Beer Around Ere 172 - Peterborough CAMRA

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Issue 172 | August / September 2013

Are you ready?

Also inside Pub News • PBF 2013 Preview Gigs Guide • Local Brewery Update and more!

Peterborough & District Branch of CAMRA | www.peterborough-camra.org.uk

Chairman’s Corner

Chairman’s Corner | 3

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hird week in August, Embankment, beer, cider, wine, food and loads of happy faces.

What’s this all about? Well unless you’ve been on the planet Venus for the last few years, it means the Peterborough Beer Festival has rolled into town. All details regarding the Festival are included in this issue of BAE. Application forms having been sent out to our members, the eager band of unpaid volunteers are awaiting the starting gun. Please note that we have introduced some changes to the staffing conditions this year and the deadline for registering applications is August 2nd.

It seems that CAMRA have upset the big cheese at pubco, Enterprise Inns. A survey conducted earlier this year by CAMRA found that more than half of lessees tied to buying beer from large national pub companies earn less than the minimum wage. Over 50 per cent earned less than £10,000 a year with only a minority making over £45,000. The higher earners were mainly those able to buy beer from any supplier. Boss of Enterprise, Ted Tuppen, was none too pleased that the survey presented by CAMRA and the All Party Parliamentary Save the Pub Group appeared ‘flawed, perhaps misrepresented information’. Well he would of course. He stated that “profit potential” of an Enterprise pub was £34,000 before taking into account the benefit of “free living accommodation”. He omitted to mention the fact that there was a huge gap between “average profit potential” and actual earnings.

Representations have been made to the government in order to implement a new code of practice and an adjudicator, to settle disputes between licensees and pub owners. This has come about because in spite of four official reports in a decade highlighting the problems faced by publicans, so called self -regulation was not working. The proposals are designed to ensure tied pubs are no worse off than free-of -tie

pubs and allow them to sell a guest beer. CAMRA says the reform was needed because the big pubcos had failed to deliver effective self-regulation.

We have read over the last year or so about the threat to one of Werrington’s popular community pubs. I refer to The Ploughman (or Werrington Central) as it’s also tagged. Giant supermarket Tesco wanted to flatten it so they can park a couple of their artic lorries overnight on the site.

They also appear to want the land currently occupied by The Boro Bar (formally The Boys Head) on Oundle Road Woodston, and turn it into one of their Tesco Express stores. Point 1; this application was kept very quiet from local residents.

Point 2; is there a need for another supermarket in that area when, only a couple of hundred yards down the same road there’s an extremely well run family store as big as any Tesco Express? In the other direction, less than a quarter of a mile sits another supermarket. Question. Why did our local council not object to this proposal? They obviously don’t care about the loss of yet another pub to the bulldozers!

So folks, start saving your pennies and come along to the PBF starting on Tuesday 20th August. Who knows it may be dry for a change!

See you there.

David Murray - Branch Chairman.

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Pub News Around ‘Ere

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t’s that time of year again, Beer Festival time!

But what to do when the Festival isn’t open?

How about visiting some of Peterborough’s fantastic real ale pubs. Here is a quick guide to a selected choice .

Charters, River Nene, PE1 1EH Closest Pub to the Festival open from midday.

Large beer garden if the weather is kind. 12 real ale Hand Pumps, normally 5 Oakham and 7 guest beers. 3 Ciders or Perry also available.

The Cherry Tree, Oundle Rd, PE2 9PB A fantastic community pub with a large beer garden and covered area. Well-known for supporting local music for decades. A very well kept pint of Timothy Taylor Landlord on permanently with a rotating selection of LocAles.

Food served lunchtimes.

Palmerston Arms, 82 Oundle Road, PE2 9PA Opening from 10am during the Festival. The pub will have 18 real ales to choose from. The Pubs’ Ukulele Band will be playing at the Beer Festival on Friday afternoon.

Coalheavers Arms, Park Street, PE2 9BH The Pub will open from 11am during the Festival.

8 real ales will be available with a split between Milton Beers and Guest Ales. Tom the Landlord has also announced the dates for the next Coalheavers Beer Festival which will be 19th – 22nd of September.

The Draper’s Arms, 29-31 Cowgate, PE1 1LZ and College Arms, 40 Broadway, PE1 1RS Wetherspoon pubs open from 9am to serve real ale and breakfast. A wide selection of ales available across both pubs. The Drapers is very handy for the Bus & Train Stations.

The Ostrich, 17 North Street, PE1 2RA The new Gold Award pub opens from 11am and has 5 real ales available mainly from LocAle brewwww.real-ale.org.uk

eries. Peterborough CAMRA members can get a discount on Ales, just ask behind the bar for details.

Hand & Heart, 12 Highbury Street, PE1 3BE A quick ride on the Citi 1 bus takes you to this real ale mecca! Opening at 11am on the Tuesday of the Beer Festival and normal hours for the remainder of the Festival. The date for the next Hand & Heart Beer and Music Festival has been announced and is from the 26th – 30th September, a must for your diary.

Other News In the last issue of BAE it was reported that the Lime Tree, Paston, had closed. This has now reopened under the stewardship of Pauline Klein & Mike Thomson. The Lime Tree is an Enterprise Inn pub and in the past has served no real ale.

The Office on Oundle Road, also reported closed in the last issue of BAE, has been bought

by Enterprise Inns. It is still unclear when the pub will reopen.

The Boy’s Head, also on Oundle Road, looks set never to be a pub again. Strong rumours and a report in the Peterborough Telegraph suggest that Tesco are planning to turn the pub into one of its Express stores.

The Shoulder of Mutton at Weldon continues to prosper. Landlords Bogdan and Rada (no, she’s not an actress) have been there now for six months and have converted the old back bar/games room into a smart new restaurant.

Four real ales on offer from Potbelly, Julian Church and other guest ales.

At Gretton there has been a change of licensee at the Bluebell. Former landlord Jim Caulfield sadly passed away late last year and until recently the pub has been run by regulars on a rota basis.

Pub News| 5

However Jim’s widow Barbara is now the landlady and a beachwear party to celebrate the grand reopening was held at the start of June. Three ales are on offer, all from the Greene King stable.

After a long period of closure the White Swan at Harringworth was due to reopen in mid-June.

Details are a little on the sketchy side but it looks as though an awful lot of money has been spent on this splendid old inn, set in the shadow of Britain’s longest viaduct. The Royal Oak in Walton has now been demolished.

The George Hotel, Whittlesey, held a ‘Meet the Brewer’ night on the 27th of June with the Brewer from Adnams talking about real ale.

Residents in West Town are campaigning to stop the transformation of the old Westwood Pub and turning it into shops and takeaways.

Neil Holmes - Pubs Officer Email: pubs-officer@real-ale.org.uk PLOUGHMAN SAVED !

Plans by Tesco to demolish The Ploughman pub in Werrington have been scrapped! The pub has been under threat for the last four years. Tesco made the decision not to proceed with their plans due to ‘economical factors’. Licensee of The Ploughman, Andy Simmonds was over the moon with the news and, can now look forward to continuing his good work in turning this pub into a true community venue for locals.

SOUTH LINCS NEWS Sharon and Jim Trevor of Jim’s Yard in Stamford and The Beehive in Peterborough have recently purchased the freehold of the Six Bells in Witham-on-the Hill, between Stamford and Bourne, from Punch. ‘It needs a little TLC, so won’t reopen until January at the earliest’ said Sharon. ‘It will be first and foremost a warm and welcoming pub, serving great local ales and a fairly simple menu. It will have a casual atmosphere and will include three letting rooms and an authentic wood burning oven’ she added. Business at the other two establishments will be unaffected.

The Bridge at Crowland reopened on June 29th. Currently offering two changing real ales, this could increase depending on demand.

Licencees Kev and Lez can be contacted on 01733

688232 or yeoldbridgeinn@hotmail.co.uk The Ruddy Duck at Peakirk hold their annual one-day beer and music festival on August 10th from 2pm. Bands include the Rocket Dogs, The Nuggets and DB5.

