft beers’. Cask beer is likely to feature locally brewed beers in the main. Opening hours are limited and closing time may vary dependent on trade, but hopefully will increase as custom dictates. There does not appear to be any food but Tesco’s is on the way there or back.

7 minutes or so on the train takes you to Leyland where you leave from Platform 1, through the car park, past the large Italian restaurant and 20 more yards to the GOLDEN TAP ALE HOUSE. Leyland’s 2nd micropub was branch Pub of the Season, Winter 2017 and offers 6 changing cask ales, usually including two dark beers, from micro breweries from far and wide. Once again small snacks are available, or takeaways are located further round on Chapel Brow.

Back on the train for 6 minutes took us to Preston. Through the booking hall and up the station approach road brings you to Fishergate. Cross over, turn right and in 50 yards you are at the OLD VIC. This regular GBG entrant serves up to 7 changing real ales and has some food at lunchtimes, although there are plenty of nearby food outlets. The added bonus for members is that Wetherspoon’s vouchers are accepted here.

The Pennine Ale Train is a great day out but don’t go on a Summer Saturday. Hordes of people go then, some of them not real ale fans, and its popularity has brought about some bad publicity.

So for now enjoy our trip whilst it is still accessible.

S T E V E JAC K S O N

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Ale Cry

15

Riley’s Rambles: BOLTON

R

egular readers of Ale Cry will no doubt be familiar with two of our regular features – Riley’s Rambles (by Treasurer Paul) and A Sally Round (by Chairman Dave). A lack of communication this issue meant they both went to Bolton! So we have amalgamated the two articles giving you a larger crawl than we usually do – which I trust you will enjoy.

Hopefully normal service will be resumed next issue. E D We went by train, and coming out of the station we turned left and left again to quickly reach the SWEET GREEN TAVERN on Crook St. This area has changed massively over the years with new roads and supermarkets replacing the industrial landscape.

This small multi-roomed pub remains though, and is well worth the visit both for its interior, which includes a hidden snug at the back, and its four hand pumps which dispense a range which varies from local ales to breweries that are rarely seen in the area. Almost every inch of wall space inside was covered in pump clips which the landlady told us was a record of all the beers that had been on, since she had been there.

Three of the beers on offer were from Stockport Brewing Company. Centaurus, a pale ale with hints of tropical fruits at 4% and Spring, a pale ale with new UK Minstrel hops at 4.1%. were tried and both were excellent.

The day’s prime objective was to visit the bar situated in the market. The problem was, there are two markets in Bolton. We went to the nearest first.

Going back towards the railway station, go straight on past the bus interchange, down Newport St, turning left at Great Moor St. to reach the indoor Market. Inside you will find the GREAT ALE AT THE MARKET bar in the midst of the ‘Lifestyle Hall’. With its three hand pumps dispensing an ever-changing range of beers with usually a dark one available, it creates a marvellous atmosphere set amongst the many food stalls adjacent. There is a large seating area which it shares with these neighbouring stalls where you can get some great food to have with your pint. The only downside is that opening hours are restricted by the market, and it is closed by 6.30 pm.

Coming out of the market, we turned left down Black Horse

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ISSUE 115 SUMMER 2017

St. to Deansgate, where you will find the HEN AND CHICKENS. This popular pub has a central horseshoe bar with a vault on the left and a lounge on the right where food is available. The pub is famous for the painting of The Charge of the Light Brigade which hangs above the fireplace. This battle having claimed the life of the then landlord’s son on October 25th 1854. Private Constantine Wrigley was born in 1816 and enlisted in 1836. His name is still remembered in the pub to this day. The pub also featured in the Mass Observation Project of the 1930s to document life in a working town. Aside from the history, there is a welcoming feel and a friendly atmosphere in the pub. The pub is only partly tied to Punch Taverns so some exotic beers often appear on the pub’s 5 hand pumps. On our visit these included Holden’s Toffee Porter (4.1%), 3B’s Weaver’s Brew (4%) and Bobbin’s Bitter (3.8%).

Beers from Coach House feature regularly and on this occasion we sampled their Clipaty Hop, a pale, hoppy session IPA at 4.3%. There is a CAMRA discount of 20p a pint.

Leaving the pub, turn right up Deansgate to reach the Market Place, where you will find, housed in one of the below ground level arches of the former market, the sister pub to the other market pub, this one called GREAT ALE AT THE VAULTS. Opened in March 2016 it is a modern, yet rustic bar surrounded by stylish restaurants and eateries in the wonderful setting of this former Victorian cellar. The historic Victorian vaults that lie beneath the floor have recently been excavated revealing a massive space that dates back to 1855 and has largely been used for storage for the last 150 years. Each premises in The Vaults contain the original Victorian brickwork and you can still see the individual marks left by stonemasons, keen to celebrate the creation of another successful brick in the wall. Creative lighting adds to the almost eerie feel. The pub is open every day from 11am until 11pm and serves a range of real ales, craft ales and ciders, draught premium lagers and fine wines. Four hand pumps provided our selection with one permanent, Vaults Bitter (3.8%) brewed by Outstanding, and 3 changing guests with beers from Hopstar, Dunscar and Seven Brothers featuring on our visit. Seven Brothers IPA at 5% was our choice, crisp, fruity and hoppy, it was bitter enough for my taste and was of great quality. There is a 30p discount with your CAMRA card here also.

Coming out, we turned left heading for Churchgate. We passed

the ELEPHANT AND CASTLE which, if you have time, is worth a visit, it being a Stonegate pub with 5 hand pumps often serving an interesting range of beers from near and far.

As our time was limited, we carried on to reach HOGARTH’S, the home of the brewery that supplies beers to Preston’s very own version of this pub. The brewery vessels visible in the pub are purely decorative; the actual plant is housed in the pub’s former kitchens. Of the four pumps on the bar, two usually dispense the in-house brewed beers, which, on our visit were the Bruiser (4%) and the Lecture (4.5%), plus two changing guests. The beers are very reasonably priced at £2.20 a pint.

