Issue 155 of Norfolk Nips and Cask Force

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 1

F REE No.155

Winter 2010

ANOTHER GREAT FESTIVAL! 33rd Norwich Beer Festival report inside

Also inside: BEER FESTIVAL DIARY NORFOLK’S TRUE HERITAGE PUBS PUB AND TRADE NEWS

CHAMPION BEERS OF NORFOLK ROYAL ANGLIAN REGIMENT A DAY IN ELY

Newsletter of the Norfolk Branches of the Campaign for Real Ale

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 2

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 3

Raising a glass for our troops!

Generous ale drinkers in Norfolk helped raise £5,400 to support serving and former members of the Royal Anglian Regiment.

strong support in Norfolk for the Regiment and the important and dangerous nature of their role.

In May 2010, the Wolf Brewery launched a new ale to help raise money for the Royal Anglian Regiment Benevolent Fund. The brewery donated £7 from every cask of Royal Anglian ale sold to the fund.

Participating pubs also placed Charity collection boxes on their bars. The money raised from ale sales equates to ale drinkers downing more than 50,000 pints of Royal Anglian ale since May and reflects the

Colonel Tony Slater, Norfolk secretary for the Royal Anglian Regiment thanked people across the county for their support and said “Financially, there’s a lot we are going to need to do for the soldiers in the years to come. Secondly, it’s terribly important for them to know the support they have in their home county and this demonstrates just how widespread that support is, so we are very grateful”.

Norwich & Norfolk Branch Chairman: Graham Freeman Tel: 01603 687495 Email: chairman@norwichcamra.org.uk Secretary: Warren Wordsworth Tel: 01603 665557 Email: w.wordsworth@ntlworld.com Social Secretary: Tim MacDonald Tel. 01603 865505 Email: socialsecretary@norwichcamra.org.uk Pubs Officer: Mark Stimpson Email: pubsofficer@norwichcamra.org.uk

West Norfolk Branch Chairman: Phil Buffham Secretary: Ian Bailey Contact: Bruce Ward Tel: 01485 609107

Branch websites: www.norwichcamra.org.uk www.camra.org.uk/wnorfolk

Branch mailing list web page: groups.yahoo.com/group/ CAMRA_Norwich Published every 3 months by the Norwich, Norfolk & West Norfolk branches of the Campaign for Real Ale © N&N CAMRA 2009 Norfolk Nips is produced and distributed by members of the branch in their own time.

Edited by: Mike Baldwin Email: michaelbaldwin8@gmail.com Chris Lucas Email: chris-stig@tiscali.co.uk Views expressed in Norfolk Nips are not necessarily those of the editor or of CAMRA Design & Production: Daniel Speed - Tamoko Design Email: dan@tamoko-design.co.uk Distribution: Norwich and Norfolk District: Tony Miles nips.distribution@gmail.com West Norfolk District : Ros Harre r.harre@btinternet.com Advertising: For advertising enquiries please contact Chris Shilling on: Tel: 01778 421 550 Mobile: 07736 635916 Email: chris@shillingmedia.co.uk

Kay Edwards, Wolf Brewery Director with soldiers from the Royal Anglian regiment saying “Thank you to publicans and the public for helping to raise a total of £5400 from sales of Royal Anglian ale in aid of the Regiment’s Benevolent Fund.

Steve Whadcock Tel:01778 420888 / 421550 Mobile: 07736 635916 steve@shillingmedia.co.uk

WINTER 2010 | 3

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 4

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 5

NORFOLK NIPS | Chairman’s Letters

Education, Education, Educated?

“Is that old ale for old people?” is what a student from the University of East Anglia asked me at our recent Norwich Beer Festival. I spent some time explaining to her and her friends about Real Ale and the vast choices and tastes that were available. However, it's a continuing problem about how do we educate the younger drinkers to try Real Ale when even my own children tell everybody “that's something dad drinks.” Our Brewers have tried to overcome this matter by producing golden beers that look like lager. Even some have cask lager that does seem to be attracting customers but I

find these rather bland. I can only thank our members who spend their time teaching younger people about the world of Real Ale, After all it stops them getting a bad reputation for binge lager drinking.

One solution is that next year we hope to recruit a Young Members position onto the Committee so if you are interested please can you contact me.

We are still asking for nominations for Pubs to be included into the Good Beer Guide 2012 and welcome any help in the surveying which I know you all enjoy.

Like most of the staff I have only just recovered from our Norwich Beer Festival and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all who helped and to all those customers who voted for the beers of the festival. I hope you enjoyed our beer choice this year.

Finally on behalf of the Branch I would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Graham Freeman Chairman Norwich & Norfolk CAMRA

Use it or Lose it!

As another year comes to an end. It’s time to reflect on what’s been an eventful, but also difficult year for many Pubs.

Whilst some Pubs have done very well and real ales sales prices are up, others have struggled with some shutting, never to reopen. The Norfolk Hero at Swaffham altering to Living accommodation. Also the Compasses at Snettisham after its eventful year with the land lord being charged with murder of the Landlady on the

premises. This Pub has now been sold to local Builders.

Several others are shut with doubts as to whether they will reopen. Your village local has in too many places disappeared.

Instead of sitting at home drinking their supermarket tins, people need to get back to the pub whether its to pop in for a pint on the way from work to home, birthday, village meetings of different organizations, or for the sociable evening drink. It’s a case of use it or you will lose it.

So as we go into the New Year lets remember a Pub is not just for Christmas it’s for life.

On a happier note our local P.T.O breweries seem to have had a good year. And there have been some excellent beer festivals and organized Trip around towns and breweries and I look forward to this in 2011.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Buff Chairman Of West Norfolk CAMRA

WINTER 2010 | 5

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 6

The Words of Stig Due to beer festival fatigue it seems I get to take the lead in editing this issue of Nips/Cask Force.

In days of old there used to be an independent West Norfolk magazine called “Cask Force”, which started as the brainchild of Tony Cantle and had as its overriding ethos “Don’t bore the readers, or they won’t bother with the message” Tony has very kindly written a little piece about the birth of our now absorbed news letter and Tim Spitzer has recorded the greatest exploit in its name “Cask Force Task

Force” which was the successful visiting by teams of branch members of every GBG pub in Norfolk in one day.

There are some photos which include the 1993 prices in the Fat Cat, they are a shock to say the least!

Cask Force was self financing like this magazine using advertising revenue skilfully obtained

by Stewart Chambers. We had some good contributors including Charlie Askew who still writes the very funny tasting notes for Larling beer fest.

Some are still writing for us and some not, this is also the

case with some of Nips old writers; it would be nice to get some of them back. Most of the articles speak for themselves, I hope you enjoy them.

Lots of good news in this issue Norwich beer festival was a roaring success, a full report is included.

Congratulations to Humpty Dumpty brewery who almost swept the board at the festival.

Also warmest congratulations to the cider award winners.

Who included our very own Jim and Pete from Whin Hill.

I’ve been reminded that in the new year we start surveying pubs for the 2012

01603 625891 www.thewigandpen.com

6 St Martins Palace Plain, Norwich NR3 1RN

This warm and friendly 17th century Freehouse is to the north side of Norwich cathedral. Owned by Craig & Lynne McLaren since 1993. ‘The Wig’ as its affectionately known, has built a reputation for fresh, fast, affordable British cuisine.

• Good Ale • Good Food • Heated smoking area • Comprehensive Outdoor Dining Area Sky & ESPN Sports TV • Late Night Opening Look out for our Cask Marque Plaque.

This guarantees beer quality in the Wig & Pen and the opportunity to TRY BEFORE YOU BUY.

6

| WINTER 2010

For the 13th successive year, the Wig & Pen has been included in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide. We are very proud of this achievement.

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 7

NORFOLK NIPS | Words from the Editors GBG If dear reader you have any suggestions in Norfolk which you feel should be surveyed for possible inclusion please let us know, my email is at the front of the magazine.

Remember real ale quality is vital it’s a good BEER guide.

Lots of varying articles to keep you interested, I hope.

Finally my thanks to all who have contributed to this magazine this year and the moral support of many more, plus thanks to Mike and all at Norwich CAMRA for their help and continued friendship.

Don’t forget Tim’s Xmas crawl, all welcome!

Have a good Christmas and don’t go too mad with the beer or food, like I’m the one to talk!

Cheers, Stig.

The Ed’lines Wow! That was some Festival!

I think I’m getting back to some sort of normality, whatever that is.

Many thanks to those who spotted me working there and came up and told me what they liked about Norfolk NIPS and offered suggestions for what they would like to see in this publication.

Working at the Festival is just amazing. You can give as much, or as little, of the time that you have available and be part of a team that produces such a great event. It doesn’t happen overnight, of course, and planning for the 2011 Festival starts in April.

I’ve always thought that when your hobby is also your job, you’ve got it made, so I’m looking forward to doing it again next year. If you enjoyed the Festival and would like to get involved and join us next year, look for details on our

website or in Norfolk NIPS. Maybe next time I’ll jot my experiences down – “The Diary of a Steward” perhaps?

Having a bit of a tidy up can often bring surprising results.

It certainly did for Tony Miles, NIPS Distribution Manager for Norwich and Norfolk - he found a copy of Norfolk NIPS. Nothing unusual in that you might say, but this was Issue No. 62, dated December 1992.

In those days the newsletter was an A4, 4 page publication, printed in black on tinted paper.

It carried a report on a campaign to save The Constitution on Constitution Hill, saying that many pubs were closing each week as a result of the recession and a letter to the Editor from “A A Hancock of Railway Cuttings, East Cheam”.

Apparently, he and his mate Sid had gone to the Festival with Boots Vouchers, and he

was complaining about non English entertainment – the German Oompah Band. The Beer of The Festival was Woodfordes Norfolk Nips!

This has got me thinking.

Does anyone have old copies of NIPS? Older than issue No.62?

Maybe Issue No.1? I am trying to find out when that was published. Originally, NIPS was published under the acronym, RAINBOW. I’d like to know more about that too. If you can help, please get in touch.

In the meantime, have a great Christmas, or a Happy Holiday, whatever it means to you, and a very Happy New Year.

Cheers!

Mike Baldwin Editor – Norfolk and Norwich Branch

WINTER 2010 | 7

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 8

Pub News

| NORFOLK NIPS

Pub News News from the West The Deer’s Leap on Wootton Road in Kings Lynn may be up and running, and the Dukes Head Hotel on Tuesday Market Place is under new ownership, and is promised a substantial makeover, but there are still plenty of opportunities in the area for budding landlords. The Sportsman at West Winch still lies empty, and with a main road location and no other pubs in the large village it surely should be a thriving business. Out at Harpley we hear that the Rose and Crown is now closed and the Dray and Horses at Tottenhill was also dark for a while, but seems to be open again as I write.

The Compasses at Snettisham is in the process of becoming flats. Mick Hunter is retiring from the White Horse at Gaywood, and this is just one of several pubs in the area being advertised as ‘For Sale’ or ‘To Let’.

Enough of the doom and gloom – lets look at some of the places that are doing well and are worth a visit.

In September a friend came on a pilgrimage to Walsingham, and after the service decided that she would rather go for a pint than be sprinkled with Holy Water, so we met up in the Bull, close to the Anglican Shrine. We were not the only 8

| WINTER 2010

ones crossing the road, and many seemed to be attracted by the good value food, but more to our taste was the choice of 3 beers, including Black Sheep. After this we headed up to the Binham Chequers to the home of the Front Street Brewery. I guess that many visitors do not even notice the brewery housed in the old toilet block at the entrance to the car park. Small it might be, but it turns out an excellent range of beers, and for those who would like to try something else, Buffy’s was the guest beer when we called.

Forgetting that the Three Horseshoes at Warham is closed during the afternoon we went on to the Carpenters Arms at Wighton instead. This was called the Sandpiper last time I went in, and having had the North Norfolk treatment, it seems to major on food, but the Adnams on sale was very good. Back in Walsingham for a quick giant scone in the visitors centre before our guest departed back on the coach to Nottingham we noticed a hand pump lurking behind to counter. This turned out to be Wherry and it was probably the best pint of the day.

A little while later we were back in North Norfolk to hand over a selection of beer to one of the winners of the draw for those who joined CAMRA at the Sandringham Game Fair.

We rendezvoused at the Dun Cow in Salhouse and were

very impressed both by the pub and the quality of the beer. We then went on to the Pigs at Edgefield, and took in the whole ‘Pig’ experience, including the fine pig based food. If, like me, you have not been here since it was the Three Pigs, go and have a look.

Closer to home, the quilting crowd organised an exhibition down in Feltwell, and on the way back we took the opportunity to call into the Green Man at Methwold Hythe.