A fortnightly Folk music club has been introduced at the Tobie Norris in Stamford. The Sunday night events alternate between acoustic concerts and jam sessions The White Horse, Baston

The Five Horseshoes at Barholm have announced two summer ‘Groovy Foods’ barbecues, on Saturday August 17th (with music from Inside the Five Horseshoes, Barholm

Continued Overleaf www.real-ale.org.uk

6 | Pub News - continued

SOUTH LINCS NEWS - CONTINUED ‘Pennyless’) and Bank Holiday Monday, 26th (with ‘The Collaborators’).

The White Horse (formerly the Spinning Wheel) at Baston reopened as a freehouse on July 13th.

New owner Mark Richardson has installed five full time and several part-time staff, and hope to make it ‘a great British pub at the centre of the community’. Four real ales are available including two ‘LocAles’.

The Hare and Hounds at Greatford now offers an extensive lunchtime and evening food menu on a daily basis, including Sunday roasts. Don’t try to book a table though – owner Steve Rigby said ‘we’re a proper pub, not a restaurant. Just come along find table and order at the bar’. With an ever-evolving range of 7 real ales available, there’s no shortage of choice for something to wash it all down with.

The Grimsthorpe Festival to be held in the castle grounds on August Bank Holiday Monday

will include a beer festival concentrating on local micro-breweries. Commencing 10am, the event also features up to 100 bands on five stages, classic cars and a fly past by the memorial flight.

Music and bar starts at 11. There’s an £8 entry fee (£6 concessions, £4 kids) but parking is free.

RIP Section Batemans have been given planning permission to turn the Hit or Miss in Foundry Road, Stamford into a four-bedroom house, and build a further three houses on the car park.

North of Bourne, the long-closed Kings Head at Morton is to be demolished to make way for a supermarket. The building is situated within a conservation area but is not listed, and was seriously damaged in an arson attack several years ago. The developers have promised to design the new building in a style to ‘respect the history and character of the area’ Chris Shilling

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Wakey, Wakey!!

Coalies crew go north | 7

Coalies go to West Yorkshire (Again)

The Red Shed

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he latest instalment of The Coalheavers national quest to find beer heaven once again took us to West Yorkshire. This time it was Wakefield. I didn`t really know what to expect from Wakefield, my image of it was a place where they talk funny, love Tetley Bitter and play the wrong sort of rugby. I`m happy to say we were all very much taken with Wakefield. Great pubs, people and beer. It’s only £16 on the train and is only a 70 minute journey.

Pub number one was two miles out of Wakefield but it had been recommended so a quick taxi ride and we were at The Kings Arms in Heath. This is a great Ossett owned pub with eight beers on, four Ossetts, Tetley Bitter of course and three guests. The smallish bar is covered in oak panelling and there is a nice smell in the pub coming from the gas lighting that is still used here.

Pub number two was The Black Rock in central Wakefield. I liked this pub, a typical town centre boozer, but in a good way. The Good Beer Guide says they have three beers on but there were actually four, which was a bonus. Unfortunately the choice wasn`t great. Tetley, Adnams Bitter, Kelham Island Pale Rider and Oakham Bishop’s Farewell. They get everywhere don`t they ? This is a former Tetley house and anyone from up North

will tell you the Tetley around there is much better than anywhere else. To test this theory myself and Urch decided to try a pint, and do you know what? It was just as bland and boring as any other Tetley bitter I`ve had anywhere else. If you ever visit this pub, go while still fairly sober as the steps down to the gents toilet are really steep and there is even a danger sign at the top.

The next pub was possibly the best pub of the day. It was the Wakefield Labour Club, locally known as The Red Shed, and for obvious reasons. It is a large wooden shed and it is painted bright red. It looks quite big from outside but a third of it is cellar, kitchens and toilets, another third is the function room and the rest is the bar. A small bar yes but well armed with five beers only 1 of which I had come across before.

I would tell you what the others were but I lost my notes. Again. All I can remember is Geeves and Five Towns and all the beers were top notch.

The people in there were very friendly and the landlord came from behind the bar and had a long chat with us about beers and pubs locally and generally. One of the locals, slightly worse for wear was trying to direct us to a bar with 10 beers always on. He couldn`t remember what it was

Continued Overleaf www.real-ale.org.uk

8 | Coalies crew go north - continued

called but gave us directions and then he gave us the directions again and then again. So off we went and came across The Fernandes Brewery Tap. His directions were spot on all three times, though I didn`t have the heart to tell him that was our next destination anyway.

Kings Arms - Heath

The Fernendes Brewery Tap was excellent and had 10 beers on. There were four Fernandes beers on, a couple from Ossett, an Orkney, a Fullers and a couple more. You have to go up two flights of stairs to get to the bar which is quite dark with a wooden floor but is quite spacious and is adorned with old local pub signs, some of which were huge. The first floor of this pub was a lager and continental beers bar but didn’t open until the evening so we missed it.

Next stop was a quick walk to The Bull and Fairhouse. I`m sure the name has some historical meaning. This was an ok pub. There were not many people in so there was not much of an atmosphere but the beer was okay. This pub is the brewery tap for Great Heck Brewery. Not too sure what beers were on but there were four Great Heck beers, an Ossett and three other guest beers so a good selection really.

Next pub was Harry`s Bar, which doesn’t open until 4pm on a Saturday. We got there about five ish and it was packed. Luckily there was a nice courtyard so we sat outside and enjoyed beers such as Leeds, Ossett (again) Bobs Brewing Company and a couple of others. Can’t really say what it was like inside as there were so many people in there.

www.real-ale.org.uk

A short walk round the corner and we came to The Hop which is one of a small chain of pubs owned by Ossett. I think there was an Ossett beer in every pub we visited, but I`m not complaining. This looked quite old from outside but very new inside and was once again very busy with three Ossett beers and five guests. Yes, the guests out numbered the house beers. It’s a shame a lot more tied pubs can’t or won’t have more guest beers. Even half and half would be good.

Time to head to our last pub for the day, Henry Boons, brewery tap for Clarks Brewery and right next to the station. It is quite an old looking pub but quite nice inside with five or six beers on. I`ve never really been a fan of Clarks but I had one anyway. It was okay. Better than one of the guest beers a couple of our tour party had which was quite undrinkable but the pub is still definitely worth a visit if you are ever in Wakefield and is very convenient for the station.

One thing to remember when drinking in Yorkshire is that you are in sparkler country.

If you ask they will take it off but you will get comments such as “ Oh you must be Southerners” or even more sneeringly “ only if you really want a flat pint”. People’s views are divided on sparklers but I think they squeeze the life out of the beer and the taste. That was the only slight down to a great day in Wakey and we all said we would go back again.

Dave Botton

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12 Highbury Street, Millfield, Peterborough PE1 3BE 01733 564653

www.thehandandheart.com

Celebrating 75 years of trading, this backstreet local is a well kept secret just one mile from Peterborough City Centre! Citi One Stagecoach Bus stops on Lincoln Rd, just 200 yards from the pub.

The only pub within Cambridgeshire to be listed in CAMRA’s National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors.

Real Ale is our passion with five ales on tap and a micro brewery opening soon!

What’s On at ‘The Hand’

Tuesday 20th August the Peterborough Beer Fest 36 Opening 12 noon so visitors to can have a drink while waiting.

Monday 26th August Birthday Party, numerous Open 12 noon, and it’s Bram’s 55th (bands to be conf irmed) special beers & live music on offer mber Thursday 26th - Monday 30th Septe aid of Help 4 Heroes, In Fest ic Mus & Beer mn 4th Autu all new LocAle breweries) approx 75 beers & ciders (inc from every evening. n garde the in s band Live

Well maintained, family friendly garden.

Well behaved dogs and walkers welcome.

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Brewery News 10 | BLO Reports

Castor Ales Castor Ales thoroughly enjoyed hosting CAMRA’s Mighty Micros Tour on 1st June, supported by friends and family with entertainment provided by the brewery band Captain Backwash and the Barley Boys and Girl Rafter Raisers. It has been a busy time for the brewery following beer festivals at Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge. Castorware Mild featured for the first time at Bury St Edmunds and a new beer was brewed for the 40th Cambridge beer festival called Life Begins At…..!

