Your FREE guide to real ale and pubs in South Oxfordshire
Autumn 2015
Issue 27
www.soxoncamra.org.uk
MILLER THE
OF MANSFIELD • GORING
OPENING TIMES Monday - Saturday Lunch 12 - 2.30 Dinner 6 - 9 Sunday Lunch 12 - 3.30 Supper Club 6 - 8
CAMRA Pub of the Season 2015 18th Century Coaching Inn with 13 Individual Rooms Local Discounts & Corporate Rates Apply.
Locals Nights
£25 5 courses £15 wine flight 1st Thursday of every month For dates please see website or call in for flyer.
Calendar of Weekly Monthly Events Changing Lunch Menu
2 courses £12.50 3 courses £15.00 Sunday Supper Club £12.50 main course & drink.
Nibbles menu now available.
Live bands Wine/Beer dinners Henley Market Locals Nights Guest Beers Subscribe to our Facebook Events to find out more.
Contact Mary for any further enquiries
Miller of Mansfield High Street, Goring, RG8 9AW t: 01491 872 829 m: 07702 853 413 email: mary.galer@millerofmansfield.com www.millerofmansfield.com Miller-of-Mansfield
TheMillerofMan
LOCAL NEWS
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 01778 382758 Email: info@orchardhousemedia.co.uk
The Bear, North Moreton, is an example of how an underperforming pub can become successful when run by the right people. Taken on by Tim and Alison Haworth in 2006 it rapidly got into the Good Beer Guide and was a repeat winner of the South Oxfordshire Pub of the Year. Tim and Alison left last year. But happily the Bear has retained its momentum under new tenants, the father and daughter team of Patrick and Lucy Marples. Patrick and Lucy have put their own stamp on the pub by introducing a programme of sympathetic refurbishment, but the winning formula of four real ales has been retained. There are two regulars: Timothy Taylor’s Landlord and Bear Beer, brewed specially for the pub by West Berkshire. The other two beers change all the time and can come from anywhere. The food is always excellent and there are regular social events and the weekly quiz, which is nearly always at capacity. In particular, the partnership with the local cricket club has flourished and the beer and cricket festival each July continues to grow and grow. So it was appropriate that Patrick and Lucy’s efforts should be recognised in front of a large crowd on the Saturday evening of the festival, with the award of South Oxfordshire Summer Pub of the Season. In July SOX fulfilled its traditional role of providing the beer tent at the Woodcote Rally. We sold 8250 pints of beer and cider, the equivalent of 90 bottles of wine and over 300 litres of soft drinks. The unstinting efforts of our band of volunteer bar staff kept the Rally-goers well lubricated with the result Continued on page 4
Advertising: For advertising enquiries please contact Jane Michelson on: 07732 393 621 01778 382718 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
CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale is an independent, voluntary organisation campaigning for real ale, community pubs and consumer rights.
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Local News - continued
that we will again make a handsome donation of £4500 to the Woodcote Rally charities as well as a contribution to CAMRA’s campaigning fund. Previous SoxonAles have followed the fortunes of the grade II listed Bottle and Glass, Binfield Heath, which was closed by Brakspear in July 2013. The parish council registered the pub as an Asset of Community Value with South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC). This measure was introduced in the 2011 Localism Act and, once approved, gives communities six months to bid on a property before it can be sold on the open market – more on this in the National News section. Tentative plans were made for a community purchase, then the Phillimore Estate bought it in August last year. The Estate has recently submitted a planning application for the pub’s refurbishment. This includes a two-storey extension with refurbishment and alterations to the existing building. The car park is to be relocated to the rear of the site and an infill three-bedroom property built. Binfield Heath Parish Council supports the application and SODC should be making a decision on the proposals very soon. For many months we’ve been closely following the fortunes of the White Lion, Crays Pond. This has finally been resolved and SOX Pubs Protection Officer, David Cooper, tells the full story later in this magazine. In happier days the Lamb, Satwell, was a lovely country pub and a Good Beer Guide regular. It was sold a several years ago and entered a strange twilight existence. The signage remained in place, though it was never entirely clear whether it was open or not. The new owner apparently had a second-hand car