On leaving Hogarth’s, turn right to reach YE OLDE MAN & SCYTHE on Churchgate, which claims to be the 4th oldest pub in England and dates back to 1251. The pub is also said to be haunted by the ghost of James Stanley, the Seventh Earl of Derby, a former owner of the pub who was beheaded outside it’s doors in 1651 for his role in the Bolton Massacre which took place during the English Civil War. A chair that he sat in during the last hour of his life is still kept inside the pub and his ghostly figure has, allegedly, been captured on CCTV. We have seen the footage and it all seems a bit inconclusive, dark and murky with shadows around the bar, but you never know. Anyway, on our visit, four hand pumps provided us with choices from Bank Top, Hopback, Young’s and Exmoor. As Hopback Summer Lightning (5%) is one of my favourites, it was an easy decision. We also tried Double Chocolate Stout from Young’s which is very chocolatey and rich at 5.2%. There were also another four hand pumps serving a range of different fruit perries, all at 7.5%.

BARRISTERS BAR, originally part of the Swan Hotel, has a wood-panelled interior giving it the feeling of a traditional pub. It has the relaxed atmosphere of a local during the week, but can get extremely busy at weekends. There is a smoking area in the heated courtyard. A varying range of 6 cask ales is served, usually featuring beers from Moorhouse’s, Cross Bay and Bank Top among others. Flat Cap (4%) was £2.70 a pint.

Leaving Barristers we spotted a Wetherspoons pub and so we decided to call in. The SPINNING MULE is typical of Wetherspoons, with a large open drinking area, toilets upstairs and little to make it stand out from others of the same chain.

There were twelve hand pumps offering a decent range of beers, although again, there was nothing particularly exciting. Kelham Island Tiger Cub, a light and hoppy 4.2% and Full Manc from Brightside, described as a session IPA at 4.5%, were our choices.

Both were on good form and enjoyable.

Our final destination was the ALMA on Bradshawgate. This pub seems to be geared up for live music, and we had the impression that heavy rock was the order of the day. No bands were playing during the short time we were there but there was plenty of leather and beards in evidence. Nothing to shout about on the bar, only three hand pumps and as I didn’t fancy either of the two real ales available, I opted for the Old Rosie cider. Real ale was tried, but nobody can remember what it was, and it wasn’t in great condition.

On the plus side, the pub had a great juke box.

An off peak day return from Preston to Bolton is £10.10.We had had a great day out and would say that it is well worth making the short trip on the train.

PAU L R I L E Y / DAV E B E L L www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Ale Cry

17

CAMRA CENTRAL LANCASHIRE BRANCH AND …

The CAMRA Good Beer Guide

Y

ou will no doubt have heard of the GBG, Britain’s best-selling guide to good beer and good pubs, with details of more than 4,500 pubs across the country serving the best real ale. Other articles throughout the year will explain the process of how, every year, the Branch selects and revises the entries in each edition – and that amounts to a lot of work, but this article is about the history of the Guide as it relates to our Central Lancashire (previously West Lancashire) Branch.

A pilot edition of just 18 pages came out in 1972 which was a collection of sheets of paper stapled together and posted out to CAMRA members. Two pubs from our area included in the original guide were the Market Tavern in Chorley, and the Myerscough at Balderstone (listed under Preston).

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Ale Cry

ISSUE 115 SUMMER 2017

The first book came out 2 years later having 96 pages and 22 entries from our branch which were:

Open and still selling real ale:

And the others:

Sun ​Chipping Market (now Flat Iron) ​Chorley Lord Nelson ​Croston Plough ​Euxton Smith’s Arms ​Lea Eagle & Child ​Leyland Moorbrook ​Preston New Britannia ​Preston Royal Oak ​Riley Green Rose & Crown ​Ulnes Walton

Myerscough ​Balderstone Now boarded up and for sale.

Talbot ​ Chipping ​ Closed and derelict looking for many years.

Seven Stars (Towngate) ​Leyland ​ Demolished in early 1970s.

Fox & Grapes (Fox St) ​ Preston ​Now a cocktail bar and no longer selling real ale.

Greyhound ​Preston ​Now a restaurant.

Maguires Tavern ​Preston ​Possibly a nightclub.

Selborne ​Preston ​Closed in 2003.

Spindlemakers Arms ​Preston ​In once only and closed and boarded up in 1994.

Open but no longer selling real ale: Waggon Makers (now Sam’s Bar) ​Chorley Pleasant Retreat ​Lostock Hall Army & Navy ​Preston Royal Consort ​Preston The following year, an increased size of 176 pages allowed us 28 pubs, with the first appearance of: The Black Horse, Lane Ends, New Welcome and South Meadow Tavern in Preston; the Black Boy (now Moor Inn) and Seven Stars in Chorley; the Dolphin at Longton; Nab’s Head at Samlesbury; Cavendish Arms at Brindle; the Red Cat at Heapey; and the Black Horse at Limbrick.

The most entries the Branch was allowed was 48 in 1982 and 1983 and it may not be a coincidence that the 3 pubs in those years, who got their one and only entry and are now no longer pubs – the General Havelock and New Cattle Market in Preston and the Dog at Longridge. In any year the good ones virtually select themselves but others on the fringe are not as easy to predict in their long-term viability.

There have been 33 pubs or clubs that have made only one appearance. The Bob Inn in Chorley is the only one in the current guide and it is widely expected that it will go on to make more than that.

14 other pubs are still open and do sell real ale but the Moor Park in Preston is still open but doesn’t sell it. The other 17 have been demolished, closed or converted to residential, offices, restaurants, a shisha cafe and even a funeral directors. Who can remember pubs like Preston’s Birley Arms, Fylde Tavern, Hornby Castle, Lamb Hotel, Paviors, Prince Arthur, Shawes Arms, or Windsor Castle; Chorley’s Harpers; the Duke William at Longridge; and the Railway at Lostock Hall?

At the other end of the scale, which pub has made the most appearances in the Guide’s 44 year history?

That accolade goes to the Black Bull at Mawdesley with 31, followed closely by the Royal Oak at Riley Green and the Dolphin at Longton with 30. With the Black Bull currently closed, is it time for a new leader?

Of those in the first Guide, the longest unbroken run was 17 years by four pubs: The Sun and Talbot at Chipping, and the Fox & Grapes and Greyhound in Preston. Apart from the Sun, where are they now?

