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Your FREE guide to real ale and pubs in South Oxfordshire
Spring 2015
Issue 25 |www.soxoncamra.org.uk
Wassailing at Tutts Clump Also Inside: A tribute to Ray Kerr • Ales around the Angel Legislation latest • Local and national news
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LOCAL NEWS Each year, every CAMRA branch selects its Pub of the Year (POTY). This is the first stage in a lengthy competition where the winners can progress through county and regional stages, with the select few going on to a final shoot-out at national level. The UK’s POTY for 2015 will be announced in the autumn. So it’s with great pleasure that we can announce that South Oxfordshire’s 2015 POTY is the Plum Pudding, Milton. Jez and Mandy Hill bought this pub from Greene King at the end of 2013 (it was previously the Admiral Benbow) and quickly placed their stamp on it by serving four quality ales supported by a selection of good pub food. Some readers may remember Jez and Mandy from the days when they ran the Cherry Tree in Steventon, and made it a Good Beer Guide regular. They then went on to run another Good Beer Guide pub: the Blue Boar in Aldbourn, Wiltshire. Their successful model is now being applied to the Plum Pudding – a great, friendly pub with regular live music. There are two beer festivals a year: the first of 2015 is 24th and 25th April. Congratulations to Jez and Mandy, and best wishes for the next stage of the competition! (www.theplumpuddingmilton.co.uk) Judging a pub is not an exact science. It’s not always easy to say exactly why a pub seems so good, but somehow it all comes together and the whole thing works. The main points that branches should look out for are:
Published every three months by the South Oxfordshire branch of the Campaign for Real Ale © CAMRA 2015 SoxonAle is produced and distributed by members of the branch in their own time. Views expressed in SoxonAle are not necessarily those of the editor, publisher or of CAMRA. Edited by: Paul Dixon Email: contact@soxoncamra.org.uk. Design & Production: Daniel Speed - Orchard House Media Ltd 01733 211933 Email: info@orchardhousemedia.co.uk Advertising: For advertising enquiries please contact Jane Michelson on: 07732 393 621 01733 211410 jane@orchardhousemedia.co.uk Distribution: 3,000 copies / four times a year Got a short pint? If you believe that you have been treated unfairly in a pub, club or bar, you should contact the Trading Standards service by writing to them at Oxfordshire Trading Standards, Graham Hill House, Electric Avenue, Ferry Hinksey Rd, Oxford OX2 0BY or call them on 0845 051 0845. A wide range of consumer information and advice is also available online from the Consumer Direct website at www.consumerdirect.gov.uk
Quality of the beer. This is the most important single factor in judging a pub for a CAMRA award. The pub doesn’t need to sell a wide range of beers to score highly: a pub selling a couple of ales in tip-top condition is better than one selling seven or eight of variable quality. Atmosphere/style/décor. This is partly about the “feel” of the interior – is it a nice place to be? Pubs certainly don’t have to be picture-postcard, unspoilt rural gems to score highly here. Estate pubs, modern city centre bars, back street boozers – all can be excellent in their own terms. Continued on page 4
CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale is an independent, voluntary organisation campaigning for real ale, community pubs and consumer rights.
