Issue 167 of Norfolk Nips & Cask Force

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P one take

No.167

Winter 2013

We know what we want for Christmas!

Magazine of the Norfolk Branches of the Campaign for Real Ale

Trafford Arms 21st Valentine Beer Festival February 10th - 16th 2014

A Very Hoppy Christmas and A Healthy New Year This years charity is St Martins Trust Helping The Homeless Chris and Glynis invite you to the Trafford Arms -

61 Grove Road, Norwich 01603 628466 www.traffordarms.co.uk

traffordarms@btconnect.com

The King’s Arms in Shouldham Thorpe is Saved!

Norwich & Norfolk Branch Chairman: Warren Wordsworth Tel: 01603 665557 Email: chairman@norwichcamra.org.uk Secretary: Mike Andrews (Interim) Social Secretary: Michael Philips Email: socialsecretary@norwichcamra.org.uk Pubs Officer: Ian Stamp Email: pubsofficer@norwichcamra.org.uk

West Norfolk Branch Chairman: Steve Barker email: steve.barker495@btinternet.com Secretary: Ian Bailey Contact: Ian Bailey Tel: 01553 766904

Branch websites: www.norwichcamra.org.uk www.camra.org.uk/wnorfolk Photo kindly supplied by the Eastern Daily Press

You may recall that over the last year we have reported on the efforts to save the local pub in Shouldham Thorpe by SOKA (Save Our King’s Arms).

Well I’m delighted to be able to tell you that the £150,000 target to be raised by a shares issue has been achieved.

SOKA are confident of a substantial grant from The Investment Business allowing them to buy the pub outright.

As Phil Hariss of SOKA says; “So, it’s now full steam ahead with plans to complete the sale

by Christmas and start essential refurbishment. None of this would have been possible without you, our shareholders and supporters – many thanks, again, for your help, patience and good wishes.

Once we own the King’s Arms we shall have an open day and

party to celebrate the event and simply to enjoy being in our very own village pub. It will also be an opportunity for everyone to meet, view any planned changes and to see how to become involved in any of the many different elements of the project.

The official opening date of the pub will depend on the final refurbishment plans and on the availability of builders, but we certainly aim to be fully operational by the spring. There’s a possibility we may manage a very limited service in the short term, so we’ll be sure to keep you up to date with events.”

This achievement just goes to show what is possible with a real desire to change the direction of things in your community and the outstanding support of local people and businesses. continued overleaf

Branch mailing list web page: groups.yahoo.com/group/ CAMRA_Norwich Published every 3 months by the Norwich and Norfolk & West Norfolk branches of the Campaign for Real Ale © N&N CAMRA 2013 Norfolk Nips is produced and distributed by members of the branch in their own time. Views expressed in Norfolk Nips are not necessarily those of the editor or of CAMRA.

Edited by: Mike Baldwin Email: michaelbaldwin8@gmail.com Chris Lucas Email: chris-stig@tiscali.co.uk Design & Production: Daniel Speed - Orchard House Media 01733 211933 Email: info@orchardhousemedia.co.uk Advertising: For advertising enquiries please contact Jane Michelson on: 07732 393 621 01733 211410 jane@orchardhousemedia.co.uk Distribution: 12,000 copies / four times a year Norwich and Norfolk District: Adrian Simpson West Norfolk District : Ros Harre r.harre@btinternet.com

WINTER 2013 | 3

The campaign started in January 2013 with about 50 like minded folk in the community getting together at the Chalk and Cheese in Shouldham to find out what could be done to stop the King’s Arms becoming just another house.

CAMRA’s Andy Shaw spoke at the meeting offering advice and encouragement and steps were taken to list the pub as a community asset. They formed themselves into an Industrial & Provident Society (an IPS: a cooperative company for the benefit of the community); Shouldham Community Enterprises Ltd which came into being on 4th March.

They opened negotiations with Punch Taverns and sought publicity in the press and media, with early support coming from KLFM and the Lynn News plus in our small way Norfolk Nips &Cask Force.

An impressive panoply of events were arranged from open mic nights to fun runs and quizzes (One of which I hear our WN CAMRA colleagues won!), many of these generously hosted by The Chalk and Cheeses proprietor and great SOKA supporter Andrew Archibald. These events raised money for campaigning and later provided a platform to launch shares in SCE Ltd.

Pictures courtesy of Archant and Matthew Usher

NORFOLK NIPS | King’s Arms Saved - continued

The Eastern Daily Press got behind the project in June giving it front page coverage.

The local MP Elizabeth Truss also came onboard.

The share prospectus was launched in August and by late September almost £125,000 had been raised. On the 18th October Steven Fry agreed to tweet the story to his 6 million followers and by the deadline at midnight on 21st October all shares had been sold.

I think you’ll agree a fantastic effort by all in Shouldham who got involved. To go from a tentative meeting to provi-

sional community ownership 12 months later is a great achievement.

Many Congratulations to the committee: John McGourty (Chair), Ant Hobbs (Vice-Chair) and Keith Matthews (Treasurer) and Phil Hariss (Secretary/Press Officer).

As I write this account more news is coming to us that a campaign is gathering pace to save the Blue Lion at Pickenham in a similar way.

If you want details or to offer your help contact Thomas Ryan at swaffhamhero@gmail.com.

Competition Win a signed copy of Roger Protz’ latest book, “300 More Beers To Try Before You Die” As well as kindly guest writing for us this issue Roger Protz has given us a signed copy of his latest work for you to win! All you need to do is name the pub used as the location of the cover design. Answers to: 300 beers comp, 19,Kemps Lane, Hockwold, THETFORD. IP26 4LG. All correct answers will be entered into a draw on 1st February 2014.

Good Luck!

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NORFOLK NIPS | Chairman’s Letters

Warren’s Words Once again we have had another very successful Norwich Beer Festival and as Chairman of Norwich & Norfolk CAMRA would I like to thank everyone who contributed.

In my previous article for NIPS I wrote of how local Branch members conducted a survey of Norwich pubs showing how Norwich had one of the greatest number and range of real ales of any city in the country and how lucky we are.

However, not all is success and nationally around 18 pubs are closing each week.

Fortunately some help has arrived. There are now ways a community can help its local to survive. The government has recently legislated the ‘Localism Act’ whereby any local community may register a pub as “An Asset of Community Value”. The procedure is simple. All it needs is for 21 local people to sign up and apply by checking with their local authority website, look up the section on ‘Assets of Community value’

or ‘Right to bid’ and then register their pub.

After a local authority has accepted a registration the status of the local pub is altered giving it a certain amount of protection particularly if it is threatened with conversion to residential use. If the owner decides to sell the property it will trigger a moratorium on the sale for up to six months, which allows the community more time to get together and possibly make a bid.

CAMRA hopes to have 300 pubs registered nationally by the end of this year.

To date around five pubs have been registered in this area. The CAMRA website on www.camra.uk/listyourlocal will give you detailed information and assistance of how to register. Also, you may contact Ian Stamp (Branch Pubs Officer) or me on this subject.

Lastly, I would like to wish all NIPS readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Warren Wordsworth

West Norfolk Chairman’s Words Winter is now with us, those light evenings seem but a distant memory as it is now cold and wet.

Following on from my last jottings, a further award has come our way. The Railway Arms at Downham Market has been awarded the National Cider Pub of the Year. There was extremely good press and TV coverage for this, both nationally and locally. A well deserved award.

Turning to our friends at Shouldham. The fund raising is complete, £150,000 has been raised and the application for match funding is progressing.

Now is your chance to vote for our Pub of the Year 2014. The shortlist of four are: The Victory at Clenchwarton, The Coach and Horses at Dersingham, The Railway Arms at Downham Market

and The Angel at Larling. Instructions for the survey and forms are available from Jeff Hoyle, you must complete all four surveys for you choice to count. Happy surveying!

We now have our own Branch Logo and a range of items with it on, for further details and costs please contact Bruce Ward.

This is the last Nips before Christmas, so on behalf of all the committee and officers in Kings Lynn and West Norfolk please have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, drinking plenty of real ale, but always to moderation.

Cheers Steve Barker W.N. Chairman

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The Ed’lines Many thanks to Chris (Stig) Lucas and the West Norfolk Branch for editing this Winter edition again while we recover from the Norwich Beer Festival. And also to everyone who has helped this year, whether contributing ideas, photos or articles, or distributing the magazine in all weathers, etc.

I must not forget Dan at Orchard House Media and all those who have advertised within these pages. We couldn’t do it without you!

What a year this has been!

The CAMRA National Members’ Weekend and AGM in April seems like it was only yesterday, and yet the Invitations to register for Scarborough in 2014 are already out.

It was good to hear that Norfolk NIPS and Cask Force

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was a finalist in the Branch Magazine of the Year.

Although we were not placed, the feedback from the judges and comments made by readers show that this is a publication that the Norfolk Branches can be proud of.

My treading the boards at the Maddermarket Theatre was a very rewarding experience during the summer, but it did mean that I missed most of what was going on in July and August. Woodforde’s Bure Gold in the bar was some consolation though.

And then there was the Beer Festival! Is it just me, or was it one of the best ever? I think that the emphasis has changed over the years. In the beginning, it was just a Beer Festival, then it became part of the Norwich Social scene. Now it is a major event in the Norwich

Social Calendar, which just happens to be a Beer Festival.

In my view, the City of Ale Festival has helped to bring this about. The two completely different Festivals seem to inspire each other, creating enormous synergy. And this is great news for the City of Norwich and the County of Norfolk. The fight is now on to preserve what we have and build on our success. A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!

Stig’s Words So it’s that time of year again, I hope you all enjoy this Christmas issue of Nips/Caskforce.

The year has been one with some very positive news from local communities who seem to be organizing to save rapidly disappearing village pubs, and attracting the attention of the local media and local and national politicians plus Norfolk’s new hero a certain Mr Fry! As we come upon the Season of good will, I cannot help

thinking why are we so awful to each other the other eleven months of the year?

To be fair on closer study this isn’t really true many people help and support their families and communities without any fanfare whatever.

So as I always seem to say don’t forget the period after Christmas isn’t only hard, cold and miserable for you it’s also the hardest time of year for pubs. If we don’t support them in the New Year, who’s to say they will not be boarded up when you come to use them in the spring.