Of the pubs in the current 2017 Guide, the ones with the longest unbroken run are the Potters in Chorley with 19 consecutive entries, the Red Herring at Coppull with 18, then a gap back to the Spinners at Adlington at 14 years.

Coincidentally none of them had appeared in any Guide before the current runs began. It may also indicate the rise, in recent years, of the standard and choice of

beer in the Chorley area which is having a ‘knock-on effect’ on other pubs and the popularity of real ale encouraging the opening of more micropubs.

Long runs of consecutive years in the Guide is a tremendous achievement considering the amount of pubs changing licensees, managers or breweries/pub companies on a regular basis. The Black Horse in Preston is a good example of this as it has been in and out of the Guide on 8 occasions, with it’s longest run being 8 years from the Millennium, out of 26 appearances.

The biggest gap between appearances stands at 32 years for the Boars Head at Hoghton, it’s only 2 entries were in 1984 and 2016. Second in this category is the Continental in Preston which had a 7 year run from 1974 and was not seen again till it reappeared as the New Continental in 2010, missing out for 27 years, and has only missed 1 year since.

The current Guide, 2017, has 1032 pages and we have 35 entries and luckily for us all, there is always fierce debate over who is in or out. Let’s see what happens in September when the 2018 guide appears.

S T E V E JAC K S O N

THE WHEATSHEAF Spendmore Lane, Coppull, Nr Chorley, Lancashire

FREESE HOU

3 ever changing Cask Ales – including Prospect, Bank Top & Blackedge

PR7 4NY

• Free entertainment: Jukebox (Mon), Pool (Tue), Quiz (Wed) • All major sports shown • Saturday night live music • Sunday – Chase the Ace 12-6pm

OPENING TIMES

• Beer garden

Monday – Thursday from 3pm Friday from 2pm Saturday & Sunday from 12pm

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Ale Cry

19

LIVE MUSIC | TASTY FOOD | TOUCH RUGBY CASK ALE | CRAFT BEER & CIDER | GIN & PROSECCO FRI 7PM - 12AM | SAT 11AM - 12AM | SUN 12PM - 4PM PRESTON GRASSHOPPERS, LIGHTFOOT LANE, PRESTON, PR40AP

Entry includes glass & free programme | Free entry Sat & Sun with previous day's glass Tickets available from Skiddle or on the door | £4 (£1 discount for club and CAMRA members) 20

Ale Cry

ISSUE 115 SUMMER 2017

My Pint of View

I

n an age where the wet-led locals’ pub seems to be struggling in many areas, we meet the team behind one that is a resounding success. Ale Cry talks to John Isles (owner), Ian Robinson (General Manager & licensee), Carol Millen (Manager) and Beth Sweeney (Assistant Manager) of the BLACK BULL in Penwortham.

AC We seem to be seeing a shift of emphasis away from pubs like yours. The big brewers and pubcos are all looking at larger food pubs as the way forward. At the other end of the scale, we have micro pubs, who are targeting the cask ale drinker. Pubs like yours often struggle to survive, so tell us what your secret is.

BB It’s all about quality, right throughout the business. We’re not a food pub and not a ‘destination’ venue – so we have to make the best of what we have. The pub dates from the 1780’s and we’ve made every effort to make it as smart and welcoming as possible.

We’re fortunate in that the pub has not been ‘gutted’ as so many others have, and we still have a number of separate rooms, each with their own character. We work as a team – the staff tend to be a bit older than the norm for pubs and there is little turnover. People skills are important – the need to interact properly with customers is missing in so many pubs these days. We could sum up our pub in four words – safe, warm, welcoming and friendly.

AC Tell us about your charity work.

BB We raise somewhere between £15,000 – £20,000 a year, with the money going to local charities. Last year our August Bank Holiday Sunday event raised £4,500 for St Catherine’s. The event is run in conjunction with the local fish & chip shop – there are stalls, live music, a bouncy castle etc. It’s not just about getting customers to contribute, the staff often work free on that day and any excess ‘profits’ go towards the charity.

We also support Galloways Society for the Blind and other local charities – often suggested by our customers. It can be a lot of fun – for example a local woman was going out to Africa to work for a children’s charity and we had an auction to raise funds for her. Some chap came in with his takeaway supper, and while he was getting a pint, the auctioneer got his hands on it and it was sold – so he had to buy his own supper back!

AC That’s a considerable contribution – a bit more than the traditional collecting box on the bar. How do you manage it?

BB It’s probably down to the pub being a real part of the community. For example, we have the 11 o’clock club, where some of our older locals come down for a drink or two. It may

be the only social contact they have during the day. We know who to expect, and if they don’t turn up, we contact them or a relative to make sure they are OK. We have our own defibrillator, bought with funds raised by our regulars, and we have a number of staff and customers who are trained to use it. One local guy uses the small lounge as his office from time to time, comes in with his laptop and files, uses our Wi-Fi – this wouldn’t be tolerated in a lot of pubs. We run a number of trips each year, rail ale trails, golf days, horse racing; with staff and customers, so really we’re one big family.

AC How do you feel about CAMRA? BB We’re totally in favour, and you’re doing a good job. We see CAMRA as about promoting quality, which is very much what we are about too. John has been a member for many years although work commitments prevent him from taking an active part. We offer a 20p a pint discount to CAMRA member, and make an effort to promote this. During the current financial year we have given nearly 15,000 discounts – an increase of 40% over the previous year. This encourages our regulars to become CAMRA members, so we’re doing what we can to support

you. Cask beer is trendy – and CAMRA is doing an excellent job in promoting it. The only possible complaint would be that it tends to be seen from the outside as a bit ‘cliquey’ or elitist, although I’m sure that’s not the case once you get involved. www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Ale Cry

21

THE PRICE OF YOUR PINT

part 1 the brewer

S

tart talking to a beer drinker and sooner or later the question of price is going to come up. Those older ones among us remember fondly the days when beer was less than 10p a pint, when mild was cheaper than bitter and you paid less for drinking in the public bar.

Beer prices keep going up and across the branch area we are paying £3 a pint in many pubs (and considerably more in some).

Yet we hear that licencees are struggling to make enough money to make all their efforts worthwhile. Some seem to be doing rather well, but there is a continual ‘churning’ of landlords and many pubs continue to be hanging on by a thread.

