Beer Around Ere Issue 183

183 Peterborough & District Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale

June / July 2015

SAVE YOUR LOCAL!

A guide to ACV’s p21

DEATH OF A BEER

HERON GOES FOR GOLD!

MORE GRAVY PLEASE!

The sad tale of Draught Burton Ale.

The Stanground Community pub under threat of demolition, worth its weight in Gold.

Peterborough rail ale trippers off to explore Harrowgate and Knaresborough.

ALSO INSIDE PUB & BREWERY NEWS

DIARY DATES

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Editor’s ramblings | 3

By the time this is being read the election will be history and the “fun” will have started!

Just hope we have a government that is “pubs and drink” friendly! Well can but hope!

April was community pubs month and one of the pubs we visited on our Community Pubs Crawl, was The Heron, in Stanground, so I was saddening to hear that once again The Heron is under threat! Planning permission is being sought to demolish the pub and to erect nine dwellings. The current landlord and landlady, Rob and Meri Hyde, have turned this pub around and it has become the hub of the community, selling real ales, most of which are LocAles, and good food, plus, holding quizzes and live music sessions.

In fact providing what the community requires, a true Community Pub. An ACV (Asset of Community Value) is being raised, with the council, so hopefully this will be added protection for the pub.

For more info on ACV’s, see page 21. A petition has also been instigated on Facebook and as I write this there are just under 600 signatures. Fingers crossed that the powers that be do the ‘right thing’ and enable the pub to continue trading.

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

Published by: Peterborough & District Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale.

Produced on behalf of CAMRA by: Orchard House Media Ltd Suite 30 Eventus, Sunderland Rd, Market Deeping. Tel: 01778 382758

Magazine Design & Production: Daniel Speed daniel.speed@orchardhousemedia.co.uk

Advertising Sales Manager: Jane Michelson jane@orchardhousemedia.co.uk Tel: 01778 382718

IN THIS ISSUE Welcome from the editor 3 Chairman’s corner 5 Pub news 7–11 Real ale pub guide 13 Brewery news 14–17 Death of a beer 18 Presentations 19 Assets of community value 21 Membership matters 23 More gravy please! 24-27 Gig guide 28 P51 ready for take off! 28 Diary dates & Beer festivals 29 Contacts 30 April was a very good month for local beer festivals and for once the weather was kind. There were lots of LocAles on sale, which is always good to see. More to look forward too over the summer, so get out there and enjoy!

Cheers!

Distribution: David Murray chairman@real-ale.org.uk

Proof Reading: Bob Melville - 07941 246693

Printed By: Precision Colour Print Ltd Haldane, Telford, Shropshire TF7 4QQ

Circulation: 7,000 copies distributed to pubs, clubs and members throughout the Peterborough and District CAMRA Branch area. A digital version of this magazine is available to view and download at issuu.com

Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

JB

Beer Around ‘Ere is published by the Peterborough & District Branch of CAMRA Copyright © 2015, The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd. Views or comments expressed in this publication may not necessarily be those of the Editor or of CAMRA. The next issue of Beer Around ‘Ere will be available on the 28th July.

We must have your stories, news and advertisements by 3rd July. Please send your stories and other copy to the editor, Jane Brown.

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29 North Street, Stanground PE2 8HR.

Tel: 01733 753544 Friendly village pub with riverside mooring.

Up to 4 Real Ales available Large Garden Dogs Welcome • BT Sport Food Served: Tues to Sun 12 - 2.30pm Mon to Sat 6pm - 8pm BEER AROUND ERE | JUNE / JULY 2015

Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

Chairman’s corner |5

Chairman’s Corner No more footie on a Saturday, no more having to listen to electioneering ‘promises’ and hoping that whichever bunch of politicos are now sitting comfortable in their cosy Westminster seats, we can rely on them to have some thought for our pubs and drinks industry.

Within this issue we have a tale of great sorrow.

I refer to the article about the Death of a Beer, which tells the short history of the rise and fall of one of our great real ales, Draught Burton Ale (DBA) see page 18. It illustrates how, when a good popular product gets in the hands of one of the major brewers, life expectancy can be diminished rapidly. With news that another of our regional brewers, Daniel Thwaites of Blackburn has been sold to Marston’s for a cash deal of £25 million, the question arises as to the future of some of the lesser brews. Included in the deal are two of the flagship ales, Wainwright and Lancaster Bomber.

Marston’s has been brewing most of Thwaites beers since early last year and will continue to contract brew some of the Thwaites beers it did not buy. In 2013 Thwaites announced the closure of its 200 year old main brewery. Plans to move have not happened due to a doomed deal to redevelop the site. They still have a micro brewing plant installed in 2011, however this could be moved to a new site. Marston’s do have a relatively good history of respecting brewing heritage when they have previously acquired beer brands or breweries, for example, Wychwood and Jennings.

We shall be keeping a close eye on the plans for the Thwaites brands they have just acquired!

Of course this is not a new scenario to our brewing industry. Over the years we have seen the decimation and disappearance of much of our brewing heritage by takeovers and development deals. Remember the days of the Whitbread ‘umbrella’ deals, in which one of the worst destroyers of regional breweries persuaded the vulnerable regionals to come under their ‘protection’. Then just like a rogue cuckoo in the nest,

Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

took steps to shut them down as being “unviable”.

The UKs biggest brewer Heineken has almost no cask ale brewing facilities, the exception being the Caledonian Brewery in Edinburgh. It has either sold its cask ales to other brewers; Charles Wells brew most of the ex-Scottish & Newcastle beers such as Courage, McEwan’s and Youngers sold to them by Heineken. The list goes on; Carlsberg, Molson Coors, AB InBev are all global brewing giants with very little or no interest in our brewing heritage. Three major regional groups dominate the real ale production on a national level. Greene King, Charles Wells and the aforementioned Marston’s. It is just as well that we have an evergrowing independent micro brewing sector to keep our enthusiasm for real ale.

As the summer days draw longer and our pubs continue to entice us through their doors, it’s a fact that there are very few weekends that some local pub has not organised a beer festival. If you find one, go along to support them! To the publicans I say let us know of your plans, if you intend to hold a beer festival – we can only support you if we are aware of it!

We have made an effort to encourage our members from out of the city to come along to our Branch/Committee meetings by holding some at our other towns. Starting in May we held our meeting in Oundle at The Ship. We hope to go out and about more during the course of the year. Any member is entitled to attend any of our meetings.

See you in a pub this summer. Cheers.

David Murray Branch Chairman

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Over 25 cask ales, plus craft lagers and real ciders

Live music in the evenings Friday night: Forty Fiver and Rapture Saturday night: The John Noakes Experience plus other supporting acts.

Gorefield Gala on Saturday with lots of stalls and attractions Camping available, ÂŁ5 per pitch, with toilets on site and shower block. please book in advance. email: bookhall@gorefield.com www.hall.gorefield.com Gorefield Community Hall, Wolf Lane, Gorefield, Wisbech, PE13 4NE

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Pub news |7

Pub News Why is it that when I travel to outlying towns in the branch I find something which is missing from the City, a visible centre around which the cultural and social life of the town revolves? Is it any coincidence that these places have the best preserved pubs and the best pub crawls: Market Deeping, Bourne, Oundle, Stamford, Wisbech, and March?