Most of my news is to be found in the articles contained in this issue, so I won’t repeat it here.

who is our Chair for another year and secondly as mentioned elsewhere the four nominations for West Norfolk Pub of the year are: The Victory at Clenchwarton The Angel at Larling The Railway in Watton The Coach & Horses in Dersingham If you are a West Norfolk area branch member you can give your input by visiting and judging all four using forms and criteria the same as the national competition. See Jeff’s Beer in the West article for details.

So a Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year to you and yours from all at Nips.

Just a couple of things, first congratulations to Steve Barker

WINTER 2013 | 9

Pub News

| NORFOLK NIPS

Pub News

The Crown, Great Ellingham, the Bull, Hellesdon, the Bell, Salhouse, and the Black Horse, Earlham Road, Norwich have all closed, we hope temporarily - any news would be appreciated.

Planning permission to convert the Ship at Bacton to residential use was passed in October by the local council, despite our objection.

On the slightly brighter side, Diss has a new pub, the Thatcher’s Needle, a Marston’s new-build, which will we believe be selling at least one of their real ales (there’s not much info available on the website thatchersneedlepubdiss.co.uk!).

It seems that the Ship is not the only pub in South Walsham - we believed the Kings Arms had become a Chinese restaurant years ago, but it turns out that part of the presumed ex-pub is actually still open to the public, and even selling real ale - a pin of Adnams Broadside on my correspondent’s visit in August.

One Great Yarmouth institution and two well-known Norwich pubs were for sale freehold at vastly different prices in September - the Mariners in Yarmouth (possibly the best real ale pub in the town) was available for £135,000 (for the freehold of the building, which is let to the current operator 10

| WINTER 2013

until 2023), whereas in Norwich The Jubilee was listed at £415,000 and the Hog in Armour at a whopping £675,000, exactly 5 times the price of the Mariners!

And lastly, another plea for any information you may have about pub openings or closings, and corrections or additions to the data we already have, which can now be easily checked on WhatPub.com, especially regarding the regular and guest beers served (WhatPub has recently gone ‘live’ to the general public, having been available to CAMRA members for about a year, and has details of over 35,000 pubs!).

Aey Celebrates Beery Birthday!

Landlady Aey celebrated Five Years at the Vine, Norwich in November. Above is a photo of her antics at a brewing day at Elmtree Brewery. Congratulations Aey and leave some beer for us!

News from the West It has been a time of frenetic activity since in the months since the last edition. It seems

that the Retreat in Kings Lynn is currently closed. Once known as the Tilden Smith, this is the scene of Ralph Vaughn Williams visit in 1905, where he collected a number of folk songs which were to become the basis of his Norfolk Symphony. It is also the last remaining pub on the historic Pilot Street in the old North End, the traditional home of the Lynn fisher folk, and as such is an important part of Lynn’s heritage. Hopefully by the time you read this, its future will be more secure.

I had heard rumours about an impending change in landlord at the White Horse in Gaywood for a while, and a ‘To Let’ sign has appeared on this, the last remaining pub in the area. It seems like it is still operating, so we hope it will soon be back to its best. Just down the road, the Woolpack, on the corner of Tennyson Avenue has just reopened. The college next door has just announced that it hopes to build a multimillion pound expansion, so there is lots of potential for the pub.

Another pub with a great location is the Fenman in Kings Lynn. Being opposite the railway station the newly reopened and refurbished pub has the opportunity to pick up custom from the many delayed passengers or those dropping in for a quick pint on their way home. The new green colour scheme, substitution of the pool table for sofas and a small dining area behind the bar should appeal, and I like the

idea of chalking up the guest beers on the blackboard outside. I tried Broadside when I visited and was impressed.

Also reopen after a six month closure is the Woolpack at Terrington St Clement. Former customers, John and Gary Edwards have taken on this local which also boasts a 50 seat restaurant. John used to run the Sandboy at Bawsey, so has experience in the trade.

Meanwhile out at Bawsey, the Sandboy has been taken on by the team from Denver Windmill. They left the Windmill in order to take over the tea room and Merchant’s bar at the Hanse House on the South Quay in Kings Lynn, but this is currently closed. I believe the plan is to take the tea room and possibly the bar in house, so look out for further developments here.

No such luck for the nearby Bradleys which is for sale as a private house, but you can still get a decent pint on the Quay at Marriots Warehouse, once the Green Quay. It has a couple of hand pumps and was serving Wherry and Moongazer Amber during my last visit. The Hanse house has also been hosting an indoor market and I came across John from Two Rivers brewery there a few weeks ago. His beer is becoming more common in the area in both draught and bottled form, so look out for it.

Out near the South gates in Lynn our new build Hungry Horse is taking shape, and should be open by the time this is published. This chain is owned by Greene King, so I hope that it will have some decent beer. The nearby South Gates bar which has had several incarnations since

being the Prince of Wales and then O’Tools is being converted into a Turkish Restaurant.

We have been contacted by Chris from the Eagle at Great Hockham who was good enough to come along to one of our branch meetings to tell us about his pub, and the fine range of beers you can expect to find there. Also in touch was Kim from the Chequers at Wimbotsham, a village local near Downham which she took over in April. Both sound excellent and we are looking to organise future meetings at both these venues.

Sadly, the George at Newton

by Castle Acre is closed and on the market. According to the Fleurets website the annual continued overleaf

WINTER 2013 | 11

Pub and Brewery News

| NORFOLK NIPS

rent being sought from a new tenant is £29,000 per year.

Hopefully its position by a busy main road will appeal to a prospective landlord.

A good role model would be the ever busy Hare Arms at Stow Bardolph. Landlady Trish was telling us about their new Tortoise room. The old dining room has been lightened up and will now serve the bar menu instead of a la carte. It will still be waitress service and tables can be booked, but it will be less formal and more relaxed than before. It is also good to see guest beers alongside the Greene King offerings, Bateman’s Yella Belly when I last called in. They are not the only pub becoming more adventurous with their choice of beer. The Marshland Arms out on the Smeeth has tried Batemans, Wherry and Cliff Quay as alternatives to his usual IPA and the Queens Head at Emneth now has a guest beer pump alongside the Cambridge bitter, whilst the George in Swaffham was no longer selling Greene King beers when we called in.

Maybe the Kings Arms which had Robinson’s Trooper recently is providing a bit of competition.

You will all know by now that the Railway Arms at Downham Market is the national cider and perry pub of the year, but it is not the only place to drink cider. The Cock at Wiggenhall St Mary Magdalene, not too far from Watlington station had three on offer 12

| WINTER 2013

when I called, including one from Biddenden in Kent at over 8%. Also selling cider are the Victory at Clenchwarton, which alongside the four beers, and Ingoldisthorpe Sports and Social Club, which due to limited opening hours no longer sells real ale, but does have a draught cider.

Students of brewery history might like to check out the Museum and tourist information centre in Swaffham where they are advertising a book on local pubs to be published in mid-November.

Whilst we were over in Norwich for the beer festival we went in search of the Redwell brewery. It’s located under railway arches near county hall and when we called it was a hive of activity as they were setting up for an evening event. Despite that they took time to chat with us and let us sample their oatmeal stout. It might not be real ale as we know it, but they are a great bunch and I hope they are really successful in their mission to provide an alternative to the likes of Carlsberg.

Finally, I came across Waveney brewery whilst at the beer festival and tried their Welterweight bitter. I can’t remember when I had a better pint. They are based in Earsham, near the Suffolk border so look out for it if you are down that way.

Jeff

Brewery News Buffy’s Brewery are celebrating 20 years, having

started in October 1993. Celebrations will include an Anniversary Ale due out first thing next year. We will have more news in the next issue.

Wolf Brewery have moved to new premises near Attleborough. We will have a full report in the Spring issue.

Cider News The East Anglia Cider Competition was held in Norwich and two winners are both Norfolk products. The winning perry was Whin Hill perry and the winning cider was Jontys Red Sky.

West Norfolk CAMRA Committee results from the branch AGM Chairman Steve Barker Vice Chairman Bruce Ward Secretary Ian Bailey Treasurer Jim Fergusson Deputy Treasurer June Parsons Membership Secretary Jeff Hoyle Press & Publicity Bruce Ward Pubs Officer Mandy Stratton Assistant Pubs Officer Graham Stratton (new) Pubs Preservation Officer Jeff Hoyle Nips Editor Chris Lucas Webmaster Nige Nudds Cider Andrea Briers Branch Contact Ian Bailey Public Affairs Officer Jeff Hoyle

Barley Resurrection for the future of ale Guest writer Roger Protz explains Here’s an unusual dilemma.

I have a bottle of beer on my desk that I can’t drink. It cries out to be sipped and savoured but at 6.8% and bottle conditioned it should first go down to my cellar to age for a year or two.

Of course, I could drink one bottle young while the second ages, but I can’t get a second one. Only 50 were produced.

The beer is called Days of Empire and it was made by Martin Warren, who runs the Poppyland Brewery in Cromer.

Martin’s a former museum curator and is deeply embedded in Norfolk’s history and traditions. He brews beers that reflect the county’s past and that includes using ingredients from yesteryear.

I was intrigued to learn that the malt for Days of Empire comes from a barley variety called Chevallier that disappeared in the 1930s. In the 19th century it was far and away the most common variety of barley used by British brewers and it was grown widely, not only in the Norfolk grain basket but also in Suffolk and as far south as Kent.

Chevallier is the correct spelling, not Chevalier. It was first grown by the Rev Dr John 14

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Chevallier of Aspall Hall in Suffolk, a member of the family that owns Aspalls Cyder. The barley variety lost its popularity in the 20th century when newer, “high-yielding” – more grain per acre -- varieties were developed. It seems remarkable that any trace of Chevallier exists today but Martin Warren discovered that Dr Chris Ridout in the John Innes Centre’s genetic resources unit in Norwich had some Chevallier seeds. The centre, remarkably, is home to seeds from 10,000 barley varieties and Dr Ridout was keen to test Chevallier in the 21st century.