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Service and welcome. Is the service prompt, efficient and friendly? Do you get full measure or a top up, without having to ask? Clientele Mix. A good pub is one where anyone can go in and feel comfortable, whoever they are. If a pub, intentionally or unintentionally, operates in such a way as to exclude some sectors of the community then that counts against it for this competition. Sympathy with CAMRA aims. Does the pub promote CAMRA’s values? Is cask beer given a positive push here? Is information offered about the ales sold? Good value. This is about value for money but in the widest sense of the term; i.e. not just how cheap the ale is. So having made the effort to come here, having devoted some of your valuable time to the journey and spent hard-earned cash, how good a pub experience have you had? It is left up to the individual branch how it selects its POTY. In the SOX Branch, discussion and agreement at a Branch meeting generates a short-list of five. Then the winner is decided by a free vote of all the Branch members. On the subject of awards - four times a year the SOX Branch makes a Pub of the Season award. This often (though not always) recognises licensees who have been making an effort to improve pubs that previously may have been under-performing a bit. The Winter Pub of the Season is the Miller of Mansfield, Goring. This pub was taken over by Mary and Nick Galer about nine months ago. Mary was formerly the general manager at the Goose, Britwell Salome. (The Goose has since reverted to its original name of the Red Lion.) Nick was sous-chef when the Goose was awarded a Michelin star in 2009. Then for four years, Nick and Mary worked for Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck Group. Nick was head chef in the Crown at Bray, whilst Mary was a core part of the management team at the Hinds Head, Bray. Now we’re fortunate to have them back in South Oxfordshire because the Miller has quickly gained a reputation for topquality food and well-kept ales. In fact, the Branch Pub of the Season award comes only a couple of months after the Miller won third place in the restaurant category of the Best Thames Local awards. These are run by the River Thames Guide and were presented on board the luxury motor boat, the Edwardian, at Butler’s Wharf in London. (http://millerofmansfield.com) After an absence of 12 years, Brakspear’s Old Ale (4.3% ABV) has made a welcome return. The beer is being brewed at Brakspear’s micro-brewery in the Bull on Bell Street, Henley. The brewer there, Malcolm Mayo, made it after consulting Peter Scholey - previously head brewer at the original Brakspear Brewery in New Street, and who now runs his own suc4
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cessful enterprise Ridgeway Brewery (www.ridgewaybrewery.co.uk). The micro in the Bull marks the return of the Brakspear name to brewing in Henley. The New Street brewery was closed and redeveloped in 2002 and the pub estate was bought by the current owners, JT Davis. The most frequently seen Brakspear beers, (e.g. Bitter and Oxford Gold) are contract-brewed at Marston’s plant in Witney. Old Ale has been on sale at the Bull, as well as at the Angel on the Bridge, Henley, the Reformation in Gallowstree Common, and the Perch and Pike, South Stoke. West Berkshire Brewery is to raise £4m through the government’s Enterprise Investment Scheme to build a new brewery with bottling, kegging and canning lines together with a new visitor centre and a shop. Like-for-like sales increased 17% in the six months to September 2014 and West Berkshire is expected to outgrow its current brewery at Yattendon within two years. It was started in Frilsham in 1995 by Dave and Helen Maggs, and only moved to its current site in 2011. The firm also plans to purchase its first freehold pub to serve as a showcase for its beers. Last year the company raised £1.23m through offering family, friends and real ale lovers the opportunity to become shareholders. The current share offer is open until 30th April: details can be Continued on page 6
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found www.wbbrew.com/eis. 2015 marks West Berkshire’s 20th anniversary and to they have gone into the archives and selected a dozen favourites for the monthly specials. First out of the bag are: March: March Hare (4.3% ABV). First brewed in 2000.
Traditional Family Run Village Pub Four Cask Marque Beers Award Winning Restaurant 7 Station Road, Lower Shiplake, Henley on Thames, Oxon. RG9 3NY Tel: 01189 403332 enquiries@thebaskerville.com www.thebaskerville.com
April: Coolship (4% ABV). First brewed in 2006. (A coolship was the upper-most part of the older style of brewery and used for cooling and ventilation.) May: Skiff (4.1% ABV). First brewed in 1996 for the then newly established Reading Beer Festival. In October the Bird in Hand, Sonning Common, was taken over by Santino Busciglio and his partner Helen Catchpole. Santino, who was born in Sicily and moved to England as a baby, has more than 25 years’ experience as a chef and has worked in a number of Michelin-starred restaurants in London. His particular claim to fame is that he has appeared on the BBC’s Masterchef and also Ramsay’s Best Restaurant on Channel 4 while he was working at the Mennula in Charlotte Street, London. Real ales are from Lodden and West Berkshire. (Phone 0118 972 1857.) In the previous issue of SoxonAle we noted reports that the Prince of Wales, Didcot, was to be demolished as part of the Didcot Gateway development of the wide strip of land opposite the station. Since then the developers have held a consultative exhibition at Didcot Cornerstone and, indeed, the Prince doesn’t appear anywhere. It is to be replaced by a six or seven storey hotel, with only a “bar” as compensation. This is a big disappointment. Didcot’s population is expanding rapidly but its pub-base is not only
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shrinking but some of those that remain are in dire need of modernisation. Apparently a Harvester pub/restaurant is planned for the A34/A4130 interchange, but that’s three miles out of town and Harvesters are not generally considered to be great places for real ale. Failure to replace the Prince with a proper pub would be a big mistake. Remaining in Didcot, Punch Taverns has submitted a planning application to SODC for a convenience store in the gardens of the Wheatsheaf. The shop would be separate from the pub and only part of the land would be needed for it. A Punch Taverns spokesman said that they plan to spend £170,000 on to refurbishing and developing the pub early in 2015.