This is clearly not the case in Peterborough, and I am continually reminded by older residents of the demise of several city centre pubs by the arrival of Queensgate. Call me old fashioned if you like, but I would much rather shop in a traditional high street with several stopping off places to relieve the ennui than be trapped in 1,750,000 square feet of floor space without a pub in sight. Like it or not, the domination of the town by this monument to the retail gods hardly makes it a place that you would recommend to visitors for a pub crawl.

Around town Surrounding this philistine destruction there are, thankfully, some compensations and visitors just arriving in the city get the best deal. Just across the road from the station is the Great Northern Hotel, one of Peterborough’s unrecognised treasures. The hotel opened on April 1, 1852 at a cost of £2,500 and has an illustrious history. It was designed by architect Henry Goddard in the style of a Venetian palazzo, the hallmark the Great Northern Railway frontages at the time (compare the Kings Cross frontage and the sister hotel in Leeds). Children are welcome in the sumptuous lounge alongside what used to be the Poacher’s bar, now renamed the Sleeper’s, not so much to accommodate comatose topers as to reinforce the association with the railway. The ethos has positively changed as the hotel now has a talented and proactive management team in the persons of Natalie Davey and Catherine Batley.

I met them recently to discuss their plans for the future, the effects of which are already visible.

They have redesigned the lounge and the restaurant (open to non-residents) with a visual Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

presentation recording the hotel’s timeline in history, looking back on such illustrious residents as the American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, Charles Dickens, the Prince and Princess of Prussia and in 1952 Laurel and Hardy stayed at the Hotel for 2 weeks at the start of their UK tour.

The hotel now has a policy of supporting local business with the suppliers of interior design and all of the food in the restaurant locally sourced.

They have also have created a strong relationship with the Grainstore brewery in Oakham - the beers available on my last visit were Rutland Bitter and Ten Fifty. Music events will be featured in the bar area whilst the locally famous Jazz Club will continue in its spot on the last Sunday of every month.

The bus station is equally well served. Just to the north is the iconic Brewery Tap. A spacious pub on two levels, it offers eight real ales, mainly from the Oakham range, and an excellent, reasonably priced Thai cuisine. This was the original Oakham brewery when head brewer, John Bryan, moved it into Peterborough. Oakham are now distributing their beers across the world with a major expansion and relocation on the Maxwell Street site, but they have retained an experimental 10 barrel plant in the pub which provides an attractive, glass fronted feature to embellish the brewery tap theme. Fortunately the functional minds of the 1970s have given way to a more sensitive consideration of the communal value of public houses as I am delighted to discover that the Tap will be incorporated into the forthcoming Westgate development.

Just to the south is the Drapers Arms. Chris Parkes has been running this pub for several years and it is one of the most congenial Wetherspoons I have visited. Local members will be thankful for his support of the Campaign and in 2007 he received the Peterborough pub of the year award.

So far this year he has featured 200 different real ales. At this rate, by the end of the year they

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JUNE / JULY 2015 | BEER AROUND ERE

8 | Pub news - continued

will have reached well over 700. It may be worth considering that whereas the local branch membership is just over 2700, the readership of this magazine is far in excess of that number.

Those readers who are not already members might consider joining, especially if they are Wetherspoons customers. For Wetherspoons give us 40 coupons a year with a value of £20, which makes membership virtually self financing. All this and reduced prices at beer festivals.

If you are on a visit to Peterborough and by now finding the hunger pangs irresistible, I can strongly recommend the Beehive, further down Bourges Boulevard, on the corner of the Asda car park.

Another pub rescued from extinction, it had a complete overhaul about four years ago and quickly established a reputation for high quality food. It is an attractive, modern L shaped building with a substantial bar area, a function room and an extensive seating area for diners. Beers currently available are Castor Nectar, Lacon’s Encore, Star Meteor and a constantly changing guest.

Broadway “Strive for perfection in everything that you do” is one of the oft quoted remarks of Sir Henry Royce, and this appears to be a mantra instilled in the pub of that name. Formerly Yates’s, it officially opened on the 20th March and I took the opportunity to meet area manager James Bancroft to investigate their future policy. Jennings Cumberland (rebadged as the eponymous house bitter), Greene King Abbot, Grainstore Ten Fifty, Draught Bass, and Wychwood Hobgoblin were available along with a draught cider and two craft beers. He told me that he intends to move away from the current portfolio to promote local brewers. On asking him about his target audience, he replied simply, “anyone who walks along Broadway.” As I have argued elsewhere in these columns, the nature of the public house is changing, and it is my view that we will never properly broach the issue of pub closures unless we relate it to its social and cultural context, and quality of service is one of the ways in which pubs are improving. The Ipsos Mori/ BEER AROUND ERE | JUNE / JULY 2015

Mintel survey published in 2014 lists this as second in priority of the reasons why people visit pubs.

I have heard the term “licensed warehouses” used with some disdain recently in the movement, but as a superannuated Londoner I feel comfortable in these places as they remind me of the old Victorian gin palaces in which I was weaned.

Those readers who do not might choose to turn off to the left, past the Central library and across the car park to the Ostrich, the last remaining back street pub in the city, where landlord Liam Scanlon always offers four beers in top condition.

In 2009 the pub was redesigned and the facilities considerably enhanced. The floor space was increased and there has been a major improvement to the toilets. If I may be forgiven for temporarily descending into the lavatorial, I, for one, consider this a most important factor in any public house. Remember the old proverb, if the toilets are clean, so is the cellar. Fourth in order of priority in the Mintel survey.

Stamford splendour Stamford is so steeped in history that it is perfect for a day out, and I make no excuse for making it a regular feature of this column. I have in past issues concentrated on the southern part of the town but would now like to point potential visitors to its well defined town centre.If you arrive by train the town cascades before you in layers of local stone and the central square is easily located by the spire of All Saints church. Nestling alongside it and easily identified by its brewery tower is the Melbourn Brothers bar. The brewery itself is typically Victorian but the building which houses the pub within it is clearly much older. The bar is on the top floor selling the whole of the Sam Smiths range at the usual moderate prices. It has preserved the original timber-framed roof with two skylights peering out onto the All Saints spire.

I am particularly intrigued by the bolthole in the pit of the building, possibly a refuge for priests during the days of religious persecution, or merely a drinking den for those absconding from church duties?

Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

Pub news - continued |9

Skirting the church to the left through the cobbled streets of All Saints Place you could be forgiven for thinking you are in the midst of Middlemarch, for this is one of the locations chosen for the BBC series of that name. Adjacent to it is the Crown Hotel. This hotel has suffered a refurbishment much to the disapproval of some local residents, but it has opened it up into a spacious bar overlooking Red Lion Square. You can catch the original character of the place in the stonework of the dining room to the rear of the main bar. Four real ales are normally available.

I normally settle for a pint of Landlord whose perfect balance between the hop and the malt has coerced my palate over the years. This is the ideal place for a group to meet with the Periwig just alongside and the Millstone just opposite.

A few hundred yards away, further north into Broad Street, past the 14th century Browne’s hospital, I am recommending the Lord Burghley. Enter this pub in the winter and you will be greeted by the warm glow of an open fire, but don’t count on getting a seat near it. Smokers are provided with a similar comfort in the stone built enclosed back yard, probably the best smoking facilities I have seen since the law changed. This fine, multi-roomed pub offers six real ales with Tim Taylor’s Landlord and Fullers London Pride and ESB as regulars.