He grew a batch that was malted by Crisp’s of Great Ryburgh and he brewed a small amount of beer at his own brewery, Stumptail at Great Dunham. Dr Ridout not only discovered that Chevallier malt delivered a rich biscuit flavour and “mouthfeel” to his beer but that the grain was also resistant to fusarium, a type of blight that can cause serious damage to a crop. He feels that if Chevallier is grown commercially again and genetically crossed with modern varieties, a new type of barley with greater resistance to blight could develop.

Working with Dr Ridout, Martin Warren brewed his small batch of Days of Empire, with an image of Queen Victoria along with a poppy on the label. As well as Chevallier barley, the beer is hopped with English varieties, including “landrace” or wild varieties that Martin had discovered growing in the grounds of medieval monasteries in Norfolk.

The Popplyland beer follows the example of the Duchy Originals organic brews produced for Prince Charles.

These use a variety of malting barley called Plumage Archer, which along with Spratt Archer, replaced Chevallier. These varieties in turn were phased out when the more high-yielding Maris Otter was developed.

By sheer good luck, some Plumage Archer seeds were discovered at a seed bank in Cambridge and the barley was grown on farms neighbouring Prince Charles’s Highgrove Estate in Gloucestershire. The beers are brewed for Duchy Originals by Wychwood Brewery in Witney, Oxfordshire.

Maris Otter in turn was replaced by such higher yielding varieties as Halcyon, Optic, Pipkin and Tipple: Greene King in Bury St

NORFOLK NIPS | Guest Writer Edmunds uses Tipple for all its beers. But many brewers wanted to continue to use Maris Otter, which they feel delivers a more biscuity and juicy character to beer than newer varieties and works in greater harmony with traditional ale yeast cultures. The rights to grow Maris Otter commercially are shared between Teddy Maufe at Branthill Farm near King’s Lynn and Warminster Maltings in Wiltshire.

Maris Otter has to be contractgrown and costs more than other barleys. But I recall Ken Don, the last brewer at Young’s in London, telling me the extra cost worked out around “a farthing” on the price of a pint.

It’s a small price to pay for quality. (A farthing a was a

quarter of a pre-decimal penny.)

To prove the point that Maris Otter delivers the finest flavour to beer, Warminster Maltings staged a tasting in the Bull pub in Highgate, north London, in November of 10 beers that have won CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain competition since the year 2000. They all use Maris Otter and the roll call includes Moorhouse’s Black Cat, Oakham JHB, Kelham Island Pale Rider, Hobson’s Mild, Triple fff Alton’s Pride, Castle Rock Harvest Pale, Mighty Oak Oscar Wilde, Coniston No 9 and the current champion, Elland 1872 Porter.

brewers were able to brew a batch with Chevallier malt instead of Maris Otter.

And if there’s sufficient Chevalliert left, perhaps Martin Warren will brew another batch of Days of Empire as I’m not sure I can wait until 2015 to sample the bottle he kindly gave me. *Roger Protz edits the Good Beer Guide. His website is www.protzonbeer.co.uk. Follow him on Twitter @RogerProtzBeer.

Elland’s porter is based on an authentic recipe from the 19th century. It would be interesting to taste the result if the

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WINTER 2013 | 15

CAMRA Members’ Weekend - Scarborough 2014

NORFOLK NIPS | CAMRA News

You can pre-register online through the national CAMRA Members’ Weekend website: 1. Visit the new Members’ Weekend website: www.camraagm.org.uk

2. Select “Member Login” at the top right hand corner to log in to the website 3. Once logged in, click “Register” on the home page or on the navigation bar located in the top right hand corner 4. Once clicked, you should receive on-screen confirmation that your registration has been successful

Featuring the National AGM and Conference 25th – 27th April 2014 Spa Complex, Scarborough This year’s Members’ Weekend will be taking place in Scarborough, home to some coastal treasures and quality real ale pubs. With over 60 pubs to choose from, including seven from this year’s Good Beer Guide, there will be plenty of choice for our members. Plus it is the location of our previous National Cider and Perry Pub of the Year, Valley Bar. First class attractions include the historic Medieval Castle, Scarborough Lighthouse, both set on the coastal tops of South Bay, and Rotunda Museum revealing some of the best geology in the world.

Organised trips will take place throughout the weekend to a number of local breweries, pubs and cider producer. Please check our new website for updates: www.camraagm.org.uk CAMRA Members’ Weekend is where our members discuss our future policy and direction.

The weekend offers the opportunity for members to socialise with friends over a pint in the Members’ Bar, attend the official AGM and workshops, visit recommended pubs and go on organised trips. The Weekend is open to all CAMRA members.

Please note that joint members will need to register individually. Closing date for registration is Friday 28th March 2014.

Christmas Cheers! CAMRA Gifts Available Now Christmas is a great time to indulge in our passion for real ale with friends and family, whether you are in the local or at home.

Make sure you have more time for that this year by getting your Christmas gifts from the CAMRA Shop now. We've got a fantastic range of Gift Memberships, books, clothing and stocking fillers with a real ale twist.

CAMRA Christmas Gift Membership is the perfect present for any beer or cider lover this festive season! A gift that keeps on giving all year round, a CAMRA Gift Membership comes with all this: • A subscription to BEER magazine and monthly newspaper What’s Brewing (copies of the latest editions are included in this pack) • Reduced or free entry to CAMRA beer festivals • Discounts on all CAMRA books • £20 worth of free JD Wetherspoon vouchers Available now from just £17.50 at www.shop.camra.org.uk

AUTUMN 2013 | 17

The Smallest Pub in Norwich • Open Monday - Saturday • Families welcome

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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

The ONLY Thai Restaurant for Norwich in THE GOOD FOOD GUIDE!

Winter Beer Festival

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27 Jan - 1 Feb 2014

NORFOLK NIPS |

CY-STIG2000’s Christmas 2023 message for 15th year with NIPs It doesn’t seem anything like fifteen years since I took on this task and this will be the last hard copy of NIPS! From now on it will come as an app for your personal interface beamed directly into your mind.

Remember it was CAMRA that successfully campaigned to stop the use of directly beamed advertising of Kraft beer adverts in opposition to the industry controlled KANCER (Kraft Ale, Nitrogen Campaign for the Exceptionally Rich).

I’d like to review the last decade in a positive light but this is very difficult with the Norwich beer festival now being held by flash mob to avoid the attentions of the Kraft Regulation Authority Police.

The proliferation of fizzy beer outlets in the county especially in the towns and cities has seen a hard time for real ale drinkers with only a few breweries surviving almost under cover; at least in the hard to find venues you can still get a pint for under £10!

The onward march of chrome plated fonts reminiscent of an army of cybermen taking over our pubs and bars and upping prices by a factor of 10, has taken the edge off the ability to have your body parts replaced by cybernetics. I’d give my right arm to have proper real ale culture back (if I hadn’t already given it to arthritis and had it replaced!)

Of course the large beer festivals have all been closed down because of the Kraft Beer Act 2018 which enforces pasteurised beer in large public venue even though the vibration at several public events caused most of the attendees to be flushed out of the doors by a tidal wave of foam!

The Fat Cat is still there but getting through the security to get in makes it harder to enjoy, a

body search for fizzy products and naturally a credit check although the bread rolls are still 60p though since the abolition of real money paid for by a swipe of your hand.

The general economy has been adversely affected as we all know to our cost, the result of the now infamous “Kraft beer bubble” with massive profits leading to over carbonated inflation. The sight of people staggering about the streets as a result of the combination of too much gas and severe financial shock after a couple of pints of 15% devils brew have to be seen to be believed.

But there is hope dear CAMRA member. Find one of these unfortunate souls, take them to a real ale pub, sit them down get them to relax and, (after the inevitable musical interlude!) buy them a pint of real ale. Easy to drink and still well under a tenner. We can still beat the Kraft revolution but time is running out, save our traditional beer and pub culture.

No longer will we have to don shades in order to walk into a bar without being blinded by the chrome, or take out a loan with Megaglobal Wongacash to buy a drink.

Next we’ll reintroduce real money break the stranglehold of President Miley Sirus and get English reintroduced as the international language (God knows how the Albanians did it).

This started out as a Christmas message, I know it is old fashioned to call it that but I just can’t get used to “Midwinter non denominational consumer twitterfest”! So from an old man Merry Christmas, I just wish I’d known back at Christmas 2013 that 2014 was the year it all started to slide…

Just for fun, Stig (But who knows?)

WINTER 2013 | 19

Martin Warren - A man for all Saisons

Martin says that he never brews an ordinary beer – and you wouldn’t want him to.

I met him at the 2 ½ barrel Brewery in Cromer, a former garage near the station, built in 1906.

He lives in a house just across the road, which was visited by a young Winston Churchill. The story goes that he was chastised in one of the bedrooms there, having thrown both a tantrum and a bottle of ink at his Nanny. Hence the name of one of his beers – Winston’s Temper.

Many of the names used for Martin’s beers are inspired by John Martin songs, Hole in the Rain, Over the Hill, Storm Brewer, etc. He thought that if Storm Brewer was a beer, what would it taste like?

Martin had just been made redundant and was looking for a new challenge when he realised that the boarded up premises offered an opportunity to do something creative. In effect, the garage is his shed.

Local suppliers are used wherever possible and Martin is keen on foraging. When he was asked to brew a beer for a wedding, the happy couple went foraging with Martin for elderflowers.

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Right from the start, he realised that he had to do different, and settled on Saison, the Belgian farm House style of beer, to brew Norfolk Saisons.

His beers certainly hit the spot. They are complex and need time to develop flavours to their full potential. Subsequently, they are not cheap. But then these are beers to be savoured and appreciated.

One of them, Days of Empire, was brewed in a small batch in Martin’s kitchen, using Chevallier barley, thought to be extinct, but Martin obtained a strain from the John Innes archives.

Want to try it? It will set you back £20 per bottle.

Bottles of three of Poppyland Brewery’s beers were at the 36th Norwich Beer Festival – Elderflower Saison, Indian Summer and Smokehouse Porter.

Martin refuses to stand still and wants to go where the wind takes him. Future projects include a black American IPA, and a porter brewed to an 18th Century recipe inspired by Thomas Paine.

