2005 CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALE PI TS W Tcamrabristol.org.uk/pw66.pdfmarquee and plenty of entertainments...

Award-winning newsletter of the Bristol & District Branch of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale

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www.camrabristol.org.uk

CAMPAIGNFOR

REAL ALE

No. 66Summer

2005

CAMPAIGNFOR

REAL ALE

Looking for a beer festival?SCARCELY a month goes bynowadays when there is not a beerfestival to be had somewhere orother. So popular can real,traditional, cask-conditioned beersbe that everyone seems to want toget in on the act. (When did youlast see a festival promoting“smoothflow” beers?)

Such festivals come in all shapesand sizes, from small real alepromotions in pubs, though charityevents held in marquees on thevillage green or in the village hall,to large-scale events such asCAMRA’s annual Bristol BeerFestival at Temple Meads in Marchor the mammoth Great British BeerFestival held each summer inLondon. The coming months are noexception with much to choosefrom.

For a round-up of such festivalsyou need look no further than pagetwo — so take a look inside now.

ALSO — what’s happening to theRose & Crown in Iron Acton? Whohas won this year’s Pub of the Yearaward? What links Gulliver’sTravels to Bristol’s pubs? Whomakes the best beer? What getsus hopping mad? Just what hasJanet gone and done again?

Step inside now to find out theanswers to these questions, andmuch, much more...

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Local CAMRA web site : www.camrabristol.org.uk2

YATE & DISTRICT ROTARY CLUBin association with CHIPPING SODBURY RUGBY CLUB are pleased to announce

that they will be holding theirTENTH SOUTH COTSWOLD BEER FESTIVAL

at the Chipping Sodbury Rugby Club onFRIDAY 8 JULY 2005 & SATURDAY 9 JULY 2005 6.00 pm to 11.30 pm 12.00 noon to 11.30 pm

Advance ticket admission only @ £6.50 per personOR at £5.50 if applied for by post before 1st June, by writing to:

YATE & DISTRICT ROTARY CLUB, PO BOX 1141, YATE, BRISTOL BS37 6YAenclosing P.O. or cheque made payable to Yate & District Rotary Club indicating which day (Friday or Saturday)

also enclosing a S.A.E.Visit www.bs37.com/beer for further information.

Beer festival round-upPucklechurch June 17-18In Pucklechurch there is the Revel BeerFestival, organised by a committee of villagersand now in its 29th year. This has been a mainfeature of the Pucklechurch Revel since 1976,making it one of the longest running real alefestivals in the country. It is being held on theevenings of Friday 17th and Saturday 18thJune in a marquee near the Star Inn on CastleRoad. It promises 28 real ales and fivefarmhouse ciders, along with live music and abarbecue. Tickets are available from the socialclub (above the village hall), the post office andthe Star Inn. All proceeds go to village clubsand charities.

Bedminster June 24-26A newcomer to the festival scene is the

Princess of Wales in Westbourne Grove,Bedminster. This pub was acquired byWickwar Brewery a number of years back, andhas been selling Wickwar and changing guest

beers. Wickwar’s other pub, the White Lion inBristol city centre, has run a few verysuccessful mini-beer festivals in recent years,and it was decided that this practice shouldextend to the Princess of Wales as well, partlyto raise the pub’s profile as it seems to be “offthe beaten track” for some people.

We hope it will prove as popular andsuccessful as the White Lion’s have.

Claverham July 1-3The enlarged Claverham Village Hall (just

off the A370 at Cleeve) will welcome thisyear’s beer festival over the weekend of 1st to3rd July with sessions on Friday evening,Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening andSunday afternoon. Being the third such eventthere they’ve dubbed it the Claverham “Slurd”Beer Festival. It should prove a bigger eventthan the previous two, with around 30 real alesmostly from Dorset, Wiltshire and Hampshirebreweries, and a selection of ciders, plus a

barbecue and livemusic. The organiserssay they have “strivedto select a variety oftypes, strengths andflavours so there willbe lots to suit even themost assiduous tastes.”

From around4.30pm on the Sundaysession you will havethe chance to takehome five pints of yourchosen beer or cider ina free container for £5,that’s £1 a pint.

Tickets are on saleat the Claverham postoffice and village hall,Pullars of the Precinct,and AB Motorcare.Pre-purchase of ticketsis advised for theFriday and Saturday

evening sessions. Exclusively, CAMRAmembers can reserve tickets by calling NigelCarson on 01934 838899.

This event is set to raise £3,000 and willbe used by the Yeo Valley Lions to supportthe local communities.

Chipping Sodbury July 8-9The weekend of the 8th and 9th of July

sees the return of the South Cotswold BeerFestival. In its tenth year now, this is organ-ised by the Yate and District Rotary Club inassociation with the Chipping Sodbury RugbyClub.

This is a big event held at the rugby club’sgrounds with lots of real ales available in themarquee and plenty of entertainments laid on.There is even free camping available, so thoseof you who live some distance away can stayovernight, or even make a weekend of it.

Tickets, which will not be available on thedoor, should be on sale at Any Sports in NorthWalk, Yate Shopping Centre; DavidHebblethwaite & Co Solicitors in ChippingSodbury High Street; the Tourist InformationCentre also in Chipping Sodbury; CalalierPrint in Soundwell Road, Staple Hill; and fromthe Beaufort Hunt pub in Hawkesbury UptonHigh Street. You can also write off for them atthe address in the advert below. Visit their website at www.bs37.com/beer for furtherinformation.

The annual beer festival is the club’s mainfund-raising event. Plenty of organisations aresponsoring the event this year, including Uleyand Wickwar breweries, with profits going toworthy charities.

Nailsea July 15-17Chipping Sodbury is not the only rugby

club to be hosting a beer festival in July.Nailsea and Backwell Rugby Club are alsogetting on the act with the Nailsea Beer andCider Festival over the weekend of Friday15th to Sunday 17th July. This too promiseslots of entertainment, and should be offering

The Bag O’Nails141 St. George’s Road, Hotwells,

Bristol BS1 5UW Tel: (0117) 9406776

A Real Ale Pub

At least 12 different real ales a weekImported German wheat beersEnglish bottle-conditioned beers

Unpasteurised imported bottled lagersWeb : www.bagonails.org.ukEmail : [email protected]

Bristol & District CAMRAPub Of The Year 2000

Host to two beer festivals a year

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National CAMRA web site : www.camra.org.uk 3

The Princess of Wales Westbourne Grove, Bedminster

presents its firstSummer Mini Beer Festival

FRIDAY 24TH JUNE through to SUNDAY 26TH JUNE

“RARE” BEERS FROM AROUND THE U.K.ALL BEERS @ £1.90 per pint.

No entrance fee, No door fee.10% discount on all beers

for card-carrying CAMRA members‘???? GUESS THE MYSTERY ALE ????’

BAR-B-Q/PIG ROAST (weather permitting)GREAT MUSIC

A very warm welcome from your new hostsRichard & SheleenSEE YOU THERE !!

over fifty different beers and ciders.They organisers mention that this is a cider

as well as beer festival and say they “intendthis to be a massive festival right at the veryheart of cider country.” They have sought theadvice from us at CAMRA (thanks to LaurieGibney) on putting together this their secondevent, so we hope it will be a great success.

Advance tickets will be available from theGrove Stores, Nailsea; the Corner Stores,Kingshill; Samuel Bird TV and Video, Nailsea;or from the Rugby Club itself. See their advertelsewhere in Pints West and visit their webpage at www.appelfest.ik.com for furtherinformation. Profits will help worthy causes,with 25 per cent going towards Babe’s BigAppeal.

CAMRA BEER FESTIVALS

Plymouth July 1-2The CAMRA Plymouth Beer Festival will

be held at the Plymouth Pavilions Main Arenain Millbay Road, just a five-minute walk fromthe train station. It will be open on Friday 1stand Saturday 2nd July from noon until 11pm.There will be 200 real ales and ciders, and liveentertainment both sessions.

CAMRA members pay £3 admission –show your membership card at the member-ship stand to receive £3 worth of beer tokens.Glass and souvenir programme cost £1.50.Call 01752 222200 for general enquiries, orvisit the web page atwww.plymouthcamra.co.uk for the latestnews.

Devizes July 2The seventh Devizes Beer Festival will be

held at the Wharf in Devizes on July 2nd,opening from 11.30am to 11pm.

This event comprises a beerfest, undercanvas, beside the Kennet and Avon canal,with over 50 real ales, cider, and food available.It is a mainly out-of-doors, family-orientatedevent with various entertainments all dayincluding live music and children’s entertain-ment.

Admission is only by advance ticket at £5(includes souvenir glass, and £1 worth oftokens for CAMRA member). Send astamped, addressed envelope and a chequemade payable to “Devizes CAMRA” to DavidRapley, 9 Walden Lodge Close, Devizes,Wiltshire, SN10 5BU.

Cotswold July 29-31The 29th Cotswold Beer Festival will once

again be held at Postlip Hall, nearWinchcombe, Gloucestershire, where you canenjoy an extensive range of beers and ciders ina beautiful rural setting.

It takes place from Friday 29th to Sunday31st July. Opening times and prices are Fridayevening 7pm to 11pm, Saturday lunchtimenoon to 3pm, and Saturday evening 6.30pm to11pm, all at £5. Sunday’s session is noon to3pm and is entry is free.

Prices include souvenir pint glass, enter-tainment, car parking etc. Card-carryingCAMRA members receive complimentarytokens at each session except Sunday.

Tickets are only in advance by post from:

Nailsea and Backwell Rugby Club present

Nailsea Beer andCider Festival 2005

at the Rugby ClubFriday 15th July: 6.00-11.00pm

Saturday 16th July: Noon-11.00pmSunday 17th July: Noon–9.00pm

*Over 50 different Beers and Ciders* *Children’s Entertainment * Toss the Caber *

*Live Bands throughout the weekend **Free Disco Friday night * Tag Rugby Tournament*

Advance Ticket £4.00 will include your commemorative glass,programme, tasting notes and your first beer.

Parking and Entry to grounds freeTickets available from The Grove Stores, Nailsea;

The Corner Stores, Kingshill; Samuel Bird TV and Video, Nailseaor from the Rugby Club (call 01275 810818)

All beerskindly

sponsoredby local

businesses

Or for more info see our new web-site www.appelfest.ik.com

25% of our profitswill be donated to

Cotswold Beer Festival, 59 Welland LodgeRoad, Cheltenham, Gloucs, GL52 3HH. Notethat there will be no tickets available on thedoor. Send a stamped, addressed envelope anda cheque made payable to “Cotswold BeerFestival” to arrive by Friday 24th June.

THE BIG ONE!Great British Beer Festival Aug 2-6

The really big one happens each year inAugust. The Great British Beer Festival is acelebration of beer from around the UK andaround the world. It is Britain’s biggest beerfestival and attracts around 45,000 beerdrinkers. They come to London Olympiabecause of the unparalleled choice – where elsecould you find a choice of over 450 real ales aswell as foreign beer, cider and perry? Lastyear’s festival was one of the most successfulever with over 46,000 visitors who betweenthem drank 210,000 pints of beer!Great British Beer Festival 2005

The festival takes place between Tuesday2nd and Saturday 6th August. Opening timesand prices are Tuesday 5pm to 10.30pm, £7(CAMRA members £5); Wednesday to Fridaynoon to 10.30pm, £7 (CAMRA members £5);Saturday 11am to 7pm, £6 (CAMRA mem-bers £4). Season tickets are available at £17.50(CAMRA members £15) and entitle you toentry at all sessions (CAMRA members £15).Tickets are available on the door throughoutthe Festival. Advance tickets are also availableto buy direct from CAMRA HQ on 01727867201 and each ticket is reduced by £1.

SP

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AS most of you will be aware, theBristol and District branch of CAMRAhas joined forces with local residents toattempt to save the Rose & Crown atIron Acton, which closed suddenly on23 November 2004. In the last editionwe told of an upcoming public meeting.The owners, Allan and Gail Didcott hadnot made their future plans clear at thattime. Much has occurred since – hereis a brief summary.

The public meeting took place on Mon-day, March 14th in Iron Acton Village Hall andwas extremely well attended. Just over 100people came on the night and many messageswere received from others unable to make it.The owners were invited but refused to attendand sent a terse message saying, “It is not forsale”. The Bristol Evening Post featured themeeting both before and after the event, andsent a reporter and photographer to cover it.

The meeting was jointly run by the localaction group and CAMRA. Speeches weremade by both groups and key points includedthe following.

The building had been a public house since1680 and was seen as the “central hub of theIron Acton community” by many. Indeedseveral people stated that they had moved toIron Acton to be near this pub. It had featuredin the last twelve editions of the Good Beer

Guide, putting it in the top few pubs in ourarea for consistent excellence. Several peoplesaid that they had enquired about buying thepub, or were aware of others who had tried.All had met with a complete lack of interestfrom the owners.

Bob Ford, of Iron Acton Football Club,said that they had been prevented by theowners from using the full-sized football pitchand changing facilities, to the rear of the pub,for some years. They would dearly love toreturn to play there, rather than in Yate asthey have to now. This could obviously bringin considerable trade to the pub, from players,spectators and their families.

Many others bemoaned the fact that theowners had always declined to open duringlunchtimes, except on Sundays, and it wasobvious that much potential trade was lost as aresult. The fact that the pub had never sold

food, other than a handful offilled rolls at opening time,was also obviously a missedopportunity to gain revenue.Whilst many of us loved theplace partly because of this,the pub serving food andopen is infinitely preferableto it ceasing to exist.