Castor Ales also supported the Ploughman’s beer festival by brewing a special beer for the occasion called Hopping Toad. 10 pence per pint from the sales of this brew at the festival contributed to The Ploughman’s Kelly Simmonds Fund for the Respiratory Sleep Study Unit at Papworth Hospital. Over £4000 was raised, well done to everyone. The Castor Kyneburgha Festival will be featuring Castor Ales over the weekend of 12th /13th July and we are all looking forward the 36th Peterborough Beer Festival.

Oakham Ales Oakham Ales will be celebrating 20 years in the business on the 13th September yes 20 years since John Wood unleashed his liquid delights upon us. Things have changed dramatically since then, the size of the operation unimaginable from those days. A full feature on the 20 years will appear in BAE later in the year.

Amongst other snippets from the brewery Citra was voted Champion Beer at the recent Rail Ale Festival at Barrow Hill Roundhouse near Chesterfield whilst Eugene's Lair picked up a silver at the Nuneaton Beer Festival.

Endless Summer at 3.4% abv is now available till September & Brigand at 5% will be the next Oakadamy beer. Green Jack the latest guest Oakadamy brewery has come up with Peach Wheat at 3.9% abv, this will be followed by Gilbert’s Fridge at 4.1% abv in September. www.real-ale.org.uk

Sales of Oaple the draught cider have gone remarkably well with half the total stock sold in just five weeks. A visit to the brewery for local CAMRA members & associates is booked in for Saturday 26th October with full details of time & numbers in the next issue of BAE. Blue Bell The brewery is doing well at the moment and is gaining sales in the private market for weddings and parties. Emma has been looking to increase her cask beer sales and has been looking to expand sales to the Stamford and Bourne area.

Bottle-conditioned beer sales are still very healthy especially in the Lincoln Co-op branches. Emma has done a tasting at their Long Sutton store.

Emma has recently bottled some Ingle Dingle on a trial basis.

Elgoods The current seasonal beer is Easy Spider and will be replaced next month by Prawn Free at 3.7%, Double Dog at 6.5% is being bottled as is a version of Double Dog with Port added. The keg Irish stout trialled in Peterborough was deemed a success and is now on sale in a further eight Elgoods tenancies. The bulk of the initial order was for export.

The keg wheat beer with added apple juice that we tried during the recent branch visit to the brewery is going on trial in a free trade pub in Northampton called the Wig and Pen. At the moment there is no further news on the Lambic style beers currently under development.

Tydd Steam Will is currently developing a recipe for the PBF special but it is likely to be around 5% and will contain honey. White Rabbit is being brewed for the third time and this will see donations to Breast Cancer Care exceed a thousand pounds.

The beer will not be brewed in the near future as Will has exhausted his supply of Eldorado

BLO Reports | 11

hops with this batch and will have to wait till next years harvest before he can buy any more. Sales are still very strong with the beers generally selling out within a couple of weeks of brewing Bexar County Brewery The brewery has continued to make its presence known both locally and further afield. The brewery is now producing beers both on the full sized plant and the much smaller experimental kit allowing for a wide range of beers to be created.

This use of the smaller plant has enabled the brewery to create suitably smaller quantities for local pubs and festivals.

A recent arrangement with Liberty Beer of London secured the availability of 18 firkins to the specialist beer market within the capital. Further arrangements may follow. A similar amount has been shipped to a specialist pub in London SW2.

The number of beers is increasing and recent creations have so far included:No Tengo Leche (I don’t have milk). A 5.8% milk stout. Negra Como tu Corazon (Black like your heart). 5.8%. Humo y Feugo (Smoke & Fire) a 3.9% ale dry ‘hopped’ with Lapsang Souchong tea and Vanilla Coffee Mild at 3.9% which contains coffee and Tonka beans.

Bexar County was fortunate enough to have four beers at the recent Cambridge Beer Festival with another four different ales on tap at the Maypole pub which was situated next door to the festival. Other beer festivals to take the beers have included Newark, Just Beer Micropub in Newark, Green Man in Grantchester and the Dragon pub festival in Werrington. Comments towards the beers have been entirely positive and they have been well received.

Future beer festivals to take the beers will include the Ploughman in Werrington, Ely and the Peterborough Beer Festival in August which will have five beers available.

There have been collaborations with Hand Drawn Monkey in Huddersfield where two beers were produced in two days with recipes’ coming from Bexar and HDM. The first beer to be produced and released to the wild was named 123.45 which is an indication of the ’bittering units’ attained in the brew. The second is currently being matured over pine needles and yarrow in an oak cask in Huddersfield! It will be a 6.8% beer.

The brewery has played host to a number of visiting parties including ESP Magazine, ‘Pints & Pubs’ the internet bloggers, The Cambridge University Real Ale Society and the Gruftons (a group of local beer enthusiasts) who helped in the brewing of a festival special for the Peterborough Beer Festival. www.real-ale.org.uk

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Falcon swoops on Southwold Solstice Trip to the East | 13

around the world. The ales are brewed with the original Lacons yeast which has been preserved in the National Yeast Bank for many decades. Three distinct ales have been brewed to create their permanent range, these are Encore 3.8%, Legacy 4.4% and Affinity 4.8%.

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he annual solstice trip to Southwold consisted of the usual CAMRA members and so with a barrel of Broadside kindly donated by Adnams, we settled down for a week of excellent Adnams Ales and donated our beer money to the RNLI. One evening in the campsite, the discussion arose of a potential brewery trip to Lacons in Great Yarmouth. After our chairman had attended the recent opening ceremony for Lacons, Will Wood (formerly of Oakham) offered the solstice campers a brewery trip. Hands quickly went up to see who would be interested in a trip to Great Yarmouth to frequent the brewery.

The following day the whole of the Solstice campers invaded the brewery. Members turned up by car, bus pass & one intrepid cyclist did the 30 miles to Great Yarmouth on his pushbike.

On arrival, Will presented us with a choice of two of his beers. Encore 3.8% and Legacy 4.4%. Both very quaffable.

After an absence of 45 years, Lacons brewery has returned home to Great Yarmouth. Over 250 years of rich brewing history has been combined with the expertise of acclaimed, multi award winning brewer Will Wood to create a contemporary range of fine craft ales. Will has crafted a range of ales from the highest quality ingredients sourced from

The refurbishment of the brewery had been carried out to an excellent standard with a Brewery Tap which was mainly being used for functions, museum, visitor centre and a courtyard area with benches where you can to enjoy a pint.

Within the confines of the courtyard lies a visitor centre that embraces the unique story of Lacons through the centuries. Along with a museum which houses an extensive range of artefacts and memorabilia. The collection maps the rich journey from the establishment of Lacons in 1760 in Great Yarmouth’s medieval rows, through to its successful move into a purpose built brewery that had foundations laid in June 1895.

On discussion with Will he is in the process of creating a special brew for the Peterborough Beer Festival.

Definitely a recommendation for anyone in the Suffolk area, an excellent pint! Thanks again to Will and all at Lacons brewery.

Kevin & Jackie Fordham

T

he LocAle scheme is a successful initiative

by CAMRA to highlight pubs serving locally brewed ales. The Peterborough & District branch of CAMRA also likes to highlight the brewers of these fine local ales and we do this by running our Mighty Micros trips.

In total, 39 CAMRA members departed from the Brewery Tap, Peterborough at 11am and headed for our first visit to Castor Ales in the eponymous village. Duncan Vessey, the owner and brewer had already prompted the Social Secretary to give an advance order for the complimentary beers and this was phoned through en route! This high level of organisation continued on arrival where we were all greeted with pints of Roman Gold and the new and excellent mild, Castorware. The beers were splendid as was the welcome from Duncan and his wife Gillian. More was to come as they had organised bacon and sausage rolls for us all served by a very friendly team. Also we were fortunate to have Captain Backwash to entertain us with traditional folk music.

Gillian is a member of Captain Backwash and the music proved to be a perfect background to a wonderful visit. We all stayed in the back garden mingling with some of the villagers and enjoying the rare English sunshine, fine food and tasty beer while Duncan showed small groups around

his tiny but perfectly formed brewery. The visit was almost reminiscent of a traditional Country Fayre and was greatly enjoyed by all. Castor Ales may be small but the welcome we received was very big indeed.