Extensive Real Ale & Wine Selection Fruit Beers • Lagers Cider & Perry • Lunch seven days a week • Bar Snacks • Great Sunday Roasts • Cafetiere Coffee • Daily Papers • Quiz & Chips Nights • Scrabble Club Every Monday Night Norwich Board Games Club Every Tuesday Sci-Fi Club Wednesday Nights • Function Room Free Moorings • Riverside Walk • Riverside Deck Free Seating • Loyalty Cards • City Boats River Bus Follow us on Stop • Beer & Wine Tastings

Championing Local Brewers The Ribs of Beef 24 Wensum Street, Norwich NR3 1HY 01603 619517 www.ribsof beef.co.uk WINTER 2013 | 21

Angel Gardens Free House

This independently run freehouse has been under the ownership of Ian Warren since 1988 and is situated on the north of the city near to Waterloo Park.

Homecooked and speciality meals Prepared by Ian - a qualified chef with years of experience.

Up to NINE reasonably priced Real Ales including FOUR guest ales 96 Angel Rd, Norwich NR3 3HT

01603 427490

email: ikwarren-angel@tiscali.co.uk

www.norwichinns.com

Monthly Quiz & Darts • Beer Garden • Live Music on Saturdays 2 Bars (with one for Private Hire) Ample Car Parking

Wishing all our customers and Nips readers a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

ring ALES er! u t Fea REAL cemb E De NIN hout ug ht ro

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NOW SHOWING all Norwich games, home and away plus other LIVE football

Wolf Brewery and City of Ale support the Normandy Veterans Next year marks the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings and the Normandy Veterans Association is raising funds so that Veterans can return to the beaches one last time. It is an expensive business – many will need carers and the Insurance costs involved are massive. They are all in their 90’s now and it is feared that for some, the experience will be all too much.

We reported on a fundraising effort in Norfolk NIPS and Cask Force Issue 164. That is still ongoing, but I recently attended a presentation to the Association at The Duke of Wellington in Norwich.

Wolf Brewery had brewed Monty’s Gamble, a 3.8% Bitter made with English Golding and Challenger hops. They were handing over a cheque for £350 from the sales. City of Ale had agreed to match this donation, so the Normandy Veterans Association received £700 on the day.

Kay Edwards from Wolf Brewery and Dawn Leeder and Phil Cutter from City of Ale were on hand to make the presentation, which was warmly welcomed by Veterans Jack S Woods and Len Fox. It was a privilege and an honour to listen to these two gentlemen as they recalled the events of the D-day Landings and beyond.

It was hard to believe that they were just 18 years old and part of the new militia put together for the operation.

If you want to help to raise much needed funds, or find out more then go to www.NormandyVeterans.org.uk or www.NormandyStarOnline.org.uk or email Jack Woods at jack.aylsham50@virgin.net.

The City of Ale is looking forward to it’s 4th Festival next year which runs from Thursday 22nd May – Sunday 1st June. The new logo has been launched and Dawn tells me that they are in the process of signing up pubs for the event.

Contact Dawn at info@cityofale.org.uk or phone her on 07949 588 207 for details.

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The Big Question

| NORFOLK NIPS

Choice!

It was a comment made during the Pubco debate earlier this year. I cannot remember who said it, but it rankled me then and it still does now. In effect it was this – “Pubco pubs offer a wider range of beers than other pubs do”.

Lots of words come to mind, which you will not find in this magazine, but it got me wondering why such a comment was made in the first place. Having mulled it over, I think that I now have the answer. If one is shown the Pubco Beer List, and does not know any different, one could be forgiven for assuming that if you went into any one of the pubs owned by the Pubco, you would discover a wealth of beers awaiting you – a veritable cornucopia.

But we know that just doesn’t happen, does it?

And anyway, Breweries have Guest Beer Lists for their pubs, offering as good a selection – possibly. I have seen the Greene King list, and there are some gems on it.

So why is it that when you pop into a typical pub with two handpumps in these parts, you are likely to see two of the following: Woodfordes Wherry or Nelson’s Revenge, Adnams Southwold Bitter or Broadside or Sharp’s Doombar?

I have nothing against these excellent beers, but they are listed here because they were the most common beers recorded in Norwich pubs during the Capital of Ale Survey (NIPS 166).

Bear in mind that Pubco, Brewery owned and Freehouses were all visited. So why is that so? In my mind it all comes down to choice. The Landlord chooses what to order and customers choose what to drink.

Cask Ale has a limited shelf life, so it has to sell before it goes off. Landlords take this into account. Customers know what they like to drink – and perhaps this is the answer.

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“A pint of the usual, please!” is a cry you don’t hear much these days, but, many drinkers are conservative, with a small “c”. In the last issue, one contributor encouraged us to try something new. I do, I have my favourites, but I will always try a Guest Ale when I see one. It might be my favourite ale of all time, I just haven’t tried it yet.

What about all those amazing beers at the Norwich Beer Festival? Why will we choose a beer there that we do not know and yet will ignore it in the pub?

Some pub Landlords take the opportunity of asking what their customers would like to see next. A positive step in the right direction for successful beer selection. After all, what is the point in putting on a new beer just because there is a promotion, i.e. it is cheap?

The downside to this is that some beer styles, e.g. mild, porter, etc are becoming harder to find in pubs as Breweries continue to push the flavour of the month – golden ales.

So, let’s hear it for choice. Enjoy your pint of Wherry, Broadside or Doombar, but suggest to the person on the other side of the bar that there are other beers available (as they say on the BBC).

There are so many wonderful Breweries in this fair county (and beyond) creating fantastic beers for us to enjoy in pubs, but there has to be a demand for them.

Where does the demand come from?

Oh, that will be us!

A selection of our Award winning Norfolk ales

December Specials Brewery tours available from May 2014.

Pre-booking available Decoy Farm, Norwich Road, Besthorpe, Norfolk, NR17 2LA Telephone: 01953 457775 E-mail: info@wolfbrewery.com

4 bottle gift packs available from the Duke of Wellington

We wish all our customers a Merry Christmas and a New Year

www.wolfbrewery.com

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| NORFOLK NIPS This series of articles highlight the pubs whose interiors have been little altered in the past 40 years or so. Here we feature two pubs with much of their inter-war interiors still intact.

The Lounge of the Swan

Swan, South Wootton This brick and Norfolk Carrstone building was purchased from the local Bagges Brewery by Steward & Patteson in 1929 and shortly afterwards was extended to the right and refitted by them. The public bar on the left has a bare wood floor, a sloping bar counter that looks to be from the 1930s, a bar back that is a mixture of 1930s and some modern work, and a 1930s brick fireplace. Some 1930s bench seating remains but a section has been removed at the front of the room where a dado of 1930s panelling has been painted cream. The lounge on the right has1930s wall panelling from floor The 1930s extension room at the Swan

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to ceiling on every wall, which indicates the room has been this size since c. 1930. It retains the 1930s bar counter and bar back fitting with a mirrored back. The seating could be from the 1930s and includes a good high backed bench as you enter. There is a fireplace of 1960s style on the right-hand extension side with a built-in clock above it. Originally there was an off-sales hatch between the two rooms.

Swan Nursery Lane, South Wootton PE30 3NG. Phone: 01553 672084.

Website: www.theswaninnsouthwootton.co.uk.

Open 11.30 to 11 (12 Fri, Sat) (Mon closed between 3 and 5). Bus: Norfolk Green 3; 11; Coasthopper to/from Kings Lynn. Meals 12 to 2; 6 to 9 (not Sun, Mon evenings). Real ales on sale are Greene King IPA, Abbot Ale and two guest beers.

NORFOLK NIPS | Norfolk’s True Heritage Pubs 18

Kevill Arms, Gorleston-on-Sea

The main bar of the Kevill Arms, Gorleston-on-Sea Built 1926 by Lacons and named in honour of a former chairman of Lacons Brewery, Christopher Kevill-Davies. The public bar at the front has absorbed the off-sales and retains the original fixed seating, panelling and fireplace. The original counter front was reduced in size and re-positioned slightly further back in c.1990 note how the seating closest to the counter on both sides is different to the rest. In the lounge / smoke room there is a 1926 tiled and wood surround fireplace but the room is a combination of the lounge and cellar behind and has modern bar fittings. It has been extended to the rear to create a dining room. Note the colourful ‘Smoke Room’ and ‘Club Room’ stained glass windows - the club room was upstairs - now the licensees living room.

Also in Gorleston the Three Tuns, 247 High Street retains two distinct curved bar counters of c.1960 with Formica & wood tops and panelled counter front with leatherette sections between

the 1950s style uprights. The only remaining Victorian fittings are the colourful tiled floor between the servery and the odd etched window. Opens at 3 Mon to Fri. Sells two real ales.

Kevill Arms 67 Church Street, Gorleston-onSea NR31 6LR. Phone 01493 665937. Open: Mon to Fri 7 to 11; Sat 11 to 3; 6 to 12, Sun 12 to 11. Only food is Sunday lunches from 12 to 2. Regular live music Sunday afternoons. Sells one changing real ale.

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.

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Victory Inn Clenchwarton Main Road, Clenchwarton, Kings Lynn PE34 4AQ Tel: 01553 775668

ish Fresh f s ip h c & friday

every main e (alongsid menu)

nal Traditiost Roa Food served from Tues to Sun Locally sourced ingredients

unday every S ) (12 - 4pm

We cater for all dietary requirements including Coeliac, Vegan and Vegetarian.

Pub Quiz

first Wednesday of every month All proceeds going to local charities

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NORFOLK NIPS | 36th Norwich Beer Festival

It just gets better!

Anyone who says that there is no demand for real ale, ciders, perries or decent “foreign” beers for that matter, was obviously nowhere near the Halls whilst the 36th Norwich Beer Festival was running.

The Social Media was buzzing all week with appreciative comments being posted left, right and centre. “One of the best” appeared to be the general consensus. The atmosphere was more relaxed and people seemed to be enjoying it even more, if that was possible. It was just one of those times when just about everything – the beers, the music, the food, etc. all seemed to be just right.

Praise is due to Organiser Martin ward, who kept saying that this was his last one. If that turns out to be the case, then what a way to bow out. Martin said “Expectations were exceeded on all fronts compared to 2012, we seem to have recovered from a slight blip in that year, and big thanks to all the volunteers for their help and time in putting it together”.