All of the above werefelt to be clear indicators thatthe Didcotts’ claim that thepub had become “unviable”was open to considerablequestion. Perhaps the mostdamning evidence of allthough came from a numberof comments made byformer regulars at the pub,who alleged that they hadbeen made to feel increas-ingly unwelcome anduncomfortable when usingthe pub over the last twoyears. Quite a number ofpeople stated that they wereconvinced that a deliberateeffort had been made to runthe business down andengineer an “unviable”situation. Anecdotesincluded people beingbanned for “parking theirbicycle in the garden” and for“singing Christmas songs atChristmas”!

A rumour was circulating

at the meeting that one of the other two pubsin the village – the White Hart – was about tobe converted into a Thai restaurant. This hasjust been denied by the incoming licensee whoinsists it will remain primarily a pub, withThai food. Even so, it may mean moreopportunity for increased trade at a reopenedRose & Crown, with less emphasis on foodthan the two other village pubs and offering analternative ambience to them.

A vote was taken to ascertain support forcontinuing to fight the closure. All but oneperson agreed with this motion. At this pointa local District Councillor identified himself,and offered his full support for the campaign.After more debate a three-person committeeof local people was formed to take thingsforward, with the promise of full supportfrom CAMRA.

On 22nd April 2005 the Didcotts finallydeclared their true intentions by submit-ting a request to South GloucestershireCouncil to change the use of the buildingto become a private residence.

They cited “unviability” as the reason.Details of how to view the application are atthe end of this article. By the time that youread this then the request will have been agreedor refused. We are aware of many peopleplanning to lodge formal objections and areoptimistic that the Council will refuse theapplication. How can the claim of unviabilitybe accepted when so little attempt was madeto unlock the true potential of the place? Inaddition there is very little evidence of anygenuine attempt to sell the pub as a goingconcern, so we have to come to the sadconclusion that this was indeed a cynicalattempt to take advantage of the boom inproperty prices by realising the maximumvalue of the buildings and land.

It is a sad fact that virtually all rural pubsare worth much more as private houses than asgoing concerns, and if this application isallowed then no such pub will be safe fromclosure. Even if planning is refused at thisstage then the owners are likely to keepapplying and the fight will be a long one – butone that we are determined to win. Theowners would do well to remember that theygot their hands on the place in 1985 only aftera considerable amount of backing (including a150-signature petition) from the very samelocal people that they have now let down sobadly.

Whether or not you were familiar with theRose & Crown, you should consider joiningour fight to save it – it could be your favouritepub next!

Vince MurrayPlanning Application Details:Application No. PK05/1143/F. Can be viewed atwww.southglos.gov.uk or in person at Yate OneStop Shop, Yate Leisure Centre. Case OfficerSarah Tucker.STOP PRESS: As at 18/05/05 therewere 71 letters opposing change of useand 1 in support on the council website!

Rose & Crown, Iron Acton update

Reputedly Bath’s oldest inn steeped intradition and renowned the world over.Described by The Campaign for Real Ale as a rareand unspoiled pub interior of outstanding historic

interest and listed on the National Inventory of Heritage Pubs.

Serving traditional English ales including:Bellringer brewed in Bath

and Burton’s favourite brew Bass.

23 THE VINEYARDS, PARAGON, BATH Tel 01225 425072

THE STAR INN

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Cotswold Spring BreweryM4 Junction 18. Picture it. Streams of carsheading south on the A46 to Bath, road workson the motorway and the annual snarl-uptrying to get to the Badminton Horse Trials. Apretty unremarkable motorway junction.

Ah, but little do we realise that thismotorway junction is your best route to a newbrewing venture whose use of natural ingredi-ents is set to make it the darling of theconservationist movement. For, at the base ofthe Cotswolds, not half a mile from themotorway, is a natural spring, home to asuccessful mineral water operation and, as ofthis summer, to the newest brewery in SouthGloucestershire.

The Cotswold Spring Brewery is thebrainchild of John Worlock and WarrenBryant. Given John’s background in Training& Consultancy in the Financial ServicesIndustry, and Warren’s successful career as aCarpenter and Builder, it is perhaps surprisingthat they have chosen a new craft brewery astheir next venture, but here they are.

The truth is that this is a labour of love forthem. When I meet them at the brewery, theyare both positively buzzing with enthusiasm

for the project. They agree to show me around.The new brewery has been purpose-built

by Warren on the site of the Cotswold SpringWater Company. Apart from the obviousbenefits of siting a brewery at a natural spring,the decision to build from scratch has alsoenabled the guys to make sure that everythingabout the brewery is absolutely as they wouldwish it to be. For example, the brewery isspacious and well-laid out, with claddingthroughout allowing precision temperaturecontrol as well as lending itself admirably tohigh-power and hygienic cleaning techniques.

The equipment itself was purchased fromthe Felon and Firkin pub/brewery in Leeds. Itis a ten-barrel plant using the local springwater in exactly the same condition as thatwhich is bottled for sale by the CotswoldSpring Water Company. The guys areconfident that customers will agree that thepurity of the central ingredient will contributeto a crisp and clear taste in the beers producedhere.

Talking of which, Cotswold SpringBrewery beers will be available during thesummer at free-trade outlets and beer festivals

across the region. There will be three brews tostart with:!!!!! Cotswold Spring Old English Rose(3.8%) – An eminently quaffable session bitterwith a light, crisp summer flavour to it.!!!!! Cotswold Spring Codrington Codger(4.2%) – The flagship bitter. This will be aclassic best bitter with malt and hops presentthroughout, and a smooth aftertaste.!!!!! Cotswold Spring Royal – The strongestbeer in the initial portfolio, weighing in at afull-bodied 4.5% ABV. Flavoursome andmoreish, this will be the big brother of theCotswold clan.

Early outlets for the Cotswold Springbeers are likely to be the Codrington Arms inCodrington, as well as the George and theBeaufort, both in Chipping Sodbury; thoughthere will be plenty of other places to samplethese ales if all goes to plan.

Not only that, but the Cotswold SpringBrewery will be offering ‘beer boxes’ andpossibly specially bottled beers, availabledirect from the brewery. Call (01454) 323 088or email [email protected] for moredetails. Duncan Shine

DON'TSPILL BEER

WARNINGHOPE & ANCHOR

Exceptional Public House

From the Management of the

THE HOPE & ANCHOR nestles half way up(or down) Jacob’s Wells Road at the junctionwith Constitution Hill, on the edge ofHotwells.

A genuine free house, the Hope & Anchorendeavours to support as many of the smallerbreweries as it reasonably can.

There are almost always six real ales on thebar at any time and, whilst none of these arepermanent fixtures, some do feature with moreregularity than others due to popular demand.

Amongst these favourites are a number oflocal beers such as those from the Butcombestables and the remarkable beers from thosenew kids on the block, the Bristol BeerFactory.

Coming from further afield are such beersas the Deuchars IPA and the 80/- from theCaledonian Brewery in Edinburgh, and the everpopular range of beers from the old Palmer’sBrewery down in Bridport in Dorset.

That said, these breweries (although oftenwell represented at the Hope & Anchor) dofind themselves having to make way for otherbrews such as Fuller’s London Pride, TimothyTaylor’s Landlord, Blindman’s Buff andmany, many more. The beers are served ingood condition, at the right temperature, whichis reflected in the fact the pub is a frequententry in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide.

The real ale choice should satisfy mostbeer drinkers, but for those who haven’t yetdiscovered its delights, there is also a range ofpremium lagers and wheat beers.

The Hope & Anchor has a very popularfood operation and owes its position upon theculinary map largely to head chef, NikkiHughes.

The policy on food has never been one ofhaving pretensions above its station but,rather, more upon catering for an ever-increasingly discerning public by being severalshades more upmarket than the standard ‘pub-grub’ type of outlet whilst still giving a nod tothose dishes which have their roots in tradi-tional pub fare.

To this end, chip butties, served in abasket on fresh crusty bread, happily sharemenu space with fresh whole trout stuffedwith prawns and lemon & dill butter.Wholetail scampi rubs shoulders with porkescalopes in a dijon sauce and lamb curry isperfectly happy sharing a dressing room with

The Hope & Anchormoules frites and seafood paella.

The overall emphasis at the Hope &Anchor is one of trying to create a relaxedatmosphere and the clientele, rather than being‘studenty’ or ‘locals’ or ‘suits’ are, in fact, aneclectic and broad mix of all of these and more.

One of the attractions of the pub, ofcourse, is the terraced garden at the rear whichused to be referred to as the ‘secret’ garden.As it tends to get pretty packed out on sunnydays by all and sundry, however, it is now justcalled ‘the garden’.

The Hope & Anchor, whilst taking thematters of beer and food very seriously (whatcould be more serious?) also exudes a sense ofnot taking itself terribly seriously. It is, as thepub’s motto states: ‘A Bent Nail On TheFencepost Of Life.’

(Whose round is it?)Pete Bridle

THE HOPE & ANCHOR38 Jacobs Wells Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS81DR. Tel: 0117-9292987. Open all hours.

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b a t h a l e sTo enjoy the full range of bath ales beers

at their best, pay a visit to one of our pubsThe Hop Pole

Upper Bristol Road, Bath (opposite Victoria Park playground)

The Hare on the HillDove Street, Kingsdown, Bristol

The Merchants ArmsMerchants Road, Hotwells, Bristol

The SalamanderJohn Street, Bath

The WellingtonGloucester Road, Horfield, Bristol

and atThe Bridge Inn

Passage Street, BristolCasks and beer boxes available for parties and functions

Contact bath ales on 0117 9527580 or email [email protected]

Wild May for Bath AlesNaturally CAMRA has been promoting Mild May – however, the

brewing team at Warmley have gone wild and organic. A new beer called‘Wild Hare’ was scheduled to be launched at the Wellington BeerFestival. This is a fully organic golden ale designed for summer drinking.

Well done the Welly!For the second year running, Paul and Dee at the Wellington Hotel,

Horfield, celebrate the prestigous title of Bristol CAMRA Pub of theYear. This year the lengthy democratic voting process (which involvesvisiting a large number of excellent pubs nominated by CAMRAmembers – tough but someone has to do it) resulted in a dead-heatbetween the Wellington and the Port of Call in Clifton. For the firsttime two pubs will jointly hold the title. The Welly is now hosting livejazz on some Monday evenings in addition to the regular showcasing oftop quality live blues music on Sunday evenings.

A day at the races and more...On Monday, 16 May, Bath Ales sponsored a day’s racing at,

appropriately, the Bath Race Course. Trips were organised from the sixBath Ales pubs and punters were treated to a grand day out involvingbetting, racing and low cost Bath Ales beer, a dangerous combination. Inoticed a horse called Stargem in the 3.10 and one called Gems Bond inthe 5.10 – obviously they couldn’t lose at a Bath Ales meeting. I shouldhave stuck with the 4.1% Gem at £1.25 a pint.

The race meeting was the first of a busy summer schedule. TheBath and West Show at the end of May is followed by providing beer atsomething called “Glastonbury”, from there Bath Ales are involved atthe end of June with the Festival of the Sea in Portmsouth, followed bythe Ashton Court Festival in Bristol. Next up is the WOMAD Festivalin Reading towards the end of July, and in August Bath Ales are onceagain at the Brecon Jazz Festival. On 26 August it’s back to Bath RaceCourse for the Party on the Hill Beer Festival.

Thanks from Bristol Beer FestivalAs well as sponsoring the glasses, Bath Ales gave a tremondous

amount of support and practical help in making this year’s Bristol BeerFestival such a huge success. They provided and helped set-up both thestillage and bar two days before the event, and also with the take-downand removal on the day after the festival. It’s no exageration to say wecouldn’t do it without you, so the Branch sincerely thanks everyoneinvolved.

More information about the brewery is available at their newlyrevamped website, wwww.bathales.com. This now includes an on-lineshop and gives details of brewery tours.

Steve O’Shea

News from Bath Ales

A Genuine Freehouseoffering

Excellent Local Real AlesGood Wines, Interesting Lagers

Opening times4.30 - 11.00 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday

12.00 - 11.00 Wednesday4.00 - 11.00 Saturday

12.00 - 3.00 & 7.00 - 10.30 Sunday

Alfred Place, Kingsdown, Bristol

The

BELL

Pub of the YearTWO pubs have made the top spot in this year’s pubawards. The Port of Call in Clifton (near the Downs)and the Wellington in Horfield have been voted jointwinners in the Bristol & District CAMRA Pub of the Year2005 competition. And the Crown at Churchill hasbeen voted runner-up.

All three pubs have featured in these pages previously. TheWellington was actually voted Pub of the Year last year, and sowas the Crown a few years ago. This is the first time the Port ofCall has been given such an award. All three have been recog-nised for the quality and consistency of the fantastic real alesthey offer, as well as other aspects of the pub such as serviceand atmosphere.

Watch out for lots of publicity for these pubs in the localpress, and look to our web site at www.camrabristol.org.uk forfurther details. (At the time of going to press, the pubs had notyet received their awards.) Profiles of each of these pubs can befound in your collection of old Pints Wests (you do have one,don’t you?) or past editions also available at our web site.

SP

The Port of Call

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MILD is usually an ale of low gravity and hoprate, hence rounder, normally slightly sweeter,and distinctly less bitter on the palate and inaroma than more highly hopped bitters. Mildis usually (but not always) darker in colourthan bitter, through the use of a higher roastmalt or caramel.

This traditional style of beer, dating backover 400 hundred years, has unfortunatelydisappeared from many pubs and is in dangerof becoming extinct in certain areas of Britain.

In 1960 mild was very popular and madeup an amazing 60 per cent of the beer sold inthe UK. These days mild production in theUK seems to have settled out at around just 3per cent of the market.

As part of CAMRA’s traditional promo-tion of mild throughout the month of May,pubs were encouraged to come on board andstock some of this undervalued style, andactively encouraging pub goers to try it.