business and appeared to use the car park to store his stock since it was always completely full. Anyway, as was almost inevitable, a planning application has been submitted to SODC for change of use to a dwelling. SOX has registered an objection and we await the SODC decision in mid-September. Since re-opening under new management the Miller of Mansfield, Goring, has won yet another award being named Restaurant of the Year 2016 in the readers’ category of the Good Food Guide. The hotel and restaurant, a former 18th century coaching inn, was previously owned by Enterprise Inns and was facing closure because the kitchen was deemed a health hazard. Nick and Mary Galer from Streatley spent £75,000 on refurbishment before re-opening the business just over a year ago. It came third in the River Thames Guide’s best Thames local awards in November and was awarded two AA rosettes for its food and accommodation. But of course the biggest accolade so far has been the award of Winter Pub of the Season 2015 by South Oxfordshire CAMRA. 4
Local News - continued
In the previous SoxonAle we reported on the fortunes of two Crowns. Sadly, there have been developments with both, and it’s not good. The Crown, South Moreton, is a handsome pub that had once been very successful but for some reason fell on hard times and saw a number of tenants who stayed for only a little while, and was frequently closed. In the Summer SoxonAle we reported that it had just been taken on by two experienced tenants, Jane and Mike Binyon, who had previously run Good Beer Guide pubs in other counties. So it all seemed very promising until a couple of weeks ago when they suddenly left. It is believed that the owner, Wadworth, had sold the pub without telling them. The identity of the new owner is currently unknown – so we could have a rebirth like the Bottle & Glass, or an attempt at closure like the White Lion. At the time of writing the pub is ‘closed for the foreseeable future’. We also recorded that a planning application had been submitted to demolish the Crown, Didcot, and replace it with housing. Shortly after publication the application was approved. At the time of writing the Crown remains open. The Flowing Spring, Playhatch, continues to provide a wide range of events from live music to mind-reading to the chilli pizza challenge. Two forthcoming events to look out for are the Autumn Real Ale Festival in October and Nick and Hazel’s Five Year Anniversary Party in December. The Autumn Beer Festival will run from Friday 9th Continued on page 6
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the Bear at Home North Moreton
Pub of the Season Summer 2015 Patrick and Lucy are delighted to welcome you to the Bear-at-Home in South Oxfordshire. Dating from the 16th Century with low beamed ceilings, inglenook fireplaces and comfortable seating areas, The Bear is open for excellent food, fine wines and a variety of real ales. You can be assured of a warm welcome at this friendly, family run freehouse. We take great care in the quality of the food we serve. Everything is freshly prepared on site and every effort is made to source seasonal produce from local suppliers to be sure of provenance.
Opening Times Weekdays: 12 - 3pm lunchtimes, and 6pm -11pm in the evenings. Saturday and Sunday: All day from 12 noon during the summer months. To book, please phone Lucy on 01235 811311
The Bear at Home, High St, North Moreton. OX11 9AT
Tel: 01235 811311
www.bear-at-home.co.uk
Local News - continued
to Sunday 11th October with plenty of real ales and real ciders and live entertainment on Saturday 10th. Saturday 12th December is the time to celebrate five years of Nick and Hazel running this wonderful pub, something of which they are immensely proud. See www. theflowingspringpub.co.uk for details and other events. The Crown, Pishill, is holding its annual Beer Festival on the last weekend of September. The format is a little different this year. As well as the a range of excellent ales there will be a big screen showing that weekend’s Rugby World Cup games. The programme of event is: Friday 25th: 6pm - 11pm. Live music from the Stanley Moon Trio. Saturday 26th: 12pm - 11pm. 2:30pm Italy v Canada; 4:45pm South Africa v Samoa; 8pm England v Wales. Sunday 27th: 11am - 10pm. 12pm Australia v Uruguay; 2:30pm Scotland v USA; 4:45pm Ireland v Romania. See www.thecrowninnpishill.co.uk. Some local brewery news now. Loose Cannon has a series of monthly specials until the end of the year. We had their excellent American Pale Ale (4% ABV) at Woodcote, where it was very popular. Look out for Session IPA (4% ABV) in September, English Bitter (4.5% ABV) in October, with Session Bitter (3.9% ABV) following in November. 