The Branch continues to suffer a steady erosion of its pub base. SOX Pubs Preservation Officer David Cooper summarises the position .... The recession, together with other changes in society, is taking a toll on pubs in the country and our area is no exception. A particular problem here is that because house prices are so high it is attractive for a pub owner to convert it to one or more houses or flats. Over the last few years this has been the fate of a number of pubs in South Oxfordshire including the White Horse in Henley, the Fox at Bix, the Cricketers Arms in Warborough, the Crispin in Harwell and, more recently, the Four Horseshoes in Checkendon. Recognising that pubs fulfil an important social function and help to cement communities together, both the National Planning Policy Framework and our District Councils’ Local Plans have provisions in them that protect community facilities, including pubs, from conversion. This is strengthened by the ability to list them as Assets of Community Value (ACV). Several pubs in our area are at present closed, though not necessarily permanently, and some information about the state of play in February 2015 follows. Rose & Crown, Henley. The Horse & Groom, also in New Street, closed its doors and was allowed to be converted to a private house in 2013. Then last year Brakspear attempted to do the same with the Rose & Crown. The Planning Officer at SODC recommended approval of planning permission but the Planning Committee was persuaded by local residents and CAMRA and unanimously turned it down. Brakspear appealed, but the appeal failed last November. Unfortunately, it may not reopen as a pub since current planning law allows it to be turned into one of several different commercial uses. The Crown, Nuffield. Another Brakspear pub which has struggled in recent years despite being in a prominent position on the main Oxford to Henley road and also on the Ridgeway long-distance path. It has now been closed for over a year and Brakspear has so far not been able to sell it as a pub. Planning permission for conversion to a private house was turned down by SODC and as yet no appeal has been lodged.
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The Half Moon, Cuxham. Brakspear closed the pub in September last year. The village obtained an ACV listing and is working very hard to raise enough money to buy it as a community pub. Over £76,000 has already been pledged from 75 different households and is being used to leverage further funding from other donors, grants and loans. This demonstrates considerable commitment from a very small village. The Half Moon was very successful only a few years ago under Eilidh Ferguson and Andrew Hill, who are now at the (also hugely successful) Red Lion in Britwell Salome. More details on the campaign and an opportunity to invest in the pub can be found at www.cuxham-community.org. As little as £200 will allow you to have a stake in the revived enterprise. The White Lion, Crays Pond. This once-popular pub in a prominent position on a cross-roads lost trade under a succession of tenants and managers employed by Greene King and closed in August last year. It was sold without the knowledge of the local community to a businessman from Huddersfield who promptly began to turn it into a house for his family. Much damage has been done to the pub, including stripping out most of the pub features. The villagers, once alerted to what was happening, began a spirited campaign to save it. They obtained an ACV listing and contacted SODC planners and the new owner was forced to apply for planning permission to change its use to residential. With the aid of CAMRA and others, the planning application was turned down and enforcement action started. The owner has now appealed and there will be a full enquiry on 16th June. CAMRA will be supporting the village. The Lamb, Satwell. Once a Brakspear house, this 500 year old pub was at one time part of Antony Worrall Thompson’s empire before being run by local businessman and CAMRA member, Chris Smith. In Chris’s time, the pub was in the Good Beer Guide and a local CAMRA Pub of the Season. Unfortunately, it closed in early 2012 and has been acquired by another businessman who has been using the car park as an adjunct to a second-hand car sales business. Plans have been submitted to SODC to upgrade the structure with letting accommodation and we wait to see if it will be reopened. The conversion of the Queens Arms, Goring, into a Tesco Express seems to have stalled for the moment. The pub remains boarded-up while Tesco and SODC dispute the extent to which the floor area can be expanded. David Cooper
The SOX Branch holds a meeting on the first Wednesday of each month and a social evening on the third Thursday. We vary the venues to cover as much of the Branch’s (quite extensive) territory. For news and events take a look at the Branch website: www.soxoncamra.org.uk. Alternatively email us at contact@soxoncamra.org.uk.