Some local pubs were enthusiastic in theirsupport. In particular the Cornubia inTemple Street, Bristol featured a number ofdifferent milds throughout the month, includ-ing Downton Maroon Maker Mild, ArchersDark Mild, and Spinning Dog Mutley’s Dark.Here’s a picture of Julia pulling some mild inthe Cornubia.

Other local pubs that have featured mildduring May include the Hope & Anchor andthe Bag O’Nails in Hotwells, and the WhiteLion on the Centre. Wetherspoon’s May beerfestival also had several advertised in thetasting notes, such as Cain’s Dark Mild,Beartown Black Bear, and Hardy & Hanson’sCursed Galleon.

OVER IN BATHWith CAMRA’s Mild in May promotion

in mind, Bath’s own brewery, Abbey Ales,again brewed a 4.0% ABV mild ale for its localcustomers in Bath.

Managing Director of Abbey Ales, AlanMorgan said, “It is the second time we havebrewed Mild and last year’s sales justified usbrewing it again. We are more than happy tosupport the CAMRA Mild in May promotiononce more and we had numerous enquiriesfrom the local landlords who stocked it lastyear and wanted to know if we would bebrewing it again.”

Paul Waters at the Star Inn and PaulAlvis of the Volunteer Rifleman’s in Bathwere the first to re-order the Mild and Paul

Mild Month of May

Photo by Richard Brooks

Alvis said, “I stock all Abbey Ales occasionalbeers as they sell so quickly and I can't waitfor the mild to arrive. I also like the fact that itwill only be sold in Bath as it means that youhave to visit Bath to drink it.”

SO WHAT DO YOU RECKON?What do you think of mild? Is it a style of

beer you appreciate? Would you like to seemore of it available in the pubs and moreoften? Write care of the editor and let us know.

SP & Richard Brooks

Extra discountfrom Abbey AlesMention “Pints West” when ordering aBellringer beer box from Abbey Alesand you will get an extra discount of £5per 36-pint box for all orders collectedfrom the brewery or from the Star Inn.18-pint boxes are also available.

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Brewing excellence from the Heart of Somerset since 1979It has been 26 years since Cotleigh Brewery started trading from its first home, the Cotleigh Farmhouse in Washfield near Tiverton in Devon.

Immediate success forced the brewer to move to larger premises, and in 1980 the company relocated to Wiveliscombe, 11 miles west of Taunton.Last year the business celebrated its Jubilee 25th Anniversary. Cotleigh Brewery supplies 300 Freehouses in the South West and is available in the

rest of the UK through selected wholesalers. Cotleigh Beers will now be available to the Bristol area.

Tawney Bitter3.8% abv

A West Country classic, a subtle hop palatewhich blends with the sweetness of the malt,

to give a beautiful and balanced flavour.

Barn Owl Premium Ale4.5% abv

Copper coloured with hints of toffee and nutwith a smooth malty bitter sweet finish.

Champion Beer of the Maltings Festival 1995.

Buzzard Dark Ale4.8% abv

Traditional old ale, deep copper red in colour. Thechocolate malt gives a dry nutty flavour with

hints of amarone biscuit.

Cotleigh 254.0% abv

An explosion of flavours originating from theAmerican Cascade hops gives this brilliant pale

golden beer a fresh aroma and a fruit filled finish.

Golden Eagle Best Bitter4.2% abv

Smooth and malty with a background ofhoney flavours offering a refreshing and

citrus finish.

Harrier Lite3.5% abv

A light golden low alcohol beer withadelicate floral and fruuity aroma leading to

a smooth, almost sweet finish.

Cotleigh Brewery, Ford Road, Wiveliscombe, Somerset TA4 2RETel: 01984 624086 Fax: 01984 624365 Email: [email protected] www.cotleighbrewery.com

ON a sunny, mid-April Saturday a dozen of ustook a minibus down to the Cotleigh Brewery inWiveliscombe, Somerset. We made such good timethat we popped into the Bear Inn, the unofficialbrewery tap, and enjoyed the three Cotleigh beerson offer.

Moving on to the brewery we were met by theowners Steve Heptinstall (pictured) and FeddyDomellof. A tour of the brewery commenced,interspersed the Steve and Freddy’s talk of theirvision for Cotleigh, and finished with somesampling of the products, including Harrier (3.5%),a refreshing light session beer that was discontin-ued several years ago but was brought back earlythis early this year as an antidote to Christmas,and has been doing well since. Cotleigh beers havebeen difficult to come by in the Bristol area,though they are seen regularly in the Port of Call inClifton (near the Downs). Steve explained that theprevious owners made a conscious decision tolimit how far they were going to supply. This issomething Steve wants to change and is looking formore outlets in the Bristol area. Expansion issomething that is on the cards, with buildingsavailable next door to the brewery. Another pointof interest was their increasing use of plastic casksand they have been they been getting a favourableresponse, especially from the ladies, who findthem a lot easier to handle. We spent a enjoyabletwo hours with our hosts and finally left to make adash for the New Inn at Halse (pictured), hometo the Somerset Electric Brewery, which was dueto close after lunch.

Luckily, Mark (owner/brewer) and his partnerwere on the premises and we enjoyed theirhospitality into the afternoon. Sadly, Mark told usthat he was selling up and going back to his dayjob, working for the National Grid in Wokingham!He had had a few bad experiences with managersand was finding the travelling wearing. At the timeof our visit the sale was going through and the newowners were going to be trained by Mark tocontinue brewing.

From Halse we made for the Rose & Crown(Eli’s) at Huish Episcopi, passing the Canal Inn,Wrantage (current Somerset Pub of the Year) andthe Halfway House, Pitney (a previous winner).Eli’s is full character with its cosy rooms andserving tap room (i.e. no bar). As well as excellentbeer, I’m told the cider was well worth drinking.

Looking for a stop on the way home we chosethe Waldergrave Arms at Chewton Mendip andgot back into Bristol late evening.

Tony Durbin

A trip to Cotleigh

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Andy and Heather Harvey invite you to sample thelocal ales, the home-made food, and a real local pub

atmosphere.We organise specialist ale drinkers’ weekends

including visits to Cotleigh and Exmoor breweries,with bed and full English breakfast, provided for £20

per person per night.Reductions available for group bookings.

WiveliscombeTauntonSomerset TA4 2JYTelephone and fax:(01984) 623537

THE BEAR INNFree House

AT the Bristol Beer Festival held at the Brunel Shed,Temple Meads back in March, the award of Beer ofthe Festival – as voted for by those attending theevent – went to Downton Chimera IPA.

Joint runners-up were Acorn Barnsley Gold andSkinner’s Heligan’s Honey.

Downton is a Salisbury brewery set up as recently as Novem-ber 2003 with equipment leased from Hop Back Brewery andbased on a 20-barrel copper and two 20-barrel fermenters.

A number of beers of differing styles are produced, mostlywith the “Chimera” name. The Chimera IPA is a superb, light-coloured beer with an alcoholic strength of 6.8 per cent.

A recent trip saw a party of local CAMRA members visitingthe Downton Brewery to hand over their Beer of the Festivalaward. The photograph below shows brewer Martin Strawbridgereceiving the certificate from branch social secretary NormanSpalding. Brewery owner, Martin Howard, is at the front on theleft of the group photograph.

Malt, Hops, Yeast & Water!

Make it yours atTHE WHITE LION, Quay Head, Bristol City Centre

orTHE PRINCESS OF WALES, Westbourne Grove, Bedminster,

Bristol.Also available direct from the brewery in 18 and 36 pint polypins

or delivered direct to your door.

THE AWARD WINNING BREWERS OFGLOUCESTERSHIRE

The Wickwar Brewing Co Ltd, Gloucestershire, UK01454 294 168

[email protected]

What’s In Yours?

Beer festival winnersOn the subject of festival winners, it is also worth mentioning

the results from the recent Society of Independent Brewers(SIBA) National Beer Festival held at Horts in central Bristol inApril. The festival comprised around 60 beers, all of which hadbeen short-listed following competitions held in the seven SIBAregions. The winners were:

! 1st Wolf Granny Wouldn’t Like It (4.8%)! 2nd Grainstore Ten Fifty (5.0%)! 3rd Wolf Woild Moild (4.8%)

SP

Photos by Tony Durbin

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THE pubs and inns of Bedminster havealways been popular with local residents andworkers, the shoppers of East Street, thosevisiting the area for theatre and comedy inNorth Street, jazz in West Street, or simply tomeet up with friends before a City match.There are so many different pubs thateveryone finds more than one favourite,whether it is for TV sport, pool, darts,skittles, music, or real ales there are quiet pubsor lively pubs to choose from.

People have been drinking in Bedminstersince Roman times, long before Bristol evenexisted. Sitting astride the route from the leadmines on the Mendips along the Roman roadof West Street/East Street, those thirstyRomana-British merchants dragged and pushedtheir carts to the port of Sea Mills. Like us,they were always glad of a glass or two on ahot day, and here on top of Bedminster Down,with views across to Long Ashton and theAvon Gorge, there was once a Roman buildingthat would have obliged.

Nowadays, there is the Cross Hands, aGreene King pub popular with locals, andwhere we begin the search for our favouritelocal. This old 1824 stone-built pub has tworooms and a skittle alley; one is a sports barand the other a comfortable lounge that hasbeen created from several smaller rooms butstill managed to maintain an intimate feeling.The paved area in front of the pub has a whitepicket fence surrounding tables and benchesthat get packed on summer evenings andweekends. There are normally three cask alesavailable – Bass, Old Speckled Hen and IPA –but when we visited, Greene King IPA was theonly one on and that was past its best. Thisrange has not changed for months.

Crossing the A38 and moving downBedminster Down hill in search of our nextwatering hole, we walk over the Bristol toExeter railway line, which was cut through thehill in 1841 and serves Bedminster’s two trainstations of Parson Street and Bedminster. Thelast train to stop at Parson Street is around6.30pm, so if you were visiting by train youwould have to bus it to Temple Meads stationto catch later trains home.

We approach the Miners Arms – a smallpub hugging the main road on the left towardsthe bottom of Bedminster Down hill. Manynames of Bedminster’s pubs reflect its past,from a thriving rural hamlet before the CivilWar, through the coal mining, industrial andmanufacturing ages, to the present day.Nothing remains of the South Liberty Lanecoal mine that operated from 1744 to 1923behind the Miners pub and had its tunnelsstretching from Dundry to Temple Meads. Itwas surprising to find this old pub was nowone long room full of young people and no realales as there are often customers sat outsideenjoying the sunshine on weekends.

Moving quickly on, we continue down to

the lights at the bottom of the hill and crossback over the A38 to the Plough, a large pubsituated at the top of Winterstoke Road whereit joins the A38. It has two different bars, anda sunny rear patio where barbecued food isoften served on a weekend. Alas, they don’tserve real ales. Parson Street train station issituated behind this pub.

It is nearly an hour since we started thisquest and we still haven’t had a decent drink,

and faced with the climb up West Street to theThree Lions it is tempting to jump on thenumber 52 bus opposite and head into town.We resist this temptation and head for theThree Lions, a popular and friendly sports barpub but with no real ales.

Forty yards on is the Plough & Wind-mill run by Steve Westcott. The busy frontbar has two cask ales, Bass and Courage Best,

both in superb condition and very welcome onthis warm spring evening. There is also a rearbar, skittle alley and garden for children.

Another thirty yards brings us to theWhite Horse, now owned by Punch, but withfour cask ales available. Ushers Traditional,Old Speckled Hen, Bass and Butcombe are all

in good condition, with the Traditional comingout on top. This is a large inn knocked intoone room with a raised “stage” at one endwhere live jazz bands entertain here everyTuesday night, so if you want a table, get hereearly as it becomes packed. Further details at

Bedminster – a stroll through West Street

The Cross Hands

The Miners Arms

The White Horse

The Plough & Windmill

The Three Lions The Red Cow

The Plough

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www.whitehorsebedminster.co.uk.The bus stop outside is well served by the

numbers 52, 75, 76, 77 and several countrybuses heading into the centre, and a return stopis just opposite.

Further down West Street we arrive at theRed Cow, named after the West Street collierythat used to operate here. I can remembermany a lunch time spent drinking TripleCrown in the lounge during the 80’s withRichard Longman when we worked atRobinson’s Malago bag factory, but today ithas sadly been knocked through into one barwith no real ales.

We head on, with the smell of chipswafting over from the Argus chip shop. It isworth mentioning that West Street has manytakeaways to suit most people’s tastes withChinese, Indian, pizzas, kebabs, southernchicken, fish & chips, sandwiches and even anIndian Restaurant (but you will need to bringyour own drinks).

Just before the Jolly Colliers there is a pileof rubble in front of Mail Marketing, which isall that is left of the Lamb Inn. We starethrough the fence at the archeologists’ pits andlook for any signs of the ghost that used tohaunt it, and wonder how many moreBedminster pubs will be gone in five yearstime. In the 1850s there were about 30 pubsin Bedminster with half the male populationemployed by the collieries. In 1904 with thecollieries closing and the tobacco and bagmaking factories expanding there were 101pubs in Bedminster. Today, with much of theindustry gone, it is less than 30.

The Jolly Colliers is a lively communitypub with Bass and Courage Best on offer, andsome serious pool being played at one end of

The Jolly Colliers

The Black Cat

The Princess of Wales

The Robert Fitzharding

The London Inn

The Albert

the pub.The Black Cat is a single long-roomed

pub popular with locals and was selling Bass.The oak planks lining the walls, combined witha low beamed ceiling, reminded me of a minetunnel as I watched a couple of regulars satplaying crib under the leaded windows.