Hook Norton has had success at the World Beer Awards 2015 with two best in class, two golds and two bronze medals in the United Kingdom country category. The World Beer Awards are the global awards selecting the very best internationally recognised beer styles. This annual tasting selects, awards and promotes the 'World's Best Beers' to consumers and the trade throughout the world. Beers must be generally available and for sale in bottles or cans. In the Spring edition of SoxonAle we announced that the South Oxfordshire Pub of the Year is the Plum Pudding, Milton. The Plum Pudding went into the next stage of the competition covering CAMRA’s Central Southern Region. In a tight contest the eventual winner was the Royal Oak, Wantage. This process will eventually deliver the National Pub of the Year in a few months time. Meanwhile, the Plum Pudding will be holding it’s autumn beer festival on Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd October. 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 THE GREAT BRITISH BEER FESTIVAL CAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival returned to Olympia in mid-August. Around 50,000+ beer-lovers descended on London to sample the huge range of top class ales on offer. The GBBF is now firmly established having been an annual event since, incredibly, 1977. CAMRA’s first large beer festival was actually held three years earlier, in Convent Garden. The 1977 event was held in Alexandra Palace and is generally considered the first GBBF and continued there for a few years. In 1980 part of the Ally Pally burned down and that year the festival was held in marquees at the foot of the hill. The GBBF then went on a tour of the UK for a few years, returning to London in 1991 in the Docklands’ Arena. The next year saw it transferred to Olympia where it remained until 2005. Subsequently it moved to Earl’s Court until the 2012 Olympics pushed it out, so it returned to Olympia and has remained there since. (Earl’s Court is currently being demolished.) After over a year of local tasting panels and regional heats leading up to the finals the champion beers of Britain are announced at the start of the festival, and it’s always a pleasant challenge to roam the halls seeking of them out. This year’s supreme champion is Cwtch (pronounced ‘cutch’, meaning cuddle in Welsh) from the Newport brewer Tiny Rebel. For the record, the winners are as follows.
GOLD Tiny Rebel
SILVER Supreme Champions Kelburn
BRONZE Dancing Duck
Cwtch
Jaguar
Dark Drake
Williams Bros
Mild Rudgate
Great Orme
Black
Ruby Mild
Welsh Black
Pheasantry
Bitter Acorn
Purple Moose
Best Bitter
Barnsley Bitter
Madog's Ale
Timothy Taylor Boltmaker Tiny Rebel
Best Bitter Highland
Barngates
Cwtch
Scapa Special
Tag Lag
Salopian Darwin's Origin Dark Star Fallen Angel
Harveys
Golden Adnams CExplorer Speciality Kissingate Black Cherry Mild Saltaire Triple Chocolate Champion Bottled Beer Fyne Ales
Imperial Extra Double Stout
Superior India Pale Ale
Kelburn Jaguar Titanic Plum Porter
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Strong Bitter Salopian Golden Thread
Grain India Pale Ale Blue Monkey Infinity Hanlons Port Stout
Mordue India Pale Ale
National News - continued
There is, as you would expect, a reasonable churn on the successful beers. But for interest and as a pointer when you’re at a beer festival and confronted with a large number of beers you’ve never heard of, it’s useful to look out for some that perform consistently. So comparing 2015 with the 2014 winners we can see that: Last year’s Supreme Champion Boltmaker got a creditable bronze this year in the Bitter category. The Salopian brewery is on a roll. Last year Darwin’s Origin won the Best Bitter category; this year it got bronze. Salopian also scored silver in Strong bitter with Golden Thread. They got a double in 2014 too when their golden ale Hop Twister got a bronze. This year’s bronze went to Blue Monkey’s Ape Ale which last year won silver. Saltair’s Triple Chocolate won gold in 2014 in the Speciality category and in 2015 made it to silver. For completeness we should add that the Champion Winter Beers of Britain were selected at the Winter Ales festival last January and the overall results were: Gold: Elland Brewery’s 1872 Porter Silver: Purple Moose’s Darkside of the Moose Bronze: Dancing Duck’s Dark Drake
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National News - continued
CAMRA WELCOMES BUDGET ANNOUNCEMENT SUPPORTING SMALL CIDER MAKERS CAMRA’s campaign to encourage the Government to support small cider makers has paid off. Over 26,000 cider drinkers signed CAMRA's petition calling on the Government to retain the current duty exemption that was under threat from the European Commission. This exemption has been in place since cider duty was introduced and is absolutely vital for supporting the production and availability of quality real cider. Removing the exemption would have imposed a new tax burden of up to £2,700 on Britain's smallest cider producers, many of whom have sales of under £10,000 a year. This is excellent news for real cider drinkers who were concerned that many small producers would have closed if this exemption were removed.