This is rather off the beaten track, so get the map out and go exploring. Only one beer when we called – Tunnel Vision, but a comfortable pub and a friendly welcome. Rather easier to find is the George and Dragon at Wereham and here you can have a choice of a couple of beers.

Another place, which is, I believe, under new management is the Sailing Club at Leziate. I helped to run a quiz there recently and although it was not obvious on the bar, they did have a barrel of Tipple’s beer out the back – so ask if you go in.

Not far from West Norfolk you can visit some of the countries premier Beer Festivals.

Norwich and Peterborough are now well established and amongst the biggest in the country, and were as good as ever this year. However new on the scene is the Elgood’s

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 9

NORFOLK NIPS | Pub News Beer Festival. This was held at the brewery in Wisbech in September and featured over 100 beers. Not only was the choice of beers and the venue top class, but also the entertainment, at least when we went on Thursday night, was brilliant. I had never heard of Dr Busker and the Wild Rovers before, but I shall certainly look out for them in future. They are not for the faint hearted – one of the punters said that it was like being down the rugby club without the rugby – so if you are easily offended its best to go a bit earlier and look around the excellent gardens instead. Lets hope that this becomes a regular event.

Whenever I go away I always look for the opportunity to watch a bit of live sport, and in November we headed out to Malta. A night at a Maltese Premier League Football fixture saw us bouncing with the Birkirkara Ultras, as they took on the might of Vittoriosa in a thrilling 1-1 draw, but this was put in the shade by an international Rugby game between Malta and Latvia. A last minute try by the tough well organised Latvian team took them to a 33-26 victory, and although we considered taking up the offer in the programme of heading down the nightclub in St Julian to party away the night with both sets of players, we instead headed out for a meal (the Maltese speciality is rabbit), and a couple of bottles of the excellent Hop Leaf Pale Ale. Back home a couple of days later it was about 15 degrees

colder and a good deal wetter, but at least there was the promise of some Real Ale. We headed down to the Porterhouse in Lynn for their quiz night and eagerly ordered IPA. Not on. Second choice was St. Edmunds Ale, which was well past it’s best. Third on the list was Old Speckled Hen. Again it was not on.

Guinness? Afraid not. I was reduced to resting a pint of Ruddles smooth flow on my Cask Marque beer mat, and wishing I was back in the sun.

Just before the weather broke a small group of the branch members went out for a Sunday stroll around Fincham.

This seems an unlikely venue, but the scenery is varied and there is an abundance of wildlife around – we saw a number of hares and several groups of deer amongst other things. We finished up at the Fincham Swan for an excellent Sunday Roast followed in my case by a superb cheeseboard. The regular Wherry and Abbot are served alongside a guest beer, which was from Wolf on the day of our visit. If you don’t fancy the traditional fare the speciality of the house is Thai food.

Jeff Hoyle

happy to update you that Norwich Council have rejected the application. Sadly the pub is still closed so until it reopens story is still far from over.

I recently visited Belfast and was looking forward to trying some Irish real ale. The first pub I tried the Crown, (which is in the good beer guide), had a good selection of beers.

However they were all served ice cold. The result was that the beer was far too cold and devoid of any flavour. Happily at the next pub, the beer was served at a better temperature.

I've had ice cold real ale served in a few English pubs. Why do this? It completely ruins a good pint.

The deadline for nominations for the Good Beer Guide 2012 is rapidly approaching. I've already received nominations for several pubs. If you haven't submitted your nomination there is still time to do so.

Please email your nominations to pubsofficer@norwichcamra.org.uk by 31st December 2010, Until next time Mark Stimpson Pubs Officer

Ramblings from the Snug In the last edition of Nips I reported that an application had been submitted to convert the Rosary into flats. I am now

WINTER 2010 | 9

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 10

DUKE of WELLINGTON TRADITIONAL REAL ALE HOUSE 14 REAL ALES GRAVITY SERVED available all year round from our glass fronted tap room

6 MORE ALES ON HAND PUMP CAMRA Good Beer Guide Listed

Welcoming REAL FIRE

30 PLUS CHRISTMAS BEERS Available throughout December

Monday to Saturday 12noon to 11pm

Come and enjoy our Tap Room with a selection of Belgian bottled beers, Schneider Weiss, Erdinger, Dunkel and Riegele all on Draught.

Sundays 12noon to 10.30pm

Just 15 m in utes wal k from Ci ty Ce nt re

Open

91 - 93 WATERLOO ROAD | NORWICH | 01603 441182

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 11

NORFOLK NIPS | Ely Pub Tour

A day in Ely A summer’s day in July, what better than a West Norfolk CAMRA pub crawl in the picturesque Isle of Ely, nice. The local CAMRA branch put together the itinerary for us; sadly none of them could make it on the day due to two working, and the others attending a beer festival. Fair enough!

So, itinerary in hand and using a map from the Ely Winter Ales festival programme (hey, it did the trick!), let’s go. We began down by the river, sitting outside the CUTTER INN, an excellent pint (and a half) of Sharp’s Doom Bar set the ball rolling as we admired all the lovely boats moored nearby, the Cutter has good ale and a prime location (so a tad pricey). Next it was around the corner and up the hill (think I’ve got a stitch!), Ely isn’t as flat as you’d think, to the ROYAL STANDARD, packed with lunchtime diners, our group found a table to sit at, this is a Greene King house with guest ales (big place), I tried Everards Tiger (good too). Away to our next port of call on the ol’ list, we should have been warned by the ‘For Sale’ sign outside but went in anyway, this was the HIGH FLYER, no real ale on so a swift exit and onto the superb TOWN HOUSE. The only pub on the day who knew who we were, plus points there! A good choice of ales from the likes of Buntingford and Oakham, I plumped (or plimped?!) for Harviestoun Dragonfly, also a light lunch for me, the Town House has many rooms but retains a spacious feel. A massive distance (12 parsecs from the Rishi Maze perhaps?!) to our next stop, well, across the street to the HEREWARD. Some had lunch here, reasonably priced food in this large pub, I thought a bit ‘Hungry Horseish’, the Charles Wells Bombadier I had was good (Buff walked out when they wouldn’t serve his beer in a jug glass).

here. Some more bodies joined us in the KING’S ARMS, this pub had a good refurbishment not so long ago, nice comfy chairs (no no, not the comfy chairs!), three or four ales on offer including a lovely drop of Wadworth 6X. Myself and Buff were looking forward to some fish ‘n’ chips from the nearby Ely Fish Bar, but were downcast of visage to find it had closed it’s doors (boo hoo hoo!!!), so had to settle for a packet of crisps in the WEST END HOUSE, washed down with some excellent Spitfire, this is a great locals pub not far from the city centre.

We did get a nice meal in our next pub, and pub of the day in my opinion, the brilliant PRINCE ALBERT. Plenty of books dotted around the walls to read as you sup your pint, a Green King pub, they have XX Mild, guest ales too of which I had Holt’s Humdinger, drunk with my delicious ham egg and chips. Last stop was the FOUNTAIN, I missed this due to enjoying my food and beer in the Prince Albert, some of the others went in and said it was good, from memory the Fountain has London Pride and Adnams. Then time to catch our various trains and head for home.

So, a good day all in all, some good pubs which would bear repeat visits in future. The real ale was of a decent standard mostly, though possibly not the wide choice you’d find in Cambridge or Norwich, but Ely is worth a trot around. And you have the historic cathedral to visit as well. Cheers!!!

Tim Spitzer

The MINSTER TAVERN followed, bigger than it looked from the outside, a decent basic boozer inside, situated next to Ely’s famous Cathedral, Marston’s EPA was the ale of choice

WINTER 2010 | 11

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 12

The King’s Head KEG FREE HOUSE

Open 12.00noon - 11.00pm Monday to Saturday 12.00noon - 10.30pm Sunday Run by enthusiastic drinkers and CAMRA members.

Keg Free Zone 14 Hand Pumps Norfolk Ales and Cider Mild always available Worldwide Bottled Beers Belgian Beers Television-free Bar Billiards www.norwichbarbilliards.co.uk

lk o f r o N A R CAM ear Y e h t f o b u P 8 2006 & 200 Dating from the 14th century, the pub has been restored to a Victorian style.

The Kings Head, 42 Magdalen Street, Norwich NR3 1JE

www.kingsheadnorwich.com

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 13

NORFOLK NIPS |

With A Song In My Heart And A Pint In My Hand!

Here in West Norfolk CAMRA we love our music, and what could be better than combining it with pubs and beer? Here are our favourite beer related songs.

1) Money, Money, Money This is traditionally sung in the tap room of the ‘Long Pockets’ in Cleckheaton on the occasion of a rise in the price of a pint.

At one time this was a rare event would draw huge crowds, but recently it has been performed with such regularity that people would rather stay at home with some supermarket takeouts.

2) The Lion Sleeps Tonight In mid September the locals of the Blue Lion in North Pickenham used to gather in the public bar to celebrate the end of the Troshin’ season. This all day event was accompanied by the brewing of a special strong beer, with the result that by early evening most of the assembled Troshers were heads down and slumbering on the bar room tables.

3) Vat’s Up Pussycat A regional variation of song number 1, particularly popular in Soho, where the song would climax with the locals throwing their knickers at the landlord in an apparent protest against another price increase.

4) Flowers In The Rain A traditional song from pre Whitbread days in Southern England recounting the tale of a summer barbeque that was interrupted by an unseasonable shower.

5) Crack A Bottle by Dr. Dre A song recounting the story of how a careless delivery driver damaged some bottles of beer whilst dropping them into a cellar. Fortunately the often violent lyrics are difficult to understand due to the traditional rhyming slang used in this sad tale.

6) Walk The Line A traditional ditty from the days before the breathalyser, recounting the hilarious attempts of a drunken villager trying to persuade the local bobby that he was in fact sober.

7) Message In A Bottle The superficially banal lyrics, thought to have been penned

by Dan Brown, in fact contain instructions for unearthing the secret of the Holy Tankard by reading the patterns left by yeast sediment in the dregs of bottle conditioned ale.

8) God Save The Queens The original version was penned by the Prince Of Wales as part of the ‘Pub is the Hub’

campaign, but this song really came to prominence when it was taken up by 4 angry young punks trying to prevent their local from being turned into flats. This was first performed at Manchester’s Free Trade Hall (so named because of the wide range of hand pumped ales available). Note to lawyers – no reference to any pub in the Kings Lynn area is intended or should be implied.

9) Stairway To Heaven Allegedly written at Thornham Lifeboat one mid December evening, this ode to pleasure recounts the wonderful feeling which one experiences when one has booked a room at the pub and doesn’t need to drive home on a cold winters night after a skinful of Adnams.

10) Smoke Gets In Your eyes An angry protest song from the days when some people were campaigning for a smoking ban in pubs. Some feel that there is a faction of this crowd that have descended into triumphalism when they spot the lovers of the weed sloping out for a quick drag in some of the coastal pubs and burst into a chorus of ‘Smoke on the Water’.

Jeff

WINTER 2010 | 13

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 14

The ONLY Thai Restaurant in Norwich in THE GOOD FOOD GUIDE 2011

We are in it!

We are in it!

CHRISTMAS PARTY BOOKINGS

Winter Beer Festival

January 25th- 30th 2011

M a H err a yC ou ppy hr r c Ne istm us w a to Ye s a m ar nd er f s! or

now being taken or Hire the whole Pub! (Call for details)

er f d s! or

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 15

NORFOLK NIPS | Post-its

Pub Post-its As always, remember that these post-its are subjective and reflect the personal experience of our correspondents. Please feel free to email your post-its in to norfolknips@yahoo.co.uk - and if you really like the pub, why not nominate it for next year’s CAMRA Good Beer Guide?

Pleasure Boat - Hickling.

Having had the long awaited coat of paint and general clean-up after several months of closure, the new tenant is making a good effort to turn the trade around, and with a good pint of Woodford's Wherry (£2.90) , and Adnams it could be a step in the right direction, I wish them well.

Old Hall Inn - Sea Palling.

A warm and friendly greeting along with a choice of Woodford'sWherry(£2.80), Adnams Bitter (2.80), and a changeable guest beer awaits the holiday makers and local regulars alike. Also available is a wide variety of home cooked food from local produce, all of which are at reasonable prices and can be enjoyed in either the restaurant or the bar.

Reef’s Bar - Sea Palling After a brisk walk along Sea Palling beach, what could be better than a pint of “Real Ale”. This can certainly be achieved at the above, but although the condition was goodand priced at £2.80 per pint, sadly it was the only choice.If you’re feeling hungry, food is served from noon until 10.00pm.

The Rumsey Wells Large Adnams pub that is easy to miss on the narrow pavement of St Andrews, which would be a shame. Three rooms of very different character including The UnderBelly downstairs, which doubles as an art gallery.

The six week period for guest ales has been extended throughout the winter months. The small bar is split in two, so make sure you check both sides to see what is on offer. The Purity Ubu was in very good condition when I visited.