A couple of months ago I stumbled (I should emphasise this was nothing to do with having had a beer or three) across a blog from Beer Nouveau, the north Manchester based brewery. This included a full breakdown of costs for brewing, packaging and distributing their beer and makes for interesting reading. There is too much detail to include here, so if you’d like to read the blog in full, you will need to visit their website: http://beernouveau.co.uk All these figures are based on brewing one batch of their West Coast IPA, a 5.6% Cascade hopped beer brewed on a 6BBL (Brewers Barrel) kit, giving 760 litres – which equates to roughly 19 x 9 gallon barrels.

Brewing costs include ingredients (£268.96), utilities (£70.00), and Beer Duty (£414.11) giving a total cost of £753.07. Running costs which includes rent, rates, insurance, phone, internet, van hire, interest etc. comes to £2,550.93. They work on brewing, and selling five brews a month. Which means that each brew itself has an additional £510.18 cost, to cover the running costs. This gives a total cost per brew of £1,263.25.

Once the beer has been brewed, it needs to be packaged. Up to this point, it doesn’t matter whether the beer is destined for cask, keg or bottles, it’s still the same beer and process. A summary of packaging costs is as follows: • Cask (requires 19 x 40 litre casks), cleaning and pump clips £52.82 • Key Keg (requires 25 x 30 litre kegs), cost of non returnable kegs plus pump clips £500,00.

• Bottle (requires 2,303 x 330ml bottles), plus labelling and packing £829.08.

The summary of the costs and the expected sales revenue is in the table below.

Brewing Costs

Ingredients/utilities/Beer Duty

Running Costs

Rent/rates/insurance/phone etc.

Does not include staff costs.

Packaging

Purchase & cleaning/pump clips

Total batch cost

Cask

Key Keg

Bottle

19x40Ltr

25x30Ltr

2,303x330ml

753.07

753.07

753.07

510.18

510.18

510.18

52.82

500.00

829.08

1,316.07

1,763.25

2,092.33

per cask

Cost to brew each container

69.27

70.53

0.91

Container sale price (ex VAT)

75.00

75.00

1.60

5.73

4.47

0.69

108.87

111.75

1,589.07

Container profit Total profit per batch

22

per key keg per bottle

Ale Cry

ISSUE 115 SUMMER 2017

Don’t forget that these figures don’t include anything for wages. It is clear from this that putting beer out in cask or keg doesn’t make you much money. But breweries have to put beer out on draught because that’s generally where the majority of people first see and try it. And those first impressions are what are vital to them, because if someone likes their beer on draught, they’re more likely to buy it in bottles.

There is little difference in cost (or profit) between cask and keg.

Another Manchester brewer, Cloudwater, recently announced that they were discontinuing cask beer as it was not cost effective. That is not really true, but as much as we in CAMRA might wish to decry it, cask is the weakest link in the quality chain. I can do no better than to quote Steve from Beer Nouveau.

“

Our beers on draught are our showcase. They’re where people first see, and first form their opinions about our beers, and us. If the beer is rubbish, we’re considered rubbish. We do what we can as brewers to ensure that the beer leaving our breweries is in the best condition it possibly can be. But until we have a fully chilled distribution chain for all of us wanting to pay a bit more for it, until we have properly trained cellar staff, until we have bar staff who stop using the lazy “It’s supposed to taste like that”, until then cask will always be the most likely candidate to present a bad quality pint.

”

The warning is clear. If pubs cannot deliver a quality product at the pump, then brewers may well reconsider their stance on cask ale. We’re certainly nowhere near that yet as the availability of good quality real ale, well brewed and well kept by knowledgeable and enthusiastic licencees is probably better than it has ever been since CAMRA was formed.

Having admitted at the start of this article that price is a sensitive issue when it comes to beer, how can a brewer reduce his costs? There are two fairly obvious ways, either cut back on the ingredients or brew to full capacity (thus lowering overhead costs per brew). Most brewers at this level are enthusiasts and don’t want to reduce the quality of their product by cutting back on the ingredients (and as consumers we don’t want them to either). Brewing to full capacity sounds great, but the beer then has to be sold. There are a limited number of outlets for the small brewer. True free trade outlets are not that common and for practical purposes there is a geographic limit into where brewers can sell their beers direct. Getting into pubcos and distributors presents other problems. The blog quotes Wetherspoons as only being willing to pay £60.64 a cask for the beer in question – a loss to the brewer of £8.63 per cask. We know of other small pubcos who will only buy beers at £60 or less per 9 gallon cask.

Meanwhile an increasing number of small brewers are all trying to gain that elusive market share and get a decent return. On these figures it seems an impossible task!

ADRIAN SMITH In part 2 we will look at things from the standpoint of the publican.

THE RED HERRING

Penwortham Cricket Club

3rd Annual Beer, Cider and Prosecco Festival August Bank Holiday Weekend th th

25 -27 August

On Saturday night we welcome Preston’s Premier Rock Band…

STE & MARY WELCOME YOU TO COPPULL’S TOP FREEHOUSE. Guest ales include

Bank Top, Reedley Hallows, Prospect, Wily Fox and many more

Live entertainment last Saturday of the month.

Sunday night quiz.

Ring Mill function room for hire.

OPEN

Monday–Thursday from 3pm Friday–Sunday from 12 noon

Friday from 5pm

Live Music, cricket and food.

Saturday & Sunday from 12pm Cricket, BBQs and pies.

Tickets get you one free pint, a commemorative glass, a wristband and festival programme.

Advance tickets are £5 for the entire weekend, available behind the bar or reserving by emailing penworthamcc@gmail.com and collected on the door.

Penwortham Cricket Club, Middleforth Green, Leyland Road, Penwortham PR1 9QE (behind Penwortham Sports and Social Club)

THE POTTERS ARMS

MILL LANE, COPPULL, CHORLEY, LANCS

Project2_Layout 1 18/01/2017 11:09 1 01257Page 470130

PR7 5AN

BROOK STREET, CHORLEY

THE PRINCE OF WALES

Thee Bs Doff Cocker Black Sheep Best Bitter

AT COWLING

+ Guest ales from local breweries

Don’t miss Tuesday: All cask ales £1.99 A real pub with darts, dominoes, and pool

9-11 Cowling Brow Chorley - PR6 0QE Tel: 01257 260815

8 REAL ALES - 4 CHANGING WEEKLY - 10% DISCOUNT FOR CAMRA MEMBERS - BEER FESTIVALS THREE TIMES A YEAR - LIVE MUSIC EVERY WEEKEND - DOG FRIENDLY AND BEER GARDEN

Stephen and Denise have been glad to welcome good beer lovers for over 25 years at the POTTERS.