ASSETS OF COMMUNITY VALE CAMRA is mobilising its members in England to nominate their local pub as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) and offer advice and guidance to other community groups looking to do the same. Currently pubs can be demolished or converted to other uses without planning permission, whereas pubs with ACV status are given planning protection under laws introduced in April. Holes in the current planning system allow pubs to be sold off, demolished or converted to many other uses without planning permission or the involvement of the local community. However when a pub is nominated as an Asset of Community Value it automatically receives planning protection, meaning it is no longer a soft target to would-be developers looking to quickly purchase and convert or demolish the pub – which in some instances has literally happened overnight. CAMRA is inviting other local community groups to work with it in gaining this vital protection and urges community groups, or individuals, to get in touch with their local CAMRA branch to highlight valued pubs. Nominating a pub as an ACV is a surprisingly simple process. You can either nominate as an unincorporated group of 21 local people, as a Parish Council, or in connection with another local group including a CAMRA branch. An example of the struggle some communities have to hang on to their pubs is the 1,000-day battle to save the Chesham Arms in Hackney, East London. More than three years ago, the new owner of the pub announced his plans to close it and replace it with luxury flats. After a hardfought campaign the owner finally saw sense and the Chesham has been let on a 15-year lease to pub operator Andy Bird. Saving the pub involved a two-year legal battle, its listing as an Asset of Community Value, followed by Hackney council in March placing an Article 4 direction thwarting the owner’s efforts to change the commercial use of the property. Although this pub is an ACV and the community and council have clearly tried to save it, nationallyset permitted development rights allowed this developer to ride roughshod over the wishes of the community. Continued on page 12 11
National News - continued
Key to saving embattled pubs targeted by developers is getting the local authority to recognise their importance to a community and their financial viability. Once Hackney council recognised the community and economic importance of the pub it stood firm and didn’t accept the original premise that the pub was loss making.
‘BADGE OF HONOUR’ The Community Pubs Minister Marcus Jones MP has launched a new campaign to protect England's most treasured community pubs from demolition or conversion to other uses by presenting the first ‘Badge of Honour’ to a licensee - Tina Massie of the Red Lion, Beaconsfield. The presentation was made at the recent Great British Beer Festival. The launch of the initiative comes as new statistics released today show neighbourhood ‘suburban' pubs are bearing the brunt of pub closures. An average of 29 pubs close each week: 17 of them are in this category, compared to nine in rural locations and just three on the high street. This has prompted CAMRA and the Department for Communities & Local Government (DCLG) to launch the joint initiative to protect England's most valued pubs – those listed as Assets of Community Value. The 800 pubs already listed as ACVs will receive the quality mark, which proudly states ‘This Pub Matters'. CAMRA aims to increase that number to 3,000 by the end of 2016 by encouraging more community groups, pub-regulars and CAMRA branches to nominate their local pub and ensure it is protected in the future. To nominate your local pub as an ACV and ensure it gets the protection it deserves visit www.camra.org.uk/listyourlocal.
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National News - continued
PINT, OR A HALF? Apparently, half-pints are now the most popular way to enjoy beer. A CAMRA survey revealed 34% of people would rather drink from a half pint glass with 25% favouring a pint glass, the same number as those who drink from a third of a pint glass. CAMRA said the trend seems to indicate that people are now drinking less but are more adventurous about sampling different beers, becoming more open to trying new beers and moving away from drinking pintafter-pint of the same brew. The survey of 2,000 people also revealed, perhaps unsurprisingly, that most drinkers try new beers at festivals or in pubs rather than at home.