Good food is available all day, with a new winter menu including locally sourced sausages and pies.

Sunday Roasts too. There is a good range of entertainment on offer, full details in their newsletter, The Rumsey Times or their website www.rumseywells.co.uk

West Norfolk Hotel - Heacham.

It's a pleasure to be served by a very friendly landlord in 9perhaps due partly to a "Spotless" bar with gleaming polished brass beer pumps, along with a very busy lunch time trade.(perhaps partly due to the fact that the pub has its own butchers next door.)

How's that for diversifying. Several real ales were available, but my choice of Bombadier was definitely a good decision.

Fox and Hounds - Heacham This pub has the big advantage of having its own brewery in the out-buildings of the premises, and alongside Adnams Broadside were four brews from the Fox Brewery, namely:- Amerillo Bullet, 90 Minute IPA and my choice of Fox LSB. What a pity I couldn't stay and try the others as it was so good.

The Bob Carter Centre, School Road, Drayton.

There are four watering holes in Drayton, (counting The Otter in the Drayton part of Thorpe Marriott), but this is one you might miss.

Situated opposite the church and playing fields, it has a large car park to the rear. A range of sporting activities are on offer and rooms can be hired for functions. The large comfortable bar has a separate dining area and a large projection TV. Beers are from Greene King, with an additional guest Ale from a local brewery, since the Centre is LocAle Accredited.

Good food is available (not Sunday) with Curry and a Pint night on Mondays and Steak and a Pint night on Fridays.

Norfolk Nips Online Did you know that you can also read Norfolk NIPS on line?

Just go to www.NorwichCamra.co.uk and click on the Branch Newsletter link

WINTER 2010 | 15

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 16

The Cottage FREEHOUSE

9 Silver Road, Norwich, NR3 4TB. Tel: 01603 665535 www.thecottagenorwich.co.uk

• Up to Ten Cask Ales • Real Cider A selection of Malt Whisky and Gins Opening Hours Mon - Sun 12 noon - 11.00pm Quiz Night Every Monday Live Music Every Friday Night and Sunday Afternoon Tapas is the first Thursday of the month Sunday Lunch 12-3pm Hot snacks are available all day everyday Bar Billiards table available A Merry Christmas and New Year to all our customers from the staff at the Cottage!

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 17

NORFOLK NIPS | Norfolk CAMRA Branch Calendar

CAMRA Calendar Norwich and North Norfolk Branch

Friday 4th February First Friday Five - Visiting five pubs in Norwich (TBA)

11th January - Hare Arms, Stow Bardolph , Branch Meeting 30th January, Sandboys, Bawsey, walk (TBC)

Tuesday 15th February Voting Meeting The York Tavern, Norwich

Friday 17th December Christmas Pub Crawl in Norwich (TBA) Tuesday 21st December Branch Meeting and Christmas Quiz - The Railway, North Elmham 8pm. Please book your seats on the coach Friday 7th January First Friday Five Visiting five pubs in Norwich (TBA) Tuesday 18th January Branch Meeting The Nelson, Nelson Street, Norwich Friday 28th January Campaign Trip visiting selected pubs in Norfolk

8th February, Willow House, Watton, Branch Meeting

Friday 25th February Campaign Trip visiting selected pubs in Norfolk

26th February, East Anglian Regional Meeting, Stuart House, Lynn 12 noon

Friday 4th March First Friday Five - Visiting five pubs in Norwich (TBA)

All Branch Meetings start at 8pm.

Got a short pint?

West Norfolk Branch 8th December - Cider Talk, Green Quay, Lynn, 8.30pm, £4 for non-members, no requirement to pre book.

14th December - Crown Inn, Mundford, Branch Meeting 18th December - King’s Arms 11am, Norwich Xmas pub crawl

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 Norfolk Trading Standards Service, County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich, NR1 2UD or faxing them on 01603 222999.

A wide range of consumer information and advice is also available online from the Consumer Direct website at www.consumerdirect.gov.uk

NORFOLK CAMRA XMAS CRAWL 2010 NORWICH –

1500 Plough (Saint Benedicts)

Saturday 18th December

1545 Rumsey Wells (Saint Andrews St)

1100 King’s Arms (Hall Rd)

1630 Golden Star (Colegate)

1200 Trafford Arms (Grove Rd)

1715 Old White Lion (Oak St)

1245 Coachmakers (Saint Stephens Rd)

1800 Plasterers (Cowgate)

1330 Champion (Chapel Field Rd)

1845 Leopard (Bull Close Rd)

1415 Arts Centre (Saint Benedicts)

1930 King’s Head (Magdalen St)

Contact-Tim Spitzer 07950-823270, or email me at timothy.spitzer@mildenhall.af.mil

WINTER 2010 | 17

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 18

Norfolk’s True Heritage Pubs 8

| NORFOLK NIPS

This series of articles highlight the pubs whose interiors have been little altered in the past 40 years or so. This issue features a hotel bar last refitted in 1955 and a pub with a crackin’ snug – both have large fireplaces with log fires suitable for a winter’s night!

Crown Hotel, Downham Market

counter made of old wooden barrel parts featuring two nearly complete casks - one at each end. There was a cabinet for a bar back which has since been removed and which was replaced by new shelves in the late 1980s.

Left: The exterior of the Crown Hotel, Downham Market taken at dusk Below: The staircase at the Crown Hotel, Downham Market

© Michael Slaughter 2010

© Andy Shaw 2010

Seventeenth century coaching inn still with its cobbled area running to the rear. Most hotels in the country have modernised their bars in recent years but the Crown retains one that is little changed since 1955. Prior to the 1950s the main bar was 18

| WINTER 2010

actually 3 small rooms. Then an extensive refit took place in c.1955 which involved the installation of wall panelling rescued from Didlington Hall prior to its demolition; it retained the ancient large fireplace, added a smaller brick fireplace, and installed a bar

Paul Linford (flyinghighphoto@gmail.com)

Another change is the removal of the dark stain from the wood panelling to match the current vogue for bars with light pastel shades. The only other notable change was the loss of the lounge with its small counter that was formerly situated at the front of the building and which was converted to a bedroom in

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 19

NORFOLK NIPS | 2006. There is a small dining room; a function room upstairs with a vaulted ceiling, a modern bar which replaced a 1960/70s one and new dado panelling; and a Stable Restaurant at the rear which is open at weekends. Other genuine old items to look for are the fine staircases with massive turned balusters and paneled square newels; also the double hinged exterior door situated between the bar and the dining room.

© Andy Shaw 2010

Paul Linford (flyinghighphoto@gmail.com)

The Crown Hotel, 12 Bridge Street, Downham Market PE38 9DH is open from 9.30am to 11pm. Meals are served from 12 to 3 (4 Sun) and from 6 to 9pm. Phone number is 01366 382322. Accommodation is

available in 13 en-suite rooms.

Real ales on sale are Adnams Bitter, Greene King IPA, Abbot

and two guest beers from independents or micro breweries.

The public bar of the Crown Hotel, Downham Market with its log fire, panelling and ‘barrel’ bar

Kings Head, Hethersett the 1960s. The main lounge bar on the left has a 1960s counter with ply panels but the bar back dates from the mid

1980s. The main feature of this room is the inglenook fireplace with a suit of armour in the alcove next to it. The original door to the lounge was to the right where there the lower ceiling and a small hatch Continued Overleaf

An 18th-century pub which is well worth a visit for its absolute gem of a snug bar on the right hand side. The existence of three types of quarry tiles on the floor indicates changes in the past but this small room has been in its current form for about 50 years. It has a lovely large 1930s brick fireplace and the bar counter has ply panels from

WINTER 2010 | 19

Open all day every day food is served:12-2 & 6-9 Tuesday to Sunday

Offering four real ales A traditional 17th Century pub, how they used to be From Norwich & Acle head to Salhouse and at the mini roundabout follow the sign to Wroxham, we are 200yds on the right.

12-3 Sunday for plated home cooked Sunday lunches with homemade Yorkshire puddings and fresh vegetables. Booking advised if dining.

Superb food using fresh, local, seasonal produce Shoot dinners a speciality Popular quiz every Wednesday from 8:30pm Meat raffle every Sunday at 4:30pm

Tel: 01603 721141 www.salhousebell.co.uk

20

| WINTER 2010

Š Michael Slaughter 2010

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 20

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 21

NORFOLK NIPS | Heritage Pubs continued Š Michael Slaughter 2010

Kings Head, Norwich Road (just off B1172), Hethersett NR9 3DD is open from 11 to 11pm (12 Fri, Sat) ; 12 to 11 Sun. Meals are served from 12 noon to 2; and 6.30pm to 9pm Mon; from 12 noon to 9pm Tue to Sat; and from 12 to 3pm Sun (no meals Sun evening). Phone 01603 810206. www.kingsheadhethersett.co.uk The real ales on sale are Adnams Bitter, Fullers London Pride and two guest beers, one of which is usually from Woodfordes.

The snug bar at the Kings Head, Hethersett counter are still evident. The room has been extended to the rear and to the left in modern times to provide more space

for diners. There is a large, secure family garden at the rear, part of which is an allotment for some customers.

Update Alby Horseshoes Aldborough Black Boys Attleborough London Tavern Bawsey Sandboy Clippesby Muskett Arms Clenchwarton Victory Cromer The Cottage Cromer RedLion Drayton Bob Carter Leisure Centre Downham Market Railway Arms Downham Market White Hart Earsham Queens Head Filby The Kings Head Gorleston Dock Tavern Gorleston Mariners Compass Gt Yarmouth Mariners Gt Yarmouth Red Herring Gt Yarmouth St Johns Head Heacham Fox & Hounds Hopton White Hart Kenninghall Red Lion Kings Lynn Live and Let Live Lyng Fox & Hounds Newton by Castle Acre George & Dragon North Elmham Railway

If you require photographs of your pub interior / exterior you can contact Mick on 01733 390598 or email m.slaughter45@ntlworld.com to discuss your requirements.

Here is a current list of all the pubs in Norfolk which are part of the CAMRA LocAle scheme.

New entries are in Bold.

North Walsham Norwich Norwich Norwich Norwich Norwich Norwich Norwich Norwich Norwich Norwich Norwich Norwich Norwich Norwich Reedham Reedham Reedham Tacolneston Sheringham Swardeston West Acre Wroxham Wymondham Wymondham

Orchard Gardens Beehive Champion Cottage (Silver Road) Gardeners/Murderers Jubilee Ketts Tavern Kings Head Leopard Rose Take 5 Trafford Arms Vine York Tavern Wig & Pen Ferry Lord Nelson Ship Pelican Windham Arms Lakenham/Hewitt Rugby Club Stag Brewery Tap Cross Keys Green Dragon

WINTER 2010 | 21

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 22

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 23

NORFOLK NIPS | New Brewery Report

In search of The Norwich Bear Classic – a session beer, light and hoppy Legend – a Best Bitter, copper coloured and fruity Platinum Blond – more of a lager style – full flavour, well rounded, with a mellow taste.

Both Classic and Legend were at the 33rd Norwich Beer Festival. Kevin explained that Classic had been tweaked a bit to make it slightly fuller and less bitter. He was right.

Tales of the sightings of strange mythical creatures are interwoven into the folklore of this green and pleasant land. Before I moved here, many spoke in hushed tones about The Surrey Panther and The Basingstoke Spider. In Norfolk, I learned of Old Shuck, Snap the Dragon and from more recent times, Splat the Cat and Captain Canary.

So it was with some trepidation that I set of in search of a new beast, The Norwich Bear.

Some said I would have to venture into The Rose (Queens Road), others said Ketts Tavern, but a few days before Halloween, I cornered the beast in The Crypt, under St Andrews Hall.

Beast? Well, Kevin and Dawn from the above mentioned pubs, actually.

So where was the bear? Dawn explained that she remembered that her friends would talk about going to Norwich for a bear. Bear? The penny dropped, this is dialect, and they meant beer.

Kevin and Dawn, who took over the Ketts Tavern 10 years ago, decided to set up the brewery as an exclusive strategy to serve their pubs. They knew what their customers liked and chose the beer range accordingly:

There will be seasonal specials as well, Smokey Bear has come and gone and a new winter special, Santa Claws, will be available in early December.

So where is this all happening? Currently, at The N2B Brewery in Stokesby, but when The Rose is refurbished, it will move in there. It will be in the centre of the pub, on display behind glass. It will have 1 ½ barrel capacity, plus bottling facilities for bottled conditioned beers.

“It will be significantly different”, said Kevin, “more like “extreme brewing” in the USA” And that means Taster Trays and dipping into the Home Brew market as well.

So there we are – I set off in search of a bear and instead found a couple embarking on a new venture. The beers are good, and I think that the marketing is spot on.