Turning back off Broad Street into St. Paul’s Street you pass St. Paul’s bookshop, one of several in the town. Bibliophiles should beware of being sirened into this beguiling venue as it will almost certainly interrupt their beer Odyssey. Fellow semi – literates should proceed directly to the Toby Norris, surely the jewel in the Stamford pub crown. Originally a private house dating back to 1280, it is an award-winning conversion that has preserved many of the original features including the original timber framed vaulted ceiling on the third floor. There are five hand pumps and another four beers are served from the cellar.

I assume that many visitors will travel by train, so I am recommending two pubs across the town bridge in High Street St. Martins: the George Hotel and the Bull and Swan. This was originally the Old Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

Great North Road, exactly where you would expect to find traditional coaching inns. The George is legendary as having once harboured Charles the Second. Local poet John Clare is known to have made four journeys to London and would undoubtedly have lubricated himself here prior to catching the coach. Daniel Defoe chose this place “out of curiosity, for it is reckoned one of the greatest inns in England “. I have chosen it for the more mundane reason that it is close to the station; out of the rear exit, past the old stables and into Gresley Drive.

A word of warning; Cross Country Railways have little compunction about cancelling a train and leaving an hour’s longer wait than anticipated.

Just time to check out the Bull and Swan.

North and South In the last issue I reported on the Blue Bell.

As promised, I have returned to Werrington to research another promising pub crawl. Just along the road from the Blue Bell is the Three Horseshoes. This is a friendly traditional local of two rooms with the public bar more or less a dedicated games area. Adnams Ghost Ship, Sharp’s Doombar, and St Austell Tribute are regularly available. With Sky television all around the saloon bar, the pub is popular with sports fans.

Dave and Louise have invested a lot of money to create a very comfortable ambience and I am sure that it will continue to prosper.

Further to the north it was time I revisited the Simmospoons chain. Andy, in the Ploughman, is continuing his policy of serving ten real ales and seven ciders with his happy shopper still available at £2.00 a pint. He tells me that he is experimenting with a super-chilled line controlled at 7-8 degrees centigrade. Those of us who have drunk in semi- tropical holiday resorts will see the logic of this experiment if we are lucky enough to get enough sunshine. Andy will rotate specially selected summer beers and is well aware that he will need to be circumspect to avoid the chill haze.

He has been in this pub for 5 years now, and having done so much to keep it open, deserves our continuing support. Brother Stuart at the Dragon has helped him raise over £50,000 over the past few years for the special needs school,

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Heltwate and will continue the campaign with a charity band day on 24th May. He has promised live music from 3.00pm with up to eight bands and in excess of ten real ales. The Dragon is one of the best designed estate pubs I have ever seen, with a long bar in the shape of a semi hexagon facing out to a surrounding grass verge. The Cock Inn will also be hosting a charity beer festival on 5-6th July in aid of Peterborough Cancer Cure. I have heard that the Crab and Winkle is being converted to a sports bar. It is a pleasant roadside pub with a family atmosphere and a Greene King tied house, and I was pleased to find Belhaven available on my visit.

Jungle drums I am please to be able to confirm my prediction in Issue 181 that the George in Oundle will remain open. It is now being run by Erin Barrett, formerly supervisor of Yates’s (now the Sir Henry Royce) in Broadway. The Peacock in Woodston has changed hands again. New managers Amanda and Colin will continue the music policy and continue serving a real ale at £2.60 a pint. I will keep you posted on their plans for the future.

Chris Moxon informs me that “the Decoy in Milking Nook is now attracting back its real ale customers who quite often are finishing their session by ordering a superb Indian takeaway or actually sitting down to eat in the restaurant and washing down their meal, often with an Oakham or a Tydd. The takeaways are proving to be very popular. Owner Abu has listened to his regulars and always has at least two quality ales on the go.

He also has plans for an inaugural beer festival which will include special deals on beer and curries on the weekend of 26 -28th June.”

George Sakkali has sent an update on the Exeter Arms, Helpston. Refurbishment was delayed by structural problems and after sending the council’s listed buildings department into a “frenzy”, plans to open in June. So look forward to a comprehensive review in the next issue. The Blue Bell in Dogsthorpe is closed and is surrounded by a security fence. Elgoods have reassured us that this is principally to secure the premises until a suitable licensee is found.

Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

Pub news - continued |11

I previously reported that the Golden Lion in Stanground is closed, but it seems to be lingering on as a public house. Such is the state of disrepair, however, that I suspect its demise is close at hand.

Whilst in Stanground, the Fenman has resumed its policy of serving real ale in the form of Sharp’s Doombar.

Serious omissions Attentive readers will have noticed that the most serious omission in my recent survey of Market Deeping pubs was the Walnut Tree in Horsegate.

I suspect that this was due to the onset of some form of dementia as I had mislaid my notes and did not have the opportunity to revisit the pub before deadline date. It was therefore with some relief that I managed to get served when I returned to apologise. Daron and Lynn have created such a warm and friendly atmosphere that even I was made welcome. I have in the past underestimated the range of beers available in Punch Taverns as Daron informed me that amongst the beers available to him are Blue Monkey, Andwell, Bowland, Bushys, Abbeydale, Skinners, Northumberland and Mr. Grundy’s.

Apologies are also due to Richard in the Iron Horse as I failed to advertise his music and beer festival on 28th March supporting Macmillan and First Century Legion. On entering this unique venue your nostrils are assailed with the delightful aroma of barbecue sauces and the food is highly recommended. Richard has a policy of promoting local ale, frequently showcasing beers from Bexar County Brewery.

I would like to reassure those readers who love superlatives that I intend to keep this most serious omissions feature in future issues. So keep the complaints coming!

John Temple - Pubs Officer

Send us your news!

Calling all landlords and landladies! Had a refurb? Got a great event on? Started selling a new range of ales or cider? Let us know and we will add your news to these pages. Just email John Temple at pubs-officer@real-ale.org.uk JUNE / JULY 2015 | BEER AROUND ERE

12 | Please support our advertisers

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For special offers, news and travel directions visit www.traditionalinns.co.uk

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Real ale pub guide |13

Peterborough Real Ale Pub Guide 11

COCK INN 1305 Lincoln Road, Werringto n Peterborough PE4 6LWP (01733) 322006 cock-inn.net

Bus Route Citi 1 Opening Hours 11-11 (Midnight Thu; 1am Fri & Sat) Large pub, thought to date from 1418. Olde Worlde bar/loung e with three fireplaces, stone pillars and low beamed ceiling. Separate restauran t.

Reputedly haunted by “Fred”.

12

COLLEGE ARMS

40 Broadway Peterborough PE1 1RS (01733) 319745

14

CROWN

749 Lincoln Road Peterborough PE1 3HD 07415 624262 thecrownonline.co.uk Bus Route Citi 1 Opening Hours U12-3, 5-11 Mon-Thu; 12-11 Fri-Sun Popular corner local establishe d in 1867 and became a public house in 1885. Major alterations and mock Tudor facade added in the 1920s.

The large, refurbished main bar/lounge has a fireplace and TV, and detailed posters about the history of the pub and the New England area.

Presented with a CAMRA Gold Award in August 2013 for its good range of well kept real ales.

15

jdwetherspoon.co.uk

Opening Hours 8-Midnight; 8-1am Fri & Sat

Bus Route Citi 24 and X4

Formerly a technical college that opened in 1903 and has given the name to the pub.

Large and busy Wethersp oon pub opened in May 1996.