ALL-DAY DRINKING FEARS UNFOUNDED According to a new report, alcohol consumption, rates of binge-drinking and alcohol-related crime have all fallen in the 10 years since the introduction of longer pub opening hours. The study, Drinking, Fast and Slow: Ten Years of the Licensing Act, from the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) hailed the 2005 Licensing Act as a success as it had not led to the disastrous outcomes that critics predicted at the time. According to the report, the adoption of what has become erroneously known as 24-hour drinking has seen fewer drink-driving accidents, no rise in alcohol-related A&E admissions and no increase in alcohol-related deaths. In fact alcohol consumption fell by 17% between 2005 and 2013, the biggest decline since the 1930s. Far from provoking a 24-hour drinking culture the Licensing Act has removed some of the constraints on where and when people can have a drink, providing the public with greater choice. The biggest consequence of relaxing licensing laws has been that the public are now better able to enjoy a drink at the time and location of their choice”.
PUB DESIGN AWARDS 2015 A castle, a tap and an old bridge have all taken the honours in CAMRA’s prestigious Pub Design Awards, run in conjunction with English Heritage. Of local(ish!) interest is that this year the Castle at Edgehill in Oxfordshire won both a Refurbishment and Conservation award. This historic listed Gothic folly-castle of the mid-1740s, designed by architect Sanderson Miller for himself has been a prominent landmark on this famous ridge for almost three centuries. In fact it’s on the site where King Charles I's standard-bearer planted the royal arms before the first battle of the Civil War of 1642.
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The White Lion, Cray’s Pond The White Lion at Cray’s Pond, between Woodcote and Whitchurch, has featured in these pages before. Formerly a very successful drinking and eating destination, the pub fell on hard times under a succession of unsuccessful licensees in the two or three years before 2013. Having overseen the pub’s decline, Greene King put it on the market in July 2013 through Fleurets, a company that specialises in marketing licensed premises. They did not tell the licensees at the time nor advertise it publicly. The sale particulars specifically warned anyone interested not to mention the impending sale to the staff. A few people expressed an interest, including Mr Satwinder Sandhu, a businessman from Huddersfield. After a cursory visit to the premises he agreed to pay the asking price of £600,000 and in October of that year became the owner of a (by then) closed pub. Changing his mind about reopening the premises either as a pub or an Indian restaurant, he wasted little time turning it into a private house for his family by removing the kitchen, two bars, the pub sign and the ladies’ toilets along with several trees. At this point, the local residents became alarmed and contacted South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC). The local Parish Council applied, successfully, for a designation as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) and SODC informed Mr Sandhu that he needed planning permission if he wanted to change the use of the premises to a domestic residence. In the meantime, if he continued to convert the building, he might find that his hard work and expenditure would have been in vain if his application failed. The residents of Cray’s Pond called a public meeting in December 2013 which was attended by about 80 villagers and other interested parties and this kick-started the campaign to save the White Lion. The campaign involved forming a Residents’ Association, regular newsletters around the village, flyers, articles in local parish magazines, press releases, stalls at village fetes and badges for people to show their support. Mr Sandhu eventually submitted a planning application, which was opposed by over 40 objectors, including CAMRA members. The application was turned down and an Enforcement Notice issued, giving Mr Sandhu 12 months to quit the premises or use them for a permitted purpose. At the time, this would have allowed a range of office, shop or food service uses. Mr Sandhu lodged an appeal against the enforcement notice on the grounds that his original planning application should not have been refused in the first place. This entailed resubmitting all the objections to the planning application and waiting until January this year for an Inspector to visit. The day before this was due the Inspector decided to hold a public hearing and cancelled the visit. The hearing eventually took place on 16 June and lasted almost a full day. About 40 people from Cray’s Pond, CAMRA members and 14
Winning back the White Lion for the community
other interested parties attended and most voiced objections or supplied information to refute Mr Sandhu’s case. Eventually on 29 July, we received the long-awaited news – we had WON! The appeal had been dismissed and the building cannot be used as a house. Better still, changes to planning rules mean that, because of the ACV, it cannot be used for anything other than a pub without obtaining planning permission. The Inspector ruled that the pub is an essential community facility. On the question of viability he said that the pub is well-located on a crossroads and could attract passing trade and thrive as it had done when the Pierrepont family from Goring had run it. Tellingly, on the question of the alleged lack of profitability since then, he noted that poor accounts do not necessarily indicate that the pub was unviable but rather might just show it was not well managed. Of course, we will only really have won when the White Lion reopens as a pub, serving the people of Cray’s Pond and the surrounding area. But the appeal decision is a massive step in that direction and shows what can be done when a community comes together and fights to retain its local. David Cooper