But, no bear.

Pity, I even had a name for it.

Bruin.

Mike Baldwin

WINTER 2010 | 23

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 24

NORFOLK ALE SHOP REAL ALE REALISTIC PRICES

OVER 80 ALES ON SALE

& Stables Restaurant

FRESH FOOD SERVED DAILY n Vegetarian and Vega le ilab ava ns tio op

FIND US INSTORE AT THE GENERAL STORE 41, HIGH STREET, RINGSTEAD. PE36 5JU. NEAR HUNSTANTON.

OPENING HOURS Monday to Thursday 10am to 11pm Friday to Saturday 10am to 1.30am Sunday 12 noon to 12pm

Telephone; 01485 525270 Email. generalstore41@aol.com.

BEER FESTIVALS ON BANK HOLIDAYS

OPEN SEVEN DAYS

10 Real Ales • Fine Wines • Childrens Menu Baby Changing • Disabled Facilities Large Beer Gardens • Dogs are welcome

8am -5.30pm.

EXCEPT TUES/WED/SAT CLOSING AT 1pm.

24

The Lobster

| WINTER 2010

13 High Street, Sheringham, Norfolk, NR26 8JP Tel: 01263 822716 www.the-lobster.com

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 25

NORFOLK NIPS | Pub review

The Vine, Norwich This being the Christmas edition of Nips/Cask Force I thought it would be interesting to report on a pub with a totally different cultural background with traditions which are also ancient and colourful.

I speak of The Vine in Dove Street Norwich which is operated by a Thai born boss lady and her superb far Eastern staff.

The Vine is the only Thai pub in the city, there are restaurants but The Vine is a pub which sells Thai food, you are just as welcome to chat as to eat.

Needless to say the food is superb with genuine Thai ingredients used wherever possible.

Three cask ales are always available, Oakham JHB is permanent with Wolf Coyote the other regular, a guest ale occupies the third beer engine. Recently Tipples beers have featured, the beer is kept with great skill and is always spot on.

Let me introduce you to the driving force behind all this; Aye, the landlady, came to Britain as a student in the 90s and found that she really loved our pub culture and of course the beer, finding it very different to Thailand’s loud “party party” style bars. A few years later she looked into running another pub in Norwich but was told that the owners were only interested in wet sales, food was not an issue. Things didn’t happen and the opportunity was lost.

Aye had visited The Vine in its previous guise and found it not that welcoming to a stranger, but she did love the building. In July 2008 the chance to run The Vine occurred, the closed pub was a mess but Aye could see the potential. A new layout with an upstairs dining room and toilets allowed room for food and beer.

When deciding on beers, she chose Oakham Ales JHB because she believes it best compliments the tastes in Thai food.

In Buddhist tradition it is advantageous to have a new home or workplace blessed by monks.

This was done with prayer seals placed above the doorways upstairs and down and for good measure, the cellar, I’d suggest it works as The Vine is celebrating its second successful year and is in the GBG! The Thai atmosphere is completed by the voices of the staff and the small shrine above the bar containing a female deity and images of Aye’s favourite king of Thailand. The Thai atmosphere will be added to at Christmas as full Christmas decorations will go up as well!

The Vine will be open 12-2pm Xmas day and 12-9pm boxing day, Aye says she loves the total quiet in the city on Xmas day.

I asked Aye what were the big festivals in Thailand, it seems there are many, they celebrate the calendar new year 1st January with 15 days of celebration, then 13th April is Thai new year which includes three days of water fights, this is also the only day you can touch ladies in the street but only on the face with coloured powder on your finger! Aye has all the bases covered though as her Grand parents were Chinese so she celebrates the Chinese new year as well when relatives give you gifts of money in red bags. In between festivals she has managed somehow to organise a winter beer festival on 25th-30 January 2011 with ten beers on!

So a great little pub run by a great little character, try it yourself.

WINTER 2010 | 25

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 26

Across the Pond

| NORFOLK NIPS

Beer festivals here and abroad Over the past year my husband and I have been setting up Northcote Brewery. We have developed our own style of beers which reflect our tastes and experiences. Lots of what we like to call ‘market research’ has gone on, a good excuse to drink plenty of beer discovering the flavours and styles that we most liked and would enjoy creating for others to drink.

As you can imagine, this type of research is desirable work, so much so that friends and ale enthusiasts in general have joined us in our research for a monthly Beer Club, taking in a different real ale pub each time. As part of our ‘market research’ we left our friends at home and travelled across the pond to the Craft Beer Week in New York during September and October.

Craft beer is the term used in the US for beers from microbreweries. We have met so many people who think American beer is all tasteless generic lagers, weak as dish water which gives you a terrible hangover. That couldn’t be further from the truth with the craft beers we sampled, they were tasty, innovative and some that could knock your socks off strong.

There was no main event or single area for the NYC craft beer festival unlike most festivals here having a large venue selling cask and bottled ales 26

| WINTER 2010

over several days, with nearby pubs holding fringe events in support. New York seemed to be all fringe events – the breweries, brew pubs and craft beer pubs all had very popular attractions, showcasing beers from all over the US, some specialising in one particular beer or brewery per day, often with meet the brewer events and ‘Oktoberfest’ style parties to attend. Popular and often exclusive restaurants would offer beer and food matching evenings, opening up the beer world to beer novices and foodies. In Norwich, the beer festival week is one of the busiest for the local pubs; I can imagine events such as these would go down a treat between sessions and around the main festival itself.

The next thing we noticed, and this may be a bit of a contentious issue, was that nearly all the craft beers were served on keg rather than cask.

Chatting to the brewers from River Horse Brewing Co in New Jersey, it became apparent that bottle and keg is the way it’s done there. There is a small and slowly growing appreciation of cask ale there, but it’s a very specialised medium. For example, the popular NYC pub, Rattle and Hum, would regularly have over 40 ales available on keg, 60 or more in bottle, but just 4 on cask. There was no snobbery over cask versus keg, just that consumers

seemed to prefer their beers cooler and a little more carbonated. Talking to staff at Rattle and Hum, all of which have to attend beer school, it became apparent that to be considered a craft beer pub, you needed a large selection of beers, if the beers were just on cask many would go off before they were sold. I have noticed recently however, via the power of Twitter that some of our home grown breweries are experimenting with keg too – stand up the excellent Thornbridge and Hard Knott (among many others), award winning breweries experimenting with something a little different.

Next came the actual beers themselves, in lots of places you’d be hard pushed to find a beer that’s less than 6% ABV. Strong stuff in strength as well as flavour, we would regularly see beers at around 10% and it wasn’t unusual to find beers at 18% on offer in the pubs.

Wondering if this was to do with differing drinking culture, or maybe the ‘we do everything bigger and better’ attitude you sometimes see in the States, we asked some of the brewers we met. Most felt it was the fashion for extreme beers in the US at the moment, using huge amounts of hops and turning out powerful beers, but some felt the tide was also turning, and rather than producing something designed to shock and get

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 27

NORFOLK NIPS | Letters

Correspondence

d people talking, they just wanted to brew tasty drinkable beers that people would enjoy.

The variety of beers available was staggering too. One craft pub was featuring over 40 of the wonderful beers from the renowned Stone brewery. We were taken a back, ‘how can one brewery produce so many different beers?’. Looking at the beer menus available, we soon realised beer is a very complicated thing in the States, there were over 15 styles of IPA alone. Is a porter really no longer a porter if you stuff it with hops, is it really a Black IPA? I guess the proof is in the pint, if it tastes good and you want to drink it, then call it whatever you like, and boy did we drink it.

Having recently sold our first pint in Norwich, part of our experience at the NY beer festival has gone into our beers and how we plan to develop them. However, we haven’t lost sight of our roots either, Cow Tower, our session ale, is a very British pint with malty and hoppy depth of flavour, leaving the drinker wanting another.

Our new beer Golden Spire, draws on those hoppy lessons learned in the states, but without the keg.

Jennifer Nicholls

Dear Editor, I very much enjoyed reading the report on the Central Yarmouth Pub scene in the last issue.

were just not very good.”

Surely, if they beer is substandard in any way, we should say so, the Licensees need to know if there is a problem.

However, I feel that I must take issue with one point raised. The authors stated “Further, I hope that those who found glasses left with beer still in them wonder why.

It was not because they were off. Had that been the case they would have been taken back, it was just because they

I would hate to think that a Licensee who introduces a cask ale for the first time could revert to Keg beers, saying “Well, I tried real ale, but even CAMRA members wouldn’t drink it.”

Name and address supplied

Graham, My name is Mr Eric Ravenscroft I was visiting some relatives in Kings Lynn this week end and was told by a friend to visit a pub in Norwich Called the Duke Of Wellington on the Waterloo Road, what a real pup great selection of ales , the landlord and staff and

customers where Very friendly, it’s not often I make a comment about a pub, but on this occasion credit is worthy of me sitting down and writing!

Can you please add this in you next copy of your magazine so you readers don’t miss out Thank you Eric

Dear Editor, My wife, Jane, was the lucky winner of the word search competition in the Spring issue of Draught Copy. The prize was a weekend in a cottage next to the Brewery Tap hostelry aka “The Shed” in Wroxham, Norfolk. We arrived with 2 extra tasters, our son and his girlfriend, on Friday evening 8/10/10 to begin our arduous weekend of sampling the 50 or so real ales brewed at Norfolk breweries. By Sunday evening, our duty done, we concluded that there was no overall champion due to the

vast range and our continual changes in preference.

No beer were priced over £2.95 pp most were betweem £2.60 - £2.80 with the Shed Bitter (4.2%) best value at £2.30 and also Jack’s favourite, full of flavour.

We didn’t sample them all, but all that we did try were in excellent condition. We are most grateful to John Frankland for generously donating the prize. We will definitely revisit the Shed/Brewery Tap whenever we are in Norfolk.

WINTER 2010 | 27

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 28

THE ARTICHOKE FREEHOUSE at Broome

Up to 8 Real Ales (4 on gravity) 3 Belgian Fruit Beers Outstanding selection of Scottish malt & Irish Whisky Opening Hours 12pm to 11pm weekdays & Sunday 12pm to 12am Friday & Saturday Closed Mondays (Except Bank Holidays)

Lunchtime Meals

162 Yarmouth Road, Broome, Bungay NR35 2NZ Tel: 01986 893325

12pm to 2.30pm weekdays 12pm to 4pm Sundays

Evening Meals

On the 580 and 588 Anglia Bus routes

6.30pm to 9pm Tuesday to Saturday (Booking is advisable)

NORFOLK CAMRA PUB OF THE YEAR 2009 Beer garden and ample parking

28

| WINTER 2010

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 29

NORFOLK NIPS | Competition

From Across the Pond

by Colonial Craig My West Norfolk CAMRA mates have been pestering me to write an article for Cask Force since 2001. They assume that my Yank background will provide a different but hopefully interesting perspective. I must admit up front that I would rather be sampling beer than writing about it. I guess that is why it has taken me almost 10 years to sit down at the computer.

So here goes…I first visited England in 1996 and was first introduced to cask ale in a local pub in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. At the time, I didn’t realize the big difference between cask and keg. Please excuse my ignorance but cask ale is a rarity in the US and was non-existent in ‘96. However, I think I have been a quick study since my first pint of the real stuff. My visit in ‘96 was only a short holiday but it left me with a great love for your lovely country or the “Old Country” as many Yanks call it.

Fast forward four years…you can’t imagine how ecstatic I was when I received news my job would be taking me to England where I would be living for at least three years! I moved to Norfolk in July 2000 and made it a personal goal to sample as many cask ales as humanly possible. I quickly went sightseeing in London

where I noticed a pub advertising itself as “purveyors of fine ales, porters and stouts.”

Now, I am no dummy when it comes to beer so, I know that porters originated in London.

I ran into said pub and excitedly ordered a pint of porter.

Unfortunately, the young lass behind the bar didn’t even know what a porter was!

A crusty, lager-drinking customer commented that it was some sort of beer that “grey beards” used to drink but he hadn’t seen it in years.

Had I entered the Twilight Zone? Could it be possible that porter had disappeared from London, the porter capital? I made it my mission to seek out porters above all other beers. Unfortunately, the lager-drinker was right, the dark stuff was extraordinarily difficult to find, if not impossible. I diligently searched for a few months with only my nose to guide me. Then, I found a decent clue, an advert for the Bedford Beer Fest! Go west young man, go west! My first beer fest and 50 ales to chose from…what a country! But alas, still no porter. The good news was that I found CAMRA and quickly joined up. Now, I had some information at hand and the list of upcoming beer fests, it was getting better.

Tune in next issue for Craig’s voyage of discovery (Stig)

City of Norwich Aviation Museum Norwich Aviation Museum has kindly offered a prize of a family ticket (Two Adults and Three Children) to the winner of this competition.