Regular Festival Goers will have noticed some subtle changes this year, some little tweaks put in place to enhance the experience. The introduction of Beer Cards instead of the fiddly tokens went down well with Drinkers and Bar Staff alike, and setting the price of the Starter Packs at £10.00 speeded up the process of getting drinkers to their first tipple.

The Festival was opened by the Lord Mayor of Norwich, Councillor Keith Driver and the well attended session was also addressed by the Sheriff Graham Creelman and the CEO of NNAB, the Branch Charity of the Festival, Kit Cator, who pointed out that blind people cannot drive, but this means that they can drink!

The annual presentations the Beers of the Year as voted for by the tasting panel were made.

The Champion Beer was Grain Porter, retaining the crown that it won last year.

Champion Grain Porter Mild Winter’s Mild Bitter Humpty Dumpty Little Sharpie Best Bitter Woodforde’s Kett’s Rebellion Strong Bitter Grain IPA Golden Ale Fat Cat Hell Cat Speciality Beer Fat Cat Honey Cat Porter Grain Porter Old Woodforde’s Norfolk Nog Festival Photo’s overleaf

Branch Charity breaks record!

Norfolk and Norwich Association for the Blind were the Branch Charity this year. I spoke to Jeremy Goss, Head of Fundraising at the Trade Session.

He told me that they were delighted to have been chosen. It was a wonderful opportunity to create awareness and promote the fantastic work that the charity does for blind and partially sighted people in Norfolk. Donna Minto, Deputy Head of Fundraising agreed.

She was looking forward to meeting and greeting people at the door, with a collection bucket, or two, at the ready.

In the end, it was a very successful event for the Charity. Just as we were going to press, it was learned that NNAB had raised £5,000 during the week, a Norwich Beer Festival record!

We will have a report on what this means to NNAB in the next issue.

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EATON COTTAGE UNTHANK RD, NORWICH Tel: 01603 453048

Fine Real Ales, lagers, wines and spirits

All Sky & BT Sports • A traditional pub Good covered outside areas Doggies welcome

“A festival of beers every day” The Gatehouse Pub 391 Dereham Road, Norwich NR5 8QJ Tel: 01603 620340

FOUR REAL ALES Wednesday Irish Folk Music Thursday Folk & Singing Music Friday & Saturday Live Music Sunday Celtic Folk Music

Large garden overlooking the River Wensum OPEN: Mon - Thurs 12-11 Fri & Sat 12-12 • Sunday 12-11 34

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Next issue of Norfolk Nips and Cask Force

Copy to editors by Friday 31st January

On the streets by: Thursday 27th February

Town Green, Wymondham Telephone: (01953) 605675

Freehouse listed in The CAMRA Good Beer Guide Pub food 7 days a week served lunchtimes and evenings.

Function Room for parties or meetings.

Large Car Park A warm welcome awaits you!

Christmas Opening Hours 24th Dec Open from 11am, open all day 25th Dec Open from 11am - 2.30pm (no food) 26th Dec Open 11am - 3pm (serving food from noon - 2pm)

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NORFOLK NIPS | Trafalgar Night at the Willow House

Drumming up a Groggy Night!

During my travels distributing this magazine I learned of a special night being planned at the Willow House in Watton. This was to be the second Trafalgar Night, themed to commemorate, in a light hearted way the greatest (and tragically last) victory of our own Norfolk hero Horatio Lord Nelson.

“Count me in” said I, this should be interesting!

The night included a three course meal with such delights as “Unlucky Sailor’s Albatross” and “Plum duff with capsize custard” and included was “All the grog you can drink”.

The Night commenced with every one seated in the long dining room which has a roof about the same height as one of HMS Victory’s gundecks. The whole room was decked out in union flags and white ensigns with extra flags distributed for waving!

I sat on a table with my Mum and six strangers, all local and very friendly. I already had a pint of excellent Adnam’s Ghost Ship, but spotted the jugs of grog on the table. Grog consists of rum, water lemon or lime juice (for scurvy) and spices. It was remarkably easy to get used to.

We were served by the very charismatic Jade and after the starter the festivities began with readings about Nelson and his early exploits, including an incident with a polar bear!

One of the highlights of the evening was the presence of two scale model fully operational naval cannon, only about 18 inches long, barrels turned from solid, which were fired after each set of toasts. Very loud with about a foot of muzzle flash, particularly impressive when someone held their small flag in front of one blowing a hole through the flag and blasting it off its post.

Marsala wine was circulated for the loyal toast and the “Albatross” was drummed into and out of the kitchen by a drummer boy in full Nelson era uniform, who also accompanied the main course.

The evening passed swiftly with the jokes getting increasingly rude and boos for the French getting louder, only 208 years ago!

Plenty of grog was consumed I even managed to smuggle some into the bar afterwards.

I followed up with more great ales with the instigators of the festivities.

A great night out and very memorable, highly recommended and don’t worry the albatross was duck.

As an addendum some of my tablemates were with the RAF and are planning to do a Battle of Britain event next year, there is also talk of a Waterloo night!

Stig

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The Real Ale Shop is a unique off-licence offering over 60 bottle conditioned ales from 15 Norfolk brewers.

We are located on a beautiful arable farm close-by Wells-next-the-Sea, which provides much of the malt used in brewing the ales we sell.

The Real Ale Shop, Branthill Farm, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, NR23 1SB.

Tel: 01328 710810 www.therealaleshop.co.uk

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The Wiverton Bell

NORFOLK NIPS | Top Ten Pubs for...

Fine Ales, Wine, Food & Accommodation

Wine and Dine for £9.99 Monday - Thursday (not available 23rd Dec - 8th Jan) During the winter months, we serve alongside our main menu a daily dish which includes a glass of house wine or pint of beer for just £9.99.

Monday’s Pie, Tuesday’s Curry, Wednesday’s Pasta and Thursday’s Winter Casseroles are cooked to perfection by our team of award winning chefs.

open all day 7 days a week 12 midday until close

Blakeney Road, Wiveton, Holt, Norfolk NR25 7TL Telephone 01263 740101 www.wivetonbell.co.uk

...Dog Friendliness Some features in pubs are often not noticed by many drinkers, so in this series I would like to point out some Norfolk pubs that really have some nice facilities or quirky touches sometimes the little things make all the difference...

Here is my personal selection of the best Dog Friendly pubs, in no particular order.

Ploughshare, Beeston Reedcutter, Cantley The Buck, Honingham The Nelson Head, Horsey The Eagle, Great Hockham Blue Boar, Great Ryburgh Dog Inn, Ludham White Lion, Norwich Peddars Inn [formerly Squirrels Drey], Sporle Shoulder of Mutton, Strumpshaw Miss Terri Drinker

NIPS 166 Competition Result The lucky winner is Doug Fulcher, who correctly named the Station as Carnforth.

We had a bumper crop of entries, including some from Kent, Sussex, Yorkshire and London.

WINTER 2013 | 39

as al ec m D iv ec t t s th ri Fes th D s 17 h C r 16 ue e m ZT Be fro UI Q RA M CA

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NORFOLK NIPS | Behind Bars

Seasons Bleatings It must be Autumn - the mighty Norwich Beer Festival has been and gone, the Trade Session being one of my favourite days of the year! I enjoyed several Trade Sessions over the summer, including the one at the Great British Beer Festival, but Norwich always wins – well there’s local ales, local brewers and a once a year meet up with many lovely Norwich publicans, plus a couple of my customers working behind the bar, having to put up with my slurred words for a change!

I love this time of year in the pub – to me it’s warm and cosy and inviting, and I hope so for customers too. Halloween is always fun – I have customers who delight in dressing up and adorning themselves with face paint, and they are kind enough to let me join in, although with this year’s party theme – The Rocky Horror Picture Show – it was less dressing up and more dressing less! We have the best carved pumpkins too, and I love the effect of the candles in them with the lights turned down in bar. I’m less keen on the smell and the rotten bits after a few days, mind (the pumpkins, not the customers in fancy dress...).

Then it is time for the Christmas decorations to go up, always fun, even the obligatory ‘nice baubles, love’ comments. Undoubtedly the lead up to Christmas is a stressful time for a landlady & customers alike – the shopping, the Christmas parties, avoiding sprouts and getting caught under the mistletoe (well I don’t mind that one too much). But despite the stresses ‘kindness to all men’ does generally extend to landladies too,

so god bless you, you very merry gentlemen (and women!).

As I write this it is a sad day for pubs – the award winning Alma in Newington Green closed its doors, or rather had them closed by bailiffs.

This pub, whilst being in the very capable hands of amazing landlady Kirsty Valentine, has been incredibly popular, a constant feature in The Good Beer Guide and won many awards, recently becoming the North London CAMRA Cider Pub Of The Year.

But the pub is owned by Enterprise Inns, and no matter how good a publican she was, no matter how many awards she won, she was never going to be able to satisfy the greed of her landlords. After winning her cider award she tried to negotiate with Enterprise to provide a bigger and better range of ciders than she was allowed under the terms of her lease, but her oh so wise ‘pubco partners’ decided against this.

There is no future at the Alma now for Kirsty, and the future of the pub is looking bleak.

So the fight goes on for far reaching statutory regulation for pubcos (pub companies with estates of over 500 pubs) and for a Market Rent Only option, enabling lessees to buy their products from whom they chose. The decision is close, and the campaigning continues.

For more information and to help save our pubs please visit www.fairdealforyourlocal.com Dawn Hopkins

WINTER 2013 | 41

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

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NORFOLK NIPS | Beer Scoring

The Best in the West One of the tasks undertaken by the West Norfolk branch of the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA) is to monitor and survey pubs for the Good Beer Guide. We have an allocation of 28 pubs from the West of Norfolk that we choose at our selection meeting around the end of February. The 2014 Good Beer Guide has just been published and it is always a good time to reflect as to whether we made the right choices.

Although we take into account things other than the quality and choice of the beer, it would be fair to say that we would be very disappointed if any of our entries did not serve a top quality pint, and one way to check this is to look at the results submitted to the National Beer Scoring System. This is a website which can be accessed by any CAMRA member to submit reports of beer quality for any pub in the country. Just log on to beerscoring.org.uk and follow the prompts. In its new form it has been operating around a year and here is what it tells us.