Across the road we saw lights on in theAlbert, so wandered over, to find to oursurprise that it is still open – it appears theproperty company “Atlas Way” that weresupposed to convert it to flats last yearhaven’t agreed terms with the landlord Ian.This once thriving jazz pub had Bath AlesGem and Courage Best that were drawnstraight from the cask and they were good.

The Albert should be open until at least July.Around the corner, sitting at the top of

East Street, is the London Inn. The interest-ing Victorian exterior of the London Inn wasdecorated inside in typical PubCo style andhad Courage Best on. This inn was rebuilt in1895 when the original ancient coaching innwas demolished to allow access to what is nowcalled British Road.

As it was May we thought we’d nipacross the road into Wetherspoon’s RobertFitzharding to see if they had any milds onfor CAMRA’s “Go Wild for Mild” promo-tion. As it was Wetherspoon’s May BeerFestival (until 22nd May), there were sevenales to choose from and one was a mild –Beartown Black Bear – but after drinking somany bitters it was difficult to appreciate thesubtleties of this mild ale. The RobertFitzharding is the largest of the Bedminsterpubs, and uses ornate wooden partitions to

create smaller, more personal areas (and isprobably one of Wetherspoon’s betterdecorated Bristol pubs). There is always agood range of reasonably priced food availableand during the two-week festival period therewere to be about 50 ales offered.

It was now getting late and we still had onemore pub to visit, so we vowed to return in acouple of days to sample some more ales(regrettably, we missed the Robinson’s OldTom by about an hour, as it had just run out).

We headed up the side of the London Innto the Princess of Wales. The outside of thisearly 19th century pub looks very decorativeand inviting, although inside is quite smallcompared to some of the pubs we visited.This is a Wickwar Brewery-owned pub andBOB was on offer along with a good pint ofCrouch Best from the Crouch Vale Brewery.Wickwar intend having a beer festival heretowards the end of June and there should beabout nine or ten different ales racked up in thecorner of the bar. We look forward to that asits always fun to try something different – andfor details of this festival see the advertelsewhere in this publication.

We hope you will get the chance to visitsome of the better pubs we have mentioned,and enjoy them as much as we did. We intendto visit all the pubs in Bedminster over thenext few months, and have already startedplanning our next tour, an East Street crawl.Our friend Terry Goodfield told us that onFriday nights in the 70’s they would often tryto walk it with just a half pint in each pub, butcould never make it to Bedminster Bridge! Weshall see.

Colin & Pennie Postlethwaite

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Something old, something new...This ‘something’ is Butcombe

Brewery, past and present — or tobe precise, deceased and reborn.

Originally born in September 1978 toSimon and Maureen Whitmore, thisfledgling was created as a ten-barrel plantin an old farm building at the back of theirhome on the edge of rural Butcombevillage, hence the name.

This conception quickly outgrewitself, to take up another farm building in1983, this time a 45-barrel plant. Ten yearslater, now owning six pubs and with over300 regular outlets, it was imperative toexpand again. The council’s answer was aguarded yes... but this is the last time here– any more and you’ll have to moveelsewhere!

So off came the roofs of the existingbuildings, and in with a brand new 85-barrel plant: Butcombe Brewery Mark 3was born, A.D. 1993.

As CAMRA’s Brewery Liaison Officerfor Butcombe, I asked Simon Whitmorecountless times when we were going tohave a second beer as we still only had

Butcombe Bitter,albeit a very suc-cessful beer. Theanswer as usual was,sorry its onlyButcombe Bitter, but‘never say never’.

Well, that ‘never’became a reality in1999 with the launchof Butcombe Gold –at 4.7% ABV a palefull-bodied bitter,and as with allButcombe productscontinuing quality isthe name of thegame.

Mr. Whitmore, asfounder and owner,

was now approach-ing his late sixties. Hestated that he wouldsell the business,when the ‘time andconditions wereright’. He is what Iwould describe as acaring employer, oneof a dwindling breed,who would sell thebusiness only withthe staff intact, andnot to a majorconcern who wouldbuy the name, asset-strip it, and bidgoodbye to the staff.

In February 2003

the ideal suitorturned up in thepersonage of Mr.Guy Newell –business friend ex-owner of Beer Seller– who bought it lock,stock, and barrel youmight say. Just overa year later,Butcombe Blond at4.3% ABV waslaunched at theBristol Beer Festivalin March 2004,although the beeritself had been firstbrewed and tasted atthe 21st birthdaycelebrations in

Something old, something new

September 1999 to invited guests at thebrewery only. Suffice to say the recipe hasbeen tweaked since.

We now come to the projected moveto a new site (as per the selling contract).Plan A was to move half a mile up the road(still just inside the Butcombe boundary),buy and knock down the Wadworth-owned Bungalow Inn, and replace it with anew state-of-the-art brewery, publichouse, and accommodation. However, theplanning authorities thought otherwiseafter local objections.

So Plan B evolved: a space on atrading estate at Wrington was available,exactly suitable for their requirements.The idea of a public house with accommo-dation was dropped and a bigger breweryplanned in its place. What originally wasgoing to be a new 120-barrel plant became150 barrels instead. As it turned out, theplanning outcome was a blessing indisguise, because this site has got mainsgas and main drains which the other sitedidn’t, and further continuing expansionwould have necessitated it in any case.

The old brewery is now devoid of anyequipment. All brewing has been under-taken at Wrington since early March 2005.The baby is now an adult – what comesnext we shall have to wait and see...

Colin Pursey

The old brewery – Simon Whitmore with the old brewery sign

The new brewery

Equipment inside the new brewery

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GREAT BEER / GREAT FOOD / GREAT WINE / GREAT COMPANYBUTCOMBE BREWERY…01275 472240

www.butcombe.comPRIDE IN EVERYTHING WE BREW

To sample perfectly kept Butcombe Bitter andButcombe Gold, plus numerous Guest Beers,

why not visit a Butcombe Pub…

THE BELLHillgrove St, Bristol

01179 096612

RING O’BELLSCompton Martin

(A368 between Blagdon &West Harptree) 01761 221284

THE LAMBThe Square, Axbridge

THE QUEEN’S ARMSBleadon

Near Weston-super-Mare

OLD CROWNKelston

Near Bath01225 423032

THE SWANRowberrow

(Off A38 southof Churchill)

01934 852371

THE RED TILECossington

Near Bridgwater01278 722333

Chimera India Pale AleVoted Beer of the Festival Bristol 2005

Silver medal winner at theBeauty of Hop Competition June 2004

Brewed by the Downton Brewery Co. Ltd.(tel 01 722 322890)

who also brew Chimera Gold, Chimera Red,Chimera Quadhop and Chimera Raspberry Wheat

YOU may have noticed the increasing trend in recent years towards paleand hoppy beers in the small independent brewery sector. Indeed, thejudging at the Champion Beer of Britain competition at CAMRA’sannual Great British Beer Festival has reflected this trend with the lastthree winners being JHB from the Oakham Brewery (Peterborough) in2002, Bitter and Twisted from the Harviestoun Brewery (Alva,Clackmannashire) and Pale Rider from the Kelham Island Brewery(Sheffield) in 2004.

Closer to home, the Beer of the Festival voted by visitors tothe Bristol Beer Festival earlier this year was Chimera India PaleAle (IPA) at 6.8% ABV from the Downton Brewery (Salisbury).This is an excellent re-creation of the IPAs of the past, i.e. high instrength and hop rate to enable them to survive the arduousjourney by sea to the far-flung colonies where they were eagerlyawaited by the troops. Hops imparted a delightful bitterness andinhibited the growth of bacteria.

Although such beers may not suit your palate, and I haveheard a few grumblings of discontent from real ale drinkers overthe recent discovery by UK brewers of, for example, the Cascadehop, this recent move reflects market forces more than individualpersonal taste.

You see, the limited number of outlets available these days for smallindependent brewers to sell their wares to means that a distinctiveproduct is required if a repeat order is to be gained in the highly com-petitive guest beer market. One of the simplest ways of achieving this,and to my mind one of the most pleasurable for the drinker, is by thecareful and balanced use of a goodly amount of quality hops; which canbe used for bittering, flavour and aroma.

In addition to the breweries mentioned above, others that havealready established a well-deserved reputation in this area include DarkStar (Haywards Heath), Meantime (Greenwich), Porter (Haslingden)and Roosters (Knaresborough).

Hopping madFurther afield, the Americans can teach us a thing or two about use

of the glorious hop. Contrary to what you might think, there is athriving microbrewery scene over there and a good place to sample someof their products over here is at the Great British Beer Festival. Inaddition to the vast array of British beers available from far and wide,there is also a selection available of some of the finest beers in the worldon the Bières sans Frontières bar.

Here you can try classic beers on draught and in bottles from finebrewing nations such as Belgium, Czechoslovakia and Germany inaddition to those from America. The latter includes some brilliantexamples of British beer styles such as IPA, Stout and Porter; butusually much stronger and more heavily hopped than what we arefamiliar with.

Last year I was able to try American beers such as Redhook IPA(5.8% ABV) from the Redhook Brewery, HopDevil (6.7% ABV) fromVictory Brewing, Hop Monster (7% ABV) from Paper City and 90Minute IPA (9% ABV) from Dogfish. They were all fantastic and havemade me re-consider my views on the Americans in general and theirbeer in particular! Their dark beers are also well hopped too, withStorm King Imperial Stout (9.2% ABV) from Victory Brewing currentlybeing the best stout I have ever tried (so far).

The next time you are partaking of a beer, you might like to thinkabout the basic ingredients of malted barley, hops and water. Has thebrewer applied their craft to make best use of these natural materials,particularly the hops, to produce a distinctive, balanced and satisfyingdrink that you would go back and request again?

Also, the next time you are listening to the Tony Christie song“Show Me the Way to Amarillo”, recently made popular again bycomedian Peter Kay’s video for Comic Relief, you might like to notethat Amarillo is the name of another American hop that has been used togood effect by the Milk Street (Frome) and Crouch Vale (Chelmsford)breweries in their hoppy beer of the same name.

Dave Graham

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Janet does it againTHE Bristol Beer Festival is not only about beer. Real ale is indeed ourpassion, but we are also supporters of real, traditional cider and perry.As well as over a hundred real ales, this year we also stocked aroundforty real ciders and perries. Perries, for the uninitiated, are like cidersbut made from pears instead of apples – and also a much rarer breed.

Every visitor to the festival is eligible to vote for their choice forbeer and cider or perry of the festival. The results of the cider and perryvoting this year was as follows:

!!!!! 1st West Croft Janet’s Jungle Juice!!!!! 2nd Thatcher’s Sweet!!!!! 3rd Gwynt Y Ddraig Medium

This is not the first time West Croft have won an award at ourfestival with their Janet’s Jungle Juice. And they have also won a clutchof other awards for their ciders over the years, so they are obviouslydoing something right!

The cider is made on the West Croft Farm, which is situated inBrent Knoll, Somerset. John Harris is the man in charge, and though heonly started around 1992, follows in the footsteps of his grandfatherwho was also a traditional cidermaker.

The farm has its own small orchard from which John gathers theapples to make his ciders. He also gets in varieties of apples from otherorchards nearby to augment his own. He uses his own press to extractthe juice of these apples, and then lets the yeasts get to work fermentingit – just as nature intended.

One bright and pleasant evening in May a group of us paid John avisit on his farm to present him with his award. The accompanyingphotograph shows John (on the right) receiving it from branch chairmanRichard Brooks in front of a gate to the orchard. The visit also gave usthe opportunity to sample and purchase some of the Janet’s Jungle

Juice and other cider varieties, ranging from medium-sweet to very dry.There was also one that had been maturing for quite some time, andwhich John referred to as his “Super Duper” cider. And it was. And Ihad to have some. And I’m drinking it now as I compose this on mycomputer at home.

So, where can you get West Croft cider yourself? Well, you couldwait for the next Bristol Beer Festival, or seek out other CAMRA beerfestivals which may have some available. Alternatively, you couldalways pay a visit to the farm in Brent Knoll. It’s open to the publicfor cider sales from about 10am to 7pm daily, though may be closedSunday afternoons in the winter. The telephone number should youwish to check, or get directions, is 01278 760762 or 01278 760259.

But what about the pubs? Don’t any of them they stock it on aregular basis? Sadly, the answer (as far as we can ascertain) is no, withone notable exception. That pub is the Coronation, a Hop Back pub inSouthville, Bristol. For some years now the Coronation has beendispensing Janet’s Jungle Juice from a handpump on the bar, and for thisit should be applauded. Many pubs do indeed serve a nice drop of real,traditional cider, but almost always from one of the big producers. It israre indeed to see a cider (or perry) from one of the small farm producerson sale on the bar.

One or two other pubs do stand out from the crowd though, such asthe Cornubia in Bristol which has a changing cider on tap from varioussmall producers. If only more pubs could do the same. If you have apub and can stock a real cider, why not consider taking it from WestCroft or other producers like them? I’m sure your customers wouldappreciate it. Give them a call, or contact us and we’ll offer what advicewe can. SP

Hidden successIN 2003, Gary Lumber – ex-head brewer from Oakhill – started up hisown brewery and called it the Hidden Brewery, hidden away somewherein rural Wiltshire. (Actually, it can be found in Wylye near Salisbury, inDinton Road to be precise.)

Since those early “one-man band” days the company has grown.Four people are now involved in producing and supplying beer to over350 pubs and clubs throughout Wiltshire, Dorset, Hampshire, Devonand Somerset.

Recently they took their beers to the Society of IndependentBrewers South West Festival at Newton Abbot. They won the BestBitter Class, and Reserve Champion of the festival, with their HiddenQuest (4.2 % abv) out of over 230 other beers.