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NATIONAL NEWS Historic vote moves closer to fair deal for pubco tenants After ten years campaigning, MPs of all parties backed a CAMRA-supported amendment at the Report Stage for the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill which allows tied tenants of companies with more than 500 pubs to have their rent reviewed independently - the market rent only (MRO) option. It would also give tenants the option to buy beer at competitive prices in an open market: according to CAMRA saving about 60p a pint. David Cooper is SOX’s Pubs Preservation Officer – elsewhere in the magazine he talks in more detail about the benefits that this legislation is likely to bring. And MPs support closing a planning loophole CAMRA’s campaign to shut the planning loophole allowing pubs to be converted or demolished without planning permission is gathering momentum, with more than 10,000 people having signed the Pubs Matter petition. Launched in August last year, the campaign calls for a simple change to the law in England to ensure that a planning application is always required before a pub is demolished or converted into another use. 89 MPs from all political parties have signed Early Day Motion 208 calling for the government to take action against the system and now campaigners say there’s a real chance of a law change before the General Election on 7th May. Go to www.pubsmatter.org.uk for more on saving your pub. Assets of Community Value Many communities are now taking action to protect their pubs, but the law is still letting them down. CAMRA’s List Your Local campaign now has 600 pubs as registered as Assets of Community Value (ACV). ACVs are intended to help retain community assets (most commonly pubs, though other things can be registered too). It provides a six month delay as an opportunity for the community to bid for the property if the owner intends to sell. But with 31 pubs still closing every week CAMRA believes the government is failing communities by allowing conversion of pubs to supermarkets without planning permission. CAMRA evidence shows two pubs a week are being converted into convenience stores. Planning permission is required to convert a convenience store into a pub but no permission is required to convert a pub into a store. The lack of protection for pubs is a weakness in the planning system which needs to be corrected. It cannot be right that a supermarket convenience store is given greater planning protection than a valued community pub. Listing your pub could provide it with an extra layer of much-needed protection. To get a listing, visit the local authority website and look up Assets of Community Value or right to bid. Many councils have provided guidance on how they are accepting nominations. If you don’t know the local authority visit www.gov.uk/find-your-local-council. Download a nomination form or get one from www.camra.org.uk/list-your-local-assets-of-communityvalue. If you need more information, email campaigns@camra.org.uk. Greene King gets (even) bigger In the previous SoxonAle we noted that Greene King had sold 275 of its pubs to the newly-created Hawthorn Leisure. Since then Greene King has added more than 1,200 pubs to its estate by purchasing the Spirit Pub Company. The brewer paid more than £774m for Spirit’s 794 managed Continued on page 12 10
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and 433 leased pubs, making it one of the largest pub owners in the country. Currently, Greene King runs an estate of some 1,900 managed, tenanted, leased and franchised pubs, restaurants and hotels. The deal creates one of the biggest pub groups in Britain, with more than 3,000 pubs, restaurants and hotels, including the Hungry Horse and Loch Fyne chains. The proposed deal is expected to be completed in the first half of 2015. The new group will have a third of its estate in the better-off regions of London and south west England. Little pubs show a big growth In issue 23 of SoxonAle we featured an article on micropubs, and speculated that they might be the way forward for local pubs. Well the number of micropubs has now reached 100, and the idea could be about to change the shape of our High Streets. The micropub is generally accepted as one which is: small; created by converting existing premises (typically a small town-centre shop); primarily serves real ale; doesn’t serve lager; doesn’t have music, but does encourage banter and chat. In 2005, Martin Hillier opened the first micropub (the Butchers Arms in Herne, Kent) in a former shop. Hillier had realised that the then recent Licensing Act of 2003 made it much easier to get a licence and convert a shop into a pub. In 2009 Hillier gave a presentation to CAMRA’s AGM in Eastbourne, and this inspired several members to go on to open their own micropubs. In January 2013, there were just 15 micropubs, almost all of them in Kent. However, by the end of the year there were 50 and by December 2014 the number had doubled again. Hillier believes that micropubs are getting people back into pubs and getting them talking. “In traditional pubs it’s not the norm to speak to someone you don’t know, but it’s the done thing in micropubs”. It is the relatively low start-up cost which makes setting up a micropub so attractive. According to Hillier it’s really straightforward to set up a micropub for around £10,000. It brings closed shops back to life and draws communities back together. 12 12
SHOCK HORROR! The Government Supports Beer & Pubs! Most people like to complain about the Government, whether they are a supporter of the particular party that is in power or not. However, as a result of the efforts of CAMRA together with some MPs of all political parties, Government actions have resulted in not one but four actions that look likely to reverse the trend of pub closures and the decline of beer sales.