We then re-joined the coach for a pleasant drive over the Northamptonshire border to Oundle and the next visit. Due to increasing demand, Digfield Ales have recently re-located to bigger premises on the outskirts of Oundle and we were met there

by Mike Cohrs and Paul Waring. Firstly we were shown to three casks in the store room and encouraged to try samples of Fools Nook, March Hare and Shacklebush. The beers were all in excellent form and it is easy to see why demand for Digfield beers is so high. Paul then proudly showed us around the new brewery kit and gave an entertaining talk on how the Digfield beers are produced. Finally we were treated to French bread and cheese and pickles etc. This was a perfect accompaniment to the beers of which there was a very generous supply! Mike and Paul then made sure we all took away a brewery glass as a souvenir of the visit. This was a gesture that was in keeping with the welcome that we received, and that was much appreciated by everyone.

Finally we took a short drive to the last of our brewery visits. Nene Valley Brewery are situated on the main road into Oundle and are found in a very smartly renovated building. Here we were

Micro Breweries Trip | 15

met by one of the owners and brewer Dick Simpson. Dick sensed that we did not need another talk on the production of beer and after making sure that we all had a pint in hand he gave a very informative talk on the brewery's recent history and its ethos. Dick also highlighted the ambitious plans for the site. Dick and his team are determined to embrace the community of Oundle and along with fellow brewers Digfield, are very proud to have brought brewing back to what was once a major brewing town. This local pride is apparent in the amount of visitors from the town and surrounding area coming to buy beer in either bottled or mini keg formats. This gave Dick a bit of a headache when we all turned up as the brewery had sold a lot more beer than anticipated that day limiting his choices for us. However Dick and his team of fellow business partner David Burnett and Sales Director Jacky Rees worked very hard to supply us with excellent samples of BSA, DXB, and MLD. Finally the link with Oundles brewing past was shown clearly when Jim Irving, former Head Brewer of Smiths of Oundle ( Closed in the 1960’s) visited. Jim is a very young ninety seven and a fascinating person to talk to as

Karl our Press Officer found out. The brewery have even named a beer JIP or Jim Irving Pale after him. It was then back to Peterborough after a very successful trip.

Whilst pubs nationally seem to be in serious decline, local breweries are bucking this trend and achieving growth. This shows a real preference amongst drinkers for locally produced beers.

Mighty Micros Two proved that our local brewers are in very good health and producing some fine ales. The continued growth in local brewing will be further highlighted with Mighty Micros Three which will be held sometime in the not too distant future.

From a personal point of view I would like to publically thank everyone from the breweries involved for their help and generosity on the day.

I am sure everyone on the trip had a superb time and I believe that my goal of helping branch members to gain a better insight into the production of their local beers was achieved.

John Hunt, Social Secretary

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

FOUR Real Ales available including Oakham Inferno, Timothy Tayor Landlord and two changing guest ales.

OPEN ALL DAY EVERYDAY Traditional Meals Served Mon - Thurs and Sundays Private Function room holds up to 40 people Ideal for small meetings, weddings and parties Covered Smoking Area AMPLE PARKING • CAMRA GOLD AWARD

www.cherrytree-inn.co.uk

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P

GO Ceterb W LD AMR orou IN AW A gh NE A R RD 20 13 Real traditional ale house in the heart of the city

5 Regularly Rotating Ales Opening Times :- Sunday to Thursday 12noon - 11pm Friday to Saturday 11am - 1.30am

Live Music Fridays and Saturdays ring or check facebook for details!

North Street, behind Westgate House, Peterborough Tel: 01733 746370 www.facebook.com/ostrichinn www.real-ale.org.uk

IN THE CAMRA GOOD BEER GUIDE 2013

Summer Evening at Elgoods Brewery Visit | 17

After something of a “round the houses” trip en route from Peterborough to Wisbech the branch members who endured the minibus ride were glad of the first pint on arrival. On the pumps were Black Dog, Cambridge and new offering Hound of Music - clearly the canine naming convention is starting to bite. A new addition was also available in the form of Easy Spider which looked pale, hoppy and very on trend.

The invitation to have a look around the brewhouse was eagerly taken up by at least half of the contingent. With Alan being in charge of brewing at Elgoods for over twenty years it’s always worth the guided tour with the master brewer. Even after previous visits you always seem to discover something new, whether it’s about the brewing process itself or just the history and workings of the place.

As we wandered back to the bar it was time for the poignant moment of the trip. This was of course going to be the last occasion that Elgoods veteran Paul Marshall would prepare his famous BBQ. It was indeed sad: we will miss all the jokes about burnt offerings and food poisoning (mostly courtesy of Alan!). However, on this, the final day of catering for Peterborough CAMRA, Paul again did us proud and we are all extremely grateful for the hospitality shown over the years. So, Paul, if you are reading – “three cheers” – and we sincerely hope you enjoy your well deserved time off.

The evening was suitably rounded off by a few surprises which Alan had alluded to earlier. First on was the Black Eagle Imperial Stout. This is a great beer and needless to say the large oversized jugs didn’t last long. Second up was the extra strong version of Black Dog known as “Double Dog”. Strictly speaking it’s not quite double the

strength but not far off and for me it was the beer of the evening.

To finish we were presented with two experimental and unfinished beers. If memory serves me right (and it was starting to haze by now!) the first was an apple wheat beer which was drinkable but a little too sweet to imbibe in large quantities.

The second one was a Belgian lambic style beer which could best be described as a work in progress. Although both beers weren’t to everyone’s tastes it is interesting to see Elgoods starting to develop new styles as they’ve seen the evolution of the beer consumer.

After a few words of thanks from John Hunt, social secretary of Peterborough CAMRA, it was back off to Peterborough on a slightly less convoluted route home. All in all another enjoyable social and its not hard to see why the Elgoods events are always a popular feature in the CAMRA diary.

The Prince of Wales Feathers

Karl Simpson - Press Officer

Castor, Peterborough Tel: 01733 380222

© Mick Slaughter 2009

F

riday 28th June saw the annual trip to Elgoods Brewery in Wisbech and as usual this popular event was fully booked. Hosted by head brewer Alan Pateman the team at Elgoods once again made us feel very welcome with both the beer and the BBQ to look forward too.

Award winning village local in historic Castor.

Close to the Nene Valley Railway & Ferry Meadows

Serves 6 guest ales & craft beer. Walker & dog friendly.

Home cooked food lunchtime & midweek evenings

HOME OF CASTOR ALES

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between. This year we have introduced two draught beers on this bar as a trial. Something for every taste!

WHAT’S THE LINE-UP IN TERMS OF LIVE MUSIC?

Yes, it’s that time of year again; one of the most anticipated events in the Peterborough calendar will be appearing on an Embankment near you in a few short weeks. On the following pages you will find all the information you will need to plan your visit. We have loads of fantastic live acts for your entertainment while trying one (or three) of the 350 draught real ales on offer, see pages 22-23 for the full line up. For those of you yet to be converted to fine ale, we also have a fantastic range of ciders, perries, wines and soft drinks. Read on and get excited!

Entry at lunchtime sessions is only one pound and is free to CAMRA members (with card proof of membership). Afternoon / Evenings (from 5.30pm) are £4 or £5 depending on the day and only £2 for CAMRA members.

On Friday and Saturday when we have all day opening it won’t cost you any extra to stay in if you arrived during the lunchtime sessions.

SO WHAT’S ON OFFER?

The full lists won’t be published until towards the end of July however, as a festival, we sell around 350+ real ales, 150+ world bottled beers, over 80 different ciders and perries and 35 different English wines each year.

A lot of the specialty beers are within the bottled/world beers bar. Here you will find all manner of ever popular fruit beers such as cherry, strawberry, banana, honey and even chocolate. There are many styles of bottled beers here from wheat beer, Trappist, Lambic to more traditional lagers and everything in

We will be having live music every night of the week and there will be a wide variety. The showstopper is always the Saturday headliner which this year is the return of Think Floyd.