GIN-MAKING RETURNS TO THE CITY OF LONDON Just for once, this is nothing to do with beer. But gin has been very much a British staple since the days of Gin Lane in the 18th century though it long ago shook off the ‘mother’s ruin’ image. In the last couple of years, and in the wake of all the microbrewery start-ups, artisan gin has become very fashionable in parts of London and small distilleries are starting to sprout too. One such is the City of London Distillery which is situated in a basement down a small side street behind the Punch Tavern in Fleet Street. Apparently, this is the first gin distillery to operate (legally!) within the City for 200 years. The two impressive copper stills are on display behind glass in the bar. One distils ethanol from the raw spirit used as feedstock. Then, after the flavourings have been added, the other carries out secondary distillation that produces the finished article. The flavourings vary depending on the blend but always include juniper, with coriander, angelica and liquorice and others added in varying proportions. Well worth a visit if you’re in the area. It’s not particularly cheap, though price doesn’t usually deter CAMRA members. [Actually, that’s entirely untrue. Ed.] It’s a good place for a couple of liveners, but not a session! If you go when they’re not too busy you can get a tour of the distillery thrown in. www.cityoflondondistillery.com 15
Pub Closures – past, present, but hopefully not future CAMRA campaigns relentlessly against pub closures and in SoxonAle we always make a point of reporting closures and celebrating reopenings. But it’s worth putting this in a historical context and considering whether things are getting better, worse, or staying much the same. The UK’s pub estate in terms of pubs per head of population, probably peaked towards the end of the 19th century and has been falling steadily pretty much ever since. In terms of actual pub numbers there were 99,000 pubs in 1905. Following a series of government measures (some introduced in WW1) which included deliberate suppression, restrictive opening hours, stringent regulations and higher taxes together with the notorious economic slump by 1935 this figure had fallen to 77,500. The number remained more or less stable in the long boom following WW2 so that by 1969 there were still 75,000 pubs in the UK, falling gradually to 69,000 by 1980 and finally slipping below 60,000 only 11 years ago. But then the decline accelerated dramatically. There were still 58,200 public houses in 2006, but just 48,000 last year: an 18% drop in only seven years. The worst year for the industry came in 2009 when various public policy and behavioural shifts combined with the recession caused by the banking crisis to shut 52 pubs every week. Closures are still at a historically high level, though at the somewhat lower rate of 31 a week. Until relatively recently most pubs were owned by breweries which used them to sell their own products. Then in 1989 the Monopolies and Mergers Commission ruled that this vertically-integrated system was anti-competitive and the government’s response was to introduce the Beer Orders. These broke the power of the breweries and resulted in a large proportion of Britain’s pubs being handed over to property companies that see a pub as a revenue-generating unit rather than a means of distributing their product. Today, approximately 40% of Britain’s pubs are run by large pubcos such as Enterprise Inns and Punch Taverns and, with the benefit of hindsight, many people would now agree that this was a great mistake and that the pubcos should never have been created. Why? Well breaking news is that Punch Taverns has just sold 158 pubs to New River Retail (an investment trust focused on the UK retail sector) for £53.5m. This is a consequence of Punch’s strategy to sell pubs at a rate of about 200 a year to reduce its debt, currently an eye-watering £1.5bn. After the sale, the company’s core estate will have about 2,900 pubs and the non-core estate will have about 550 pubs. This sale comes on top of the £57m that Punch raised from asset disposals during the six months to March, which included shedding 16
Pub Closures
151 pubs. New River has appointed a thirdparty management company to run the pubs, although it said it would look to use surplus land for residential or retail use, including for the building of convenience stores. Back in 2013 New River Retail bought 202 pubs from Marston’s for £90m, which it also plans to convert into convenience stores and restaurants. However satisfying it is to beat up pubcos, that is by no means the full story. There are a number of other factors at work. Unfortunately they are many and complex, made more so by the competing claims from various lobby groups. There has certainly been sharp decline in alcohol consumption in the UK: down by 18% since 2004. The smoking ban is blamed for putting people off going into pubs. And for several years the government continually increased the duty on beer, at a time when many people were feeling the effects of the recession. But there are grounds for remaining optimistic. CAMRA’s campaign to stop the continuing increase in beer duty was a success. New breweries are being opened at an ever-increasing rate, making this a great time to be trying out new beers and beer styles. The long-term consequences of allowing pubs to close are becoming appreciated by more and more people. And the micro-pub revolution is steadily gaining ground. These factors offer hope that we’ve seen the worst and that Britain’s pub heritage is strong and good for a few more centuries yet.