Reducing tax on beer Since 2008, duty payable on beer rose by the rate of inflation plus 2%, resulting in a 42% increase in duty and tax up until two years ago and accounting for £1 on every pint. This contributed to the closure of over 5000 pubs in that period. A strong campaign by CAMRA, including a 100,000 signature petition and a lobby of Parliament by over 1000 CAMRA members, led to the Chancellor, George Osborne, not only scrapping the escalator altogether, but actually reducing the duty by 1p per pint in the 2013 and 2014 budgets. Now we wait and see if he will make it a hat-trick of duty reductions in this year’s budget. You can help by writing to your MP, Ed Vaizey (Wantage Constituency) or John Howell (Henley Constituency), at the House of Commons, London SW1 0AA and asking them to encourage the Chancellor to make it three duty cuts in a row. But be quick, Budget Day is 18 March!
Business rates help for pubs In his Autumn Statement last year, the Chancellor announced that most pubs would be eligible for Small Business Rate Relief and an additional £500 reduction in Business Rates. These are likely to be worth around £1000 to a typical pub.
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Help for landlords against large pub companies Complaints from lessees and tenants about their treatment by the large pub-owning companies will soon have brought about a change in their relationship. Having tried unsuccessfully to persuade the pubcos to treat their tenants with decency, the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill introduces a Statutory Code of Conduct and an Adjudicator to regulate the relationship. Perhaps even more importantly, a rebellion against the Government by MPs during the debate on this Bill has led to tenants being given the right to buy beer from wherever they wish (at present they usually have to pay well over the odds from the pubco) and to have their rent assessed independently. These measures affect only the large pubcos with 500 or more pubs, but it can be expected that they will introduce much more competition into the market, benefiting drinkers as well as curbing the abuses by the large companies. More than half of tied licensees report earning less than ÂŁ10k a year and a market rent only option could see them earning a fair return. A fairer tie would also attract high quality licensees able to run profitable businesses, which is better for pubs, breweries and pubcos.
Plugging planning loopholes The Localism Act allows communities to have places important to social life designated as Assets of Community Value (ACVs). So far, about 600 pubs have been granted ACV status, by far the largest category of asset. ACVs can be applied for by any group of 21 local people or by Parish Councils. The procedure is relatively straightforward, involving a simple form outlining the reasons why the asset is valued by the community and the success rate is high. Once granted by the Local Authority (SODC or Vale of White Horse here) the pub cannot be sold without giving the local community six months to raise the money to buy it, though the owner is not obliged to accept the community offer. This has certainly prevented a number of pubs being sold for use as supermarkets or homes and several have become community-owned. CAMRA has been campaigning for several years over a loophole in planning regulations which allow pubs to be converted into supermarkets, betting shops, etc. without requiring planning permission. Interestingly, you can’t do it the other way round without full permission. Now the Government is legislating to prevent the change of use or demolition without full planning permission of a pub which is designated as an ACV. This falls short of protecting all pubs, but is another powerful reason for applying to have your local made into an ACV. Advice on the process is available from both the local and national CAMRA organisation.
Elections 2015 None of these measures would have happened without CAMRA’s campaigning together with the backing from MPs of all political parties. The Government did not support the Market Rent Only option for pubco tenants, so no political party can claim to be entirely pub-friendly. This year there are elections not only to Parliament, but also to SODC and Vale of White Horse District Council, which have influence on the drinking scene in various ways, notably planning policy and rates. CAMRA is not allied to any political party, but you can have an influence on future policy by asking candidates for their views (and giving yours to them) on matters which are important to you.