Full details of all the bands can be found on the next few pages or on the website at www.beerfest.org.uk

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR PEOPLE TO SUPPORT CAMRA?

The beer festival is organised and run by unpaid CAMRA volunteers who all share passion not just for real ale & ciders, but also the pubs where people can socialise and drink in a responsible and friendly environment.

Real ale has had something of a revival in recent years, with a huge number of small micro-breweries emerging; giving drinkers the choice and variety they want. However, this success story is in contrast to the steep decline in public houses which have been hit hard for many years by repeated hikes in alcohol duty, competition from supermarkets selling below cost and unfair pub company tenancy agreements to name but a few factors. With fewer pubs to sell brewers’ products, there is a danger that real ale could decline again as once they are gone, they are usually lost forever. So, we’re urging people to support CAMRA in their fight to save the British public house.

Anyone who isn’t a member could help simply by filling in the form at the Membership stand.

WHAT BENEFITS DO PEOPLE GET FROM JOINING CAMRA?

As well as reduced or free entry to over 160 UK beer festivals, members also get £20 worth of JD Wetherspoon vouchers, an exclusive members’ newspaper and a quarterly “Beer” magazine, discounts off top leisure deals and more. Several local pubs offer a discount to CAMRA members. Full details can be found at http://www.camra.org.uk /benefits

HAVE YOU FOUND AN INCREASE OR DECREASE IN MEMBERSHIP?

The total UK membership now stands at over 141,000 members. Peterborough is one of the largest branches in the UK with an average membership of around 3,000. This is partly due to the large geography of the branch area and also because a lot of people join at the festival for the reduced entry prices. Although we love saving people money we’d also like people to use their membership positively by raising the awareness of what is going on in the pub trade in their local areas.

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Your local branch will more than likely run socials and brewery trips throughout the year which provide a great opportunities to sample new beers that you just might not encounter that often in your local.

IS

REAL ALE BECOMING TRENDIER AMONGST YOUNG PEOPLE?

Absolutely! According to the Cask Ale Report for 2011/2012 there are about 1.6 million regular cask ale drinkers under the age of 35 with the number under the age of 25 growing year on year. Far from being the stereotypical “old man’s drink” it could now be described as having an element of “retrocool” about it. In addition out of 7.8 million regular cask ale drinkers 1 in 6 is female.

This number has doubled in recent years.

In honour of the landlord's forthcoming ‘significant’ birthday and SouthYorkshire heritage

PRESENTS OUR

Our usual range of NINE hand pulled beers will be supplemented with TEN EXTRA ALES with a careful selection from the SHEFFIELD area

So if the likes of ABBEYDALE, KELHAM ISLAND, THORNBRIDGE etc...strike a chord, come along and enjoy! ~

£3 a pint all weekend ~

BBQ on both days ~

Opening Hours Saturday 1-11pm & Sunday 12-11pm High Street, Maxey, Peterborough PE6 9EE Tel: 01778 348182

The Blue Bell Maxey

BOTTLED BEERS The popular bottled beer bar will be selling an extended range of traditionally made bottled beers from around the world.

SOFT DRINKS

BEERS We will be serving more than 350 draught real ales including favourites, beers from very small micros, many from new breweries, some produced specially for the festival and beers from our LocAle breweries.

Almost all of the beers will be served by gravity – straight from the cask. Our aim is always to have every beer ready and available from the opening session – we do not hold any beers back. As always we will be serving beers of many styles including milds, bitters, porters, stouts, speciality flavoured beers and a few real lagers.

GLASSES

Commemorative half-pint and pint sleeve glasses and half pint tankards bearing the festival logo will be available and all will be oversized so that we can guarantee that you get a full measure when the glasses are filled to the line. Festival wine and bottle glasses will also be available at the same price.

CIDER & PERRY

The cider bar is with us, as always, serving one of the best selections of traditional cider and perry to be found anywhere.

WINE BAR

The wine bar will be selling traditional country wines and still and sparkling grape wines from English vineyards.

Our soft drinks bar, the Escape Bar, will be selling a range of soft drinks, non-alcoholic beer, crisps, ice cream, sweets and cigarettes. We will also be selling children’s drinks at a mere 50p.

FOOD

There will be a wide selection of foods available including German sausages, French crepes, pizza, fish and chips, hog roast, doughnuts, toasties, oriental, biltong, olives, burgers, bacon rolls, pasta, hot dogs, Cornish pasties, pittas, pork pies, waffles, fruit smoothies, tea & coffee.

THE WORKERS

The Festival is organised and run by members of CAMRA who are all unpaid volunteers. We always need more help so why not give us a few hours of your time if you are a member. See the website for more details on how to register.

CHILDREN AT THE FESTIVAL

Children, accompanied by a responsible adult, are free. Lunchtime or early evening is the ideal time to bring the family, as there is always an easy going, friendly atmosphere. You can bring the dog (on a lead), the picnic table, food and soft drinks but you must not bring your own alcohol.

VENUE

The 36th Peterborough CAMRA Beer Festival will be held in massive marquees on the River Embankment, Bishops Road, Peterborough PE1 1EF and as it proved popular in 2012 we are retaining the traditional horseshoe layout. The site is only a few minutes walk from the city centre, bus, rail and coach stations. A taxi rank will be provided to enable you to get home without driving. Beer festivals and cars don’t mix.

Wednesday 21st August 12 - 2.30pm £1 5.30 - 11pm £4 Thursday 22nd August 12 - 2.30pm £1 5.30 - 11pm £5 Friday 23rd August 12 - 3pm £1 3 - 11pm £5 Saturday 24th August 12 - 3pm £1 3 - 11pm £5 CAMRA MEMBERS Early sessions FREE, Late sessions £2

Open All Day Friday and Saturday.

No additional admission cost if you stay beyond the early session times.

OTHER STALLS On site you will find tombola, pub games, our lunchtime pub quiz, the CAMRA shop, a T-shirt stand, beer and brewing books, glass engraving and the RNLI will be at the front gate asking for your small change. This year we welcome back Tipplefair.

If you’re interested in beermats, pump clips, glasses, pewter, brewery playing cards or any other memorabilia related to the ‘Trade’ then come along on Saturday between 12 – 5pm for a pleasant afternoon browsing.

DISABLED ACCESS

The site is on one level on grass and disabled toilets are provided at the front and back of the site.

Wheelchairs can be sourced but we do need advance warning – please call 01733 896555. Taxis and cars carrying disabled passengers are permitted to cross the Embankment and drop off at the festival entrance.

CAMRA MEMBERS CAMRA members get FREE entry to the festival for all of the early sessions and reduced entry prices at all evening sessions. There are many other benefits too including free or reduced entry to over 160 beer festivals throughout the UK. To find out more or to join online visit www.camra.org.uk/benefits

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Tuesday 20th August 5.30 - 11pm £4

If you’re not a member you can also join or find out more at our membership and information area or simply have a chat about what we do, ask about beer, pubs, brewing, etc

CONTACT INFORMATION GET IN TOUCH: 01733 896555 info@beer-fest.org.uk FOR FURTHER INFO: www.beer-fest.org.uk @BoroBeerFest

BANDS LIST instruments at their local infant school and have somewhat progressed since then.

Open Mic

TUESDAY 20th AUGUST 7.30pm to 10.45pm

A great new experience for Peterborough Beer Festival with an Open Mic night hosted by Stacey offering an opportunity for ALL to show off their abilities on the Festival Main Stage. If you wish to contact Stacey, please e-mail to vocalsoulmate@hotmail.co.uk

Mojo Triangle

Wednesday 21st August 8.15pm to 9.15pm and 9.45pm to 10.45pm A bunch of musicians from the Cambridge areas who just love to play great, honest blues and rock music. The name Mojo Triangle came from an old saying that "all the best music came from a mojo triangle between New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville". Well that spirit has been transported to the deep Ouse Valley delta! Originally meeting at the Willingham Jam Club, their interpretation of classic blues and rock goes down a treat. www.mojotriangle.co.uk

The Librarians Thursday 22nd August 7.30pm to 9.00pm

The Librarians are three brothers, born to a village idiot and his horse. They began playing

Children of the Revolution 9.15pm to 10.45pm

One of the busiest and most successful cover bands working in the UK today, currently playing an average of 110 gigs a year covering all four corners of the country. A massively popular choice for weddings and functions, COTR also have a dedicated fan base in their hometown of Peterborough that comes from almost a decade on the local scene. Their repertoire is expansive, covering the likes of The Who, Elvis, Foo Fighters, Fleetwood Mac and even a Dolly Parton track to name but a few.