Identify the aircraft A above, and B below.

Question C: What was the museums location, Norwich Airport called when it was an RAF base?

Entries to chris-stig@tiscali.co.uk by 1st Februaury please Congratulations to Roger Foreman of Dersingham who won the "What am I drinking" competition and wins a mystery prize.

Thanks go to The North Norfolk Railway who kindly provided prizes for the competitions in Issues 152 and 153.

WINTER 2010 | 29

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 30

Magnificent Ales

from a fine City

Northcote Brewery, Norfolk’s newest brewery in the heart of Norwich.

Bringing quality and flavour to a pub near you.

Selling to the trade and direct to the public in casks, pins and bottles Call Head Brewer Jennifer Nicholls to discuss your order now.

30

| WINTER 2010

0776 422 1493 www.facebook.com/NorthcoteBeers

@NorthcoteBeers

www.northcotebrewery.co.uk

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:32 Page 31

NORFOLK NIPS |

Steam and Ale On the 17th June 2010,my wife & I set out to vist some preserved steam railway centres in our campervan. I am particularly fond of the Great Western Region, so we headed towards Kidderminster, Worcestershire.

As we are Camping & Caravan Club members we stayed at their site at Woverley. Within walking distance (10 mins) from the site was a pub called THE LOCK. A lovely place right next to the Staffordshire & Worcestershire canal, hence the name. Four ales were on offer and we tried them all. We also met fellow CAMRA member Tony Greif,who was staying at the same site with his wife, daughter & son in law.

The next few days we spent visiting several stations along the Severn Valley Railway. We also made a visit to the new museum at Highley station. Lots of pristine locos on display and well worth a visit.

Bridgenorth is a picturesque town which can boast two levels. A lower town & the higher town perched on top of the hill with a castle.Those in need of sustenance should look for THE WHITE LION ( upper town) recommended for ale & food.The bar has seven handpumps,mainly local ales and includes two milds. Bridgenorth station also has a pub - THE RAILWAYMANS ARMS, which has five beers on offer, including one of my favourites Bathams Best Bitter - Lovely! Across the track is the motive power depot (SVR) so a look at that is a must.

Six locos there in various stages of repair.

The next move was to the club site at Oswestry and to visit some old friends at Rhosllanerchrugdg. Don’t ask! Anyway it is south of Wrexham. A trip to Llangollen was very benifical not only for the railway but to relax at the CORNMILL. This pub overlooks the river Dee and has spectacular views from the outside balcony area of the river and the railway.Beers here were Facers DHB,Wincle Sir Phillip,Woodlands Midnight Stout and Cambrinus Deliverance. It makes you feel good to be alive!

Whilst in the area we took the opportunity to revisit the Pontcysylle aqueduct. Some time ago we crossed the aqueduct in a narrow boat on the Llangollen canal. This time we were down by the river Dee underneath this amazing structure. Built in 1805 it is 120ft high and 1000ft long and is quite awesome. My 2010 CAMRA Good Beer Guide informed me of a pub THE MILL INN was near by at Cefn Mawr (Trevor Basin) .The beers listed were Greene King Speckled Hen and Hydes 1863 plus a guest.

To my suprise neither beers were on but Facers Gold and Stonehouse Station Bitter were. Not a bad result!

One other Railway worth a visit is the Welshpool and Llanfair narrow guage line which terminates at Llanfair Caereinion. A great opportunity to go to the GOAT HOTEL. Well why not!

My lunch was Slaters Honeybee and Woods Quaff.

A return visit to Woverley and the SVR for the 1940's weekend threw up another pub gem, THE ROMPING CAT at Old Woods (Salop) I sampled the Sadlers Mellow Yellow out of the six on sale and very nice too! The last port of call was Tysley (Birmingham railway Museum) who had their open day on Sunday 27th of June and was on the route home. For the benefit of any railway enthusiasts I have listed the locos seen during our tour. 813,43104,46443,4566, 7812 Erlestoke Manor,1501,7802 Bradley Manor,3802,5952 Cogan Hall,5552,7822 Foxcote Manor,6430,80072,44806 Kenneth Aldcroft, 5643,822 Earl,823 Countess, 4930 Hagley Hall,1000,48773,7714,80079, 600 Gordon, 47383,7325,42968,4164, 5764, 7752,9600,4965 Rood Ashdon Hall, 45593 Kolhaper,5043 Earl Mount Edgcumbe,4953 Pitchford Hall and 6201 Princess Elizabeth.

A great weeks holiday in all. With thanks to my wife Carol for doing the driving when required.

BRUCE AND CAROL WARD

WINTER 2010 | 31

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 32

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 33

NORFOLK NIPS |

The 33rd Norwich Beer Festival They came, they saw, they concurred – Oh, and they drank a lot of beer too! They came in droves from all over the world – The USA, Australia, Canada, Norway, Denmark and Luton.

They saw the magnificent surroundings of St Andrews and Blackfriars Halls (ours until 2015, at least).

They concurred, that The Norwich Beer Festival is simply one of the best and that Norwich

and Norfolk are paradise for Real Ale drinkers.

The Brown Cow Brewery in North Yorkshire.

The beer list was a bit different this year, one or two eyebrows were raised when it was published, and some old favourites were missing.

But the selection was very well received and maybe it was time to discover some new favourites.

Elmtree Beers (Norfolk) picked up Silver for their Golden Pale Ale and the Bronze went to Adnams for Tally Ho. Full details of all the winners are on the Norwich and Norfolk CAMRA Branch website.

The Gold Award went to Mrs Simpson’s Thriller in Vanilla from

Norwich Door to Door Nominated Charity of the Festival 2010 Norwich Door to Door offers mobility transport for passengers with severe mobility issues.

Their fleet of six minibuses are a lifeline for those who find public transport difficult or impossible to use. Their aim is to provide social inclusion to help people develop their full potential.

They offer a door to door service, but also have scheduled services Monday to Friday from Taverham, Costessey, Trowse and Dussindale.

At weekends, group bookings are possible.

I caught up with Founder Roger Hadley and Chairman Douglas Munro at the Trade Session at the Festival. They were clearly delighted at having been chosen as our charity and were looking forward to the week. Their colourful stand in Blackfriars Hall was adorned with artwork by student Georgia Dodds from the Norwich School of Art. She was also one of the volunteers who went round with the collection buckets.

Fancy dress was very much in evidence, during the week, as well as Saturday night. There

Continued Overleaf

had raised £3229.93 from donations, and there was more to come from the donated unused beer tokens, nominated beer, etc.

Jill said that one or two businesses had take collection boxes and that Dougie Clark from The Duke of Wellington had promised a Fund Raising event for them.

Jill anticipated that the total would be in excess of £5000.

As Jill said, “Wow!”

So how did it go? After the Festival, I spoke to Jill Gaul from the Charity. She said that they

WINTER 2010 | 33

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 34

Norwich Beer Festival photos was, amongst others, a sprinkling of Wally’s, a cricket team, some Halloween Ghouls and more pirates than you could shake a stick at (Shaking sticks at Pirates is not be recommended – Ed) There is little time to rest on our laurels as planning for the 2011 Festival starts soon. If you enjoyed the Festival and want to be part of it next year, come to one of our Branch Events, or look on line for details of the meetings. You too could be part of a great team that makes the Festival possible.

And you might, just possibly, enjoy yourself. Enjoy the photos!

34

| WINTER 2010

| NORFOLK NIPS

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 35

NORFOLK NIPS | Norwich Beer Festival

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 36

Champions of Norwich Beer Festival

| NORFOLK NIPS

Humpty Dumpty On Top Six local breweries are award winners and it is hoped their success will give a boost to the branch ‘LocAle’ scheme which publicises pubs which always stock beers from breweries within 30 miles of the hostelry.”

Full Results

Broadland Sunrise from Reedham based brewery Humpty Dumpty has been named the Champion Beer of Norfolk 2010 by the Norwich and Norfolk branch of the Campaign for Real Ale. The 4.2% Best Bitter described as ‘Beautifully smooth with a swirling malt, hop, and fruit aroma’ emerged victorious from a year long programme of beer tasting conducted by the Norfolk Taste Panel.

Organiser Alan Edwards explained “Members of the panel completed over three hundred taste cards covering nearly sixty beers from nineteen Norfolk breweries. We are lucky to have around thirty breweries in the county and the panel tries to cover as many as possible. The panel were highly complementary of the quality and mix of flavours found in Broadland Sunrise. The beer faced strong competition but has emerged as a worthy winner.’

Alan continued, “It is a triple success for the brewery as apart from Broadland Sunrise scooping the Best Bitter and Overall Champion award their Railway Sleeper and Norfolk Nectar were tops in the Strong bitter and Speciality Beer categories. The brewery began in 1998 and now incorporates a shop at the brewery.

Many of the beers are named after either railway or Norfolk themes.

36

| WINTER 2010

Champion: Broadland Sunrise Humpty Dumpty, Reedham Tel: 01493 701818 Bitter: Oak Best Bitter Grain, Alburgh Tel: 01986 788884 Best Bitter: Broadland Sunrise Humpty Dumpty, Reedham Strong Bitter: Railway Sleeper Humpty Dumpty, Reedham Golden Ale: Golden Jackal Wolf, Besthorpe Tel: 01953 457775 Speciality Beer: Norfolk Nectar Humpty Dumpty, Reedham Strong Mild: Flintknappers Mild Chalk Hill – Norwich Tel: 01603 477078 Stout: Dark Horse Stout Elmtree, Snetterton Tel: 01953 498761 Real Ale in a Bottle: Winklepicker Norfolk Square, Gt Yarmouth Tel: 01493 854484

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 37

Alby Horse Shoes Inn Freehouse Situated on the A140 Norwich/Cromer Road Up to 5 Real Ales including Wherry & Mardlers

Home cooked Food - locally sourced SPECIAL STEAK AND ALE NIGHTS LAST FRIDAYS DURING WINTER MONTHS

10% OFF MEALS BOOKED

BY CAMRA MEMBERS Margaret & Richard Rushmer look forward to meeting you

01263 761378

We are In it!

www.albyhorseshoes.co.uk

The pub with no bar, ales direct from cask.

Watch www.nelsonslocal.co.uk for forthcoming events.

Tongue twizzling food, and great value.

Fiendish Quiz on Third Tuesday of Jan & Feb at 1pm.

Watch out for meet the Brewer event in March.

Real fires Victory Barn Function Room Come & visit Nelson’s local.

Walsingham Road, Burnham Thorpe Norfolk PE31 8HN

01328 738241

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 38

Pig n Falcon - St Neots BREWS TO DATE

LIVE MUSIC

455

WED, FRI + SAT

FROM 9/4/09

Pot Belly Best £2.00

Huntingdonshire CAMRA

MOST IMPROVED PUB OF THE YEAR

Oakham Ales Inferno £2.40 Greene King IPA £2.20 Plus 5 Guest Ales at all times

2010

Pigs Winter Beer Festival 26-30 January 20+ seasonal and strong ales plus Real Ciders

www.PignFalcon.co.uk

Tel 07951 785678 – New St, St Neots – PE19 1AE

Michaela and Toni welcome you to

The Kings Arms 22 Hall Rd Norwich NR1 3HQ

Tel: 01603 766361

Everchanging 13 Real Ales, Cider and Mild.

Popular Quiz Night last Wednesday of every month

Food served every lunchtime 12 - 3pm Beer Festival 24/11/10 - 28/11/10 with live music on the 26th

Two roast dinners for £7.50 Sunday Live music New Years Eve with band ‘Crumbs for Comfort’ See www.kingsarmsnorwich.co.uk for details Or join us on Facebook!

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 39

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 40

Cider and Perry

| NORFOLK NIPS

Show Time At Sandringham Sandringham might be the home of royalty, but is also well used by us commoners. You can come anytime to walk in the woods around the estate, pick your own apples in season, or visit the cafe and shop and it is always popular. However there are a few times a year when thousands of people arrive for special events.

The most famous takes place towards the end of July. The Sandringham flower show has its origins in a village competition when residents of the estate competed to see who had the biggest marrow and other such feats of gardening excellence. You can still go and see the entries for the innumerable classes of vegetables, fruit and flowers all displayed in a variety of interesting and entertaining ways but whilst two huge tents of these exhibits occupy the centre of the show, I think it is fair to say that these are not the main attraction.

What attracts the masses is the royal presence.

In the past it was the dear old Queen Mother who used to pull in the crowds, but now it is the chance to see the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall in the flesh which enthuses the public. Several years ago, I became involved in the National Osteoporosis Society, and we always have a stall at the show. Whilst I stand around or bring the occasional coffee, the women enthusiastically 40

| WINTER 2010

dispense advice and information about the condition and our monthly meetings, as well as sell a few things to raise money for the charity. This year we had a fine selection of quilts and knitted dolls made by some of our members.