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Beer-drinking in Eastern Europe In Britain we tend to have a somewhat outdated view of the countries that were previously part of the Soviet bloc. But of course they like and want pretty much the same things that we do. So in the key area of social drinking, over the last few years Eastern Europe and the Balkans have really joined in the brew pub revolution with new places opening up as people have been gaining the taste for good, locally produced beer. We have visited most of these countries, and this is a brief tour of a couple of them. For instance, when you think of Albania you might imagine somewhere poor and backward. But on a recent trip to the capital, Tirana, we discovered the Tirana BrauHaus. This is a large German-style beerhouse which brews six beers on the premises, including Helles (blond), Märzen (red) and Weizenbier (wheat). We enjoyed trying the Helles and the Märzen. This red beer in particular had a strong, malty flavour. http://brauhaus.al. After leaving Tirana, we visited the UNESCO-listed Ottoman town of Berat. This is known as the ‘town of a thousand windows’ due to the sunlight reflecting off the windows of the Ottoman houses lining both sides of the river which runs through the town. It's also known as ‘the city of two thousand steps’ due to the town's steep cobbled paths leading up the hill to the castle. After spending the day climbing those cobbled steps we were in need of plenty of refreshment so we treated ourselves to more Albanian beers while taking in the views from the terrace of the Guva Hotel, overlooking the town. The most popular with locals and travellers alike were Birra Tirane from the Birra Malto Brewery (Albania's largest brewery) and Birra Korçë, the first beer brewed in Albania. Korçë, a refreshing lager-style beer, was our favourite. It was just a shame that we didn't have time to stop at Korçë to visit its brewery, and also that we weren't visiting in August when its annual beer festival is held. On a previous Easter break we visited Košice, Slovakia's second largest city. The city has an impressive historic centre, which includes a big gothic cathedral (the largest church in Slovakia) a couple of brewpubs, and a pub with over 15 hand-pumps delivering local beers. This is quite a good city to be in if you want to sample plenty of good beers! Pivovar Golem is a popular and well established brewpub, with a selection of three beers (dark, light and mixed). The Golem dark is a nice German style beer, but not as sweet as your average dunkel. 18
Beer-drinking in Eastern Europe
Luxor was the second brewpub (pictured opposite), which had opened more recently. It’s a smart modern brewhouse which serves a light and dark beer, brewed at 12%ABV and 13%ABV. The Tmavy special (the dark beer) was a bit too sweet really. We didn’t have time to try the other brew as the bar was closing and it remained closed for the rest of our visit. Warning: if you're visiting Košice over the Easter break, you’ll have to take pot luck when trying to find a hostelry that’s open. [Pictured right] Luckily the Red Nose student bar remained open for business throughout our stay. With over 15 handpumps covering all styles of beers from local breweries, this was a fantastic place for beer. Unexpectedly, I had a really nice English-style porter which was a very flavoursome and on the strong side. http://kosican0.wix.com/rednosepub. Increasingly, decent beer in Eastern Europe is no longer confined to the Czech Republic. The micro-brewery/brewpub concept is steadily taking over the world. Phil Adams, Jo Moran
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
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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
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...talk to us. 01778 382758 info@orchardhousemedia.co.uk orchard house media