FREE

Proud to sponsor Chorley Football Club

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

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23

South Ribble Scene

T

he MIDGE HALL has re-opened after a short period of closure, and now comes under the ownership of the Green Crab Pubs company, the people who run the Dolphin and the Rams Head in Longton, and outside our branch area the Village Inn at Tarleton. Indications are that this former Whittle Springs pub (see separate article) will be placing a strong emphasis on the food side, but that a choice of cask conditioned beers will still be available.

The SMITHY INN at Much Hoole is another pub that has re-opened this year after a period of closure. The pub has had numerous changes of licensee in recent years, and from February this year it has been re-launched as TH’OWD SMITHY INN. Involved in the venture is international motorbike road racer Darren Cooper who has gone into partnership with Dave Holt, the owner of the Holt Pub Company which also runs the Dunkirk Hall in Leyland and Ye Olde Hob Inn in Bamber Bridge. The Smithy now has four handpumps, with two or three Robinsons beers usually being available, as well as guest appearances of beers from local breweries like Bowland, Moorhouses, and Three Bs. In April there were celebrations that it is now 45 years since the large AB INBEV brewery at Samlesbury was first opened. Originally belonging to Whitbread, who already owned the former Duttons Brewery premises in Blackburn, in the run up there had been some opposition from local residents with the brewery being established on a green field site. Unfortunately, although it may now be 45 years old, it was only to brew real ale for a very short period of its existence, with CAMRA West Lancashire branch (as we then were) having a brewery trip to sample their cask-conditioned Whitbread Trophy as long ago as 1983.

In brewery size, at the other extreme local microbreweries Beer Brothers of Walmer Bridge, Bishop’s Crook of Penwortham, and Crankshafts of Leyland have all been actively looking at increasing their brewing capacity in recent months. The Beer Brothers people have been converting former office premises to re-locate their brewery from Walmer Bridge, the Bishop’s Crook people have been re-organising their brewing equipment to create more storage space, while the Crankshaft Brewery people have recently taken possession of an industrial unit which will give them the potential to more than quadruple their brewing capacity.

Two pubs that seem to be appearing regularly in this column are the ANCHOR at Hutton and the SIR TOM FINNEY on Central Drive in Penwortham. Both these pubs have had a troubled recent history,

and as such there has often been something to report about them even though it may not necessarily be good news. With this the situation, I thought it a good idea to pay a visit to these two pubs to find out whether things have now settled down.

I first called at the ANCHOR, which although a Greene King pub is now being run by pubco Inglenook Inns & Taverns of Darwen. As I have previously reported, on their website they describe themselves as a company which specialises in making a success out of ‘distressed sites with huge potential’. The pub has certainly benefited from recent tasteful refurbishments, and all being well will now be successful in its current guise as a traditional pub and eating establishment.

In the recent past I had often found there to be no real ale available, but now the beer situation is much improved, with up to four cask ales being available at any one time. When I visited there were two beers available, Belhaven 80 Shilling Ale and Hardy & Hansons Bitter, two well known beers from the past which are now produced

by Greene King.

From the Anchor it is a relatively short bike ride to the SIR TOM FINNEY, a pub that has had several changes of licensee in the past 18 months. On arrival I noticed that there is an ‘Under New Ownership’ banner prominently on display, but with so many changes having gone on, this may not necessarily have been put up by those currently in charge. The pub was given a thorough overhaul in 2016, and has been much improved with plush new carpeting etc. Unfortunately the timing of my visit was not good from a beer drinking point of view, with just one of the six handpumps in use. [Things are now even worse, with the pub being reported as closed for the fourth time in 15 months and Enterprise Inns once again looking for a licensee. Ed] Finally, a few words about Beer Festivals in the South Ribble area. Already this year we have had the LEYLAND BEER FESTIVAL held at the British Commercial Vehicle Museum, and the BAMBER BRIDGE FC BEER FESTIVAL. Although I missed the Leyland event, I can report that the Bamber Bridge beer festival was a great success, with South Ribble microbreweries Withnells and Crankshaft both having two beers on sale. Next up in the area is the WALMER BRIDGE BEER & BANGER FESTIVAL to be held June 16th to 18th.

GORDON SMALL

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50 not out

I

’m celebrating fifty years of drinking beer and occasionally spilling it.

I started when I was nearly sixteen and now I’m nearly sixty-six. Only Sixteen – Route 66. My first pint cost less than two shillings and was Masseys bitter in the Talbot in Burnley. Proper money – proper beer. Heaven!

The family home was a two up two down terraced house with no bathroom and an outside toilet. Ice on the inside of the bedroom windows in winter. Luxury!

There was never any alcohol in the house except at Christmas. My dad went to the local pub every night. Beer in a pub wasn’t much dearer than buying it from a shop.

The year was 4 BC – before CAMRA. England had recently won the World Cup. “They think it’s all over”. Then of course it nearly was – for Real Ale. Masseys was taken over by Bass Charrington and the beer became Brew 10 – “Brew 10 same again”. Need I say more.

The same thing happened all over the country.

Other changes were happening: • Joining the Common Market • Centigrade introduced • Decimalisation • Metrification. The only meters we knew were the ones you put a shilling in to get gas and electric.

What have I learned in fifty years?

Not too much.

Going into a pub recently, walking up to the bar, I realised that all I had on me was 95p.

I said to the landlord, “What can I get for 95p?”

He looked at me and said “Have you got a bus pass?”

“Yes”, I said, “I’ve got a bus pass”.

“Well”, he said, “You can get out of here and get the bus home”.

On the bus I got to thinking. Fifty years ago, 95p was a lot of money – nineteen shillings!

You could have a night out for that. Several pints of beer, fish and chips, three stone of monkey nuts, a tram ride home and still have a farthing change.

That’s progress.

Here’s to the next 50 years.