The star of the stall was undoubtedly the knitted sheep and we spent a lot of time explaining that you could not buy them separately, but that they were part of the Knitted Nativity display (Similar to the one that accompanied Stan and Jen on the Norwich pub crawl a couple of years ago).

The highlight of the day for us is when Charles and Camilla come over for a chat. Camilla is patron of the charity and they always make a point of talking to everyone on the stand.

I think I let the side down a bit when I said to the Prince ‘Hi, how are you?’ but he is a professional and did not order me to be sent to the tower for being disrespectful. Indeed they are invariably extremely pleasant and charming and show a deep interest in what we are doing. This year they were accompanied by Judy Dench and Maggie Smith, who spent ages deciding which dolls to buy and generally passing the time, much to the consternation of the security people who saw the royal party disappearing off into the distance. Anyway, after all this

excitement it seemed time to find a pint, but disappointingly there was no real ale available in the vast tented city despite the claims on one of the advertising hoardings, so it was another cup of coffee and a wander round the show gardens and Sandringham transport museum.

A couple of months later we were back. This time it was for the Sandringham Country and Game Fair. Once again the grounds were transformed into a tented city, but instead of flowers and royalty being the attraction this was a gathering of the hunting, fishing and shooting set. I’m not really one of them myself, and briefly thought of wearing a ‘Save the Whale’ tee shirt or trying to promote a vegan lifestyle, but on reflection I think I might have been used as an unwilling prop in the shooting demonstration or torn to pieces by the dogs. And dogs there were.

Every shape, size colour and breed imaginable was there Retrievers, Labradors, Spaniels and probably the odd Shitzu.

[Q) What’s a Shitzu? A) One without Penguins].

Some were wandering with their humans, others were in the show rings chasing things, searching for things or just looking cute. No problem about getting a beer this time.

Richard and the organisers ‘Living Heritage’ had set up the

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 41

NORFOLK NIPS | Sandringham Beer Festival tent and were offering about 30 beers from Norfolk breweries alongside a selection of ciders.

An interesting extra was a chance to take part in a blind beer tasting with the aim of selecting the best beer of the show. Participants were also entertained by Richard’s anecdotes about the world of beer.

Another innovation was the chance to sample beer in a third of a pint measures giving more opportunity to try a greater range of ales. Our job this time was to promote CAMRA and entice new members to join. This was very successful and we recruited 28 over the two-day duration.

We also met a large number of interesting people from all over the country and some really

beautiful dogs. Ros was all for swapping a few pints of beer for ‘Elsie’, currently a cute ball of fur, but who she thinks will grow up to be a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

So if you fancy a day out next year, and you want to see royalty, the Flower Show is normally the last Wednesday in July. Come and see us on the NOS stand, I can’t promise knitted sheep next year but there will be something of interest. The game fair is pencilled in for the second weekend in September.

Richard is keen to do the Beer Festival again and is hoping to expand his selection of local beers, so if you, or anyone you know, would like to be

included, contact us, and I will pass the information on. If you do come, call at the CAMRA stall and talk to us, otherwise we spend too much of our time in search of the latest cutting edge culinary creation.

This year it was exotic members of the animal kingdom in burgers (ostrich, bison, kangaroo.....) and whoopee pies, which I am assured, are ‘the new cupcake’.

We can’t wait for next year.

I won’t let Ros have a dog, but I have downloaded her the free ‘Knit yourself a Jack Russell’ pattern from the Guardian website. Come and see it on our stall next year!

Jeff

r a i n M e h T Ale and Cider Housesers Now at:

GREAT YARMOUTH

The MARINERS

NORWICH & NORFOLK 2010 PUB OF THE YEAR! Winter Beer Festival (Christmas Ales available) 6th - 19th Dec EIGHT Real Ales + Real Ciders always available Welcoming Open Fire in Winter 69 Howard St South, Great Yarmouth NR30 1LN

Tel 01493 332299

LOWESTOFT THE MARINERS REST Minimum SIX Real Ales + Ciders Stunning Beer garden!

Rotterdam Rd, Lowestoft NR32 7ES Tel 01502 538813

GORLESTON THE MARINERS COMPASS 8 Real Ales plus a selection of Ciders 21 Middleton Rd, Gorleston NR31 7AJ Tel 01493 659494

WINTER 2010 | 41

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 42

The Real Ale Shop Branthill Farm, Wells-next-the-Sea, NORFOLK NR23 1SB ON THE B1105 FAKENHAM- WELLS RD

Winklepicker

Norfolk Beer of the Year 2010 Real Ale in a Bottle Category Brewed with a combination of darker malts, Winklepicker is a delicious traditional porter.

A slight roasted flavour is imparted from the chocolate and crystal malts giving the ale a lovely cocoa aroma that will excite the taste buds.

5% ABV Order now in time for Christmas!

Tel: 01493 751975 email: beer@norfolksquarebrewery.co.uk www.norfolksquarebrewery.co.uk

42

| WINTER 2010

Over 50 bottle conditioned real ales from 15 Norfolk brewers who all use Branthill Farms famous malted barley.

TEL: 01328 710810

www.therealaleshop.co.uk

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 43

NORFOLK NIPS | East Anglian Cider Competition

Norfolk Cider Makers Take Top Honours CAMRA Announces Results of East Anglian Cider Competition 2010 Two Norfolk cider makers, Crones Organic Cider, and Whin Hill Cider, are celebrating wins at CAMRA’s East Anglian Cider Competition.

The competition, which attracted a total of 21 cider entries and 5 perry entries, took place at CAMRA’s Norwich Beer Festival in October this year.

The results for cider were: 1st Owld Norfolk, made by Crones Organic Cider (Kenninghall, Norfolk) 2nd Porker’s Snout, made by Pickled Pig Cider (Stretham, nr. Ely, Cambridgeshire) 3rd Sweet Cider, made by Whin Hill Cider (Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk) The other finalists were (in alphabetical order):

Pubs Selling Real Cider CAMRA has launched "Real Cider Sold Here" window stickers to promote pubs serving real cider or perry. To see the latest list of pubs that have this sticker, go to www.camra.org.uk/ciderpubs.

The aim of the window sticker is to support pubs by ensuring they can showcase the availability of real cider to consumers. This will in turn raise the profile of real cider, increase real cider sales and support pubs in these difficult times to differentiate themselves from other drinking establishments.

Cambridgeshire Cider, made by Hereward (Ely, Cambridgeshire) Rioja Cask, made by Millwhites Cider (Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire) Slider Red, made by Pagelsham Punch (Pagelsham, Essex) The winner for perry was Whin Hill Perry, made

by Whin Hill Cider (Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk).

The East Midland and Yorkshire Cider Competition 2010 also took place at Norwich Beer Festival, and attracted 6 entries.

The results were: Winner: Medium Sweet, by Moorlands Farm Cyder, North Newbald, Yorkshire.

Runner-Up: Thirsty Farmer, made by Farmer Fear, Mountsorrel, Leicestershire.

The winning cider, Crone’s Owld Norfolk, was described by judges as having a “very pleasant, subtle fruit, honey, and flowery aroma, as well as a rounded balanced flavour, with a lemon/lime hint. The full apple fruity aftertaste that faded slowly was very enjoyable”. Robbie Crone, said “I can only say I’m delighted with the win and very pleased to find that our efforts to produce a top quality cider from Norfolk grown apples has met with success. In 2008 we decided to invest in improved storage and maturation vessels in order to see if we could produce a smoother and more refined end-product by allowing it to age for the full two years and our only regret is we will only have 650 gallons of the ‘Owld Norfolk’ till the next lot comes on stream.”

The silver medal went to Pickled Pig’s Porker’s Snout, which was described by judges as having Continued Overleaf

WINTER 2010 | 43

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 44

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 45

NORFOLK NIPS | East Anglian Cider Competition continued a “pleasant mellow aroma and a well balanced apply flavour with a hint of pears. A tasty tannic sweetness in the aftertaste makes this an excellent all rounder.” This is the 4th year in a row that Pickled Pig has been in the top 3, which is an outstanding level of consistency.

Charles Roberts of Pickled Pig Cider, said “It’s fantastic to be ‘in the medals’ again in the draft cider competition. The number of producers and the quality of East Anglian ciders is increasing all the time and that’s excellent news for the produces and the consumers who support us. I was fortunate to taste many of the ciders at Norwich this year, East Anglian cider is surely back on the map with some very fine offerings. We look forward to a good year again next year after a fine harvest of fruit this autumn.”

The winning perry, Whin Hill Perry, was described by judges as having "an oakey fruit aroma with a hint of toffee, and then full of tangy flavours, followed by a smooth dry finish which rounds it out to a well balanced drink".

Overall, it was described as "scrumptious", which left judges wanting more.

Whin Hill also came third in the cider competition with their sweet cider. Judges described it as having “a complex aroma including oak barrels, with an oakey tannic taste, and a dry liquorish aftertaste”.

Jim Fergusson and Peter Lynn from Whin Hill Cider in Wells-Next-The-Sea said that they were “very pleased to have won both the gold perry award and the bronze cider award at the Norwich Beer Festival, it really made all the hard work of establishing our orchards of perry pears and cider apples at Stanhoe worthwhile.

Our ciders and perries are made exclusively from apples and pears, with no added water, flavourings or colours”.

Chris Rouse, CAMRA’s Regional Cider Co-ordinator for East Anglia said, “This has been an exceptional year for quality, especially from the newer producers who did more than hold their own. Thanks go to all those who helped organise the competition and to Norwich Beer Festival for hosting the competition.”

The Sole & Heel Rackheath

Newly refurbished Pub & Restaurant with recently extended Beer Garden

Minimum of 5 changing Real Ales on gravity Restaurant open daily with A la Carte menu in the evenings.

All produce locally sourced where available.

Fortnightly Sunday Quiz

Bar open: Mon 4.30-11pm, Tues 12-2.30 and 4.30-11pm, Weds-Sat 12-11pm, Sun 12-10.30pm Restaurant open: Tues –Sat 12-2.30 and 6-9pm, Sunday Roast 12-4pm 2 Salhouse Rd, Rackheath, Norwich NR13 6QH Tel 01603 720146 Web: www.soleandheel.bravehost.com

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 46

THE ANGEL INN FREEHOUSE

Now Overall NORFOLK CAMRA PUB OF THE YEAR! Open all day every day Excellent home cooked meals available from our award winning kitchen Large Beer Garden with play area En-suite accommodation Camping and Caravanning available

New Inn at Roughton Pub & Restaurant where East meets West

The food served here at The New Inn is a combination of Thai, Chinese and Traditional British cuisines. It is always fresh, cooked to order and served in the traditional manner.

All of the produce served at The New Inn is locally purchased, and there is a full vegetarian and special dietary requirements menu too. There are also many different spirits, wines and real ales to choose from.

For your enjoyment and comfort we have a large, air-conditioned restaurant, which can seat large groups or parties, as well as couples or individuals.

Larling, Norfolk, NR16 2QU (17th Century former coaching inn)

Norwich Road, Roughton, Norfolk NR11 8SJ

Tel: 01953 717963 www.angel-larling.co.uk

www.thenewinnroughton.com

He should have gone to the

EATON COTTAGE, UNTHANK RD, NORWICH 01603 453048

Telephone: 01263 761389

The London Tavern Free House

Great real ales, fine wines and spirits.

A large Home-Made selection of traditional food served daily, Main meals, Set menu deals, Light lunches, Specials & Childrens menu. Roast Dinners Sundays 12-3pm Chilled bar rolls made daily only £1.00

Attleborough’s only current Good Beer Guide pub 2010 & 2011 Camra Discount Scheme & Local Ale Breckland Council Rating Level 5

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR CUSTOMERS! Fine Real Ales,lagers,wines and spirits All Sky Sports • A traditional pub Good covered outside areas • Doggies welcome

“a festival of beers every day” 46

| WINTER 2010

Parking, Disabled facilities, Baby changing, Smokers sheltered garden, and Beer garden.

Well behaved dogs on leads welcome.

Christenings, Funerals, Intimate Weddings / Civil Ceremonies catered for

Church St, Attleborough Tel :01953 457415

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 47

NORFOLK NIPS | Letter

No excuse I’m with James May on this one. In the first edition of Beer, he was complaining about Hotel Bars not selling real ale.

Definitely one of my pet hates, this one. Over the years, I have, on many occasions, travelled long distances from Norwich to stay in a hotel, prior to a weekend event.

Arriving late, gasping for a pint, the god news is that the Guest Information in my room assures me that the bar is still open and offers a good selection of fine wines, spirits and beers from around the world.

Walking into the bar, I realise that with all this shiny chrome I should have brought my shades.