Well done Gary. SP

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Cider SistersIT was good to make contact with a wholeworld of cider fans and keen newcomers at theBristol Beer Festival, where once again wegave sterling service behind the cider-bar. Wewere proud to be part of an all-female crackteam on the Saturday night shift, and as withlast year, were also very pleased to see a lot ofladies on the other side of the bar thoroughlyenjoying the fabulous selection on offer —some of whom could really put it away.

We didn’t learn much over the course ofthe night, but what we did learn was: the bigmen love a drop of the sweet. In fact, thebigger the man the sweeter they seemed to likeit (we even felt one or two would have askedfor a Babycham if they thought they couldhave got away with it).

Freya was able to provide expert advice tothese big fellas, having suddenly and unexpect-edly discovered a taste for sweet cider for thefirst time in her life. Her particular recommen-dations: Gwatkin’s Sweet Stoke and Wilkin’sSweet.

Not to say that this meant she’d lost hertaste for a crafty mix: one of our favourites onthe night was a cocktail of Gwatkin’s SweetStoke and Dry Fox, creating the imaginativelytitled Sweet Fox – verdict: “ooh la la!”.

Others we enjoyed: the Churns YarlingtonMill, Naish and Perry’s Medium. EdgarHarding Dry was a real treat, once again. TheLate Aubrey Allen was unusual in its richness– the cider equivalent of a slice of cake and aglass of port.

Not so popular with us: Rathay’s OldGoat (pretty much what it tasted like) andAbbis, which had a distinct taste of polish.There were a few French ciders on offer, whichwe found a bit empty, but which were verypopular with some of the less committed cidersamplers.

Photo by Richard Brooks... but which ones are the Sisters?The perries went very quickly – there

were only two left for the Saturday night shift,Oliver’s (our favourite – nice and fruity) andHartland’s (not so nice or fruity). Lots ofpeople didn’t know what a perry was butwere keen to try anyway.

In fact, the generally enthusiastic attitudeof our customers could be summed up in thefollowing exchange:

Customer: “I’ll have an Edgar Harding.”Cider sister: “Dry or Medium?”Customer: “Yes please.”

Not everyone was as keen, with one jokerdescribing his choice as “too cidery”!

Some just didn’t seem too sure who theywere or what they were drinking:

Customer: “I’ll have a Boxing Dog.”Cider sister: (pours drink) “There you go.”Customer: “Is that cider?”

But we welcomed them one and all.Our enthusiasm and desire to serve our

readers meant we obviously had to try asmany ourselves as possible, which meant thata lot of the evening was spent in a state ofsome confusion, pouring drinks then asking:“This is nice – what is it?”.

So, a big shout out to our fellow cider bargals, Lesly and Sarah, who made the evening gowith a swing, and to all the cider drinkers anddabblers who gave us so much enjoyment onthe night (with the exception of certainpunters, marked code orange, we can’tremember exactly what that referred to but itwas definitely a cause for concern). If you’llbe there next year (or even if you won’t), weplan to be back – miss it and miss out.

Freya and Erica McLuckieA question for you...WHERE do Pints West, our entries in theGood Beer Guide, Pub Of The Yearawards and even the Bristol BeerFestival originate? To expand thequestion, how do you get onto surveyingtrips to pubs or social trips tobreweries?

The answer is that the Bristol & Districtbranch of CAMRA is an open, democraticorganisation and is based around monthlybranch meetings. These are held in pubs andmembers are welcome (and encouraged) toattend. So if you want to find out what we aredoing and why we are doing it, come to abranch meeting. They do include beer breaksand normally start at 8pm and finish before10pm, to allow for some social time after-wards.

RaspberriesTHE latest beer to be brewed by ZeroDegrees in Bristol is a fruity concoctionmade with raspberries. This beer – veryred with a pink head – is made with theaddition of a substantial quantity ofraspberry puree. The resulting beer is lesssweet that the earlier mango beer; in fact itis fairly sour, and if you like sour – as Icertainly do – it makes for a very nice,refreshing drink. It’s brewed to a strengthof 4.6 per cent if you want to know.

SP

Without the structure of branch meetingsno local campaigning would be organised andyou wouldn’t now be reading a newsletterdetailing some of things that we get up to!

Input from members is appreciated,although you won’t be forced to take an activerole if you would rather just observe.

The next meetings are as follows:Wednesday, 22nd June - Branch AGM atHorts City Tavern, Broad Street, centralBristol.Wednesday, 27th July - Branch meeting atthe Mayor’s Arms, Clarence Road, Redcliffe.Wednesday, 23rd August - Branch meeting atHorts City Tavern, Broad Street, centralBristol.

Hope to see you at one of them.Richard Brooks

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Local CAMRA web site : www.camrabristol.org.uk

We’ve lost our pub!

16

Watering Holes in the Desertnews from Weston-super-Mare

Pints Weston

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Weston Whispers(pub and beer news)WE have been contacted by Weston-super-Mare Cricket Club on Devonshire Road,who were keen to report improvements intheir beer range. Ex-Champion Beer of Britain,Deuchars IPA from the Caledonian brewery ofEdinburgh, has been introduced as a permanentoffering and has apparently gone down verywell with the members. It sits alongside theslightly nearer offering of Butcombe Bitter andan additional changing guest beer.

Our man with his nose pressed up againstthe window at the refurbished Woodspring inWorle reports that the lonely Bass is nowaccompanied by Wadworth 6X and a guestbeer – usually Butcombe Bitter.

For those who can’t stay at the pub forlong and want some real ale at home, TheRaglan now offers the facility of a 4-pintcarry-out.

There is a theory amongst some publicansthat customers don’t like stronger beers. Thisdoesn’t seem to be the case at The Ashcombe.Landlord Pete Boyer saw a cask of RCH’s 5%ABV East Street Cream disappear well beforeclosing time on RCH Day, Saturday 30 April,with a second cask being drunk dry on theSunday and the bulk of a third going on theBank Holiday Monday. His regulars love it somuch that Pete is trying to get the pubcompany that owns The Ashcombe to allow itin on a regular basis.

A healthy contingent of local CAMRAmembers joined forces with some of Off TheRails’ real ale crowd to form a 16-man party,led by OTR landlord Colin Hicks, thattravelled to Newton Abbot on the Friday ofthe annual Maltings Beer Festival. Thisevent only features beers from South Westbreweries, but still produces a fantastic rangeof beer styles, with almost 200 different beersto choose from this year. You really shouldmake this event a “must” in your diary andjoin the Weston party in 2006. Look out fordetails in future editions of Pints West.

A recent Weston CAMRA branch socialcomprised of a minibus outing along the A368(Bath Road). First stop was the furthest pubvisited on the evening, the Ring O’Bells inCompton Martin. This excellently run pub isowned by Butcombe and has been a GoodBeer Guide regular for many years. It hassomething for everyone, with a large no-smoking eating area, an excellent family room,and it still retains some great nooks and

crannies for people that just want a drink (anda fag). It is a great place to settle in front of itsreal fire in winter and there is a lovely gardenfor summer days. The beers (all in topcondition) were Butcombe Bitter, Blonde andGold. The guest beer was Wadworth 6X. Ican heartily recommend the Ring O’Bells foran afternoon out on August Bank HolidayMonday. A top-quality lunch at prices thatput most village pubs to shame, followed byan afternoon lazing in the garden enjoying alive band (John Fenlon’s Blues Band last year)and a pig roast, all accompanied by great ale.Bliss.

Next stop on our trip was nearby Ubley.Ubley lost its only pub several years ago. Afew of the locals have got together to trans-form the Village Hall on the first Friday ofeach month into “Ubley Publy.” As the namesuggests, for one day a month the villagers gettheir own pub and this is well supported.Happily most of the organizers of thisinitiative are real ale connoisseurs and a cask ofale is always featured. On the evening of ourvisit this was Liberation, a 4.5% abv mid-brown beer from Thwaites brewery ofBlackburn. The hospitality was muchenjoyed. My task of getting people out andback on to the bus was much harder than usual– one or two said that they could have happilystayed there all evening. As it turned out, theLiberation was regarded by most as the bestbeer of the evening.

Look out for the 3rd Chew Valley BeerFestival to be held at Ubley Village Hall onthe 9th and 10th of September.

A minibus will be running from Weston onthe Friday evening of the festival – moredetails in the next Pints West.

Heading back towards Weston, we nextstopped at The New Inn, Blagdon. This is aWadworth-owned pub and the beers on were6X and Henry’s IPA. We got chatting to a

couple of locals who have migrated from SouthLondon to a house across the road from TheNew Inn. They were great advocates for thecustomer service at the pub. When thehusband (Wally Mears) was housebound witha bad knee, jugs of beer were delivered to hisbedside. Interestingly, The New Inn has beentotally no-smoking since the beginning ofMarch. The landlord reports that trade hasslightly increased since then. This is perhapsnot totally surprising, as Blagdon is a villagefortunate enough to have four pubs and alicensed club, so there is plenty of choice forthe lucky residents.

On leaving The New Inn there was somedebate over whether to go to the nearbyQueen Adelaide or the Seymour Arms, bothin Blagdon. Eventually we decided to splitinto two groups and visit both. I joined theAdelaide party. No real regrets. The localButcombe Bitter was good. Other beers onwere Marston’s Pedigree and Bass. It wasalso pleasing to see real cider from Thatcher’s,based about five miles away from Blagdon.The Seymour Arms party reported that inaddition to a few commonly-seen beers therewas an interesting guest – Lady Of The Lakefrom the Glastonbury brewery.

Last stop of the evening was The Crown,Churchill. A safe banker to finish at, as almosteveryone loves this pub, which is one of thegems of the area. However, nine beers wereavailable and given this number the variety interms of styles and strengths was a bitdisappointing – and can someone tell me whatpunter wants to pay £2.60 for a pint ofButcombe Gold? Nevertheless, beer qualitywas very good, as indeed it was all evening. Icannot recall hearing anyone complain aboutthe quality of anything they drunk.

There are loads of good pubs out there –check them out.

Tim Nickolls

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Pints WestonA Round with RobinWITH discussion about pub openingtimes and the re-invention of Dr Who, Ithought that this would be a good time toexamine clocks in pubs.

This piece is from Jerome.K.Jerome’sbook “Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow”:

By the way, how awkward it is havingto depend on public houses and churchesfor the time. The former are generally toofast and the latter too slow. Besideswhich, your efforts to get a glimpse of thepub clock from the outside are attendedwith great difficulties. If you gently pushthe door ajar and peer in, you draw uponyourself the contemptuous looks of thebarmaid, who at once puts you down inthe same category as cadgers. You don’tsee the clock because it is behind thedoor; and, in trying you jamb your head.The only other method is to jump up anddown outside the window. After thisproceeding, however, if you do not bringout a banjo and commence to sing, theyouthful inhabitants of the populationwho have gathered round in expectationbecome disappointed.

I wonder if you have noticed wherepub clocks are in those pubs you fre-quent, or perhaps you have a wrist watch.

In Weston-super-Mare, the Regency,Off the Rails, and the Dragon all have twoclocks in one bar. In the street-level bar ofthe Cabot the clock was only visible at theend of the bar – I almost think it was therefor the benefit of the staff. In the loungebar of the Raglan Arms there is no clock,nor could I see one recently when attend-ing a mini beer festival at the George Inn

at Middlezoy.This, by the way, was an excellent little

festival with 26 ales named from A to Z(Milk Street brew Amarillo to Moorbrewery’s ZZZ). Three of us from thesub-branch walked there from Bridgwateron the Saturday lunchtime and all but onebeer were still on despite 400 pints havingbeen drunk the previous day. The photoshows us in front of the casks.

Another good festival attendedrecently was the SIBA Champion Alesheld at Horts Tavern, in Bristol. Again weattended Saturday lunchtime, which wasvery quiet, but the place had been heav-ing on the Friday night. All the SIBAbeers were £2 a pint, and our favourites

were the Hawkshead Gold and Wolf’sWoild Moild.

Tim Nickolls in his column in the lastedition of Pints West made mention of thepossibility of a new brewery in Weston-super-Mare. Regrettably I have no newson that, but to put the record straight onother breweries in Weston I quote fromthe Avon Extensive Urban Areas Survey(sponsored by English Heritage): “Twobreweries have been identified, though itseems probable that brewing also tookplace on the premises of some publichouses, inns and hotels. In 1838, ThomasLocock operated a brewery on the cornerof Worthy Place, opposite the Market. Itis not known how long this brewery wasin operation, but it is not mentioned in theearliest Directory so far examined, from1859, and the site had been built over by1885. It was shown however on the 1838tithe map. Thomas Locock was advertis-ing his brewery in 1843 as ‘opposite therailway station’ but it transpired from laterevidence that this was probably situatedin the Victoria Hotel as Thomas Locockwas the Landlord there in 1840 (shown inThe Westonian). The railway station atthis time was in Alexandra Parade, and theVictoria Hotel was demolished to makeway for the new Post Office. In 1843 theWestonian reported a beer, ale and porterbrewery set up in the High Street byAlbert Printer. The business flourishedbut it is not referred to in the Directory of1859, so did not survive for long. Weknow that the unfortunate Printer wasdeclared bankrupt on 19 July 1856 due tobad debt (Weston Gazette)”.

It is perhaps not so unusual that theRCH brewery was started in a hotel afterall.

Robin E Wild

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Pints Weston

RCH Brewery

Guest Beers and Beer Festivals catered for

""""" P.G. Steam""""" Pitchfork""""" East Street Cream""""" Firebox

Brewers of award-wining beers including

West HewishNr Weston-super-Mare

Tel: 01934-834447

THE award-winning RCH Brewery, located inWest Hewish just outside Weston-super-Mare, celebrated their 21st birthday onSaturday, 30th April. Despite the high qualityof their beers, they are not easy to find inpubs, even in the local area. The WestonCAMRA sub-branch decided to put this right– for one day at least.