Always an energetic, entertaining and exciting show. www.childrenoftherev.com

Peterborough Ukulele Band

Friday 23rd August Expected on stage from about 4.00pm

This is a bunch of guys and gals from the Palmerston Arms who just formed up for a bit of fun. Got to be worth a listen.

The Mistreated created such a positive reaction following their Saturday afternoon set last year that we just had to have them back for an evening slot. They are a four-piece classic rock covers band based in Cambridgeshire. Fronted by the powerful vocals of Doc, The Mistreated present well-known rock songs from the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s to the present day, delivering the highest standard of musicianship, but with a strong emphasis on entertainment.

Come early and support this great band performing a diverse range of tunes from the likes of Thin Lizzy, Muse, Van Halen, Ozzy, AC/ DC, The Cult, Whitesnake and many, many more. www.themistreated.co.uk

Hooker

Boilersuit... you’re guaranteed something for everyone in a Hooker performance!! www.hooker-uk

Saturday 24th August 7.00pm to 8.00pm

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The Mistreated 7.30pm to 9.00pm

Brotherhoods Roundabout

Brotherhoods Roundabout contains some premier members of the Peterborough music community; parts of bands such as "The Motivators", "Citizen Smith", "Canada", "0898" & "The Junk Puppets". Chris Allen, Keyboards. Ken Norman, Bass. John Haire, Guitar. Steve Dunmore, Drums. Colin Smith, Vocals. Their reputation is founded on playing at the progressive end of the rock spectrum, songs that many other bands simply don't attempt, whilst still aiming for a little bit of radio friendliness so you know there will always be some tunes you recognise.

Think Floyd

9.15pm to 10.45pm

8.30pm to 9.30pm and 9.45pm to 10.45pm

Hooker are a locally based, 5 piece rock covers band and are one of Peterborough’s longest established bands, celebrating 20 years together this year. Formed in 1993, they have played their energetic, entertaining brand of rock classics all over the area and beyond. They have established themselves as a regular feature at the prestigious British Motorcycle Federation (BMF) events up and down the country. Hooker last played here at the Peterborough Beer Festival on a memorable Friday night 6 years ago, when they shared the stage with another of Peterborough’s finest… Aladdinsane.

This extraordinary band, dubbed The Definitive Pink Floyd Experience, is renowned for its stunning celebration of one of the world’s greatest musical phenomena.

Now in their 20th year, the incredibly talented musicians who make up Think Floyd have managed to faithfully recreate all the atmosphere, visual magnitude and musical excellence of Pink Floyd live on stage. It’s no wonder they have long been regarded as The UK’s finest tribute to Pink Floyd.

The new Think Floyd production for 2013 celebrates the 40th anniversary of one of the most inf luential albums of all time: Dark Side of the Moon. Think Floyd will be featuring a selection of tracks from this as well as the whole range of Classic Pink Floyd including The Wall, Animals, Wish You Were Here, Meddle, The Division Bell and more.

This is a must- see for all Pink Floyd fans!

Consisting of “Forever young” Rob on the drums & vocals, “Lightning fingered” Steve on guitar, “Infinitely versatile” Sean on the bass & vocals, “Mr. Charisma” Pasky on the keyboards, and “Madder than a box of frogs” front man Trev, in his trademark Orange

26 | Brewing at Bexar

The Gruftons brew at Bexar!

I

t started as a casual conversation along the lines of “When you are up and running Steve?

Can the Gruftons ( a motley crew of real ale fans from the Letter B in Whittlesey) come over for a Brewery trip?”

When reminded of this some time later Steve said to Neil Holmes (our CAMRA Pubs Officer) “Why don’t you come along and brew a beer? It can be whatever you wish to brew!” Now here was a challenge as those who know the Bexar County offerings will be used to very strong dark beers with a hint of chillies, cherries and anything else that takes his fancy at the time!

We decided to take Steve well out of his comfort zone and brew a light hoppy beer and would look for a strength of around 4.4% The plan was to use a variety of hops with the main one being Simcoe. We have liked this hop ever since we “persuaded” JC to buy a bottle brewed with Simcoe at the Cambridge Winter Fest a few years back but we neglected to tell him it was £8 a bottle till we gave him his change!

over the next hour in accordance with Steve’s recipe. He left us very much to do this stage to ourselves with the proviso that we write everything down so that if he ever needed to repeat the brew (really?) he knew what went on. Again another period of inactivity which we used to have an impromptu BBQ until it was time to transfer the brew to the fermenter. This was washed over more Simcoe cops to give it that final hoppiness!!!

Once transferred it was in with the yeast! And now wait for 10 days or so to see how it comes out. By the time you read this it will have been on sale and the general public will have tasted the result of our efforts! We did a quick calculation at the end and reckon it will come out around 5% so at least Steve can take some satisfaction from that!

The great day dawned and four Gruftons arrived bang on 8 in the morning at Bexar County Brewery. First job was to get the liquor at the correct temperature to begin the mash. We were using mainly a light Lager malt to give us the colour we required but also added a bit of wheat.

This was then mashed for an hour until it looked like a big bowl of porridge. In the meantime we discussed what to do next over a beer!

Once this was completed it was time for hops, hops and more hops! These were gradually added www.real-ale.org.uk

The jolly brewers after their hard days work!!

gh ou ival Y r o t rb es R ite te r F NTebs e P ee E n w B EE s o il FR ta

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de

Open 10am - midnight all week Cheese boards and lite snacks available

QUIZ NIGHT Every Sunday from 7.30pm Cash jackpot and a gallon of ale!

Like our facebook page for events and offers

LIVE BAND ON SAT 24TH See Facebook for details

UKELELE SESSIONS Every second Thursday from 7.30pm

CR

BA

AU

N K GU U O ch SIC WN HO ST ec L k - D CA IDA we R R bs IN N Y ite K IV fo - F AL rd O et OD ail s

CAMRA GOLD AWARD CASK MARQUE 4 REAL ALES AND CIDER

Never the same beer twice! Takeaway available!

BOTTLE STORE

100 + bottled beers, changed every month, drink in or take away!

Pool Table & Dart Board • Whisky Rack Big Screens - Live Sports MonDAYS BEER CLUB ALL REAL ALES JUST £2.0 0 A PINT!

TUESDAYS WINE CLUB ALL JUST £2.00 A GLASS

WICKED WEDNESDAYS MUSIC WITH A THEME

TWISTED ThursDAYS

KICKSTART THE WEEKEND

FriDAYS FREE LIVE MUSIC 9PM

SatURDAYS ANYTHING GOES Che

ck website for full details

SunDAYS

QUICK PUB QUIZ 8pm

Free, teams of 4 max, drink s prizes

OPENING TIMES

Monday - Thursday 12 - 3pm & 5 - 11pm Friday - Sunday 12 - 11pm

749 Lincoln Rd, New England PE1 3HD

www.thecrownonline.co.uk Tel: 0843 523 5181

CAMRA Cycle Rally 2013 28 | Beer and bikes

O

n one of the hottest days of the year around thirty brave souls gathered in Peterborough Cathedral Square for the start of the annual CAMRA Cycle Rally/ Treasure hunt. Organiser Peter Challis (Swampy to his friends) handed out the sheets with clues and items to collect to the eager participants. I tagged along as his assistant in case of any hitches.

The first party headed off in the right direction (sigh of relief), with the rest following soon after.

Due to the sweltering conditions it was a relief to find the first pub was not far away from the starting line. The pub was in fact The Burghley Square Club. The Bluebell in Dogsthorpe was the second port of call with the clue actually outside the pub. Wheeling along for a short distance brought the parties to The Old John Clare in Paston, which for some of us was the second visit to this welcoming watering hole in a week?