13

CUCKOO

20 Oundle Road Alwalton PE7 3UP (01733) 239638 vintageinn.co.uk

Bus Route City Centre

CRAB & WINKLE 3 Loxley Werrington Peterborough PE4 5BW (01733) 322377 thecrabandwinkle.co.uk Bus Route Citi 1

Opening Hours 11-11; 11-Midnight Fri & Sat; 12-11 Sun Named after a nearby disused railway line that carried seafood to London from the east coast. Good value meals served daily including steak nights, curry club and Sunday roasts.

Opening Hours 12-11 Mon-Thu; 12-2am Fri & Sat; 12-10.30 Sun Stone built 17th century pub in picturesque village.

Single bar divided into separate areas allowing local and food customers to mix easily.

Paintings, caricatures and old photos of Peterborough adorn the walls. Large beer garden, popular in summer.

16 DRAGON

Hodgson Centre, Werringto n Peterborough PE4 5EG (01733) 578088 thedragon-werrington.co.uk

Bus Route Citi 1 Opening Hours 4-11.30 Mon-Thu; 12-Midnig ht Fri

& Sat; 12-11 Sun A community pub that hosts four teams and a crib team. Traditiona darts teams, three pool l pub food served Thu-Sat afternoons and Sunday lunch. Received a Peterborough CAMRA Gold Award in October 2013.

Produce d by the Peterbo & District branch of rough Campaig the n for Real Ale

Peterborough and District CAMRA have produced a Real Ale Pub Guide to help both locals and visitors to our fair city seek out Peterborough pubs which serve real ale. Our aim is to present you with an easy to use, handy guide, that both acknowledges the importance of the micro breweries and small pubs, but also the contribution being made by some of the larger breweries and retail chains , who are playing their part in keeping the availability of traditional fine British ales alive!

All the data contained in the guide is obtained from CAMRA’s WhatPub website which in turn is updated on a regular basis by CAMRA members.

Whilst carrying out my survey for the guide I identified 43 pubs in the Peterborough area which serve real ale on a regular basis. As you can see from the example each pub in the guide will have the following details:-

1. Map number 2. Address and telephone number 3. Nearest bus route 4. Opening hours 5. Website (where available) 6. Description In producing the guide, we are not looking to compete with the Good Beer Guide, or provide a de facto list of every pub in Peterborough. We are looking to provide a handy Guide to Peterborough pubs that serve real ale.

An electronic version of this guide will also be available via the Peterborough CAMRA website www.peterborough-camra.org.uk It will be available from the Peterborough Visitor Destination Centre, City Museum, City Library and Railway Station, also from Peterborough Pubs.

Mike Blakesley Press Officer

Available June 2015 Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

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Brewery News Bexar County The Chupacabra, brewer Steve’s 40th birthday beer was well received at Coalheavers Beer Festival. The 12 months storage in a wooden rum cask really brought out some great flavours. The only other cask of this beer will be at Nottingham Beer Festival later this year. The next beer to go into the rum cask will be a freshly brewed Papa Steve which will have 3 months in the wood before going to Peterborough Beer Festival.

Recently, Bexar County have supplied beers to several local beer festivals including Coalheavers, Hand and Heart, Heron and Rugby club. Beers will also be going to Cambridge Beer Festival in May and will include a peanut butter beer. Hopefully it will taste better than it sounds. One of the next beers is to be a jalapeno and Margarita beer and there is still some pressure on Steve to do a chilli, chocolate and sprout stout!

The next project is to be flavoured non-alcoholic sodas (pop in English). Apparently these are very popular in the U.S. with flavours such as orange, lavender and Earl Grey and vanilla. Also coming soon is Kombucha which is a tea that is fermented with sugar, yeast and bacteria and is usually about 1.5% but this will be added to a base beer of 5 to 6%. Again, very popular in the U.S. You certainly can’t accuse Bexar County of producing boring stuff.

Bakers Dozen Just outside of our branch area, the new brewery venture from the team behind the Jolly Brewer pub in Stamford looks likely to be off the ground with beer available from early June. For further updates check out www.bakersdozenbrewing.co.uk.

Castor Ales The decision has (sadly) been taken that Castorware mild will not be brewed this year. There simply isn’t the capacity due to the continued BEER AROUND ERE | JUNE / JULY 2015

popularity of Hopping Toad and Durobrivae.

12th Man and Old Scarlett are currently “resting” but fear not, they will be back in the near future. Having said that, they have just passed the milestone of their 200th brew and wanted to mark the occasion with something special. The result was a 5.5% hop monster called CC IPA which went down a storm at all their local (and loyal) outlets. It even made an appearance at the Coventry Beer Festival. Speaking of festivals, they have featured at many, both local and further afield, in the last few weeks and they produced some specials for the Prince of Wales Feathers’ festival.

The last six months have seen a major investment in brewery equipment, including new hoses and fittings, making that final clean just a little easier and improved the brewing process. But they just wish they were able to get hold of the “finest ingredients” that virtually every other brewer seems to be using, then who knows what accolades would come their way—-we might even make it to the judging table at the PBF. As it is they say they will have to be content with producing damned fine ale from the great ingredients that seem to be all that is left by the time they get to the suppliers.

“Thanks again to everyone who supports Castor Ales, a select few, because we’re only little and we don’t make a lot.”

Digfield Ales It has been a very busy year so far for Digfield Ales, with a vintage Mad Monk proving especially popular. Their beers were well received at both Leicester and St Neots Beer Festivals, as well as closer to home at The Heron, Stanground and The Coalheavers, Fletton. The full range of Digfield’s Ales will be available at the Northampton Beer Festival at Delapre Abbey.

Elgood’s Cambridge IPA, the first new beer in the permanent range for ten years was launched on Friday 10th Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

April at the Rising Sun, Leverington. Peterborough branch was invited and sent a small party who were very well looked after by Landlady Maggie Sharman.

A curry lunch was provided and the event gave new pubs officer John Temple a good opportunity to make contacts with Elgood’s. All in all a good day was had.

The beer has already been deemed a success with sales doing well in both free trade, especially the Wetherspoons estate, and the tied trade. Saturday Night Beaver is the current seasonal beer.

Kings Cliffe Brewery KCB See P51 Ready for Take Off article on page 28.

Mile Tree Brewery Mile Tree’s new ale, Crescent Ale 3.9% a copper brown traditional English bitter brewed with classic English hops, has proved to be very popular and” flew out” within a few days.

Larksong continues to sell well.

Due to demand for their beer, more storage space was required to accommodate bottles and casks.

This extra space will enable an increase in the range of bottled beers. In the near future they plan to bottle beer that has been aged in oak casks and are currently looking at a range of Italian made bottles.

Mile Tree will have a presence at several events during June and July, namely:June 7th Ely Sunday Market selling bottled beer.

June 27th Secret Garden Touring Park annual Midsummer Fair, where they will be running the bar.

This will be the Fair’s 2nd year with many more exhibitors. July 10th & 11th Ely Folk Festival.

The Travelin’ Tavern will be making appearances at Wimblington Fun Day on July 19th selling draught and bottled beer and in Peterborough Cathedral Square on July 23rd selling bottled beers.

Nene Valley Brewery Nene Valley beers are attracting a fine following in the home of British brewing, Burton-uponTrent, thanks to the efforts of sales director, John Blythin, whose home Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

Brewery news |15

is in the area. They are also being seen more in Cambridge where Bible Black and the new grapefruit saison, Pulp Fiction (5.2%) will be in evidence at the forthcoming CAMRA Beer Festival. Bible Black and Release the Chimps have also appeared at the Coalheavers Arms Spring Beer Festival in April.