David Cooper 13
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The Argyll Pub & Kitchen
Serving fine ales and home cooked food for 250 years.
Come and visit our famous pub where two episodes of the tv series ‘Midsomer Murders’ have been filmed. Join our friendly locals for a drink or enjoy a fantastic meal. On offer is top quality home cooked food, including fillet, rib eye and sirloin steaks, old English sausage and mash along with homemade vegetarian options, sea bass, salmon and traditional fish and chips. Sunday roasts are a specialty. The Argyll Public House 15 Market Place, Henley-on-Thames, RG9 2AA.
For bookings call: 01491 573 400 www.theargyllhenley.co.uk
The Argyll Pub & Kitchen
Award-winning, family Cider makers since 2006 sales@tuttsclumpcider.co.uk www.tuttsclumpcider.co.uk Tel: 0118 974 4649 or 07836 296996
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WASSAILING AT TUTTS CLUMP In the winter edition of SoxonAle we had a report on the open day at local cider-maker Tutts Clump. We also had an article that discussed the origins and processes behind wassailing. Well, in early January these two came together when Tutts held its first wassail ceremony to kick-start its new orchard. The wassail was performed by the Reading-based Kennet Morris Men. You may recall from the previous article that the aim of the wassail is to wake up the apple trees and encourage them to get growing, and at the same time to frighten away any bad spirits that may have taken up residence in the orchard. So the event started with a dance by the Kennet Morris followed by a song, and we all joined in with: Oh apple tree we wassail thee and hope that thou will bear. The Lord shall know where we shall be, to be merry another year. To blow well and to bear well and so merry be, Let every man drink up his cup, a health to the old apple tree. Then, to scare away the evil spirits, everyone made as much noise as possible: shouting, ringing bells, banging drums and so on. Ideally there would have been gunfire too, but no one had a firearms licence. Then Kennet performed another dance. After that, the wassail bowl, filled with cider, was taken round the trees and an offering poured over the tree roots. Toast was soaked in cider and hung from the branches. Then another communal song: Here we come a wassailing among the leaves so green. Here we come a wandering so fair to be seen. Love and joy come to you and to your wassail too, And God bless you and send you a happy New Year, And God send you a Happy New Year Bud and blossom, bud and blossom, bud and bloom and bear So we may have plenty of cider all next year. Love and joy... God bless the master of this house, likewise the mistress too. And all the little children that round the table go. Love and joy... Then after a final dance from the Kennet Morris we all returned to Tutts for more cider – both straight from the barrel and hot-mulled. So, a very enjoyable event and one that looks likely to become a regular one. www.kennetmorrismen.co.uk, www.tuttsclumpcider.co.uk
Paul Dixon 15
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The Brewhouse and Kitchen
South Oxfordshire plus ten other branches comprise CAMRA’s Central Southern Region. One of the many benefits of living in South Oxfordshire is that we are within less than an hour of, arguably, the world’s greatest city with its unparalleled opportunities for beer-drinking in fascinating venues. The only problem most people have is – where to start? Each year, Central Southern runs a pub crawl around some interesting part of London. Since someone has gone to the trouble of designing a great pub crawl it seems only right to share it with the SoxonAle readership. The 2015 crawl was entitled Ales around the Angel so it’s not too surprising that we made our way to the Angel Tube station, exited right and walked a short distance to... The Brewhouse and Kitchen [EC1V 1NG]. This is part of a small chain of seven brew pubs, though only two are in London: the others are in Portsmouth, Dorchester (in Dorset), Poole, Bristol and Bournemouth. This one has eight handpumps dispensing its own beers, together with a bottled selection from other breweries. Brewing takes place at the rear of the pub where all of the plant is on view, and which uses the kit from the Botanist at Kew. This is a large smartly designed pub with an extensive menu. Some of the beers look very interesting, such as the Raleigh smoked porter at 5.5%ABV. But this was going to be a long day so I tried the Arc Angel, an English bitter at 3.6%ABV. This proved to be very drinkable and ideally suited for a session beer. (www.brewhouseandkitchen.com) Another short walk along the Regent’s Canal brought us to the Earl of Essex [N1 8LE]. This features in the current Good Beer Guide, and is yet another brew pub. The central oval bar houses the brewing kit, which this time is not on display. Clearly a refurbished backstreet boozer, the Earl of Essex is very different from the previous pub being fashionably basic with an original and very interesting mirrored backing to the bar. Their own brew, Earls, is usually available on one of the six handpumps and invariably present on keg. Most of the other ales are from micros from across the world. As you enter the pub there is a board on the left wall listing the beers available and specifying the method of 16