Another Bluebell came on the scene, this one being in Werrington. This was the start of the

The Ruddy Duck 12 St Pegas Road, Peakirk, Tel: 01733 252426 www.theruddyduck.co.uk

BEER FESTIVAL Sat 10th August 2pm till late 10 Real Ales, Ciders & BBQ Live Music featuring

The Rocket Dogs DB5 & The Nuggets From Peking to Peakirk, Ruddy hell its a DUCKFEST !!!

Photo shows The Winning team of Chez Hansel, Ross Parton and Paul Berrisford with in the centre organiser Peter Challis.

Werrington part of the rally, as the next three pubs were all within that area. The Ploughman and The Dragon (both part of the Simmospoons empire) was a welcome shelter from a surprising heavy thunderstorm shower. By seeking shelter in a bus shelter I just avoided getting drenched before entering The Cock Inn. Leaving there after a quick half and heading to the penultimate pub, The Crown on Lincoln Road, where yet another heavy lashing of rain descended on that area.

Waiting for nearly an hour for the first sign of any cyclists before the next rain came down, then heading for the final destination, The Hand & Heart in Millfield.

Due to the inclement weather which was entirely unexpected, some participants had decided to call it a day and go home to dry out.

Of the rest that completed the course we had a winner after adding up all the scores. Previous winners Chez Hansel, Ross Parton and Paul Berrisford achieved a remarkable 27 points from a total of 30. They now have the enviable task of organising next year’s rally! Me? Well I did most of the route by foot and bus, so did not get wet!

One odd fact I did notice. Very few of the pubs had the licensee there – on a Saturday. Oh well I suppose they’re entitled to a night off sometime.

DMM.

DIARY DATES AUGUST Aug 3rd Gold Presentation at The Crown, Lincoln Road Aug 5th PBF final Committee meeting, Brewery Tap, 8.30pm Aug 19th Beer Festival 2013 Volunteers Evening Trip to Cambridge. Depart Key Theatre 17:40. £15 including Beef Madras or Chicken Balti meal (£10 if no curry). Contact Mick Slaughter 01733 390598 or 07766 213240 or m.slaughter7@btinternet.com SEPTEMBER Sept 9th Commitee Meeting, Cherry Tree, 8.30pm

BEER FESTIVALS AUGUST Aug 8th - 11th Jolly Brewer Beer Festival, Stamford Aug 10th Duckfest, 10 real ales, ciders and BBQ - Ruddy Duck, Peakirk Aug 13th - 17th THE GREAT BRITISH BEER FESTIVAL 2013 - Olympia, London Aug 16th - 18th Cider Fest! 10plus ciders, BBQ and Real Ales - Woolpack, Stanground Aug 20th - 24th PETERBOROUGH BEER FESTIVAL, Embankment, Peterborough Aug 20th - 24th Mini Beer Fest, Palmerston Arms, Woodston

Diary Dates and Festival Listings | 29

Aug 23rd - 26th Beer and Cider Fest, Mama Liz’s, Stamford Aug 25th 2nd Birthday Bash, Kings Head, Apethorpe Aug 28th - Sept 1st Beer Festival and BBQ, Dove Street Inn, Ipswich Aug 31st - Sept 1st Steel City Beer Fest, The Blue Bell at Maxey Sept 9th - 22nd 20th Anniversary Beer Festival, Charters, City Centre Sept 19th - 22nd Coalheavers beer festival, over 50 ales, real cider and perries Sept 26th - Sept 30th 4th Autumn Beer & Music Festival, Hand and Heart, Millfield

Peterborian becomes a Publican in Wesleton | 31

I

t was our annual summer solstice trip to beautiful Southwold and a group of us were discussing the price of Broadside in one of our favourite Southwold pubs The Lord Nelson, when who should walk in but our old friend from Peterborough. He had moved to Southwold many years ago after taking a job as an accountant for Adnams. John Blades is his real name, no mention of his Peterborough nickname in Southwold!

A group of us arrived at the pub on Saturday lunchtime and John kindly brought us all a drink.

The White Horse had the full range of Adnams beer including Ghostship, Regatta, Fat Sprat Southwold Bitter and of course Broadside. The beer was in superb condition. John then gave us a tour of the pub including the tale of their resident friendly and intelligent ghost. John and Rob have completely changed the menu and although we didn’t have a meal the food served looked great.

John joined us and told us he had taken on a new venture and had become a Publican for Adnams. He is running a pub at a nearby village of Wesleton, The White Horse with his business partner Rob who was an actor. John invited us all to visit the pub the next day. Some of us had planned to cycle from Southwold to Westleton, however the English weather, rain and wind, affected this!

The White Horse also offer bed and breakfast and being only a few miles from Minsmere it attracts many ‘twitchers’ as well as visitors to the area. The pub is in a lovely village and is next to the village pond. It also has a pretty garden for those sunny days.We would recommend you call in if you are in the area and mention Peterborough or The POSH as John is a big fan.

Peterborough Summer Solstice Campers

32 | Please support our advertisers

Freehouse

3 Cask Ale pumps with at least 1 LocAle and others from far and wide

Food served every day • Sunday Carvery Function rooms available to hire for all occasions

Quiz Night every Wednesday 8.30pm start

GREAT OFFERS -

Monday to Friday 12 - 6pm Greene King IPA, Thatchers or lager - only £2.20 a pint

Burger and a Pint only £4.95!

London Street, Whittlesey PE7 1BH Tel: 01733 351001

www.real-ale.org.uk

Drink Beer AND Raise Money for a Good Cause!

Charity Shout out | 33

large parts of the surrounding counties where there are an estimated 75,000 people living with incurable illnesses. We care for around 400 inpatients each year at Thorpe Hall. We also run a day centre for over 100 outpatients each year.

There is much more we could do.

Saturday the 10th of August is the “Hampton Crawlers” Pub Crawl. Starting at The Granary on Oundle Road at 3pm the “crawlers” will set off and follow a planned route down Oundle Road visiting venues like The Windmill, the Palmerston Arms and The Cherry Tree, finishing at Charters.

The dress code is “Superheroes!” To represent the "incredible care" we give. Sue Ryder want people to accept the call for a “hero”.

The pub crawl, whilst an excellent excuse to drink beer (as if we needed one!) is also to raise awareness for an excellent cause. Sue Ryder have been providing specialist palliative and respite care for people living with incurable illnesses from their beautiful, Grade 1 listed building at Thorpe Hall for over 20 years. They now have planning permission to build a state-of-the-art hospice in the grounds of Thorpe Hall and as a result have launched the Thorpe Hall £6 million capital appeal. For more information see: www.sueryder.org /Get-involved/Fundraising / Thorpe-Hall-Appeal.

Why is Thorpe Hall so important?

Thorpe Hall is the only hospice providing free, specialist end of life care across Peterborough and

What we will build at Thorpe hall Our future lies in a new, energy-efficient building, adjacent to the existing building. The new building will enable us to provide a community hospice service, including bereavement support, a Sanctuary and more efficient and comfortable care to our patients in 20 private, specially designed rooms. The new building will offer a wider range of end of life care services than anywhere else in the region.

(

The pub crawl, whilst an excellent excuse to drink beer (as if we needed one!) is also to raise awareness for an excellent cause.

)

If you can’t make it to the the pub crawl you can also help the appeal by buying trolley tokens at a cost of £1 from all of their stores in the area. Or if you have some spare time perhaps you could become a volunteer. You get to make new friends, learn new skills and be part of something incredible. There are many volunteer opportunities available in many different aspects of the charity can you “donate” 2 hours a week?

If you want to get involved, pub crawl or otherwise, please contact Kellie or Susan on 01733 247210 www.real-ale.org.uk

34 | Please support our advertisers

Peterborough CAMRA Cricket Tour – Worcester

Campaigning and Cricket | 35

Clent CC. Despite Bradbury’s 41 and Voisey making his second score over 20 CAMRA were restricted to 174 in their 40 overs. Clent batted well and secured the win in 32 overs for the loss of six wickets, Bradbury taking four and Wright two.