Nene Valley’s own version of the Large Hadron Collider, a Large Hop Collider, to go with their existing beer, Big Bang Theory, has been used on the latest gyle, and reports from the brewery suggest that the result has a “bigger bang”. Look out for it in your local soon.

Just in time for the barbecue season the Tap & Kitchen is to introduce an Argentinian Barbecue, a wood-fired grill, on the wharf next to the moorings. If the wind is in the right direction we may even smell the cooking here in Peterborough.

In the week leading up to the May Day Bank Holiday Nene Valley Brewery recorded its highest ever level of sales to pubs to date, a statistic that is causing a problem, of the good kind, for the brewery staff. They just do not have room for either Fermentation Vessels or cold storage to satisfy the demand for their beers.

Expansion will be going ahead and it is hoped that the added space will be in operation by the end of this year. Beers are being distributed by a wholesaler and will be appearing in Brighton and Bristol as this issue goes to press.

Jim Irving Pale was brewed in May and will be out in local pubs soon. The brewery is also participating in the 50th anniversary celebration of the launch of Maris Otter barley by brewing a number of special beers. Other plans include a special for Peterborough Beer Festival in August, and a full brew (15 bbl) of the 2015 instalment of Double JIP at 9.9%. Much of the Double JIP will be bottled with customers as far away as Japan expressing interest.

F JUNE / JULY 2015 | BEER AROUND ERE

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Brewery news continued |17

Oakham Ales As reported in last edition of Beer Around ‘Ere, Green Devil IPA was named Champion Cask Ale at The International Brewing Awards 2015.

More than 400 people attended the celebration, among them many of the brewers and cider makers from all over the world who had entered the bi-annual competition. The Forger is at present on bar tops and getting good reviews as it packs a fair hop punch for its abv of 3.5%. This will be followed in June by the next seasonal Preacher at 4.5%. The July Oakademy beer will be The Robber at 4.8%. Endless Summer will then return as the August seasonal. For the aged and vintage range Hawse Buckler is now available and Tranquility will be around from mid-July.

Shoulder of Mutton Brewery It has been a busy time for the small but perfectly formed Shoulder of Mutton brewery with recent appearances at the Heron Stanground, Hand and Heart and Poppies Burton Park Beer Festivals as word about this gem of a brew pub continues to spread. The stories about all the different beers can be found on flyers in pub and there is certainly some imagination about the beer titles which are all named after local places, events and stories.

Following a similar theme used for their popular Dark Ale named Rosie’s Sweat Box, after a war time bomber that crashed nearby, the May special, a 5% American Pale Ale was improbably called 401 BG after the 401st US Air Force bomber group based at nearby Deenethorpe in the Second World War. Made with two fruity American hops and a very special live yeast flown from the States it was an instant hit that seems destined to be repeated. An experimental cask Kölsch will make an appearance in June as the monthly specials continue to generate great enthusiasm with customers keen to try new beer styles. The brewery has increased its cask stock to cope with demand.

Star Brewing Company Star reported that their year on year sales have increased by 30%.

They are just coming to the end of their JD Wetherspoon’s probationary period and should they Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

pass, as expected, this will allow them to supply up to 30 more JD Wetherspoon’s outlets. The seasonal beer for next month sees the return of Lightyear.

Tydd Steam Sales have been steady recently with Armageddon currently available from the

occasional portfolio.

The main item of news is rather disappointing.

Yeovil Brewery have been in touch and informed Will, the brewer, that they have patented the name Stargazer and have ordered him to cease using the name for his beer, even though the two trading areas are miles apart. The beer will now be called Stjarnskadare which is Swedish for Stargazer.

The word will be superimposed on the current pump clip background!

Xtreme Ales April saw the Beer Fest season start with a bang! Xtreme Ales were pleased to support local beer fests at the Rose and Crown in March, The Heron, The Coalheavers Arms and The Hand and Heart, where all their beers were greeted with great reviews. May saw their beer appear at the ever popular Peterborough Rugby Club Beer Fest with Pigeon Ale selling well. They also made their first appearance at the Cambridge Beer Festival.

The beer on show was a fest special called Vogon Poetry, named in-line with the festival’s Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy theme. Surprise, Surprise - this beer was brewed with Galaxy Hops.

June will see the release of a new beer called 50 Shades of Pigeon. July will see Xtreme’s beers appearing at The Ploughman, Town House, Ely and The Deepings Beer Festivals.

Are you missing out?

Get Beer Around Ere delivered to your door!

For a year (6 issues) send £3.54 for second class or £4.08 for 1st Class or multiples thereof for multiple years. Please send a cheque/PO payable to “Peterborough CAMRA” and your address to:- Daryl Ling, 19 Lidgate Close, Peterborough PE2 7ZA

JUNE / JULY 2015 | BEER AROUND ERE

The Death of a Beer In the mid 1970’s the big six brewery companies in the UK had all but given up on real ale. London brewers Watneys and Truemans didn’t even brew any. There were limited supplies of superb regional real ales such as Young’s Special, Bank’s Mild and Marston’s Owd Roger but, these were often hard to get hold of and many beer miles had to be travelled to sample one.

Then in 1976, in response to mounting pressure from the newly formed CAMRA, Allied Breweries specially developed new real ale at their Ind Coope brewery. Being brewed in Burton, it was fittingly called Draught Burton Ale (DBA), and of course the local gypsum-rich waters were used. It was succinctly described in the 1977 Good Beer Guide as “light and well hopped” and by 1981 it was a “sweetish malty bitter”. It steadily rose to stardom and in 1990 DBA was crowned CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain, the only real ale of any national brewer ever to have done so.

The 1998 Good Beer Guide still sung the praises of DBA, but now as “A full tasting hoppy beer with a rich mixture of malt and fruit in the aroma and flavour”. However several years earlier, CarlsbergTetley had got their hands on the brewery and the Good Beer Guide added “…a pioneer amongst big brewery real ales, now looks in danger of being discontinued”.

Sure enough, the brewery was sold to Bass and shut down. Marston’s Brewery up the road in BEER AROUND ERE | JUNE / JULY 2015

Burton was given DBA to look after. This closure wasn’t an isolated event. Carlsberg also closed down operations in Wrexham and Alloa with a loss of at least 550 jobs and leaving it with only two functioning breweries in the UK, one in Leeds and one in Northampton. Then in 2001 DBA was evicted from Burton altogether and sent to Tetley’s brewery in Leeds. Carlsberg insisted that they would still be using the same recipe and yeast but the 2004 Good Beer Guide said,” lacking some hoppiness, compared to its Burton original”. Simply put, the DBA of Leeds was just not the same as the DBA of Burton. How can a beer, brewed in Burton using world renowned Burton waters, be successfully reproduced in a completely different county with completely different waters? How can that beer be called a “Burton” beer? Sales inevitably plummeted. DBA was moved again, this time to J.W. Lees in Manchester. Detached from its parentage, miles from its birthplace and rapidly losing its fan-base, DBA has now been unceremoniously tossed onto the scrapheap, because as Roger Protz quotes on his blog (Gone for a Burton”, 6th January 2015). Carlsberg say, “Demand has fallen to an unsustainable level”.