However, my usual cursory glance along the bar reveals the complete absence of anything faintly resembling a handpump. Not only that, but looking over the bar, there is a distinct lack of anything remotely interesting in bottles.

At this point, one of two things usually happens – either the bar staff realise that glasses have to be collected and vacate the bar, or, they ask me in a cheery voice what I would like to drink.

My response to this is often in the form of “I wanted a cask ale, but you don’t have any.”

They have no way of knowing, of course, but their reply is crucial for my blood pressure.

(I will never forget the extremely chirpy young lady, who, without wavering, said “oh we do Sir, we have Worthington Creamflow!).

No excuse.

But, it’s not only Hotel bars. The other week, I visited The Theatre

Letter

Royal in Norwich for the first time since the refurbishment, and followed the signs to The Adnams Bar. Once again, lots and lots of shiny chrome, Adnams beers on sale, but none of them cask.

Hi Chris.

Congratulations on publishing the article 'What I did on my holidays' by Clive Taylor. In my view the comments were 100% accurate and reflect the sad situation of the pubs here on the The conversation went thus: West Norfolk Coast. I am sick to “What can I get you sir?” death of the pubs that do serve a “Well, I really wanted a decent pint of Cask Ale, but you don’t have decent pint ripping customers off with their nouveau cuisine food any.” offerings. Outrageous prices for “We have Adnams Bitter Sir” “Yes, but that’s not cask!” very little food on the plate.

“Ah, you mean the beer that Where you can get a decent comes from those funny handmeal, the beer suffers both in pumps?” range and price. I am just back “Yes.” from a holiday on the borders of “Ah, alas, we cannot serve that Yorkshire and Lancashire. What here, because this is the upstairs an oasis. Excellent meals, warm bar, and we cannot pull it through real fires and delightful choices of from the cellar.” real ales and all at sensible prices.

“Oh, so do you serve it in the down stairs bar then?”

“No.” No excuse.

I honestly think that the Industry is missing a trick here. We have all read in recent months how Marstons, The Brewery Tap in Wroxham, and the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway have come up with solutions to the problem of getting real ale into places where you wouldn’t normally expect it.

The campaign for Real Ale has been won, in my opinion. We are now fighting to save community pubs, but many of those doomed to close only offer bog standard “lagers” at inflated prices, which are sold in supermarkets at a fraction of the cost.

And Hotels are doing the same.

What gets me is that the Hotel chain referred to at the beginning of this article is owned by Whitbread!

Beyond my immediate stamping ground there is of course the excellent Windham Arms in Sheringham. I also give a high rating to the Ship at Weybourne. Why does this pub never get a mention? It always serves a selection of ales from local breweries at probably the lowest prices in Norfolk (JD Wetherspoon excepted), and provides good food at sensible prices to boot, and yes, it does have a real fire. Living in Thornham my visits there are somewhat attenuated by drink driving legislation.

Kindest regards

Ted Taylor Thanks for your letter Ted, it’s nice to hear from our readers feedback and your opinions are exactly what we want to hear.

Cheers, Chris (Stig)

Definitely no excuse!

WINTER 2010 | 47

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 48

Christmas in Austria

| NORFOLK NIPS

I Love To Go A Staggering about 10 minutes in the kellar couldn’t get a beer despite asking (in German) at least two barmaids. Strike one!

I continued my tourist activities whilst waiting for the opening time of my main target the famous Augusteiner Brau Klosterbrauerei, an abbey brewery above the river.

The beer kellar is actually in the monastery and the drinking facilities are very impressive.

Last year I decided I wanted guaranteed snow for Christmas so a plan formed to go to the Tyrol for Christmas.

Of course research was done and breweries located!

Unfortunately the great law of Murphy came into force and our departure was booked for the day after the West Norfolk xmas crawl departing at 0430!

Not only that but it was the snowiest Christmas for 30 years.

But with some effort we made the bus for a very difficult journey to Eurotunnel and beyond to Koblenz everything was white including the worryingly frozen windscreen on the bus!

The second day included a stop in Wurzburg for the Weinachtsland Christmas market, very atmospheric as it was snowing quite hard. So far no beer of interest due to a late arrival in Koblenz.

48

| WINTER 2010

We arrived in the Tyrol fairly late at night staying in Kirchberg just outside Kitsbuhel.

The next day was free of excursions, so I grabbed the chance to take the slow train to Salzburg through the mountains, bright sun made for some great sights, with the chance to use my camera as it was a slow train.

Salzburg was bustling with Christmas shoppers but I first visited Sternbrau but after

When you arrive you buy a ticket, pick up a stoneware jug wash it in the provided fountain and get it filled, there was a choice of Helles, Dunkel and a special seasonal brew.

Food was provided by an entire arcade of deli style outlets, so you simply filled your plate and took a seat in one of the two halls.

A pleasant couple of hours passed, all beers were tried, at

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 49

NORFOLK NIPS | least once. Now where is the railway station?

Christmas Eve brought a trip to Kitsbuhel and the brewery tap for Huberbrau situated in the next village. The bar is a gem with a vaulted room right on the mainstreet the beers were superb and the atmosphere tremendous especially when an elderly lady at the next table turned out to be an ex opera singer and sang some Christmas songs.

Lunch was Tyrolean Grustl which is fried potato and bacon in its own pan topped with a couple of fried eggs, yum.

Christmas Eve is the climax of an Austrian Christmas with the candle on the tree being lit before the exchange of gifts; this took place at the hotel.

The rest of the journey was uneventful with Koblenz being reached too late for a brewery visit. Sounds like I’ll have to visit Koblenz independently!

Christmas day it rained, but turned to snow by afternoon a very quiet day.

A great experience but I think I’ll go local this year.

Merry Christmas,

Boxing day saw the start of a two day return journey with a stop off at Ulm. This has a cathedral with a stunning spire which you could see about 30 miles away. No beer was consumed, but a very good cake shop was open, so good we nearly missed the bus!

Stig

Cambridge Bitter 3.8%

Gold Award Champion Bitter of Britain 2006 Available all year round:

Thin Ice 4.7% Jan/Feb Old Wagg 4.0% March/April Double Swan 4.5% May/June Mad Dog 4.4% July/Aug Barleymead 4.8% Sept/Oct Old Black Shuck 4.5% Nov Snickalmas 5.0% Wenceslas Winter Warmer 7.5% Dec North Brink Brewery, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire

Tel: 01945 583160 WINTER 2010 | 49

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 50

South Norfolk’s Best Kept Secret

The Pelican Inn Tacolneston 01508 489 521

Four Local Real Ales on Hand Pump

Bottled Norfolk Real Ales In our New ‘Real Ale Shoppe’

WINNER OF THE SOUTH NORFOLK ‘PUB OF THE YEAR AWARD’ 2009 /2010.

Taking bookings NOW for Christmas Hampers Special Discounts to CAMRA Members With THREE Beer Festivals a Year

Queen’s Head and Waveney Brewing Company Traditional Village Pub with a brewery producing permanent and seasonal ales on site Large beer garden, traditional games, lunchtime menu and a good selection of real ale, spirits and soft drinks Listed in the Good Beer Guide every year since 2000.

Station Road, Earsham, Norfolk

Tel: (01986) 892623

50

| WINTER 2010

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 51

NORFOLK NIPS | AGM

West Norfolk AGM 2010 Here is a summary of the Branch Officer elections, with thanks to Ian Bailey for the use of his excellent minutes, All post holders were returned unopposed. All candidates listed below agreed to serve in post

The Shoulder of Mutton ~ Strumpshaw ~

Fine ales and good food served in a friendly atmosphere Real ales include Adnams Bitter and Broadside plus TWO guest ale (mainly from local breweries) Food served 12-2pm and 7-9pm (Mon-Sat), 12-2pm Sundays Pub games include Darts, Pool, Crib and Petanque!

Ian and Jenny look forward to welcoming you..

Norwich Rd, Strumpshaw, Norwich NR13 4NT

Tel 01603 712274

Chairman Phil Buffham Secretary Ian Bailey Treasurer Jim Fergusson Membership Secretary Jeff Hoyle Press & Publicity Bruce Ward Pubs Officer Ian Bailey Pubs Preservation Officer Andrea Briers Nips Editor Chris Lucas Webmaster Cider Andrea Briers Branch Contact Bruce Ward Public Affairs Officer Nobody came forward for this post.

Auditor Ros Harre • Social Secretary, Jackie is OK to continue without official title. Nobody else came forward.

• Nips Circulation, Ros is OK to continue with this as a non-committee post.

• Webmaster, Nige neither reported business nor whether he wished to continue in post.

As no one else offered the post remains in limbo whilst the Branch Chairman sounds Nige out.

• Andrea will continue to provide support to her former posts: Press & Publicity and Pubs Preservation. Regional Director to notify HQ of changes.

WINTER 2010 | 51

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 52

Angel Gardens Free House

Under same ownership for 22 years

Up to 7 reasonably priced Real Ales including three guest ales Home Cooked Food • Monthly Quiz & Darts • Live Music on Saturdays • Beer Garden

2 Bars (with one for Private Hire) Ample Car Parking

Party nights on Christmas and New Year’s Eve with live music.

Pre-Christmas meals, book now!

96 Angel Rd, Norwich NR3 3HT

01603 427490 email: ikwarren-angel@tiscali.co.uk

www.norwichinns.com

52

| WINTER 2010

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 53

NORFOLK NIPS | NWAF 2011

CAMRA’s National Winter Ales Festival 19th – 22nd January, Sheridan Suite, Oldham Road, Manchester, M40 8EA CAMRA is proud to present the return of their National Winter Ales Festival which for the second timing running will be held at the Sheridan Suite in Manchester. Located just a couple of miles from Manchester’s Victoria and Piccadilly Stations, the National Winter Ales Festival will showcase an exciting range of more than 200 real ales, foreign beers, real ales in a bottle, ciders and perrys!

Breweries will be represented all across Britain and will include: Fullers (London), Joseph Holt (Manchester), Wells & Young’s (Bedford), Howard Town (Derbyshire), Bollington (Cheshire), Okells Brewery (Isle of Man), Moorhouse’s (Lancashire), Daniel Thwaites (Lancashire), Theakstons Brewery (North Yorkshire), Hawkshead Brewery (Cumbria), Marble Brewery (Manchester), Lancaster Brewery (Lancashire), Kelham Island Brewery (Sheffield), Thornbridge Brewery (Derbyshire) plus many more!

Although the emphasis will be on British beers, ranging from traditional Old Ales to lively Golden Ales, CAMRA will also be bringing a sample from others parts of the world, including Germany, France and Czech Republic.

The Champion Winter Beer of Britain competition will take place on Wednesday at the event.

Porters, Stouts, Old Ales and Barleys Wines from around Britain will fight it for this prestigious title.

All beers that make it to the final will be on sale for visitors to try after the judging has taken place but you’ll have to be fast as these can sell out very quickly!

CAMRA members get £1 off the FULL price off admission at all times (except Thursday which is free ALL day) For further information please visit www.alesfestival.org.uk/winterales

WINTER 2010 | 53

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 54

A selection of our Award winning Norfolk ales

Special Winter Ale

The Wolf Brewery

Rookery Farm, Silver Street Besthorpe, Attleborough Norfolk, NR17 2LD Telephone: 01953 457775 E-mail: info@wolfbrewery.com

For Christmas Parties and Presents Order 5 Litre Mini Casks & 4 Bottle Gift Packs from your local or our brewery shop.

Shop open 9am – 5pm Monday – Friday and Saturday 18 December

www.wolfbrewery.com 54

| WINTER 2010

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 55

NORFOLK NIPS | Beer & Music

Music & Real Ale TRADITIONAL JAZZ Acle Recreation Centre, Bridewell Lane, Acle Real Ales include Adnams Bitter, Theakstons and Tipples Redhead Friday 4th March – Rod Mason and his Hot Five (from Germany), including former local favourite, Sean Moyses, on banjo Enquiries – Brian Davis 01493 701880 Brook Hotel, Bowthorpe, Norwich (off Dereham Road) No Real Ale at present Tuesday 8th March – The New Orleans Z’Hulus. New Orleans style band led by British trumpeter now living in Belgium, and featuring musicians from Belgium, Germany, Holland and France Tickets/Enquiries – Rod Playford 01362 667811 Fisher Theatre, Broad Street, Bungay, Suffolk Adnams Bitter on handpump Following a very successful spell lasting several years at the King’s Head in Beccles, jazz sessions have now transferred to the Fisher Theatre in Bungay.

Every Sunday evening - Red Beans ‘n’ Rice New Orleans Jazz Band The Diplomat, Ormesby Road, Ex RAF Coltishall site (Nr Coltishall) NR10 5JZ Real Ales include house beer ‘Six Squadron’ and a guest beer.

First Sunday of every month (1.00 – 3.30 pm) – Norfolk Dixieland Jazz Band.