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Earl of Esse x
en
Old Queen’s Head
dispense. On this day there were 18 beers, five of which were cask, in quite a range of strengths including the rather alarming Big Worster at 18.5% ABV that ran out as we got there. The house-brewed Earls Porter at 4.3%ABV which proved to be very good indeed. Food is available all day – substantial pub grub. (www.earlofessex.net) Heading north through the backstreets we came to the Old Queen’s Head [N1 8LN]. Another pub rescued from oblivion, this one retains a lot of the original brightly-painted plasterwork on the ceiling. Sofas and dining chairs are scattered over one large room. There is an old carved settle and a fireplace at the rear with wood panelling above. Various stags’ heads and a skull look down on the proceedings, and the chandeliers are made from antlers. This quirky pub has two handpumps, both dedicated to Truman’s beers including Runner at 4%ABV. Not bad, though I’ve had better Runner elsewhere. The pub is worth a visit just for the experience. Food is available: mainly burgers, including the Psychic Burger coated with Psychic Sauce. (www.theoldqueenshead.com). A few metres up the Essex Road is the New Rose [N1 8LU], though the pub sign reads ‘Just Another Pub’. Also in the current Good Beer Guide this is another reborn traditional boozer, this time clad in the original emerald green tiles. There is a small room at the front with roses embossed into the seat backs and two large drinking spaces behind. Take your CAMRA membership card along and get some discount. Four handpumps here. The East London Brewing Company’s Nightwatchman at 4.5%ABV is, unsurprisingly, a dark beer rather reminiscent of a smoother Newcastle Brown and very good. (www.thenewrose.co.uk, though this must be the least informative website I’ve ever seen!) The longest walk of the day now, almost back to the Tube Station, to the York [N1 8EQ]. This is a Nicholson’s house; in my experience invariably a good thing. The York has 12 handpumps, usually with four guest beers. This is a large, street corner pub with a lot of dark wood and etched glass, together with a deep red ceiling, a fireplace with mirror above, and Continued on page 19 17
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Craft Beer Co.
Three Johns
the older back bar fittings hint at what it would have looked like in a previous age. Until the end of the 18th century this area was open fields but by 1851 the York Hotel stood on this site, but was rebuilt in 1872. For the beer I went almost mainstream and had Jarrow Brewery’s Rivet Catcher at 4%ABV. (www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk) A short walk up White Lion Street took us to the Three Johns [N1 9PF]. Apparently the Three Johns were 18th century radicals. Yet another old pub with an old/modern decor: bare brickwork, distressed wood panelling and a copper-tiled ceiling. Three hand pumps serve beers from various micros. Hackney Brewery’s Best Bitter at 4.4% ABV is their stab at ‘traditional’ bitter, with distinct toffee/caramel notes. This is also a large range of ‘craft’ keg and bottled beers from pretty much every corner of the beer-drinking world. (www.three-johns.com) Nearby is the Islington outpost of the Craft Beer Co [N1 9PP]. The company was founded in 2011 with its first pub, in Clerkenwell. There are now six pubs in the chain, all but one in London – the other is in Brighton. This, the Islington one, is in the 2015 Good Beer Guide. Ten handpumps dispense ales from independent breweries, plus twenty ‘craft’ kegs. Some of these were pretty lethal; e.g. Pirate Bomb from Prairie Artisan Ales at 15%ABV. I went off-piste a bit here and had an Italian beer craft beer – I couldn’t fathom from the pump clip what it was called; but it was 7.6% ABV, had a saison-ish flavour, and was very drinkable! So, what have we learned from all this? The thing I noticed in particular was that at least three of the pubs we visited could be put into the backstreet-boozer category. That is, old pubs that perhaps ten years ago would be considered no longer fit for purpose and ripe for turning into a takeaway, convenience store or whatever. But with relatively small investment (none of them had obviously had massive amounts spent of them) they are now busy, vibrant, interesting places to go. The key thing of course is that they are being run by people with some vision who have seen the way the market is changing and have adapted to suit it. In that respect of course they are charting a similar course to the micro-pub revolutionaries who are making waves outside the capital. Paul Dixon 19