PAU L TAT E

THE

As featured in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2017

BOB INN CHORLEY

Voted Central Lancashire’s Pub of the Season Spring 2017

A family friendly micro-pub

serving real ales, ciders and Belgian beers

Opening Times: Monday to Saturday 10am until 6pm (excluding Wednesday) Chorley Market, Market Place, Chorley, PR7 1DA thebobinn

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

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25

Chorley Chatter

C

ontinuing the theme started in the previous issue of Ale Cry, let’s start this section by looking at three pubs that don’t often get a mention but are well worth a visit.

The PRINCE OF WALES on Cowling Brow is only about a 10 minute walk from Chorley station, but probably because it sits out on its own, it probably doesn’t get the visiting trade it deserves. From the outside it is an unassuming stone built pub but with a deceptively large interior.

It is fortunate that this pub has escaped the clutches of the pub design people and retains it’s original multi room layout. The entrance corridor has a door to the narrow public bar on the left and an opening on the right to a cosy snug. A comfortable lounge opens up beyond this and to the extreme left is the pool room, which can be accessed from both lounge and public bars. A spacious central bar area serves all rooms, with four hand pumps on the public bar side and a further four in the lounge. A total of eight beers from the extensive Marston’s range are available and these change regularly. There is a pleasant beer garden at the rear and the pub is dog friendly. There are beer

festivals three times a year where beers beyond the normal Marston’s range can be found and if all this wasn’t enough reason to pay a visit, there is also a 10% discount for CAMRA members.

Heading away from Chorley towards Rivington for a mile or so and you will find the BLACK HORSE at Limbrick on your left.

Parts of the cellar date from 997 AD and is believed to have been used as an inn around this time. It was originally licensed as a pub

Winners of Central Lancashire’s CAMRA Autumn 2014 pub of the season.

Privately owned free-house

The Crown Hotel

One of Chorley’s few genuine free houses with 5 hand pulled Real Ales & Ciders, usually including a mild, which are generally sourced from local micro brewers.

Wednesday evening quiz Football fans welcome for pre and post match refreshments.

CHAPEL STREET, CHORLEY

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in 1577, making it one of the oldest pubs in the country. It is built of local stone and has a warm and welcoming looking exterior on a sunny day. There is a more modern area around the bar while the rest of the interior has low ceilings, dark wood beams and open fires, giving it a rustic charm. The pub has a reputation for excellent food but the beer side is not neglected. There are now four hand pumps with Wychwood Hobgoblin and Lees MPA being regular beers, with the other two changing regularly.

Continuing on in the same direction, the next pub on the right is the BAY HORSE at Heath Charnock. Standing on the corner of Babylon Lane, which leads down to Adlington, this is a deceptively large pub with it’s own bowling green. The building is on multiple levels and has no less than 6 rooms in the pub area including a small tap

H

aving only reopened last November following a £1 million refurbishment, the GRILL AND GRAIN AT THE BOATYARD was seriously damaged by a major fire that ripped through the building just before lunchtime on April 19th. Fortunately nobody was injured, but damage to the property was severe. Thwaites have pledged to rebuild the pub although it could be at least a year before it reopens.

This is the second Chorley area pub to have been seriously damaged by fire this year, with the GEORGE in Chorley town centre being badly damaged in February – it is still closed.

The TOP LOCK closed towards the end of March, with long standing licensee Phil Entwistle moving on.

The pub has been taken over by the team from the Butlers Arms at Pleasington, and after extensive refurbishment work the doors finally re-opened on May 19th. The new look is very smart and has a wine bar feel, although 6 hand pumps on the bar will also cater for the beer drinker. The pub has reverted to Star Inns tied arrangement, but their newly agreed access

room at the front and a separate pool room.

Good value food is available and the pub even does accommodation. Being close to Rivington, it is popular with walkers (with and without dogs) and cyclists, all of whom

to the SIBA list will hopefully see an interesting selection in what has, for many years, been a cask ale Mecca. Food will be an important feature, but will not be available until approximately the middle of June.

Phil hasn’t actually moved very far, and was open at the RED LION in Wheelton the day after leaving the Top Lock. A few changes on the bar and once again there are nine handpumps – so expect the same beer range here as used to grace the Top Lock: Coniston Bluebird, Timothy Taylor (usually Landlord), changing mild and stout and five rotating bitters of varying strengths and colours.

In this round of musical chairs, Dan & Tracey Prince have left the Red Lion and opened a new pub venue in Chorley, in what used to be the Kitchen Theatre, next to Chorley Little Theatre. The EMPORIUM opened just before Easter and will serve up to 4 real ales. Being free of tie you can expect the unexpected – opening night had one on from DarkWave, and Bishop’s Crook have recently delivered there as

are made welcome. The four hand pumps serve Wainwright and Moorhouse’s Pride of Pendle plus two changing beers from the Punch list. A real cider is normally available as well.

ADRIAN SMITH In Eccleston, the Cockt’Alehouse has changed both owners and name. Now owned by Ryan Moss and Neil Marginson and run by Neil, it is called the GREENHAUS (seems that people round here have trouble spelling!)

well. Food will be a major feature here and there is a gin bar upstairs, so something for everyone.

Another new venue that should be open by the time you read this is LUCKY 8’S ROCK & BLUES BAR on Cheapside in Chorley. A former clothes shop this will sell a selection of cask and craft ales and also feature music – a bit different from the other small outlets that have recently opened.

Staying in Chorley, our branch chairman Dave Bell was rather busy on April 22nd, with not one but two presentations. Firstly we were at the BOB INN for the Spring Pub of the Season award.

Then we popped round to the SHEPHERDS’ HALL ALE HOUSE for the Cider Pub of the Year presentation. Despite only having been open less than 3 years, it has won all three branch awards; Pub of the Season, Pub of the Year and Cider Pub of the Year. It is the only pub in the branch area to have done this – quite an achievement.

In Heath Charnock, the CARDWELL ARMS was closed for a short while for a refurbishment. The new look interior is very pleasant with the addition of a large beer garden. The three hand pumps serve mainly beers from established brewers, with Wainwright, Doom Bar and Dizzy Blonde being on offer on a recent visit.