Well surprise, surprise. If the phrase “wilful neglect” could ever be thrown accusingly at a brewery, this is surely the occasion to do it. What a waste…

DBA (1976-2014) Ian Boyd (This article was first published in Pints of View, the Newsletter of CAMRA’s Hertfordshire Branches) Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

Presentations |19

Pub of the Year Hand & Heart

Bram and Sue were presented with their POTY award on Thursday 23rd April, during their St. Georges Day beer festival. Chris Hooton and Graham Simms, co-sponsors of original nomination, said a few congratulatory words.

Gold Award The Heron, Stanground The Heron, once under the control of a PubCo, is now a freehold. Free-of-tie tenants Rob and Meri have turned the pub around, selling LocAles on 4 hand pumps. For this achievement they received the first Peterborough and District Gold Award of 2015. The presentation was made on 18th April, which was during their first beer festival.

Pictured are landlord and landlady, Rob and Meri, with Dave McLennan who nominated pub for the Gold Award, and a cake replica of the pub baked by a customer.

Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

JUNE / JULY 2015 | BEER AROUND ERE

20 | Please support our advertisers

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BEER AROUND ERE | JUNE / JULY 2015

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Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

Guide to ACV’s|21

Assets of Community Value. A Guide

There is nothing inevitable about pub closures.

They are probably the result of a deregulated market. Fortunately Members of Parliament of all persuasions understand that there needs to be some legal constraints and they have provided us with the Localism Act and Assets of Community Value. I should like to draw your attention to some of the important updates recently received from CAMRA head office: From 6th April 2015 pubs that are listed as Assets of Community Value (England only) will require planning permission to be demolished or changed to any other use. In effect existing permitted development rights will be removed for pubs listed as ACVs for as long as the pub is on the local authorities list.

In a second landmark decision a First Tier Tribunal concluded that the London Borough of Lewisham were correct to conclude that a local CAMRA branch is a valid nominating body. As such, local CAMRA branches can now nominate pubs to be listed as Assets of Community Value in their name.

Some important facts Pubs listed as ACVs will require planning permission to change their use or be demolished.

This includes pubs already listed as ACVs.

In addition to this planning permission will be required to change the use or demolish a pub from the point of nomination.

Planning permission will be required for change of use and or demolition for the period that the pub is listed which is five years from the date of listing.

As part of the changes, pub owners and developers will be required to ascertain whether pubs not on the asset list have actually been nominated.

This must be done formally in writing.

Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

The local authority has 56 days to confirm whether the pub is listed or nominated. This means that the owner cannot change use or demolish a pub lawfully within the prescribed 56 day period.

Please note that the nomination of a pub will prevent any immediate change of use or demolition. There is now an obligation to go through a full planning application if the owner now wishes to demolish a pub.

How do I nominate a pub?

1. Decide who you are nominating on behalf of.

You can either nominate as an unincorporated group of 21 local people, as a Parish Council, on behalf of the CAMRA Branch or in connection with another local group.

2. Go to your Council website and look up the section on Assets of Community Value or Right to Bid. Here you can download a nomination form (the template is also available on the CAMRA website).

3. Fill in the form with as much detail as you can on why the pub should be classified as a community asset.

4. If nominating as an Unincorporated Group, demonstrate that at least 21 people from the local community support the listing of the pub.

5. Check your local council website to see where the nomination needs to be submitted. Many councils have produced guidance explaining how they are accepting nominations.

6. Request a receipt from the local authority to acknowledge they have received the form as planning protection will be granted at the point of nomination.

If you have any questions or require further assistance please contact Matt Brown, Planning Advisor matt.brown@camra.org.uk or call on 01727 337 851.

JUNE / JULY 2015 | BEER AROUND ERE

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Update your details |23

Membership Matters CAMRA Gold Award 2015 Great selection of Real Ales Large Open Beer Garden BT and Sky Sports

Function Room to Hire

Have you been missing your copy of What’s Brewing, and the quarterly magazine Beer? Is it some time since you had any written, or email, communication from CAMRA? Are you sure that CAMRA holds your current contact details?

The Peterborough & District branch currently has 25 individuals for whom the centrally held contact information is known to be incorrect. Could you be one of those individuals?

If you are experiencing any of these problems then perhaps you are amongst the “Incommunicado 25”. Let me know via the contact details on page 30 if you think you may be on the list. I’ll do all I can to ensure that communication lines are restored.

Meanwhile, the “Old Gits” are facing a re-match with the “Young Members” at the Dragon, Werrington at 20.00 on Tuesday 26th May. Whilst I shouldn’t take sides, and as an Old Git myself, lets hope that the 2015 event provides the same result as last year, a resounding win for the Old Gits.

Bob Melville Membership Secretary

3 real ales, 1 real cider and 6 draught beers Game room, Sky & BT sport Freshly prepared food Tuesday to Sunday.

Our garden, bars and restaurants are available for your Wedding, office or birthday party.

Motorcycle and Scooter Meet + BBQ 23rd June from 7pm £1 entry In aid of Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance Service 9 High Street, Easton on the Hill, PE9 3LR. Tel: 01780 763003 Email: info@thebluebellpub.com Find us on Facebook: The Blue Bell Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

JUNE / JULY 2015 | BEER AROUND ERE

More gravy please!

A trip by train to Harrogate (& Knaresborough)

The Peterborough rail ale trippers got off to a good start to 2015 on Saturday 17th January with a trip to Harrogate and Knaresborough. As usual Mick Slaughter sorted trains, tickets and food, all we had to do was turn up, drink and eat.

Our first stop was the Harrogate Tap, just off platform 1 on Harrogate Station. This place is well worth a visit; 11 hand pumps and all beers in tip top condition. When we got off the train at 11:03am the log fire was burning, the snow was coming down outside and I thought, ‘Can I please just stay here?’ The Tap had Hallets Heartbreaker Dry Cider on hand pump at 7%, but the beers were a 5% Sunny Republic Stout Porter which my husband Rob said was good and smokey. He then saw Arbor Oyster Stout (4.6%), so decided on the way back that would be his drink before the train home. I had Collingham Winter Warmer (4.6%); a BEER AROUND ERE | JUNE / JULY 2015

nice brown beer with a good taste. Other beers included Thornbridge Brother Rabbit (4.0%), Diverse Music Presents Golden Looking Ale (4.5%), Roosters Blind Jack (3.7%), Sky’s Edge Yellow Rose (4.5%) and Black Edge Gold (4.0%), plus more.

Half of the party chose to take the bus to Bilton Lane for a visit to the Gardeners Arms, a pub with a regionally important historic interior consisting of four small rooms. These included a tap room on the left of the corridor separated only by a boarded partition with old bench seating and an ancient hearth with a log fire. Being a Samuel Smith’s pub it only had their one real ale on sale.

As we walked to the bus stop the snow was falling quite hard.

Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

Harrogate and Knaresborough |25

Back in Harrogate with the snow still falling we walked to The Winter Gardens, now a Wetherspoons pub. It used to be part of the Victorian Royal Baths, with a great staircase leading down to a large bar. The problem with Weatherspoons is that they are always advertising beer as ‘Coming Soon’! Both beers I wanted to try, Birra Armada (4.8%) had just gone, so I asked for Doom Bar but, again, it had just gone. I was left with a choice of Abbot, Ruddles, Roosters YPA (4.1%) or Saltaire Trio Ale (3.7%). I finally got the YPA which was ok. It’s a great building, but I do wish they would sort the beers better.

Mick took a small group off to visit Blues Café Bar. Robert thought it was a great bar and the walls where decorated with pictures of all the great Blues singers. It’s well worth a visit just to see them, plus an eclectic mix of memorabilia. Rob drank Rudgates Aunt Mary Mild.