Some pubs have been rated far more often than others, in some cases over 50 times and I believe that this gives a pretty accurate picture of the quality of the beer, whilst other have only had a few ratings which means that a couple of extreme scores either way can make a big difference in a pubs position in the rank order.

Therefore I have split the results into those which have been rated more than 10 times and those with 10 or less ratings. In the first category, the top five pubs are as follows Angel, Larling (3.83/5), Coach and Horses, Dersingham (3.78), Victory Inn, Clenchwarton (3.78), Railway Arms, Downham Market (3.75), and the Stuart House Hotel, Kings Lynn (3.7).

For those pubs which have been rated less than 10 times, the top pubs are Berney Arms, Barton Bendish (4.38), Kings Arms, Swaffham (4.25), Peddars Inn, Sporle (4.1), whilst the King William IV, Sedgeford, Rose and Crown, Harpley, Duck Inn, Stanhoe and Lifeboat, Thornham all

average 4.0. It is quite satisfying that we managed to list 8 from the 11 pubs in the Good Beer Guide, whilst two of the other ones were not eligible because they had changed landlord within six months of our selection meeting.

In addition to these there are a number of pubs which have only been rated once and deserved further investigation. The following establishments have all been scored at 4.5 for one visit. The Crown at Mundford, Ostrich at Castle Acre, Hero at Burnham Overy Staithe, Anvil at Congham and the Windmill at Necton.

I would very much welcome further scores or comments, particularly about these pubs which promise a good pint.

At our selection meeting we also decide on the West Norfolk CAMRA Pub of the Year. Our current choice is the Angel at Larling and it went on to become the Norfolk title holder. Unfortunately it lost out to the Dove at Bury St Edmunds in the regional contest. The search is on to find our next award winner. We have a shortlist of four pubs, and would welcome help from any CAMRA member in the West Norfolk branch in deciding which one should be our next champion. If you are interested, it will mean that you will have to visit all four and complete a scoring form before our Good Beer Guide selection meeting in February. Contact me if you would like a copy of the form, we would love to have your input.

This is an updated version of a ‘Barman’ column that appeared in the Lynn News. Read the column every Friday or catch up on line. bar.man@btinternet.com

Cheers, Jeff

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Update Alby, Horseshoes Aldborough, Black Boys Attleborough, London Tavern Banningham, Crown Inn Barford, Cock Inn Binham, Chequers Broome, Artichoke Cantley, Reedcutter Catfield, Crown Inn Cley-next-the-Sea, George Hotel Cley-next-the-Sea, Three Swallows Clenchwarton, Victory Clippesby, Muskett Arms Colton, Ugly Bug Inn Cromer, Cottage Cromer, Red Lion Hotel Drayton, Bob Carter Leisure Centre Downham Market, Railway Earsham, Queens Head East Dereham, Royal Standard Emneth, Queens Head Erpingham, Erpingham Arms Fakenham, Bull Filby, Kings Head Geldeston, Locks Inn Geldeston, Wherry Gorleston, Dock Tavern Gorleston, Mariners Compass Great Massingham, Dabbling Duck Great Yarmouth, Barking Smack Great Yarmouth, Mariners Great Yarmouth, Oliver Twist Great Yarmouth, Red Herring Great Yarmouth, St Johns Head Heacham, Fox & Hounds Hethersett, Kings Head Hickling, Greyhound Inn Hickling, Pleasure Boat Hilborough, Swan Holt, Kings Head Honingham, Buck Hopton, White Hart Horsey, Nelson Head Horsham St. Faith, Elm Farm Country House Kenninghall, Red Lion Kings Lynn, Live and Let Live Lessingham, Star Inn Loddon, Swan Inn

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

New entries are in Bold.

Ludham, Dog Morston, Anchor Inn Neatishead, White Horse Newton Flotman, Relish Bar Newton by Castle Acre, George & Dragon North Elmham, Railway Hotel N. Walsham, Orchard Gardens Norwich, Adam and Eve Norwich, Angel Gardens Norwich, Beehive (Leopold Road) Norwich, Bell Hotel Norwich, Champion Norwich, Cottage (Silver Road) Norwich, Duke of Wellington Norwich, Earlham Arms Norwich, Fat Cat Norwich, Fat Cat & Canary Norwich, Fat Cat Tap Norwich, Garden House Norwich, Jubilee Norwich, Ketts Tavern Norwich, Kings Head Norwich, Lord Rosebery Norwich, Maids Head Hotel Norwich, Murderers Norwich, Red Lion Norwich, Reindeer Norwich, Ribs of Beef Norwich, Rose Norwich, Sir Garnet Norwich, Take 5 Norwich, Temple Bar Norwich, Trafford Arms Norwich, Vine Norwich, Wig and Pen Norwich, York Tavern Poringland, Royal Oak Reedham, Ferry Reedham, Lord Nelson Reedham, Ship Reepham, Kings Arms Ringland, Swan Saxlingham Thorpe, Mill Inn Rockland St Mary, New Inn Sheringham, Lobster Sheringham, Windham Arms Skeyton, Goat Surlingham, Ferry House

Swardeston, Lakenham/Hewitt Rugby Club Tacolneston, Pelican Thetford Red Lion Thorpe Market, Gunton Arms Thurlton, Queens Head Upton, White Horse Wicklewood, Cherry Tree Watton, Willow House West Acre, Stag Wiveton, Bell Wroxham, Brewery Tap Worstead, White Lady Wymondham, Green Dragon The following local businesses offer

a discount for CAMRA members: The Bridge Tavern 10% off all real ales The Plasterers, Norwich: 10% off all real ales (available on Mondays) Pig & Whistle, Norwich 10% off all real ales The Red Lion, Drayton: 10p off a half, 20p off a pint of real ale London Tavern, Attleborough: 10p off a half, 20p off a pint of real ale Cherry Tree, Wicklewood: 30p off a pint of Buffy’s (see wicklewoodcherrytree.co.uk/what.php) Lighthouse Inn, Walcott: 10% off all real ales If your pub or business offers a discount to CAMRA, but isn’t on this list, please contact pubsofficer@norwichcamra.org.uk and let us know the details (including any restrictions). Please note: We believe this is correct at the time of going to press, however pubs may withdraw or change offers at any time!

WINTER 2013 | 45

| NORFOLK NIPS

The National Beer Scoring System (NBSS) A beginner’s guide I am often asked how one can get actively involved in CAMRA, without having to attend Committee Meetings, etc.

Fortunately, there is a way – and a very important one at that. All you have to do is rate the beers that you drink in pubs, giving CAMRA your honest opinion.

The Scheme plays a vital role in determining which pubs get into the Good Beer Guide, as was explained in the last issue, and is a very important tool in promoting CAMRA’s aims of a decent pint in a good pub at a fair price.

Answer the following questions: Are you reading this in a pub?

Dou you have a glass of real ale in front of you?

If you answered yes to question 1, then the good news is that you can start right away.

Although if you answered no to question 2 you will have to visit the bar first.

Ready? OK, let’s start.

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Stage 1 Appraise the beer.

With so many different ales and differing styles at that, it might appear bewildering at first.

Fortunately, CAMRA has some recommendations:

Stage 2 Evaluate the beer.

CAMRA uses the following 0 – 5 point scale for judging beer quality, so that beer that you have just sampled should fit into one of the following:

LOOK - Hold the glass up to the light and assess the colour, the clarity and the head.

Golden Ales should appear bright and clear, while darker beers such as stouts and porters should possess a dark rich colour with a thick creamy foam head in some cases. As a general rule, ask yourself if it looks appealing.

0 No cask ale available

SMELL - Raise the glass to your nose and take a short sniff. (You can release the aromas present by placing the palm of your hand over the glass and swirling it gently, before sniffing.)

TASTE – This is the final proof.

Take a sip and swill around your mouth before swallowing.

This ensures that all your taste buds, which detect different taste sensations, have the opportunity to register the whole taste sensation.

Done? Now on to:

1 POOR - Beer that is anything from barely drinkable to drinkable with considerable resentment 2 AVERAGE – Competently kept, drinkable pint but does not inspire in any way. Not worth moving on to another pub, but you drink the beer without really noticing.

3 GOOD - Good beer in good form. You may cancel plans to move to the next pub. You want to stay for another and may seek out the beer again.

4 VERY GOOD – Excellent beer in excellent condition.

5 PERFECT – Probably the best you are likely to find. (A seasoned drinker will award this score very rarely.)

Stage 3 Record your score In order to submit your score, you need to make a note of the following: the name and location of the pub, the date of your visit, your score, the Brewery and the beer name.

So, keep that in your head, or jot it down somewhere (another good use for beer mats). When you are able to do so, go online and log into whatpub.com (you will need your CAMRA membership number and password to do this.

Enter the place name and this will bring up details of the pubs in the area selected. Click on the pub that you visited and this will reveal the Submit Beer Score panel. Note that you also have the opportunity to submit advanced optional data, such as the price you paid and any

comment that you wish to make.

When done, click on Submit score. That’s it – job done.

Clearly, in order for the scheme to work properly, there has to be as many entries as possible. There is more than a degree of personal taste here.

Whilst you were happily scoring that beer a 4, somewhere in another part of the pub, someone else was scoring it a 2.

Pubs which get into the Good Beer Guide always sell good beer, so the scores are important. If nobody scores a pub’s beer, it will not be listed, no matter how good the beer is.

So, why not get involved and start today?

Got a short pint?

If you believe that you have been treated unfairly in a pub, club or bar, you should contact the Trading Standards service by writing to them at 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

Not a CAMRA Member? No worries – join today at www.camra.org.uk/joinus or phone 01727 867201.

Serving a good selection of local real ales Also serving home cooked food Parties catered for Open 7 days a week

Book your Xmas Party

now!

ailable Xmas Fayre menu av

2nd-23rd December 3 courses for £13.95 2 courses £10.95 or The Street, Catfield, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk NR29 5AA

Telephone: 01692 580128 Email: catfieldcrown@hotmail.co.uk

WINTER 2013 | 49

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

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as le m t ab ris vailired h C u A s requ g en Bookin M

Real Food, Real Ale, Real People!

• 5 Real Ales • New Licensees, Linda and Ray, look forward to welcoming you!