On Saturday, 30th April, each of the sevenbeers regularly made by the brewery wasavailable at a designated pub in Weston.Organised jointly by the brewery and localCAMRA member Tim Nickolls, this was anexcellent and probably unique opportunity tosample the full range of RCH beers in one day,and to those completing the “tour”, a t-shirtwas given depicting the 21st Anniversary Alelogo.

The beers and pubs involved were:

! Hewish IPA at Off The Rails, WestonRailway Station! PG Steam at the Cabot Bars, KnightstoneRoad! Pitchfork at the White Hart, Palmer Row! Old Slug Porter at the Raglan, UpperChurch Road! East Street Cream at the Ashcombe,Ashcombe Road

! Double Header at the Regency, LowerChurch Road! Firebox at the Dragon Inn, MeadowStreet

In addition, RCH’s monthly special brewSteampole was available at the Dragon Inn, andRCH 21 – a beer specially brewed to com-memorate the brewery’s birthday – wasavailable at Off The Rails and the Dragon Inn.

Saturday was a bright sunny day and thosewho tried all or at least some of the beers camefrom far and wide. We know of CAMRAmembers from Devon, Somerset, Bristol andGloucester, as well as members from the sub-branch of Weston-super-Mare, who attended.There were also regulars from the Raglan andAshcombe pubs, and Lou & Nigel (normallyGuinness drinkers) and Nick & Tash (usuallylager drinkers) from the White Hart weretrying the beers too. Many people just out forthe day and regulars of the other pubs tried theRCH beers on offer, all at special low pricesfor the day.

At 1.30pm at the Regency, a presentationwas made to the RCH Brewery party of aframed certificate (produced by CAMRA HQ)with members of the local press in attendance.A good crowd at the Regency enjoyed the

Double Header at£1.50 a pint (manypeople’s favouritebeer of the day),although the 5.2%ABV was felt a bitstrong by one of themembers of the press,who drunk a coupleof pints on an empty

stomach!In the evening many of the members of the

sub-branch gravitated to the Raglan for the OldSlug Porter, whilst at the Ashcombe the RCHBrewery party was in full swing. These twoestablishments were the depositories for the t-shirts: a total of 33 were earned over thecourse of the day. The lucky recipientsincluded people from Cheltenham, Tiverton,Cullompton, Birmingham, Bristol and Reading.The Reading visitor was seen by localCAMRA stalwart, “Gunner” Graham Teague,proudly wearing his “RCH 21st Anniversary”t-shirt the following day at the Reading BeerFestival. Three drinkers from Weston seemedproud of their achievement in completing theroute in double-quick time, annotating theircompleted passports “2.50pm!”. It is notknown whether they then commenced on asecond circuit for an extra t-shirt.

As a general rule it is always difficult tojudge the success of these kinds of events, butsome sort of measurement can be taken fromthe amount of beer sold on the weekend. Forexample, the Regency, not known for sellingbeers stronger than 4.4%, sold its first barrelby 8pm, as also did Off The Rails, and theAshcombe by 9pm! The White Hart, withmost of its regulars not known for imbibingreal ales, sold its first barrel by Sundaylunchtime.

All in all a great day enjoyed by thelicensees, Westoners and visitors alike.

For those who missed out, the Raglan isholding an RCH Weekend from 24 to 26 June.Five RCH beers will be available and the first20 people having a pint of each will get a freeRCH t-shirt.

Robin E Wild

RCH Brewery – 21st birthdaycelebrations at Weston-super-Mare

THE WINDMILL INNPORTISHEAD ~ GENUINE FREEHOUSE

6Real Ales in excellent conditionincluding Courage Best, Bass,Butcombe Gold, RCH Pitchfork

and 2 other guest ales.

In fact if you are not completely satisfied with thequality of the beer served, we will exchange itimmediately for any other no questions asked.

The Windmill Inn is situated next to thePortishead Approach Golf Course on Nore Road.

To contact us please ring 01275 843677.

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Pints Weston

Newman’s Brewery has recently developednew branding for all its beers. This is part ofthe drive to expand the brewery and get itsbeers further afield. At the time of writing thebrewery is very close to clinching the purchaseof a site in nearby Yatton to relocate thebrewery from its small domestic operation inBanwell.

Tom Newman hopes that the newoperation will be up and running in aroundeight weeks following completion and it willallow a much greater brewing capacity than iscurrently possible. Once satisfied that all iswell with the relocation, Tom plans to hold aninaugural beer festival at the new brewery lateron this summer. Watch this space (WateringHoles in the Desert) for further info.

Sales have grown steadily all year and lookset to continue to rise in the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile The Castle Tavern atKewstoke (just outside of WsM) is continuingto flourish as the brewery tap, boasting agrowing reputation for quality fresh food.

Other Banwell newsI understand the lease of The Bell was

sold a few months ago and is now in the handsof new tenants. This Enterprise Inn has hadalways had a loyal following and it is hopedthat the policy of maintaining a locally brewedguest beer will continue.

Exciting news at The Brewers just aroundthe corner. Rob, who previously ran the Bellhas acquired the Brewers and has great plansto breathe new life into this once extremely

popular establishment. As locals will probablyknow, it is currently closed as work hasalready started to completely refurbish theplace inside and out with a planned reopeningaround Whit weekend.

Rob hopes to resurrect this sleeping giantby serving four real ales and, with his enthusi-asm for motor cycles, hopes he will attract thebiking fraternity to visit ‘his new baby.’

Things are still moving steadily at TheWhistling Duck, still the only regular outletfor the excellent Adnams Broadside for at leasta 20-mile radius to my knowledge. Check outthe new initiative to sell all beers at a reducedprice early evening. Go visit for details.

Maltings Beer Festival, Tuckers Malting,Newton Abbot, Devon

Shame if you missed it — what a greatday out. ’Nuff said.

Did anyone visit The Woolpack at St.George’s a few months back and try thewonderful Tally Ho! Strong Dark Ale, 5.5%ABV, brewed by Palmers? What a crackingpint that is! Well done to the Woolpack forgiving that a run during the winter. More beerslike this s’il vous plait.

And finallyAnyone interested in joining the debate

over the alternative CAMRA? See the nextissue of Watering Holes in the Desert forthoughts on my CAMpaign for Real Air!Considerate smokers and landlords welcome.

Steve Reed

Reed writes.....on Newman’s Brewery

OVER 200 pubs close in Britain everyyear and, on the rare occasion when anew one opens, it tends to be a ghastlytown centre joint aiming to get under25s plastered a.s.a.p. and often notbothering with stocking any real ale.Therefore, it is very pleasing to reportthe opening of a new pub in the Westonarea that is pleasant to visit and seemsgenuinely committed to real ale – localales at that.

The Ebdon Arms is part of Wick St.Lawrence, which has mushroomed hugely inrecent years and is now well and truly part ofWeston’s “urban sprawl” (I am convinced thatin a hundred years time Weston will bephysically joined with Bristol). The pub is avery large building, taking up a sizeableportion of a retail centre that has beenestablished to service the large new housingdevelopments in the area. It has a large carpark and bus route 5A stops outside.

When approaching the pub for the firsttime, I was pleased to see “local cask condi-tioned real ales” on the signage at both the

Welcome… the Ebdon Arms

Weston Diary!!!!! Wednesday 15 June – Bath Crawl.Train from Weston at 18.35 (subject toSummer timetable). This train stops atMilton and Worle.!!!!! Friday 24-Sunday 26 June – RCHWeekend at The Raglan. 5 beers fromRCH available at all times.!!!!! Friday 1 July – Claverham BeerFestival, Claverham Village Hall. Servicebus 353 from Weston. Departs towncentre at 19.35.!!!!! Wednesday 20 July – Seaside Saun-ter. Flying visits to 7 venues on or nearthe seafront. First stop will be TheCaptain’s Cabin at 8.00, then Daunceys at8.25.!!!!! Wednesday 17 August – Two-venuetown social. Starting at The Bristol Hotelat 8.00, moving on to The Ashcombe at9.00.Non-members welcome at all ofthe above events.

ContactTim Nickolls - 01934 628996 (eves)or email [email protected]

front and rear of the premises. I was a bitsurprised when the first three handpumps thatI saw were Bass, Fuller’s London Pride andEverard’s Tiger – none of which are brewedwithin 100 miles of Wick. However, my eyeslit up when I moved on to the next bank ofhandpumps which housed two beers fromRCH Brewery – Hewish IPA and East StreetCream. No problems there with the “local”definition – the RCH Brewery cannot be muchmore than a mile away from the Ebdon Arms.

I met Steve Beasley, who has taken overthe pub in partnership with Rose Cunningham.Steve has moved to Wick from Leicester wherehe managed an Everard’s pub for 14 years.Steve seems very committed to real ale. In hisown words: “I pride myself in keeping a goodcellar.” Steve said that the two RCH beerswould be permanent beers, along with the Bassand two guest beers. The pub is owned byCeltic Inns, a Hampshire-based group whoown about 70 pubs mostly in Wales. Celticare owned by Coors (of Colorado, USA)which apparently means that the Bass is acompulsory beer to stock, although Bass is

brewed by Interbrew (of Belgium). Ain’t lifesimple!

Celtic are good supporters of real ale, but Iasked Steve whether he felt that there wouldbe enough local demand to justify five real aleson a permanent basis. I was particularlyconcerned over the East Street Cream, abrilliant beer but a bit strong for many tastes at5 per cent ABV. Steve’s reply was that hewould have to wait and see whether five couldbe sustained, but the early signs have beenvery good. The pub only opened on 29thApril and when I met Steve ten days later, hehad sold six casks of East Street Cream andhad successfully got through four differentguest beers during the first week of business.The omens appear good and on my two visitsthe RCH beers have been in perfect condition.

As with any sensible modern pub, theEbdon is seeking to provide something to suita range of potential customers. The mainlounge is a vast area, with a large no-smokingarea. The room is bright and airy. There isquite a strong (but not over-bearing) focus onfood. There is also a dozen-strong wine list.They offer a local real cider – currentlyThatcher’s Heritage. There is a separate roomthat houses a pool table and skittle alley. Ifyou like to drink outside, there is a patio areaat the front of the pub and an enclosed gardenat the rear.

The opening of the Ebdon Arms is awelcome addition to the local real ale scene (tomy knowledge it is the only pub in the areathat stocks East Street Cream on a permanentbasis) and I hope it proves to be well-supported by the local community and also byreal ale drinkers from Weston and Worle.

Tim Nickolls

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Island in the sea By your Nailsea correspondentLaurie Gibney

Island in the Sea

“New” pub in Flax BourtonThe Dew Drop Inn dropped into the local

pub scene on Friday 8th April, being a veryheavily disguised and “made over” renamedJubilee Inn, which was closed for only fourdays. Outside and at the front the new pubname is evident as is the pub company nameof “Eldridge Pope”. Also a couple of pergolaswith hanging baskets and some potted palmsilluminated at night serve to welcome you in.The garden has been provided with a coveredpatio and an extension to the kitchens isplanned.

Inside, there used to be steps down fromthe bar then up to the main eating and sittingareas. There are now no steps down as youleave the bar to make life easier for disabledcustomers and those carrying drinks or food.The shallow steps up to the eating anddrinking areas might have been eliminated alsobut would have needed serious structuralalterations. Clever use of mirrors gives the pubmore depth; potted plants, books, pictures andstuffed birds and fish in glass boxes partiallyhide the mirrors.

Michael Cannon bought the Eldridge Popepub chain that leased the Jubilee from Enter-

prise Inns last year. The pub has been under-performing for some years and CAMRA wereconcerned that it might close and be sold offfor other uses. Maybe Michael had a soft spotfor the Jubilee because it was his Dad’s local,or thought that being on a busy major road justoutside of Bristol and given the right make-over it must succeed!

We welcome managers Sharon (a Devongirl) and Carl (an Essex boy) Brockington, withbaby Vincent just six months old, to the DewDrop Inn and wish the venture every success.They previously spent four years at the KingWilliam Ale House in King Street, Bristol – aSamuel Smith house but with no real ale. Atthe Dew Drop Inn Carl will be able at last touse his skills looking after cask ale again. Onthe opening night the cask ale was CourageBest, Butcombe Bitter and Marston’sPedigree, but it is intended to provide avarying cask ale range to include local ales.Thanks to John and Christine from Coventryand others for keeping the pub going over thelast few months since “Rich & Mel” movedon.

An extensive menu is offered under thebanner of “H. J. Wellfed’s” including tapas,

fish, vegetarian, salads,roasters, grills, curries,pies, bar snacks,children’s meals, and atlimited times “241”steaks and over-55’soffers, plus specials ofthe day. Phone 01275462741 to book a table.

Another new nameandmanagement

The Battleaxes atWraxall has now beenrenamed the NewBattle Axe. The pubwas built by the Gibbsfamily whose nearbyfamily seat Tyntesfield,and part of the estate,has recently been takenover by the NationalTrust and is well wortha visit.

The pub was part ofa small group that hasgone through variousownerships in recentyears, and was boughtlast October by Pannaand Kemar Patel whosuccessfully run thePatco Supermarket inWells Road, Bristol. Atthe same time, Panna

and Kemar purchased the Gleneagles Hotel inTorquay, which was the original inspirationfor the Fawlty Towers TV comedy starringJohn Cleese and Prunella Scales.

Alistaire and Julie Scott managed theBattleaxes for seven years through thick andthin times and left recently, moving to Surrey.Andy Charlock, who was a Wetherspoon’smanager in Weston-super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea took over management of the NewBattle Axe in April.