Spa visitors. I really liked the Bunsen burner type features on the bar (would not be allowed today) for use of lighting cigarettes etc. It’s a nice dark pub with old gas lighting. The choice of beer on the day was Draught Bass (4.4%), Robinsons Blond (3.8%) Robinsons Voodoo Dawn (3.9%), and my beer choice was Daleside Legover (4.1%).

This pub with a regionally important historic interior is a great pub for beer, food and atmosphere, worth a visit.

The next port of call was the nearby Old Bell Tavern. Half of the pub is the former Farrah’s toffee shop with bare floorboards and a splendid old shop back fitting with words at the top “We are the Sole Makers of Farrah’s Original Harrogate Toffee Known the World Over as the Purest and the Best”. This place had an extensive choice of beers, priced £3.18 to £4.60 and ABV 3.5% to 4.5%. Okells Resolution Dark Winter Ale (4.5%)

Lunch was at Hales Bar where most of the party ordered the freshly prepared steak pies which were wonderful, with Mick asking “more gravy please”. I was sorry I ordered the veggie option of goats cheese tart. Hales Bar dating from 1827 is one of the earliest inns in Harrogate offering stops and refreshments for the

Above: Hales Bar

had a wonderful coffee taste, you couldn’t fault it.

Also on offer were Marstons Oyster Stout (4.1%) always a good fall back for dark beer drinkers and Hawshead Windemere Pale (3.5%), more like Oakham Citra. I was taken up by the sign on the pub wall, a quote from Charles Dickens which read, “HARROGATE is the queerest place with the strangest people in it, leading the oddest lives” Well, I think on that Saturday we added to that!

The Blues Café Bar Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

F

JUNE / JULY 2015 | BEER AROUND ERE

26 |Harrogate and Knaresborough - continued

We then ventured along the road to Major Tom’s Social in The Ginnel. You need to keep a sharp eye out for it or you’ll walk past it. Look for the retro/antique shop - it’s above it. I loved this place.

You walk upstairs past a vinyl record shop called ‘Wall of Sound’ and through a metal door and wow, you’re taken back to the 60s with the furniture inside. You could be back at your mum’s (or nana’s house dependent on your age). I was transported back to the house I grew up in, it was just wonderful.

Major Tom’s

The bar has paintings on the walls for sale from Nicolas Dixon, and prices start at £200 and go up to £900. One rather apt title had been sold called ‘Dicquot’ and we were sat with Dickie Bird. The choice of beer here was Blond Star Blond Beer (4.7%), Roosters Humble Pie (3.7%) Blackjack Vanilla Stout (5.2%) and Bad Co, Communication Breakdown Double Pale (7.4%). The bar staff are wonderful and chatted to us about where we had been. It was well worth the effort of finding the place and spending some time there.

The next pub was a bit of a letdown. We walked past the Coach and Horses, a free house in the Good Beer Guide that sells snacks in the pub in aid of the Hospice in Harrogate, to go to Tap and Spile, Tower Street. I would love to say something nice about the place, but found only one thing, the pub dog, Molly.

A number of the party took the bus to Knaresborough which stops on the High Street and a short walk to the Market Place is Blind Jack’s BEER AROUND ERE | JUNE / JULY 2015

which is a 1980s creation but this multi-roomed pub with wooden floorboards looks like it has been open for decades. It has an on-site brewery Knaresborough Brewing Company and the pub has been listed in the Good Beer Guide since 1993 for its range of real ales, which included, on our visit, one from Magic Rock.

Just around the corner is the Cross Keys, Cheapside, which has been refurbished as a traditional pub by Ossett brewery and sells a range of real ales from Ossett related breweries. It is also in the Good Beer Guide. Walk downhill and you will find the Half Moon, 1 Abbey Road, a carefully restored free house selling 4 real ales from Yorkshire micro breweries and another guide entry.

Across the bridge is the Mother Shipton Inn with a multi room layout selling two real ales from the Heineken UK / S & N stable such as Caledonian Deuchars IPA. There are so many other real ale pubs in Knaresborough that it warrants a pub crawl on its own – the Mitre Hotel situated near the railway station is also in the Good Beer Guide selling 5 guest real ales from microbreweries; there are two Samuel Smiths pubs of character – Commercial Hotel (was Borough Bailiff) and Marquis of Granby Inn; near the market place are SO! Bar and Eats and the George and Dragon which sells 4 real ales. Also Wetherspoons have recently taken over the Crown Inn.

The Half Moon, Knaresborough

Back in Harrogate there are two more pubs worth a visit – some of us jumped off the bus from Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

Harrogate and Knaresborough - continued |27

Knaresborough just before it reached the large park called ‘The Stray’ and a short walk brings you to the Swan on the Stray a Good Beer Guide refurbished pub with up to 8 real ales; and virtually next door the Devonshire Arms, now 10 Devonshire Place, has a traditional dimly-lit interior including a rare screened bar and sells up to 8 real ales but please note it doesn’t open until 4pm each day. From here it is a short walk back to the railway station where we all met up at the Harrogate Tap for its great choice of beer. It was busy, warm and a welcoming place for the final drink before the train back to Leeds and then Peterborough.

Train tickets from Peterborough to Harrogate can be bought at a good price, if booked 12 weeks in advance, on East Coast’s website; the Harrogate PlusBus ticket is a bargain at £2 and enables you to travel to the Gardeners Arms and Knaresborough.

Roz Fountain (with additional information by Mick Slaughter) Photos by Mick Slaughter, Ross Parton, Roz Fountain

PALMERSTON ARMS 82 Oundle Rd www.palmerston-arms.co.uk

14 Ever-changing, gravity fed real ales Wood burner for winter

VINYL NIGHT Bring down your favourite records Check Facebook for next event

UKELELE NIGHT Every Thursday from 7.30pm

PHILOSOPHY NIGHT Check Facebook for next event

LIVE MUSIC WEEKLY Check Facebook & local gig guides

Opening Times Mon - Thurs 3-12pm Fri and Sat 12 - midnight Sun 12-11.30pm

For information on live entertainment go to:

Palmerston Arms

from 4pm

Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

JUNE / JULY 2015 | BEER AROUND ERE

28 | Gig guide

Gig guide June

July

Fri 5th Tallawah Heron, Stanground Sat 6th Streve Johns Conservative Club Mark Shelby Conservative Club Sun 7th Shake Rattle ‘n’ Roll Conservative Club Fri 12th That’s Armore (The Rat Pack)

Fri 3rd Lawrie Haley Duo Conservative Club Arc Nation Heron, Stanground Sat 4th Thomas Jay Trio Conservative Club 1970’s Glam rock night

Conservative Club

Porky Pig Heron, Stanground Sat 13th Lenny ‘G’ Duo Conservative Club Ian & Kat Bluebell, Helpston Sun 14th Dixie Mix Conservative Club Fri 19th Off The Record Conservative Club New Generation Crash & Burn Heron, Stanground

Sat 20th The HailStones Conservative Club Fri 26th Kenny Rich Conservative Club Sat 27th Mark Steele Conservative Club Ramshackle Serenade

Bluebell, Helpston

Sunday 5th The Jazz Beens Conservative Club Fri 10th Denny Lane Conservative Club Sat 11th Paul Copestake Conservative Club The Unknown Heron, Stanground Sun 12th Rick Roberts Conservative Club Sat 18th Response Conservative Club The Lazoons Heron, Stanground Fri 24th Trev ‘Bugie’ Walton Conservative Club Sat 25th Kickback Heron, Stanground Fri 31st Subway 77 Heron, Stanground JAYNE Conservative Club

Heron, Stanground

P51 Ready for Take Off We have further success to report for Kings Cliffe Brewery’s Flagship Ale P51. The management team at Sywell Aviator Hotel contacted the brewery in early April after they had seen the KCB P51 pump clip and its link to the Kings Cliffe USAAF P-51D Mustang’s article in the international aviation magazine Flypast.