Opening Times

Mon: 5.30pm - 11pm.

Tues - Thurs: 12 - 3pm & 5.30pm - 11pm.

Friday: 12 - 3pm & 5.30pm - 11.30pm Sat - Sun: 12noon - 11pm.

Front Street,Trunch North Walsham NR28 0AH

Tel: 01263 722341

NORFOLK NIPS | Post-its

POST-IT’S Nelson Head, Horsey My first visit since the previous Mine Hosts, Andy & Barbs departed. No longer a Woodforde’s only Pub, there was London Pride on offer through a handpump alongside Wherry and Nelson’s Revenge. Also about six beers from the bag available from the cellar, including one from Winter’s Brewery. Nelson was A1, though top priced at £3.40. Sensible food offer.

Hall Inn, Sea Palling Three beers on handpump; Wherry, Nelson’s Revenge and Bateman’s XXXB. Nelson’s Revenge sampled and very good, also at £3.40.

Shed Bistro, Wroxham Recently reopened and rebranded, there are now fewer bagged up beers on offer. Also, it is no longer a “Norfolk only zone”. Doom Bar now has pride of place on the bar. I tried a 5.0% pale beer from Old Slewfoot; sound as a pound but flat as a flounder. £3 quid. I anticipate continued moves to the foodie market.

Stalham A near beer desert. No names, no packdrill.

The only cask beers available in the Parish are Adnams and Coor’s Doom Bar. The third pub is a nitrokeg and lager dispensary. The late lamented Kingfisher Hotel did a steady trade in Wherry and Nelson, plus IPA and an occasional guest beer.

The Otter, Thorpe Marriott New hosts have taken over. Cask Ales on offer have reverted to Greene King IPA and Abbott Ale The Red Lion, Drayton The third cask ale has now been put back on, so Greene King IPA Gold joins Woodforde’s Wherry and Nelson’s Revenge. 20p per pint discount for CAMRA members. Popular Charity Quiz night on Monday’s.

These comments are made by the contributors and are accepted in good faith.

WINTER 2013 | 51

| NORFOLK NIPS

Krakow’s Beer

I last visited Krakow 7 years ago and the city was full of bars which mostly sold bland mainstream beers from Tyskie, Okocim and Zywiec with a few exceptions. I visited again this time with my partner, Claire in October and it seems Krakow has experienced a massive revolution in its attitude to all things beer. The reason being about five years ago, a small number of entrepreneurial pub owners in Krakow decided to turn the accepted pub business model on its head.

Instead of selling mainstream beers, they focused instead on providing beers from regional and independent breweries. Consumer response was overwhelmingly positive and, before long, these bars began to build loyal followings.

It’s astounding how many specialised ale houses and pubs have sprung up and the love for Craft Ales is full on. We saw the change immediately as we settled into an excellent Thai meal at Pod Norenami and on the menu was a list of bottled beers for which I settled for Miloslaw Pszeniczne Wheat beer at 5.5%, very nice. Unbeknown my partner settled for the Komes Porter Baltycki which at 9% was a good 52

| WINTER 2013

House of Beer start to our beer drinking adventure! Later we visited the House of Beer just a few minutes’ walk from the main square and we are faced with a wall full of bottled beer in fact 200 different beers, also we notice a number draught beers on tap, but as is usual in Polish Bars the lighting is so bad we have to ask what they are…in fact the staff are very helpful , Claire chose the Kopyra & Widawa Lemur (Oak Aged Pale Ale) which was gloriously hoppy and even though it was through a keg tap tasted very lovely. I went for Chimiel Honey Beer which was also excellent. We stayed for a couple more each before retiring for the night.

NORFOLK NIPS | Visit to Krakow

Next day we headed for the Kazimierz (Jewish Our final day in Krakow saw us stay close to district) and this was where the best bars were… the main square and visit some pubs in that thankfully most opened late afternoon so we area. We visited the only brew-pub in the city at had some alcohol free time to enjoy the quirky CK Browar, very spacious beer hall with a sights of the city. We hit the Kazimierz Beer restaurant and night club! The beer wasn’t the Gallery and again a best but we tried the Honey, Ginger, wall full of bottled Weizen and Dark brews. On to the very beer and good 50’s style décor of Spokoj (peace) and a choice of draught few beers of note and friendly staff beer (not one mainhelped us choose. Next was another stream beer in sight).

Beer Gallery at Dominikanska and Round the corner whilst not as good as the one in and best of all was Kazimierz still boasted a huge collection Omerta, a mecca of of bottled beers. Just around the corner Omerta was Pierwszky Lokal (not the full draught beer and 2 hand pumps could be name!) which was again very dark but seen so I plumped for the very had the apparently rare Czarny Smok Ciemne English brown ale called Parcownia (Dark) and Butsztynnje (Amber) on Plan T and Claire tried the American draught and it was IPA style Pinta Atak Chmielu. We worth the visit. A final quickly found out that the hand stop off at House of pumps were connected to a keg Beer where I had a bottle barrel so not real ale but they of AleBrowar King of Hop were very tasty and less carbonand Claire went for ated than the keg tap varieties.

Primator Stout.

We tried a few more and all the beers here were displayed on a Krakow certainly has gone white board and could be Spokoj up in the beer choice and clearly read. quality stakes in the past few years and very affordable too We were about to leave when we found the with most beers costing £1.50 - £2.00 no matter “other” bar with the international beer list and what the strength!! Food cost was about £5.00 Batemans on hand pump, but it was getting late for a main meal with numerous vendors selling and so we decided on the long walk home via big pretzels for 30p. the wonderful Strefa Piwa and Ideal for mini break! the cavernously dark Chmiel Nigel Nudds Beer Pub were we finished off with a couple of 8% plus porters.

WINTER 2013 | 53

A popular pub with locals and holidaymakers alike, the Crown Inn is perched right on the clifftop overlooking the beautiful sandy beaches of Sheringham in Norfolk.

Enjoy meals or snacks from our extensive and popular menu with a spectacular view of the seafront.

Every Saturday - Live Local Bands Friday nights - Resident DJ plays your favourite club classics Monday nights - Pub Quiz with prizes, refreshments and free entry Tel: 01263 823213 crownsheringham@hotmail.co.uk Lifeboat Plain, East Cliff Sheringham NR26 8BQ

NORFOLK NIPS | CAMRA’s Awards Lunch

Norfolk Success Rewarded at CAMRA’s Awards Lunch Each year CAMRA organises their Awards Lunch to which winners of CAMRA’s national awards are invited to have their success recognised. This year Norfolk put in a commendable performance.

Guest Speaker at the event was Dawn Hopkins of Norwich Bear, Ketts Tavern and The Rose Tavern in the same city.

Last but not least, our own Regional Director, Andrea Briers (centre) of West Norfolk received one of the Top Cider Campaigner awards for her work with CAMRA’s national Cider & Perry Committee.

Winning Gold for best Strong Bitter at the Champion Beer of Britain was Mark Riches (centre) of Beeston Brewery with their On the Huh. Joint Bronze for Best Bitter at the same competition was presented to Neil Bain (left) of Woodeford’s for Nelson’s Revenge.

Winners of Cider Pub of the Year in the national competition were Lesley Ann (left)& Ian (centre) Pinches of The Railway Arms, Downham Market.

WINTER 2013 | 55

The London Tavern Free House

The Harte Old Costessey, Norwich, NR8 5BS Tel: 01603 742755

Great real ales, fine wines and spirits.

Food Served: Monday- Friday 11am - 5pm Saturdays 11am - 3pm Sundays 11am - 3pm Evening meals on request Find Us A Roast Dinners Sundays 12-3pm R M A C in the eer Go o d B Chilled bar rolls made daily only ÂŁ1 e

FREE

Guid

Now taking Bookings for Christmas

ACCESS

Privately owned freehouse and restaurant with a wide selection of real ales, lagers and ciders.

Freshly cooked locally sourced food.

Camra Discount Scheme & Local Ale Parking, Disabled facilities, Baby changing, Smokers sheltered garden, and Beer garden.

Well behaved dogs on leads welcome.

Church St, Attleborough Tel :01953 457415

Child friendly, large beer garden, pool table, easy access from A47, ample parking and on 23A bus route from the city centre.

Visit www.thehartenorwich.co.uk to check out the menu and opening times

The California Tavern California Road, California, Great Yarmouth NR29 3QW

Free House, Restaurant and Live Music venue Great ales by Woodfordes, Greene King, Elgoods and Mauldons available Excellent Food, very popular Sunday Carvery, you will need to book!

Live music every Friday and Saturday Whatever your preference, you will not witness finer bands for free.

Function room • Kids adventure trail

Have you been to California? www.californiatavern.co.uk

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email: californiatavern@btconnect.com Tel: 01493 730340

NORFOLK NIPS | From the Archives Issue No.117 Nov/Dec. 2001 A5, 20 pages, printed in black on green uncoated paper.

Local beers did very well at the 24th Norwich Beer Festival. The overall winner was Old Chimney’s King Henry’s Imperial Stout (9% ABV). Second place went to Chalk Hill CHB. Elgood’s Black Dog came third. The Best Bitter Category was a clean sweep for East Anglia.

Chalk Hill CHB was first, second was Green Jack Summer Dream, with Tindall Ditchingham Dam taking the third spot. Woodforde’s Nelsons Revenge came second in the Strong Ale Category, followed by Lidstone’s Rawalpindi IPA from the Wickhambrook Brewery in Suffolk in third place. King Henry’s Imperial Stout was the best Old Ale and Stout, with The Reepham Brewery’s Velvet Stout coming third. Finally, Iceni Cask Lager from Mundford in Norfolk was third in the Speciality Beer Category.

This issue reported that The Bowling Green Inn in Wells had opened after a two year refit and J D Wetherspoon had just opened Norwich’s largest pub – Lloyds No. 1. However, we learned of the closure of The Larkman and The Anchor Quay Wine Bar. The September First Friday Five visited the Hilton Hotel at the Airport, then the Yard of Ale Bar at the Airport itself. That was followed by The Firs, The Falcon and finally The Boundary.

Only the Hilton Hotel and The Falcon had real ales available!

Branch Chair Martin Ward reported on the Festival and took the opportunity to answer a

few criticisms: Why do CAMRA members have to queue? Why did we nearly run out of beer?