The popular carvery will continue to beserved in the restaurant together with two-for-one offers at quiet times and the à la cartemenu. A range of meals and snacks are alsoavailable in the bar. Local produce is usedwherever possible.

A drinks supply deal has been struck withScottish Courage, so Courage Best hasreplaced Bass. The other real ale will beprovided from a local brewery, which presum-ably rules out the previously-stocked SmilesBest because that is now brewed in Walsall.Newman’s Wolver’s Ale from Banwellcurrently occupies the second pump and isproving very popular. Andy is keen to add athird real ale pump, so support the New BattleAxe and suggest what third real ale you wouldlike to see on the bar – Newman’s Cave BearStout perhaps?

New faces at the White LionWelcome to Louise and Nikki who have

taken over the license of the Enterprise Inn’sWhite Lion in Silver Street, Nailsea. They haveretained the real ale range of Courage Best andButcombe Bitter and have introduced a varyingguest ale, starting with Sharp’s Doom Bar.

Nikki’s previous experience in the licensetrade was at the Windhover Chapel Bramptonin Northamptonshire, a Vintage Inn that alsoruns the Dovecote, ex-Smyth Arms at Ashton,and Priory at Portbury. Louise is a Nailsea girland her parents Roy and Joan Thomas havelived in Nailsea, Yatton and Wraxall during thepast fifty years. The previous licensees Craigand Cherona have gone abroad.

Food is now served at the White Lion from12 to 2.30 and 6 to 9pm except on Mondays,and from 12 to 4pm on Sundays. The menuprices range from £3 to a sirloin steak at £6.95.Their beef and Butcombe pie is very popular.Telephone 01275 852776 for more details.

Real ale popular at the Mizzymead Club,Nailsea

Unlike some other clubs, the MizzymeadClub’s real ale is very popular, supportingCourage Best and Butcombe Bitter plus avarying guest beer. Club manager JackieThursby and cellarman Tony Freeman recentlyundertook an S&N sponsored cellarmanship

THE CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALECHAMPION BEER OF BRITAIN 2003GOLD MEDAL WINNERSTRONG BITTER CATEGORY.

ADNAMS BROADSIDE. BEER FROM THE COAST.

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Island in the Seacourse; the manual and DVD of the course wasvery comprehensive.

Every week the club sells four nine-galloncasks of Butcombe Bitter, two and a half ofCourage Best and two of a guest beer from theS&N’s Cellarman’s Reserve list. Low-alcoholicand dark ales sell particularly well. Themembership fee of £9 per year is soon saved inlower drink prices with guest beers beingpriced from £1.70 for lower strength ales to£2.10 per pint for 5% beers. Nineteen differentales have featured in the last three months,some being re-ordered because they sold soquickly.

CongratulationsCongratulations to Maureen Buchaly,

licensee of the Courtyard Wine Bar in Nailsea,who has been admitted as a Fellow of theBritish Institute of Innkeeping, and to RonPeters, licensee of the Sawyers Arms, Nailsea,who has been made a Companion of theBritish Institute of Innkeeping for services tothe industry over many years. Also, toScottish Courage who are the first brewer aftermany years campaigning by Ron Peters andothers to show the brewery price increases asa percentage of the price before duty, insteadof hiding the real increase by quoting theirincrease as a percentage of the inclusive-of-duty price.

North Somerset’s beer and ciderfestival

Put a date in your diary: the Nailsea &Backwell Rugby Club will be holding a secondbeer festival at their ground in North Street,Nailsea from 15th to 17th July. This is a fund-raising event too, and local businesses areinvited to sponsor a cask of beer to raise fundsfor the club and the chosen charity, which isthe Children’s Hospice South West, more-familiarly known as Babe’s Big Appeal.

The festival is open on Friday 15th Julyfrom 6 to 11pm, Saturday 16th from noon to11pm, and Sunday 17th from noon to 9pm,with over 50 different, reasonably-priced beersand ciders. There is also children’s entertain-ment, toss the caber, live bands throughout theweekend, disco Saturday evening, and a tagrugby tournament. Advance tickets will cost£4 and include a commemorative glass,programme, tasting notes and a first beer.Parking is free but the nearest bus is First Bus354 (662/3 on Sunday) – ask for BlackfriarsRoad. Tickets should be available from theGrove Stores, Nailsea, the Corner Stores,Kingshill, Samuel Bird TV and Video, Nailsea,or from the Rugby Club (call 01275 810818).More info on the club web sitewww.appelfest.ik.com for the festival or viatheir main web site www.nbrfc.ik.com.

Courage Best gone!

Butcombe Bitter, Fuller’s London Prideand Adnam’s Broadside are so popular at theMoorend Spout that they have stoppedstocking Courage Best. Many CAMRA

members will be saying hooray for that! Overthe years Courage Best has lost its sparkle,particularly after brewing moved from Bristolto Yorkshire, and there are now so many othercraft-brewed ales to choose from. TheMoorend Spout is now owned by PunchTavern, which purchased the Innspired Group.A barbecue with jazz band during the after-noon of the Spring Bank Holiday, Monday30th May, is planned to be held in the garden.

Away from NailseaAfter too long a break I called in at the

Angel in Long Ashton, which used to be one ofmy favourite Smiles pubs. When Smiles sold itto Young’s they put it up for sale and it wasbought locally as a free house with a managerin charge. The owner Tony Vile and partnerSian Powell now manage the pub themselves,supported by a lovely one-year-old bullmastifdog Alfie, who is friendly when the pub isopen but knows to be on guard when “TimePlease” is called.

Tony and Sian have retained the Angelmuch as it has been for years with a good localcountry pub atmosphere. Good food is onoffer as well as a real ale line-up of Bass,Courage Best and Butcombe Bitter, plus avarying guest beer preferably from a localbrewery. Butcombe Gold had just run out onmy visit and a Cotleigh beer fromWiveliscombe was due to be available the nextday.

I had heard that the Old Inn in WaltonRoad, Clevedon now offered good real ale sojust had to visit! Lesley Butler and Jamie havebeen in charge there since last summer andoffer Courage Best and Old Speckled Henregularly with one or two guest ales. As ifrunning a busy pub is not enough, Lesley haskindly offered to distribute Pints West aroundpubs in Clevedon if no-one else volunteers.

Toni Antoni, ex-licensee of the Regent inHill Road, Clevedon which I reported in thelast Pints West is to close down for good, hastaken over with his wife Christine at the Moon& Sixpence in Beach Lawns, Clevedon. Weexpect to find an excellent pint of award-winning Greene King IPA and other GreeneKing ales at the Moon & Sixpence which isone of their pubs. Of course Toni will beoffering excellent cuisine as well.

Short measureDuring the recent election campaign Dr

Liam Fox MP for Woodspring (NorthSomerset) listed “beer” as one of the things heenjoys, however he does not support theCAMRA “Honest Pints” campaign. Dr Foxargues that it would cost £250m a year toprotect you from being given short measure –forgive me if I am a little naive but don’t weelect our MPs to protect us from retailers whogive short measure of any kind, through“Consumer Protection” departments of localgovernment (Weights & Measures Depart-ments to those over a certain age like me) not“Consumer Deception” by pretending that“Pints” are being served whereas 5% of itwould legally be froth if Dr Fox has his way.Most drinkers probably thought their pintmeasure was protected by the ConsumerProtection legislation already, in which case,Dr Fox, what has been done with the £250million “extra cost” which should have beenspent on protecting us in the past? Dr Fox isone of a about 30 Conservative MPs who aresupporting the labour government proposedlegislation reducing our pints to 95% of a fullmeasure although about 300 mostly LabourMPs have signed an early day motion oppos-ing it.

And finally...I have been “asked” why I don’t often

feature news from the pubs reputed to be mostpopular with real ale drinkers in this area suchas the Old Barn at Wraxall, the Blue Flame atWest End, Nailsea, and the Black Horse atClapton in Gordano, which all serve beer bygravity from casks behind the bar. There arevarious reasons. I don’t drive so getting tosome places is difficult; I try and cover aboutthirty pubs and clubs in the area; I rely on tipsabout news items and get very few from thesethree pubs (if you have any news item ideasplease contact me via the editor of PintsWest); I am a volunteer and personally prefermy ale dispensed from a cellar; but above all Ijoined the Campaign for Real Ale so prefer tocampaign where drinkers need to be encour-aged to try real ale and licensees need encour-agement not to reduce their commitment to realale.

Laurie Gibney

LAMPLIGHTERS(Riverside Bar)

Station Road, ShirehamptonBristol BS11 9XA Tel: 0117 9823549

(2 mins Shire station)

Real AlesHomemade FoodSunday Lunches

Quiz Night Sunday 9pmOpen Mon-Sat 11-3 / 6-11

All day Sunday

The Victoria(next to the Clifton Pool)

Butcombe BitterWadworth 6Xguest ales planned

2 Southleigh Road, Clifton0117 - 9745675

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READING about the Fat Cat in Norwich in the recent issue of What’sBrewing gave a sudden jolt of misty eyed déjà vu. My wife tells me thatshe always has to take me somewhere three times. The second time isto apologise and the third to clear up. So far I have been to the Fat Cattwice and the second time was to apologise.

I had heard that this pub was a gem and on a visit to Norwich a fewyears ago I was determined to seek the place out and try a few. On anorganised trip to the city I managed to procure a lift to the centre withstrict instructions to be back at the centre about one and a half hourslater for the lift back. Fine, except that the walk out to the pub tookabout half an hour leaving. Aaahhh….. only 30 minutes for a pint!

“Never mind,” I thought, “this should not be a problem.” And itwasn’t, until I got through the front door and saw what seemed to be alist of 30 real ales available. I did not count but was reassured by theWhat’s Brewing article to see that my impression was right. Oh well, atleast it was an opportunity to try a few in the time available so aselection was made, a half served and followed immediately by anincreasingly frantic search for my wallet.

It just was not my day. Very red faced I had to admit that I had leftthe wallet back at base. The bar maid was, however, very understandingand allowed me to have the half anyway. I handed over all my smallchange (barely 50p) and tried to look inconspicuous. Shortly afterwardthe second bar maid came over and expressed concern over my prob-lems. My thoughts were, “Stroll on, has my luck changed?” She toldme that another customer had bought her a pint and would I like it. Myluck had changed and I gratefully accepted her offer.

I paid my second visit last year, paid my outstanding account andspent a very, very, very happy two hours there playing cribbage withsome friends. Pity the bar maid wasn’t there though!

I am now looking for a third visit to clear up.Phill the Pint

Fat Cat apology

Celebrations were the order of the day recently at the Old Green Tree inGreen Street, Bath. This gem of a pub, a must visit on any trip to Bath,made party on March 16th having been awarded the status of “Pub ofthe Year” by the Bath and Borders branch of CAMRA.

Even though the place is very small it more than makes up for it bythe quality of the interior (a feast for the eye) and the quality of thebeer. While not being my favourite tipple this pub always puts on astout or porter which I feel is an important selection principle oftenignored by other establishments. The others are typically Pitchfork,Bob, Old Green Tree and two guests, usually local. And on top of thatthey have the best selection of single malt whiskies that I have seen inBath.

My only frustration is that I have not been able to get them to admitwhere the Old Green Tree session bitter is made.

Phill the Pint

The Old Green Tree

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Muslim beer?International reports say that Dutch

brewer Heineken has decided to invest ina Muslim beer in Morocco. An alcohol-free beer called Fayrouz, brewed in Egyptby Heineken’s subsidiary, Al AhramBeverages Company (ABC), is to beavailable this summer. They may not beable to drink real ale there, but you haveto start somewhere....

Norman Spalding

Not that Fat CatTHOSE of you who keep abreast of CAMRAactivities at national level will be aware thatthe Fat Cat in Norwich has recently beenawarded the accolade of National Pub of theYear for the second time (the first time wasback in 1998).

I have only visited this fine pub once –several years ago when holidaying in Norfolk –and can certainly vouch for its well-deservedreputation for fine ale and lots of it. Indeed, itwas one of the six best pubs in Great Britainas recently chosen by Vince Murray of BristolCAMRA based on his extensive travels aroundthe country (see the Winter 04/05 edition ofPints West).

However, there are no doubt several goodpubs called the Fat Cat in the Good BeerGuide and my personal favourite is the one inSheffield, which is the tap for the KelhamIsland Brewery that brews Pale Rider,currently Champion Beer of Britain. Hailingfrom nearby Doncaster, the Fat Cat was afavourite haunt during my formative drinkingyears and is still a regular fixture on mydrinking itinerary when returning up north.

Located in Alma Street (the nearest tramstop is Shalesmoor) in what was once an areaof heavy industry which is now undergoingurban re-development, this Fat Cat (originallythe Alma) was purchased from Bass in 1981.The idea was to provide a real alternative tothe pubs owned by the big breweries thatdominated the city at that time.

A range of beers was introduced that werenew to the area. Prominence was given tobeers from small independent breweries and aguest beer policy was introduced, the first everin Sheffield, which allowed a wide range ofchoice. It was the first outlet in Sheffield forbeers from Boddington’s, Fuller’s, GreeneKing, Marston’s, Theakston’s and TimothyTaylor.

Traditional cider, fruit wines, draughtBelgian beers and bottled beers were alsogradually introduced. A non-smoking roomwas introduced, the first in the area, and openfires were re-introduced for winter. It wasdecided to have no music, fruit machines orother electronic games machines. Home-cooked food was made available, with a menu

that always has a choice for those wantingmeat, fish, vegetarian, vegan or gluten-freefood.

In 1990, David Wickett became the soleowner of the pub and decided to construct theKelham Island Brewery in a small building inthe pub’s garden. Due to its success, thebrewery moved in 1999 to purpose-builtpremises alongside the pub.