Admission free, but lunch bookings advisable on 01603 738866.

Crown Inn, Banningham (Nr Aylsham) Adnams Broadside, Greene King IPA and Abbot Ale Sunday 30th January (1.30 – 4.30 pm) – Norfolk Dixieland Jazz Band Admission free, but phone 01263 733534 for lunch reservations Red Hart, Bodham (Nr Holt) Adnams Bitter and Broadside First Friday every month – Lumiere Rouge Ragtime Band North Elmham Memorial Hall (On B1110 DerehamGuist Road) No bar, but you are welcome to take your own drinks with you.

Friday 17th December – Lumiere Rouge Ragtime Band Monthly sessions have been transferred to this venue on the third Friday of every month, and it is hoped they will continue in the New Year whilst Marsham Arms is out of action due to their serious fire.

George and Dragon, Newton by Castle Acre House beer Newton Bitter, brewed by Elgoods (replacing Elgoods Cambridge) plus local guest beers

Tuesday jazz sessions by Black Bowler Hat Jazz Band have now finished, but the venue now features a Jazz Trio on the first and third Mondays of every month, in addition to the Swing Jazz Quartet on third Friday of the month (Also folk music on first Thursday every month) Northrepps Cottage Country Hotel, Nut Lane, Northrepps (Nr Cromer) Greene King Abbot Ale and IPA Sunday 12th December (Jazz Carvery from 12.00 – 3.00 pm) – Chris Wigley’s Phoenix Jazz Quartet. Also jazz carveries are planned for the remaining Sundays in December.

It is not clear at time of writing these notes whether jazz sessions will continue in the New Year. (Phone 01263 579202 for further details) The Buck Inn, The Street, Flixton, Suffolk Woodforde’s Mardler’s and Adnams Bitter are the regulars at present, plus a good selection of guest beers Every Thursday -Sole Bay Jazz Band

MODERN/ MAINSTREAM JAZZ Green Man, Wroxham Road, Rackheath Woodforde’s Wherry, Adnams Bitter, Fuller’s London Pride plus guests Every Tuesday Full programme consisting of Continued Overleaf

WINTER 2010 | 55

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 56

COAST ROAD, WALCOTT, NORFOLK NR12 OPE Telephone

(01692) 650371 FREE HOUSE

Proprietor since 1989: STEVE BULLIMORE

OPEN FOR FOOD & DRINKS ALL DAY, EVERY DAY, 11am - 11pm Food available all day until 10.30pm 10% off food and drink on production of CAMRA membership card

FOUR REAL ALES & CIDER www.lighthouseinn.co.uk

56

| WINTER 2010

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 57

NORFOLK NIPS | Beer and Music continued various bands and musicians.

NB. No jazz on 28th December and 4th January. Sessions resume on 11th January It was very sad to hear of the recent death of Barbara Capocci, who had run jazz sessions at the Green Man, and previously at the Red Lion in Thorpe, for many years, and I am sure everyone will join with me in expressing our sincere sympathy to her husband, Mike, (who continues to run the very successful resident trio at the Green Man) and their family.

For further details of jazz sessions at the Green Man, phone Brian McAllister on 01603 782693, or visit web site

www.norwichaccommodation.com/jazz Dereham Jazz Society, Lakeside Country Club, Quarry Lane, Lyng (nr Dereham) Greene King IPA and Woodforde’s Wherry Every Wednesday – Full programme consisting of various bands and musicians in varied styles, which usually includes one ‘traditional’ session each month NB. Following a review of attendances, it has been decided to scale down the number of sessions held each year at the club. After the Christmas Party and Jam Night on 8th December, the club will

close for an extended Winter Break, and will resume again in February.

For further details phone 01328 863511 or 01362 696741 or visit website www.lakeside-jazz-club.co.uk Seasonal greetings to all – and keep jazzing!

Keith Chettleburgh

Norfolk Nips 156 The Spring edition of Norfolk NIPS will be published on Friday 4th March.

Copy for inclusion must be received by Wednesday 16th February

WINTER 2010 | 57

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 58

Earle Arms Heydon

Traditional Norfolk freehouse and restaurant

3 Real Ales always available Woodfordes Wherry, Adnams Bitter and Black Sheep

01263 587376 Satnav: NR11 6AD (Just off B1149 Holt Norwich Rd)

Mark & Marie offer you a warm welcome to the

The Gatehouse Pub

Fox and Hounds Heacham

391 Dereham Road, Norwich NR5 8QJ 01603 620340

Home of The Fox Brewery We are a free house specialising in real ales.

The first pub in Heacham to be in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide.

Live Music every Tuesday Quiz Night Thursday

FOUR REAL ALES Live Music, Friday & Saturday Large garden overlooking the River Wensum

www.foxbrewery.com

Tel: 01485 570345 22 Station Rd, Heacham, Norfolk PE31 7EX

OPEN ALL DAY 7 DAYS A WEEK

58

| WINTER 2010

OPEN Mon - Thurs 12-11 Fri & Sat 12-12 • Sunday 12-11

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 59

WINTER 2010 | 59

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:33 Page 60

Historical Article

| NORFOLK NIPS

CASK FORCE TASK FORCE 1993 (by Fernando Alonso’s Blown Diffuser, aka Timbo) I came across some old photographs whilst tidying up a while back, about an event undertaken by the West Norfolk branch of CAMRA back on Saturday May 22nd 1993, dubbed “Cask Force Task Force”. The idea was to visit every pub in the Norfolk section of that year’s, “Good Beer Guide”, in small or larger groups we were assigned various areas to cover on the day, then meet up in Norwich come the evening. In those heady days the branch had the numbers to take on this challenge.

Myself and Stig were lucky enough to draw apart of Norwich, sadly I’ve lost the notes I took on the day, but will try and piece together something of this day from the photos, so here goes. The two of us began at the Catherine Wheel , ales included London Pride, Adnams Bitter, Bateman’s XB, and Bass, I’ve not been in the CW for a while so don’t know what it’s like currently, I remember it being a good back in the day. 2nd pub was the Bread & Cheese (Adelaide Street I think), again Adnams and Bass featured, can’t make out the others, still there so maybe someone can tell me about it now, again a pub I’ve not been in for a long time. Next the Fat Cat, we all know this champion ale house!

And, of course, it is still brilliant, although from my pictures 60

| WINTER 2010

they only had eight ales on handpump and four on gravity, changed a bit since (wonder how much the rolls were?!).

Stig and Wolf at the Reindeer Alexandra Tavern followed another pub which is still one of the finest pubs in Norwich, no picture of what ales they had on then, but I bet they were cracking. Over to Earlham Road and the Black Horse, I see Flowers IPA was £1-20 a pint, think they had six ales on offer (might be four), the branch went in here on a recent Xmas crawl, not bad. The Reindeer was next, home to the Reindeer Brewery then and run by the wonderful Wolf Witham, who went on to bigger and better things as we all know (Wolf Brewery for those who don’t! He’s a tall lad!), the pub has had a chequered history since those days (Finnesko & Firkin anyone?!), now has Elgoods beers and thankfully still with us. Micawbers Tavern followed which has also been known as Seamus O’Rourkes, and remains a good boozer.

Onto the Tap & Spile (anyone remember that pub chain?), knew the’ landlord’ Jim well, bit of a biker I recall, now back to it’s original name of the Old White Lion and run by Milton Brewery, well worth a stop (Oak Street). Onto the Golden Star, a Green King pub which continues to serve a good drop of their ales, I recall Stig had one of those GK Pint-and-a-half glasses, don’t think too many pubs noticed! And so to our final stop, as we met up with the other branch members at the St Andrews Tavern, now called the Rumsey Wells, the end to a mammoth day.

Tim at the Fat Cat in 1993 Does anyone reading this remember that day? Maybe you could contact us with your memories and stories, be fun to read how others got on.

We gained minimal publicity, as basically this was just a glorified pub crawl, I think if we were to do it again we should get sponsored for charity. Mind you we are a smaller branch now, but it would be interesting to do it again (2013?).

Cheers!!

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:34 Page 61

Bootiful Norfolk to bracing Bateman’s In September, 17 of us from the West set off for a Bateman’s weekend. We stayed in Bateman’s pubs and toured the brewery in Wainfleet Lincs.

Bateman’s has survived as a family business despite nearly being sold to the nationals.

Several family members got together and bought out the remainder to avoid this happening.

The brewery is centred around an old windmill which now contains the visitor centre and bar, which was serving Salem Porter a week early at the behest of one of our “colonial” members who is a great fan of the “Dark”! The visitor centre covers the history of the brewery.

It includes a letter to a customer in the distant past threatening to steal their cows if they don’t pay up! The tour was informative and very entertaining; we were shown the old brewery and the new brewhouse known as “The

Theatre of Beers” (Any similarity to the name of football stadiums is purely coincidental!). Opened in 2002 the walls are adorned with plaques displaying the names of sponsors large and small.

Lunch of Pie and Peas was included and was very nice, especially accompanied by two and a half pints worth of beer tokens! After lunch we took the short rail trip into Skegness, we were lucky enough to arrive at “Skeggie” in time to see a classic 50s diesel train built for a commuter line from Kent into London which had to be narrower in width than standard due to the re-skinning of many of the tunnels on the line. Our American contingent discovered the meaning of the phrase “bracing” when they ventured down to the sea.

The day was completed by an excellent fish supper back in Wainfleet, others chose to visit one of the three Bateman’s

owned pubs in the town.

The Old Oak featured, as a guest, the beer of Dixon’s Riverside brewery founded in 2003 in Wainfleet an independent micro in Bateman’s home town. Wainfleet also features one of the last store front petrol pumps with an arm which swings out over the pavement to allow you to fill up at the kerbside. One other slightly surreal feature of Wainfleet is an entire London street of Georgian town houses built in the town due to an architectural misunderstanding.

Due to a lack of accommodation six of our number were allowed to stay in the Director’s cottage at the brewery a short step from the mill bar.

We were all treated to breakfast at the brewery on our last day by the visitor centre manager which was great. My son was happy as he had a pint of Salem Porter with his breakfast, all in all a good trip, where to go next?

Jackie Lucas

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:34 Page 62

WHEELWRIGHTS ARMS FREEHOUSE

INTRODUCING REAL ALES IPA (DRAUGHT) £2.40, ABBOT ALE £2.50, OLD SPECKLED HEN £2.50

Simon and Karen welcome you all to their traditional family pub.

• CARLING, CARLSBERG, FOSTERS £2.70 • • JOHN SMITHS £2.50•GUINNESS £2.90 • •STELLA £2.90 •STRONGBOW £2.80 • • MILD £2.40 • BOTTLE BEERS FROM £2.70 (MAGNERS £3.00) SPIRITS FROM £2.00 FULL SKY ULTIMATE PACKAGE & ESPN FREE WIRELESS INTERNET CONNECTION Don't forget we also serve Tea, Coffee and Cappaccino all day Parties catered for • 24 hour licence Sorry but children under the age of 14 are not permitted on the premises after 8pm

01493 663705 Beccles Road, Gorleston Great Yarmouth Norfolk, NR31 0PS

26 St Leonards Road Norwich NR1 4BL 01603 618734

Great selection of real ales and wines, along with fine dining and excellent company.

Back in the Good Beer Guide for 2011

Casque Mark accredited www.whitehorsechedgrave.co.uk

A real gem, well worth a visit.

Eight real ales to choose from, two of which change regularly.

Lovely enclosed beer garden with large sheltered smoking area.

Two pooltables upstairs.

Only a ten minute walk from the train station and city centre.

Pork pies and other light snacks available all day.

Open all day from 12 noon everyday.

Hog roast available sundays.

Sky Sports and ESPN

Wishing all our customers old and new, a very happy Christmas!

62

| WINTER 2010

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:34 Page 63

The Royal Oak at Poringland

Merry Christmas to all our loyal customers, from Nick and Delia We Don’t Have a Big Screen TV, Food Or a Juke Box We do have 17 handpumps, with Real Ale from far and wide, 2 Real Ciders and 2 Real Ales From gravity, a large car park, large beer garden With heated smoking shelter, darts, pool, quizzes And crib.

We now serve morning coffee from 10am, children are welcome.

The Royal Oak lies at the heart of the community and new customers are always welcome. Come along and get a real welcome from a real pub selling real ale!!!!!!

Nick, Delia And The Team would love to see you soon.

Norwich And Norfolk Pub Of The Year 2007 Norfolk Pub Of The Year 2007 13 years in the Good Beer Guide!

A dream of a pub situated in the village of Poringland on the B1332 road to Bungay. The main bus route from Norwich stops right outside.

Contact us on

01508 493734 New email: theroyaloak@fsmail.net

NN#155:Layout 1 26/11/2010 11:34 Page 64