Who wrote the “jokey” beer descriptions? The cloisters had been opened for the evening sessions for the first time and consideration was being made to open them for the lunchtime sessions as well next year.

T M Stork, Elgood and Sons Trade Director wrote an impassioned plea in favour of the Free Trade, which they had entered in 1985. The 1989 Beer Orders introduced by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission had caused turmoil throughout the Industry it was argued. Running a Free House required the skills of an entrepreneur who could rise above all interference and obstacles.

As Members of the Independent Family Brewers of Britain, Elgoods called on the Government to help the Industry in four ways: • Reduce tax on beer by 8p per pint • Leave licensing in the hands of Magistrates • Reduce red tape • Help for Cask Ale

Subscriptions To receive the next 4 issues of Norfolk Nips and Cask Force by post please send either 10 first class stamps or a cheque for £6.50 payable to ‘West Norfolk CAMRA’ to Norfolk Nips and Cask Force 91 Tennyson Road Kings Lynn Norfolk PE30 5NG

CAMRA Branch Calendar |

NORFOLK NIPS

Norwich and North Norfolk Branch The Norwich & Norfolk branch of CAMRA have arranged the following socials and meetings during December and hopefully you will be able to join us for some, if not all of these events.

Friday 6 December - We have our December First Friday Five starting at 20.00 in the Bridge Tavern (Riverside, opp. Queen of the Iceni) and moving on to the Compleat Angler, Red Lion, Adam & Eve and finishing in the Wig & Pen If you are free this is a great opportunity to meet other branch members and enjoy a pleasant stroll around Norwich sampling the ales on offer in the various pubs.

Friday 13 December - We have our annual branch Christmas Crawl in which we visit 11 pubs starting at 17.00. This year the route is 17.00 Beehive, 17.45 Eaton Cottage, 18.15 Rose Tavern, 18.45 Temple Bar, 19.15 Earlham Arms, 20.00 Reindeer, 20.30 White Lion, 21.00 Golden Star, 21.30 Take 5, 22.00 Ribs of Beef, 22.30 Kings Head. If you would like to join us then you can either meet us in the Beehive for the full crawl or join us at one of the pubs along the route.

Saturday 14 December - West Norfolk branch are holding their Christmas Crawl in which they will be visiting 12 pubs in Norwich starting at 11.00. This year the route is 11.00 Kings Arms, 12.00 Rose, 12.45 Freemasons, 13.30 Trafford Arms, 14.15 Coachmakers, 15.00 Bell, 15.45 Murderers, 16.30 Sir Garnet, 17.15 Vine, 18.00 Ten Bells, 18.45 Plough, 19.30 Micawbers. If you are not able to make the Friday evening or find that 11 pubs on the Friday evening is not enough then you will be welcome to join our friends from West Norfolk for part or all of their Christmas Crawl.

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Tuesday 17 December - We have our branch meeting and Christmas Quiz at The Railway in North Elmham. As in previous years there will be a mini beer festival for our visit and this is a popular evening. The coach will depart from John Lewis promptly at 19.15 and if you are intending to join us please could you let our Social Secretary know so that we can book the appropriate sized coach for the numbers attending.

West Norfolk Branch Tuesday 10th December Meeting and Christmas Lunch Victory, Clenchwarton Saturday 14th December Christmas Crawl Meet 11am Kings Arms, Norwich 1100 King’s Arms (Hall Road) 1200 The Rose (Queens Road) 1245 Freemasons (Hall Road) 1330 Trafford Arms (Grove Road) 1415 Coachmakers (Saint Stephens Road) 1500 Bell Hotel (Orford Hill) 1545 Murderers (Timber Hill) 1630 Sir Garnet (Market Place) 1715 The Vine (Dove Street) 1800 Ten Bells (Saint Benedicts) 1845 The Plough (Saint Benedicts) 1930 Micawbers (Pottergate) Yes, it’s Crimbo With Timbo time again! Come and enjoy some festive ales with the branch, all welcome, contact Tim on 07950-823270. There’s even a Dickensian character on the programme!!! I think!!!

Tuesday 14th January Eagle, Great Hockham Tuesday 11th February Rathkellar King’s Lynn (TBC) Tuesday 11th March Chequers, Wimbotsham Note: all Tuesday meetings start 8pm and include a social unless otherwise made clear.

The pub with no bar, ales direct from cask.

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

“The Country Pub On The Edge of Town” Bacton Road, North Walsham NR28 0RA FREE

ACCESS

OPEN ALL DAY FIVE REAL ALES Meals Served

12noon to 2.30pm and in the evening 6.30 to 9.30pm

Tongue twizzling food, and great value.

Huge garden and children’s play area.

Shooting parties, lunch & dinner menus available

Victory Barn Function Room for Weddings and Parties Come & visit Nelson’s local.

Walsingham Road, Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk PE31 8HN

Bookings 01692 404800

drink eat brew fish sleep The

ShedWroxham The Peninsular, Staitheway Rd, Norfolk NR12 8TH

www.theshedwroxham.co.uk 60

| WINTER 2013

01328 738241

Now re-opened with up to 40 Real Ales dispensed via the unique Cask-Fresh system so a perfect pint is guaranteed!

Why not come down and sample some yourself.

Now offering food You can find us on The Peninsular in Wroxham, down The Avenue and take second left into Staitheway Road. At the bottom enter The Peninsular complex and follow road to the barrier and we are on the right.

NORFOLK NIPS | Beer Festival Diary

CAMRA Beer Festivals Dec 4 - 7 12th Harwich & Dovercourt Bay Winter Ale Festival Kingsway Hall Dovercourt 50+ real ales, emphasis on dark/seasonal, also cider + bottled continental beers.

Open 5-11 Wed; 11-11 Thu-Sat. Admission £2.50, £3.50 after 6pm Fri/Sat, free to card-carrying CAMRA members all times.

Souvenir ½ pt tankards avail. Live music Fri + Sat eve. Selection of food avail. Further info: www.tendringcamra.org.uk Jan 22 - 25 7th Colchester Real Ale And Cider Festival Colchester Arts Centre, Church Street, Colchester, CO1 1NF (5mins walk from town centre).

90+ Real Ales, 25+ Cider/Perry and a Belgian beer bar.

Bottled Foreign beers. Key-kegs and a good selection of cider. Food availabe at all sessions.

Admission costs - £1/ Free to CAMRA members.

Disabled access. Seating available, but ro be reduced at busy times.

Anyone wishing to volunteer for the festival please contact Dan Chinery at elysianbf@ely-camra.org.uk Web - www.ely-camra.org.uk

Non - CAMRA Beer Festivals Dec 16 Railway Christmas Beer Festival Railway, North Elmham Jan 27 - 1 Feb Winter Beer Festival Vine, Dove Street, Norwich

All beers and ciders are from East Anglia and many are LocAle (35mile radius of Colchester), Food available at all sessions.

Live music on Saturday night.

Festival Glass £3.00 (refundable).

Open: Wed 22 Jan to Sat 25 Jan from 12:00noon until 23:00pm Entry free to card-carrying CAMRA members.

Others: Free from 12:00 to 15:00 and £3.00 after 15:00.

Full disabled access.

Children welcome until 18:30.

Free soft drinks for designated drivers.

More details on www.colchestercamra.org.uk Feb 7 - 8 5th Elysian Winter Beer Festival Maltings, Ship Lane, Ely CB7 4BB Dates/times - Friday 7th Feb 10.30-22.00, Saturday 8th Feb 11.00-20.00 (last admissions 18.00 on Saturday) Beers/Ciders - 66 casks to start, plus reserves.

WINTER 2013 | 61

of Two Halves

A Campaign

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7EZI &VMXEMR·W 4YFW

Join CAMRA Today Complete the Direct Debit form below and you will receive 15 months membership for the price of 12 and a fantastic discount on your membership subscription.

Alternatively you can send a cheque payable to CAMRA Ltd with your completed form, visit www.camra.org.uk/joinus or call 01727 867201.

All forms should be addressed to Membership Department, CAMRA, 230 Hatfield Road, St Albans, AL1 4LW. Your Details

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(Partner at the same address) For Young Member and concessionary rates please visit www.camra.org.uk or call 01727 867201.

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Enjoying Real Ale & Pubs

Campaigning for Pub Goers & Beer Drinkers

Join CAMRA today – www.camra.org.uk/joinus Instruction to your Bank or Building Society to pay by Direct Debit Please fill in the whole form using a ball point pen and send to: Campaign for Real Ale Ltd. 230 Hatfield Road, St.Albans, Herts AL1 4LW Name and full postal address of your Bank or Building Society Service User Number To the Manager

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Please pay Campaign For Real Ale Limited Direct Debits from the account detailed on this instruction subject to the safeguards assured by the Direct Debit Guarantee. I understand that this instruction may remain with Campaign For Real Ale Limited and, if so will be passed electronically to my Bank/Building Society.

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This Guarantee should be detached and retained by the payer.

The Direct Debit Guarantee This Guarantee is offered by all banks and building societies that accept instructions to pay by Direct Debits.

If there are any changes to the amount, date or frequency of your Direct Debit The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd will notify you 10 working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed.

If you request The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd to collect a payment, confirmation of the amount and date will be given to you at the time of the request If an error is made in the payment of your Direct Debit by The Campaign for Real Ale Ltd or your bank or building society, you are entitled to a full and immediate refund of the amount paid from your bank or building society - If you receive a refund you are not entitled to, you must pay it back when The Campaign For Real Ale Ltd asks you to You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by simply contacting your bank or building society.Written confirmation may be required. Please also notify us.

Award Winning Real Ale Pub poringlandroyaloak @poringlandoak

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 11am, 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.

Seasons Greetings to all our Customers Old and New

Norwich And Norfolk Pub Of The Year 2007

A Pub Is For Life Not Just For Christmas

Norfolk Pub Of The Year 2007

A dream of a pub situated in the village of Poringland on the B1332 road to Bungay.

14 years in the Good Beer Guide!

The main bus route from Norwich stops right outside.

44 The Street, Poringland, Norwich, Norfolk NR14 7JT

www.poringlandroyaloak.co.uk Tel: 01508 493734