15 ye ars of providi ng graphic de sign and publi shi ng solut ion s
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CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2016
The 2016 Good Beer Guide The 2016 edition of the Good Beer Guide has just been published. The Good Beer Guide’s key strength is that a pub can’t buy its way in. The entries are entirely supplied by grass-roots CAMRA members and are not subject to any form of monitoring or approval by anyone else. That is, the pubs are recommended by volunteers with no axe to grind and who are doing it because they love good beer and pubs. In other words – people like you. With your copy of the GBG under your arm you can go into any GBG pub assured that people who know beer and pubs with local knowledge have decided that it will sell some of the best beer in that area and that you will enjoy the experience. The most important task your local CAMRA branch carries out during the year is to recommend entries, write a brief description of each pub and ensure that the supporting factual information (beer range, opening hours etc.) is up to date. The amount of space each branch can have is strictly limited. SOX is permitted to enter only 15 pubs out of a total of around 125 in South Oxfordshire. During the year Branch members try to visit all of our pubs to confirm that existing entries are maintaining standards and to identify potential new entries. We input the details to an on-line database that allows us to keep track of who’s doing well and to check for pubs that have not been reviewed. Entries are submitted to the publishing team in March. So although the 2016 edition has only just been published we’re already more than half-way though the process for submission to the 2017 edition! If you’re a CAMRA member you can contribute to this process. Whenever you go into a pub (in any part of the UK, not just South Oxfordshire) log into WhatPub and leave a beer score. The process is straightforward and easily completed on a Smartphone. The local CAMRA branch can then use this information as a key part of the decision-making. The beer-scoring method on WhatPub is essentially the same as that used in CAMRA for a number of years. That is:
0 Undrinkable. No cask ale available or so poor you have to take it back or can't finish it. 1 Poor. Beer that is anything from barely drinkable to drinkable with considerable resentment. 2 Average. Competently kept, drinkable pint but doesn't inspire in any way, not worth moving to another pub but you drink the beer without really noticing.
3 Good. Good beer in good form. You may cancel plans to move to the next pub. You want to stay for another pint and may seek out the beer again.
4 Very Good. Excellent beer in excellent condition. 5 Perfect. Probably the best you are ever likely to find. A seasoned drinker will award this score very rarely. 21
What’s your real ale name? Your mum’s first initial
Your first initial
Your birth month
Your last initial
A Ostler’s
A Golden
Jan Badger
A Plucker
B Cobbler’s
B Ruby
Feb Cow
B Blower
C Chandler’s
C Dark
Mar Toad
C Botherer
D Clerk’s
D Nutty
Apr Rabbit
D Beater
E Groom’s
E Sweet
May Pheasant
E Fighter
F Tinker’s
F Best
June Cock
F Wobbler
G Shepherd’s
G Old
Jul Ferret
G Teaser
H Peeler’s
H Strong
Aug Donkey
H Dodger
I Farmer’s
I Hoppy
Sep Goat
I Muncher
J Fisher’s
J Pale
Oct Lobster
J Snapper
K Waggoner’s
K Heavy
Nov Rat
K Licker
L Mason’s
L Amber
Dec Spaniel
L Slurper
M Weaver’s
M Vintage
M Fancier
N Squire’s
N Special
N Choker
O Hooper’s
O Warm
O Chaser
P Fletcher’s
P Zesty
P Biter
Q Carpenter’s
Q Rustic
Q Sniffer
R Cooper’s
R Fruity
R Tickler
S Turner’s
S Smooth
S Lifter
T Founder’s U Bodger’s
T Bitter
T Shagger
U Smokey
U Fiddler
V Clogger’s
V Velvet
V Hunter
W Slater’s
W Oatmeal
W Tosser
X Digger’s
X Tangy
X Fixer
Y Drover’s
Y Malty
Y Kisser
Z Ghillie’s
Z Blonde
Z Puller
[Reprinted with the permission of Ashford, Folkestone & Romney Marsh CAMRA] 22