STOP PRESS We have just learnt that the MALT‘N’HOPS in Chorley has been voted Lancashire Branches Pub of the Year for 2017. Congratulations to John Grainger and his team – for details of the award presentation, please check our website.

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

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27

Emails to the editor I enjoyed reading about your recent pub crawl of Warrington in Ale Cry 113.

OBITUARY Your disappointment at the limited KURT SMITH Revitalisation........... variety of ales available might be easier to bear if it’s seen in a historic context.

I lived in Warrington from 1976 until 1979 and at the time it was the capital of “Greenall Whitley Land” in which the brewer of the insipidly-bland bottomfermented Greenall Whitley Mild and Bitter had a near-monopoly in the town.

Even when they bought Shipstones of Nottingham and the Wem Brewery, Greenalls wouldn’t allow their excellent beers to be introduced as guests. Indeed at the time there was only one pub in Warrington selling any real ale other than Greenalls: the Manx Arms (Tetley Mild & Bitter). It was a basic backstreet boozer, but a tiny isle of choice in a vast sea of Greenalls.

Warrington was so dreadful in so many ways, I even used to take my holidays in East Germany! The only consolation was easy access by rail to Liverpool, Wigan and Manchester. The “choice” of beers was so abysmal I’m amazed, looking back, that I didn’t sign the pledge!

Central Lancashire Branch

Issue 113 - Winter 2016

180,

000

Fighting for drinkers rights in the Heart of Lancashire since 1973

Kurt Smith died suddenly last month at the age of 58.

Kurt was Chorley’s leading light when it came to leisure and the licensed trade in particular. He was from a family with leisure in the blood and that experience shone through. .

I’ve known Kurt for nearly 40 years - since he opened the Weird Arms and Applejax night club. The Weird Arms was a breath of fresh air. Kurt and wife Andrea were ideal licensees for Chorley’s first fun pub. Applejax was the town’s first night club /dance hall since the Beachcomber and Odd Spot bit the dust some years earlier.

CAMRA members are being asked to take part in a third and final survey to help shape CAMRA’s future as results of the second consultation are revealed. Members are being given their final chance to have their say on proposals for CAMRA’s purpose and likely campaigning activities before the NEC this month.

Only 3% of the membership took part -‘a statistically robust, valid and representative view of the membership as a whole’ - (Really!??).

The cosy little club known as the NEC will present its ideas (for discussion only - not a final decision) at the Members Weekend in April.

The graphs below show a couple of second survey results. For more information about that survey and how to get involved in the third survey go to https://revitalisation.camra.org.uk/ or Emily Ryans on 01727 798447 emily.ryans@camra.co.uk Toad

Kurt’s relationship with ‘Big Steve’ helped make the Railway and Red Herring (Coppull) pubs worth visiting and the Railway remains one of Chorley’s premier music pubs.

When Kurt rescued the Rose and Crown and daughter Dani became licensee it was inevitable that the pub would thrive. From a CAMRA persective it was great that the Rose and Crown became a real ale pub once again.

RIP Kurt - you’ll be missed

Mick Clark

IN THIS ISSUE . . .

Page 2 - Editorial, Chairmans Welcome, Page 4 - North Korea, Drinking Culture Page 6 - Chorley Chatter Page 8 - South Ribble, Page 10 - New Bar, Better By Rail, Grill & Grain Page12 - Warrington, Page 14 - Mountain View, Melodious Mick, Page 16 - Micro Breweries, Page 18 - Third Eye, Pub of the Seasons, Page 20 - Preston Parade Page 22 - Branch Details Page 23 - Membership............................and much more

STOP PRESS . . . STOP PRESS . . . STOP PRESS . . . STOP PRES

Janet and Ben are working hard to have The Market Tavern in Chorley open during the week before Christmas Ed

Best regards, Mark Doran Oxford Ed: In the early days of CAMRA it was not uncommon to find an area dominated by a local brewery. The simple truth is that we are now very lucky with the wide selection of beers available across our branch area.

Congratulations on the new edition of “Ale Cry”!

As a fellow editor, I can see much collective thought and work has gone into the re-styling. I think it has paid off handsomely and Breeding provides an excellent read throughout.

Like Rabbits Three for Chorley and Quite rightly, `more on theyou way pay tribute to your predecessor, Mick Clark, who put his own unique and colourful stamp and personality on the magazine for such a long time, a true labour of love. You continue the tradition of providing splendid news coverage of Central Lancs, which has always been the envy of people like me.

But at last I can now put the shades away and give my eyeballs a rest - sorry, Mick !

Meantime, please keep up the good work.

Neil Pascoe Fylde Ale Editor Blackpool Fylde & Wyre Branch

In the 1970’s when I first joined CAMRA it was a much simpler world. The enemies were clearly identified as the Big Six, increasingly producing appallingly, but consistently average keg beers like Watney’s Red Barrel, Whitbread Tankard and Youngers Tartan. The real ale available in your local was just the brewer’s own bitter or mild, but worth fighting for nevertheless.

Now we have a situation of which none of us at that time would have dared to dream. In almost any town we can find an ale trail where maybe five, six or more pubs have between 5 and 10 handpumps serving a wonderful range of real ales of different styles and strengths often produced by microbreweries within a few miles of the pub. Afternoons out on ale trails are an important part of my retired social life.

Then we come to the craft ale issue. Alongside the real ales on the bar we now find several craft ales, not easily defined except that they are keg beers and certainly not real ale. So we have the choice and some craft ales are very drinkable. One of the more popular and relatively local brewers is Cloudwater of Manchester who until recently produced the house cask bitter for The Continental in Preston, and very good it was too. However, as many members will know Cloudwater announced in January that they would no longer be producing real ale. Paul Jones, the boss, explained articulately and persuasively the business rationale for his decision. He saw little sense in incurring all the labour costs associated with racking, handling and collecting casks all for insufficient profit margins.

It’s difficult to argue with his business logic although I suspect you would have heard much the same arguments in the Boardrooms of the Big Six in the 60’s and 70’s. The danger for real ale is that Cloudwater’s keg is not Red Barrel, but potentially a direct and credible competitor.