Drinks in the local Social Club followed before the team headed to the City again for some more GBG pubs including the Dragon and Firefly. The youngsters Hart, Wright, Evans and Vitas then went clubbing until light.

Cricket Team outside sponsors The Coalheavers Arms

T

he summer’s hottest weekend coincided with the Cricket Teams annual tour, this year to Worcester. Last year saw no play as record rain fell, this year we managed three full games, two brewery tours and a drink in all Good Beer Guide pubs in the city of Worcester.

Leaving by minibus on Friday morning our first port of call was the Birds Brewery of Bromsgrove, this successful brewery has recently won a competition with Sainsbury’s to supply their stores with bottled beers over the next year. Watch out for their beers flying out of both stores and at PBF this year. Following hotel check-in and a quick drink at the Plough Inn we drove to Shenstone to play Stone Cricket Club, drink a firkin of Bewdley Brewery’s Worcesteshire Way and partake in a BBQ. Chasing 174 set by Stone in 20 overs, CAMRA achieved a win with three balls to spare thanks to unbeaten 25+ scores from Bradbury, Wright, Mace and Geldart. This was followed up with a swift few drinks back in the city with most finishing up at the Firefly brew pub.

Unusually with no sore heads on Saturday morning, the team had a quick walk around the city before leaving for our second match against

Sunday saw the team play Lenches CC. CAMRA won the toss and inserted the home team who could only make 101 in 28 overs thanks to three wickets for Rowe, and two apiece for Jex and Geldart. CAMRA scored 104 in 20 overs losing just Voisey (12) and Masheder (26), before Vitas (18) and Evans (31) sealed the win. A few more pubs visited back in Worcester that evening, including the Swan with Two Nicks and Cricketers. Monday morning started with a bang, well at least a rude awakening as fire alarms sounded throughout the hotel, requiring evacuation well before anyone had thought of going to breakfast! With no idea why the alarms were raised the players went back for food and bed before leaving for a quick tour of St Georges Brewery in Callow End on the way back.

So another successful tour with two wins and a loss, together with hard CAMRA campaigning in the local pubs / breweries. We are always on the look out for new players or teams to play, so please contact our Secretary Matt Mace on 07809 629241, or Fixture Secretary Ian White on 07966 439960 if interested. Results and further news can be found on the ECB Play Cricket website.

Matt Mace

www.real-ale.org.uk

36 | Please support our advertisers

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

Pub name:

Pub address/town/village:

Reason for award:

Your name:

Your phone number or e-mail address:

Your membership number:

The Gig Guide

Gig Guide | 37

27 July The Limit - Cherry Tree, Woodston 27 July 10.30pm - One Eyed Cats - Charters, City Centre

31 July Open Mic - Pig and Falcon, St Neots 2 August Leon - Dragon, Werrington 2 August 10:30pm - Last Echoes - Charters, City Centre 2 August On the Ceiling - Ploughman, Werrington 3 August Control - Dragon, Werrington 4 August 3:30pm - The Gangsters - Charters, City

25 August 3:30pm - Pete ‘n’ Tom - Charters, City Centre 30 August 10:30pm - Lee Major - Charters, City Centre 30 August High Rollers- Dragon, Werrington 14 September 8pm - Limehouse Lizzy and Loose

Rocket - Corn Exchange, Bourne 21 September The League of Mentalmen - Dragon, Werrington

21 September The Overdubs - Ploughman, Werrington

27 September Hooker - Dragon, Werrington

Centre

6 August Staceys Open Mic - Dragon, Werrington 9 August The Guards - Dragon, Werrington 9 August Lloyd Watson - Fayre Spot, Bretton 9 August 10:30pm - I’m Spartacus - Charters, City Centre

9 August - Be Bop A Lulas - The Dragon, Werrington 10 August Charity Band Day with several local

bands including Children of the Revolution - Dragon, Werrington 10 August Rocket Dogs, DB5 and The Nuggets Ruddy Duck, Peakirk

10 August Collaborators - Golden Pheasant, Etton 10 August Hooker - Ploughman, Werrington 10 August Twenty 4 - Blue Boar, Eye 11 August - Motor City Vipers - Charters, City Centre 16 August 10:30pm - The Influence - Charters, City Centre

16 August Citizen Smith - Ploughman, Werrington 16 August Mullered at the Mill - Dragon, Werrington 17 August 12noon till late - Peterborough Folk Rootz Festival - Charters, City Centre 17 August The Nuggets - Ploughman, Werrington 18 August 12noon till late - Peterborough Folk Rootz Festival - Charters, City Centre

23 August 10:30pm - Lexie Green & the Indigo Blue - Charters, City Centre

24 August - 9pm - Joe Solo - Palmerston Arms, Woodston 24 August Faster Mutley- Dragon, Werrington 25 August 8pm - Children of the Revolution Brewery Tap, City Centre

Please send any details for October / November gigs to info@orchardhousemedia.co.uk before 15th September.

38 | Contact Details

Branch Committee

Beer Around ’Ere

Secretary: Dickie Bird 4 Cissbury Ring,Werrington Peterborough, PE4 6QH 01733 574226 (tel & fax) 07731 993896 info@real-ale.org.uk

Editor: Jane Brown bae-editor@real-ale.org.uk

Chairman: David Murray 01733 560453 chairman@real-ale.org.uk Treasurer: Paul Beecham 01733 311981 07710 008693 0870 7620848 (fax) treasurer@real-ale.org.uk Vice Chair: Matthew Mace 07809 629241 vice-chair@real-ale.org.uk Social Sec: John Hunt 07923 489917 social-sec@real-ale.org.uk Pubs Officer: Neil Holmes 07886 974977 pubs-officer@real-ale.org.uk Press Officer: Karl Simpson 07737 297072 press-officer@real-ale.org.uk Young Members: Katie Barrett 07951 919451 young-members@real-ale.org.uk Membership: Steve Saldana 07988 067260 membership@real-ale.org.uk Festival Org: Mike Lane 07850 334203 festival-organiser@real-ale.org.uk LocAle Officer: John Rice 07759 342702 locale@real-ale.org.uk Webmaster: Harry Morten webmaster@real-ale.org.uk

Distribution: David Murray (See Chairman on the left) Advertising: Jane Michelson 01778 420888 Mobile: 07732 393621 jane@shillingmedia.co.uk

Magazine & Advertising Production: Daniel Speed 01733 211001 info@orchardhousemedia.co.uk Proofreader: Bob Melville See details below Brewery Liaison Officers Blue Bell: John Hunt 07923 489917 Bexar County Brewery: Steve Williams 07756 066503 Castor Ales: Mike Lane 07850 334203 Digfield: Dave Waller 07821 912605 Elgoods: John Hunt 07923 489917 Hopshackle: Noel Ryland 07944 869656 Melbourn: Lew Clayton 01780 765063 Nene Valley: Bob Melville 07941 246693 Oakham Ales: Dave Allett 07966 344417 Tydd Steam: John Hunt 07923 489917

The next issue of BAE will be available on: 27th September We must have your stories, news and advertisements by: 2nd September Late copy cannot be guaranteed entry.

Please contact Jane Michelson 01778 420888 Mobile: 07732 393621 jane@shillingmedia.co.uk or Chris Shilling 01778 421550 Mobile: 07736 635 916 for all of your advertising needs.

Neil Holmes pubs-officer@real-ale. org.uk or 07886 974977 is always looking for pub news.

Th

Please send stories and other copy to bae-editor@real-ale.org.uk Beer Around ‘Ere is published by Peterborough & District Branch of CAMRA Copyright © 2013, The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd. Views or comments expressed in this publication may not necessarily be those of the Editor or of CAMRA.

Trading Standards 08545 040506 www.consumerdirect.gov.uk Check out our websites at: www.real-ale.org.uk www.beer-fest.org.uk

T T

The Ploughman

THE DRAGON Hodgson Centre, Hodgson Ave PE4 5EG Tel: 01733 578088 THE PLOUGHMAN Staniland Way, Werrington centre PE4 6NA Tel: 01733 327696

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