After some discussion, two cask’s of P51 were dispatched for the Hotel Bar. The Aviator Hotel & Restaurant has been fully restored to its 1930’s Art Deco splendour and KCB P51 fits perfectly with the aviation theme alongside Shepard Neame’s Spitfire. If you have not visited The Aviator Hotel please make a point as it is a real hidden Art Deco BEER AROUND ERE | JUNE / JULY 2015

gem, and at weekends the Aviation Museum is also open which has a fine display of the 20th Fighter Group’s operations from Kings Cliffe.

Paul Fussell manager of the Aviator Restaurant accepting a signed P-51D Mustang Print from Carron Mulqueen and Mike Blakesley representing Kings Cliffe Brewery.

Mike Blakesley BLO Kings Cliffe Brewery

Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

Diary dates and beer festivals |29

Diary dates June

Monday 8th at 8.30pm Branch Committee Meeting at the Crown, 749 Lincoln Road, New England PE1 3HD. All members welcome, please bring membership card.

Saturday 13th Campaigning Crawl by bus and train to Coates, Eastrea and Whittlesey. Meet at Queensgate

CAMRA meetings, socials and beer festivals in the coming months

bus station by 11.00am to catch the 11.05 Stagecoach 33 bus to Coates. Here we will visit the Vine and possibly the Carpenters Arms.

Stagecoach Dayrider is £6.40.

We will then travel back to Eastrea to visit the Nags Head and finally back to Whittlesey.

The last bus (31) back from Whitmore Street, Whittlesey is at 18.36, but there are trains up to 9.28 pm and an anytime single

from Whittlesey to Peterborough by train costs £4.50.

Please book places through John Hunt, Social Secretary

July

Wednesday 8th at 8.30pm Branch Committee Meeting, venue to be confirmed. All members welcome, please bring membership card.

Beer festivals June

Saturday 6th Bavarian Beer Festival, The Kings Head, Apethorpe.

German food, lagers, games and oompah music plus a selection of local English ales. Bouncy castle and children’s sing- and- play along to The Collaborators.

Further details: www.kingsheadapethorpe.co.uk Sunday 7th Peterborough Conservative Club Beer Festival and Barbeque.

8 Real Ales, 2 Real Ciders - Real Music by ‘Shake Rattle ‘n’ Roll.’

Everyone welcome. Open at 11am Friday 26th - Sunday 28th Peterborough Town Sports Club Beer Festival, Bretton Gate.

July

Friday 3rd – Sunday 5th Beer Festival & BBQ at The Bluebell, Helpston.

Friday 3rd – Sunday 5th The White Horse 2nd Annual Beer Festival, 4 Church Street, Baston, PE6 9PE. 20+ beers and ciders. Live music - BBQ. Saturday 11th – Sunday 12th Gorefield Beer Festival. Community Hall and Pavillion, Wolf Lane, Gorfield PE13 4NE. Featuring beers from local ane national breweries. Also craft lagers and 10+ ciders + music and food. Further details: www.hall.gorefield.com

and country wines, hot food and snacks plus live Bands.

Further details. www.deepingsbeerfest.co.uk

August

Tues 11th - Sat 15th Great British Beer Festival.

Olympia, London www.gbbf.org.uk Tue 25th – Sat 29th Peterborough Beer Festival.

The Embankment, Embankment Road, Peterborough, PE1 1EF www.peterborough-camra.org.uk

Friday 24th – Saturday 25th Deepings Beer Festival. Deepings RUFC, Spalding Road, Deeping St. James. Real ales, scrumpy ciders, premium lagers

Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

JUNE / JULY 2015 | BEER AROUND ERE

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

Chairman: David Murray 01733 560453 chairman@real-ale.org.uk

Treasurer: Paul Beecham 01733 311981 07710 008693 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: John Temple 07905 051 312 pubs-officer@real-ale.org.uk

Press Officer: Mike Blakesley 01733 390828 (h) 07747 617527 (m) press-officer@real-ale.org.uk

Young Members: Kara Williams young-members@real-ale.org.uk

Membership: Bob Melville 07941 246693 membership@real-ale.org.uk

Festival Org: Mike Lane 07850 334203 festival-organiser@real-ale.org.uk

LocAle Officer: Dave McLennan 01733 346059 (h) 07854 642773 (m) locale@real-ale.org.uk Webmaster: Harry Morten webmaster@real-ale.org.uk

Brewery Liaison Officers Blue Bell: John Hunt 07923 489917 Bexar County Brewery: Dave Botton 01733 345475 Castor Ales: Mike Lane 07850 334203 Digfield: Dave Waller 07821 912605 Elgoods: John Hunt 07923 489917

Hopshackle: Noel Ryland 07944 869656

Kings Cliffe Brewery: Mike Blakesley 07747 617527 Melbourn: Don Rudd 07806 731765

Mile Tree Brewery: Steve Williams 07756 066503

Nene Valley: Bob Melville 07941 246693

Oakham Ales: Dave Allett 07966 344417 Tydd Steam: John Hunt 07923 489917

Shoulder of Mutton Brewery: John Temple 07905 051 312 Star Brewing Company: Dave McLennan - 07854642773 Xtreme Ales: Matt Mace 07809 629241

08545 040506 www.consumerdirect.gov.uk Check out our website at: www.real-ale.org.uk

Trading Standards

Pub Merit Awards & Gold Awards Does your local pub have excellent beer, friendly staff, a great atmosphere/ community spirit, or have they introduced additional hand pumps? If so nominate them for Gold or Merit Award. The new Merit Award is for pubs that are continuously outstanding, so if you know of a deserving pub within the branch area, please complete the form below indicating Gold or Merit Award and post to the secretary or email nominations to info@real-ale.org.uk.

Pub name: Pub address/town/village: Reason for award: Your name: Your phone number or e-mail address: Your membership number:

BEER AROUND ERE | JUNE / JULY 2015

Visit our web site for up-to-date news: www.real-ale.org.uk

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More than just a Carvery!

A great welcome awaits you at The Farmers, Yaxley.

We are famous for our fresh vegetables and great carvery meats, succulent and served with all the trimmings, then finished off with a tantalising hot or cold dessert!

Open Every Day 10am - 5.30pm All Day Menu & Coffee Midday - 2:30pm Carvery & Specials Menu 5:30pm - LATE Carvery & Grill Menu Sunday Open From 12 Noon - 9pm All Day Carvery

Check out our lunch-time grill menus and our everchanging specials boards. Put it all together with three fine cask ales and you have the perfect place to enjoy dinner with friends or a family celebration. We have a self -contained function suite which is ideal for parties, weddings and all of life’s celebrations.

So if you’ve not been before give us a try and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Planning a wedding or special family event?

We have lots of packages available including our new Green Room facility.

Please call for further details.

Now serving cider on hand pump

200 Broadway, Yaxley Tel: 01733 244885 Email: thefarmers@btconnect.com

www.thefarmersyaxley.co.uk