Meanwhile CAMRA nationally agonise about what we should campaign on and where; real ale, craft ale, real cider, real perry (!) in pubs and supermarkets etc. etc. Maybe my ageing brain is over simplifying things. While we disappear up our own fundaments over analysing anything and everything the world is moving on. How many more small breweries will ditch real ale before we take notice. We are the Campaign for REAL ALE, nothing more nothing less.

Yours sincerely, David Sherliker Ed: This has formed part of the discussions relating to the ‘Revitalisation Project’. Feedback suggests that the majority of members are in agreement with David on this one.

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Guild Ale House Lancaster Road - Preston

u Paulaner Münchner Hell u Paulaner Hefe-Weißbier u 7 Real Ales

including the legendary “Bishop’s Crook Two Screws”!!

u Bavo Belgian House Lager

u Brugse Zot u Lindemans Kriek

We also serve a wide range of bottled & canned beers om around the world.

No music & no TV “just a great atmosphere with a great crowd” Open 7 days a week from 12:00 noon

The Market Ale House

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

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Branch Diary Monday 5th June

Committee Meeting at Withy Arms, Leyland Saturday 17th June

Lancashire Branches Social. A pub crawl around Chorley starting at Malt‘n’Hops at noon. See website for more details Thursday 22nd June

Annual General meeting at Guild Ale House, Preston Saturday 1st July

Trip to Bowland & Ribble Valley Thursday 6th July

Ale Cry Distribution trip to Inglewhite/Goosnargh area.

Minibus from Preston (7.15) return for 10.45 Monday 10 July th

Committee meeting at Shepherds’ Hall Ale House, Chorley (7.30) Thursday 27th July

Branch Meeting and Pub of the Season Presentation at Princess Alice, Preston Saturday 5th August

Trip to (deepest) East Lancs Monday 7 August th

Committee Meeting at Ale Emporium, Preston Thursday 24th August

Branch Meeting at Gables, Leyland (7.30) Monday 11th September

Committee Meeting at Black Bull, Penwortham All meetings start at 8pm unless shown.

Trips – For further details and to book, contact Social Secretary.

Advertising

With a print run of 6,000 and magazines available in pubs and clubs across the area and beyond, an advert in Ale Cry is probably the best value targeted advertising around.

Advert prices Quarter page: £55 Half page: £95 Full page: £175 Back page: £195 (not currently available) For further details contact: editor@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Publication Dates

The next issue of Ale Cry will be published on 1st September 2017.

Copy deadline is 1st August 2017.

Trading Standards

For complaints about issues such as short measures, contact: Lancashire County Council Trading Standards County Hall, Pitt Street Preston, PR1 0LD. T: 0345 404 0506

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ISSUE 115 SUMMER 2017

CAMRA Discount Pubs All over the country, hundreds of pubs are offering a discount to card carrying CAMRA members. These pubs deserve your support and listed below are the ones in our branch area that we believe are offering a discount.

Adelphi, Preston

10%

Ancient Oak, Cottam

20p per pint, except Mon when discount is for all customers

Anderton Arms, Fulwood

20p per pint, except Mon when discount is for all customers

Bamber Bridge Football Club

20p per pint

Bay Horse, Euxton

10%

Black Bull, Fulwood

20p per pint, except Mon when discount is for all customers

Black Bull, Penwortham

20p per pint

Bob Inn, Chorley

20p per pint

Crown, Croston

20p per pint

Fleece, Penwortham

10%

Grey Friar, Preston

50p per pint using a Wetherspoon’s token

Horns, Goosnargh

50p per pint on Goosnargh Brewery beers

Lane Ends, Ashton

10%

Leyland Lion, Leyland

50p per pint using a Wetherspoon’s token

Nabs Head, Samlesbury

20p per pint

Old Black Bull, Preston

20p per pint off guest beers

Old Vic, Preston

50p per pint using a Wetherspoon’s token except Thu when real ale is discounted for all customers

Pear Tree, Penwortham

20p per pint

Plough, Grimsargh

20p per pint Sun-Tues, 10p per pint Wed-Sat

Poachers, Bamber Bridge

10%

Preston Grasshoppers RFC

10%

Prince of Wales, Cowling Brow, Chorley

10%

Prince Of Wales New Market Street, Chorley

10%

Roper Hall, Preston

10%

Sir Henry Tate, Chorley

50p per pint using a Wetherspoon’s token

Smiths Arms, Lea Town

20p per pint, 10p per half pint

Trades Hall Club & Institute, Bamber Bridge

10%

Twelve Tellers, Preston

50p per pint using a Wetherspoon’s token

Walton Fox, Bamber Bridge

20p per pint

Wellington, Ashton

Up to 25p per pint

Yates, Preston

10%

If you know of a pub offering a discount that is not listed here, or one is listed that no longer offers a discount, please let us know.

If you are a licensee and are interested in joining the scheme then please contact editor@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

TRADES HALL CLUB Bamber Bridge 3 Handpumps for real ale Other drinks at bargain prices inc. San Miguel and Warsteiner.

CAMRA members welcome.

(Discounted prices on production of valid membership card)

Membership available all year round.

154c Station Road, Bamber Bridge, Preston, Lancs. PR5 6TP http://www.trades-hall.co.uk

Acts on every Saturday.

Bingo every Wednesday and Saturday.

Join up, join in, join the campaign

S T E WA RT G R I E V E D E S I G N LT D

From as little as

Discover why we joined. camra.org.uk/ members

£25*

a year. That’s less than a pint a month!

GRAPHIC DESIGN FOR PRINT With more than 15 years experience I offer friendly graphic design services with a keen eye for detail. Designs ranging from flyers, brochures, catalogues, and books are all assured the same commitment and creativity, guaranteeing projects exceed expectations.

w w w.stewar tgrieve.co.uk stew@stewar tgrieve.co.uk 07761 335 847

Join us, and together we can protect the traditions of great British pubs and everything that goes with them.

Become part of the CAMRA community today – enjoy discounted entry to beer festivals and exclusive member offers. Learn about brewing and beer and join like-minded people supporting our campaigns to save pubs, clubs, your pint and more.

Join the campaign today at

www.camra.org.uk/joinup *Price for paying by Direct Debit and correct at April 2017. Concessionary rates available.

Please visit camra.org.uk/membership-rates

CAMRA Recruitment A5 Adverts final.indd 3

18/04/2017 12:09

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

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