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Crisp bag origami A bag of crisps and a pint are a pretty good combination and I guess many of us will go for it when we have a drink. But one of the more aggravating sights in a pub is a pile of empty crisp bags on the table or, worse, blowing around the pub garden. There’s no excuse for such a breach of pub etiquette. Anyone can apply the waste treatment principles used in the nuclear industry: size-reduction followed by immobilisation. Fortunately, pub goers don’t need to cast their empty packets into cement – simple origami can be used to gain the same effect. The basic form is the Knot (pictured above). Fold the packet in half lengthways, and then twice more. Make a 180° bend in the centre and slip one end under the other and pull tight. With minimal practice this can be completed in a few seconds and results in a pleasing and entirely acceptable formation that can be left on the pub garden table and not blow away except under a reasonably stiff breeze. There really is no excuse for not completing this simple manoeuvre. However, if you fancy something a little more challenging you can try the Triangle. In its simplest form restrict the initial lengthways folding to something like a 30 mm width. Then progressively fold right-angle triangles. When you get to the end, tuck the last bit under the previous fold. There are a number of variants on the basic triangle – this is probably the easiest. It must be said that the modern foil packet is more difficult than the old non-foil type; and good luck trying this with a peanut packet. Needless to say, a brief search on the interweb reveals a world of alternatives including squares and even a pentagon. Some people might suggest that’s going too far and indicates a degree of mental derangement. But we should always encourage those who try and push the envelope.
What’s this Whatpub? WhatPub is the UK’s foremost pub database. Created and maintained by CAMRA branch volunteers it’s the most accessible and reliable pub reference around. Simply go to whatpub.com and enter the pub name, postcode town etc. and get a detailed list of appropriate suggestions. If you’re a CAMRA member you can log into WhatPub and register beer scores for any pub in the UK that you’ve just visited. This is a big help to the local branch when it comes to campaigning or deciding entries for the Good Beer guide. 21
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Ray Kerr, 1945 - 2015 RAY KERR was a well known and popular member of CAMRA South Oxfordshire branch. He was born on Merseyside and spent a considerable part of his earlier life overseas with Di his wife. Early retirement from Waitrose, where he was an accountant, resulted in Di and Ray taking over and running Brakspear's Leathern Bottel on the banks of the River Thames near Goring, now an Italian restaurant. After that they moved into the Catherine Wheel in Goring, which they ran for 12 years from 1992 to 2004. Ray was a keen home brewer and in later years brewed a selection of historical Brakspear's beers. The Catherine Wheel, the oldest in Goring, was originally a Gundry's of Goring house. It was connected with CAMRA in the campaigns of the earliest years, when it was run by Graham Watts. Ray and Di were well suited to the Wheel and were very popular tenants. Ray always had a good selection of Brakspear's beers on tap, including Ordinary Bitter, which was anything but ordinary! Special, Mild and Old - he always stocked the seasonal beers. When Brakspear discontinued Mild, Ray did all in his power to have an alternative mild ale supplied and for a long time Cains from Liverpool was on tap. This was followed by Bateman's Dark Mild which was not quite up to the beer brewed by Brakspear’s but was the next best thing. It was only Ray who persuaded Brakspear to provide a mild, for he wanted to keep his customers happy! After Ray and Di left the Catherine Wheel, Ray became more involved with CAMRA, regularly visiting South Oxfordshire pubs in his Jaguar and recording the quality of beers. He was a real character and always referred to Di as his “current wife” even though they had been married for more than 40 years! His reading glasses also caused great amusement, being held together and fitting over his ears with elastic bands! At the wheel, when Ray served you with a pint he always said “a mere £X.XX pence!” Ray was more than a character. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him and he will never be forgotten. Our thoughts are with his wife Di, his children Lucy, Charles and Edward, and his grandchildren. 22
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