Regular beers include Bitter, Gold, EasyRider and the aforementioned Pale Rider.Since the brewery opened, all four of Shef-field’s large breweries have closed: Whit-bread’s old Tennants Brewery; Bass’ Hopeand Anchor Brewery; Bass’ Stones Breweryand Wards.

At the Great British Beer Festival held atOlympia in August 2004, Kelham IslandBrewery won Champion Beer of Britain withPale Rider (5.2% ABV), a well-balanced,straw-coloured pale ale flavoured with NorthAmerican hops. This award presented thebrewery with a dilemma: how to meet thevastly increased demand for Pale Rider in abrewery working at nominal full capacity.

To avoid the need to have the beercontract-brewed by another brewery under thesame name, the pragmatic decision was madeto get Ridley’s Brewery of Chelmsford in

Essex, who had spare capacity, to brew thebeer to the same recipe but with a differentname (Pale Island). Thus there is no confusionat the point of dispense; Pale Rider is brewedin Sheffield and Pale Island is brewed inChelmsford. Initial tastings indicate that thetwo beers are indistinguishable.

During my latest visit over the Easterweekend, the Kelham Island beers on tap wereFat Cat Bitter, Kelham Gold, Pale Rider andIPA; the latter at 5.5% ABV being a new beerin the traditional IPA style and flavoured withlavender. Guest beers were available fromBrewster’s, Durham, Salamander and ScattorRock.

So, should your travels take you to theSocialist Republic of South Yorkshire, make avisit to the Fat Cat in Sheffield a priority(follow the brown tourist signs for the KelhamIsland Museum once you hit the city centreshould one of your party be driving).

Whilst there, you can reflect on the factthat the award-winning Fat Cat in Norwichtakes its name from its namesake in Sheffield.A deal on the name was agreed with DavidWickett on the understanding that they wouldstock his beer (Pale Rider has been stockedsince day one and they still get through threefirkins a week).

Dave Graham

The Bristol Beer Factory, apart fromreleasing its new memorable logo (above), hasstepped up production and is looking tosupply as many beer festivals and pubs aspossible over the summer.

Their 5.0% single-hopped golden ale –Gold – has been perfected and is ideal forthose long summer evenings sat outside yourfavourite pub (or equally enjoyable sat insideyour favourite pub staring at the rain outside!).

The refreshing, moreish No.7 (a 4.2%traditional bitter) is proving to be a hit in thePipe & Slippers in Stokes Croft and also theHope & Anchor in Hotwells. It has also been

a great success in the Tobacco Factory theatrewhere it is the first hand-pulled real ale to beserved there. The theatre-goers have drank theplace dry a number of times. Cheers Luvvies!

Their website will be up and running infew weeks so look out for that as it will havedetails regarding open-evenings and thebrewery history.

Contact Simon or Chris by phone on 01179026317 or 07746 950070 or by email [email protected] for furtherinformation – perhaps you are the licensee of apub who fancies stocking some of their beerfor instance!

Richard Brooks

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BRISTOL NORTH SALESContact: Hannah Dunkerley

07921 075 802

BRISTOL SOUTH SALESContact: Colin Underhay

07921 075 970

MEET THE BREWER NIGHT - 7PM ONWARDS THURSDAY 23RD JUNETHE ROYAL NAVAL VOLUNTEER, KINGS STREET, BRISTOL

Come and sample all our fine quality Ales. Meet our head brewer Neil Bain and enjoy a 2 for 1 meal deal offer.

KEEP ON SMILING

Wolves on the prowl againWOLVERHAMPTON ANDDUDLEY BREWERIES (W&D)made its second big acquisition of theyear in May, when it secured 82.46%of the shares in Cumbrian brewerJennings Brothers plc. W&D boughtthe 450-strong estate of theWarrington-based Burtonwood pubcompany (but not the Burtonwoodbrewery, which is owned by aseparate company) in January.Jennings has added a further 128leased pubs to W&D’s total of over2,000.

W&D’s management said theyhad no plans to close the Jenningsbrewery, but that: “Given the localappeal of the Jennings brands, W&D perceivesthe continued operation of the brewery and thedevelopment of this business as key”.

CAMRA has heard this sort of thing manytimes before. For instance, when Bodding-ton’s took over the Oldham Brewery Com-pany in 1982 they promised to keep thebrewery going for at least five years. Theydid, but then they closed it.

Nationally, CAMRA is seeking moredetailed assurances on the future of theJennings brewery, beer brands and pub estate.

Mike Benner, CAMRA’s Chief Executive,said, “A clear message has been sent toW&DB, that while their acquisition ofJennings has been successful, they are now

faced with the challenge of convincing thepeople of Cumbria, smaller shareholders andbeer drinkers that they are committed to thefuture of Jennings as a thriving regionalbrewery.”

Mr Benner added, “We have severalconcerns which need to be addressed. What areW&DB’s future acquisition plans? Experienceshows us that takeovers often lead to breweryclosures and loss of beer brands, which in turnreduces consumer choice and competition. IfW&DB acquires more brewing capacity, adownturn in market conditions would forcethem to reduce capacity which could lead tothe closure of Jennings brewery. CAMRAwill not sit back and allow this to happen.

“We would like to thank thepeople of Cumbria and Jenningsshareholders who have supportedour campaign to keep Jenningsindependent. An 18% shortfall inacceptances of the W&DB offerstrongly suggests widespreadconcern about W&DB’s plans andthis must be disappointing toW&DB.”

CAMRA has been an ardentsupporter of W&D over the years.We mounted a major, and ultimatelysuccessful, campaign to keep themindependent in 2001, whenPubmaster made a hostile takeoverbid. The W&D shareholders

eventually rejected Pubmaster’s offer, whichwould probably have seen W&D’s ownbreweries closed down.

W&D’s brands include Banks’s andMarstons. They are strong in the East andWest Midlands, North-West and North-East.CAMRA was keen to see them stay independ-ent because they had four breweries (sincereduced to two) and a large number of local,community pubs; not the most profitable kindof property these days, but important to thecommunity they serve.

We can but hope that W&D will be asgood as their word over Jennings.

Norman Spalding

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Pub newsThe Foresters Arms in Downend has undergone a completerefurbishment. The interior now mixes a rustic Tuscany feel withNew York Jazz bar artwork. For what it’s worth, your correspond-ent thinks it looks great. Also worth a mention is the fact that theForesters Arms is one of the very few pubs in the area servingCourage Best Bitter straight from the barrel.Not far away on the outskirts of Emersons Green, the Folly hasadded a suntrap patio at the front, the perfect place to enjoy apint of Bass as you watch the Sainsbury’s lorries roll by…

Meanwhile, in the historic Portland Square in St. Paul’s, anunexpected delight recently has been the introduction of aregularly-changing guest ale in Cosies. Situated on the cornerwhere Portland Square meets Surrey Street, this subterranean baris popular with business lunchers during the day, and a livelybohemian crowd at night. The Everards Tiger Best Bitter was intip-top condition on a recent visit. Martin, the landlord, is not tiedon his ‘guest’ ale, and welcomes suggestions from beer connois-seurs.Just around the corner, news has reached us that the SurreyWine Vaults was due to reopen on May 20th, just as we went topress. More news next issue perhaps.

Still in St Paul’s, we are sad to report that the Portland Inn hasnow begun conversion to residential property.

In the centre, J D Wetherspoon have announced that theirflagship Bristol pub, the Commercial Rooms, is to go completelysmoke-free from June 4th. Wetherspoon’s are committed tomaking all their outlets non-smoking by May 2006, and theCommercial Rooms is in the first tranche. We sometimes takepubs like this for granted, but it’s worth pointing out that, as wellas offering the range of ales we expect from Wetherspoon’spubs, the Commercial Rooms boasts surely one of the mostimpressive pub interiors in the region.

The Quadrant on the corner of Princess Victoria Street hasreopened and, despite opening night drainage problems, looks tobe a vibrant re-addition to the Clifton pub scene. On my visit, theButcombe Blond was scrumptious.(Nice refurb, but the range of real ales has been reduce though,from three to two – not quite the increased range they promisedbefore closing for refurbishment. The beers are now CourageBest and Butcombe Blond, but the latter may change. When Iasked a member of staff about the reduced range, I was told: “Ithink it’s because we’re now a wine bar and not a pub.” Ed.)The pub formerly known as the Assize Courts has reopened asLa Cantina, a Mexican restaurant/bar with no real ales available.

Sadly, the Swan Inn in Midland Road, Old Market, has been soldto property developers. The lease for the pub is held by BristolCity Council, so planning permission will be needed before theycan close the pub. I feel another campaign coming on…

Congratulations to the staff and regulars at the Inn on the Greenin Horfield, featured in the last Pints West. They have beenholding quiz nights for the last year and a half to raise funds forthe Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at nearby Southmead Hospital.They’ve so far raised over £5,000. Next time somebody moansabout pubs and binge drinking, just remind them how muchmoney pubs raise for charities all across the city and beyond.

While we’re on the subject of pubs as part of the community,here’s a few recent examples that have reached us...

The Cross Keys at Fishponds held a special event to com-memorate our World War 2 heroes on VE Day.

The Shield & Dagger at Hartcliffe teamed up with the StrokeAssociation to provide free health checks to locals.

The Crown Harvester in Hanham has teamed up with localschools for an educational project around growing cress.

The Wishing Well in Longwell Green recently held a charityfun day to raise funds for Children’s Cancer and LeukaemiaCharity CLIC.

Paul and Debra Cheesley have moved from the Star atTickenham to take over the Knowle Hotel in Leighton Road inKnowle. We wish them well.

A general reminder to pub licensees: the new licensing rulesmean that you must have applied for your new licence to yourlocal Council by the beginning of August.

Duncan ShineIf you’re a landlord/lady or regular with some newsabout your pub, please feel free to email [email protected] or [email protected](we’ll share the info) and we’ll be glad to considerputting it into the next issue of Pints West.

The Porterhouse RantWHILST on a recent, brief trip to Dublin I was lucky enoughto get the chance to visit The Porterhouse. This is the name ofa small pub chain that also brews its own beer and is now thelargest genuine Irish brewery. It specializes in stouts andporters and the quality of these beers puts Guinness,Murphy’s and Beamish to shame.

This was my first trip to Ireland and I was expecting thebeer to be very expensive. This proved to not be the case –perhaps we have caught up in recent years? A pint of Porter-house Wrasslers 4X Stout cost £2.70 for a pint of 5% ABVbeer. Given that the much weaker Guinness can cost near tothis in pubs in Weston and Bristol, I don’t think price needs toput anyone off going. The return flight was £29, whichcompares well with the £110 I paid the last time I went toLondon on the train!

The Porterhouse has a beer menu, which contains someinteresting articles. One page which caught my eye washeaded “The Porterhouse Rant”. One of the items on the pagewas a piece called, “Tips for avoiding Bland Beer.” I amreproducing this below and hope you will take heed of thesewise words.

To compensate for flavour and to appeal to the“mass market” advertising executives have

dreamed up an exciting range of words to hide theirbland reality.

Don’t be fooled and follow these tips to avoid blandbeer:

Avoid “LITE”Avoid “DRY”

Avoid “COLD-FILTERED”Avoid “ICE”

Avoid “SMOOTH”Avoid “CREAM/CREAMY”

Avoid “CLEAN”Avoid beer advertised with words ending in “FLOW”

Avoid beer advertised on TVAvoid beer with sports tournaments named after

themAvoid beer with “RICE” in the ingredients

Avoid beer “BREWED UNDER LICENCE”, it’s usuallya different strength, a different taste and no resem-blance to the original. Often brewed just down the

road but they hint that it’s an exotic import.So…Beware of B.U.L.

Tim Nickolls

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Readers are welcome to sendletters to Pints West Editor,

Steve Plumridge,Garden Flat, 6 Royal York Villas,

Clifton, Bristol BS8 4JR([email protected])

READERS’ LETTERS

Froth Off

KEEP ON SMILINGSteve,

I have been passed a copy of Pints Westspring edition which I have to say makes foran excellent read – well done.

I do appreciate the immediate loss of thebrewing facility in Bristol for Smiles is asetback in the company’s history, butsomething did have to be done to secure thelonger term interests of the brand. ClearlySmiles never recovered from selling its ownpub estate and I am not qualified to discuss thereasoning behind that original decision.

There must have been some comfort inYoung’s Brewery agreeing that those pubscould continue to stock Smiles. I understandhowever that after the brewery closure inJanuary some of the Young’s pubs are nolonger selling Smiles and that is of course asetback. However thanks should go to themand their licensees for resisting the changeearlier and we reluctantly understand theirreasoning behind the decision.

We can only hope to convince them tochange their mind in the future, so that theircustomers will not walk down the road to thenearest Smiles stockist.

Ron Kirk and his team should be ap-plauded for the courageous decision “to have ago”, and yes, the great plans the team outlineddid not work out, but the point is they had ago rather than sitting back and letting the branddisappear from the map.

Highgate Brewery, who have previouslybrewed beer for Smiles in its heyday, aredelighted to have this opportunity of carryingthe torch, and being a part of helping to putSmiles back on its feet.

We are passionate about real ale and localheroes, and are determined that Smiles will notbe just another regional brewer to havedisappeared off the map. For example, wehave now, after a long period of negotiation,secured the patent and trademarks for Daven-port’s and are working hard to revive this greatBirmingham institution.

We will apply ourselves in the same

manner with respect to Smiles. We will not geteverything right from day one, but we havebeen delighted with the response to the brewswe have put into the market place, and thesupport and encouragement the majority ofexisting stockists have given us.

The restructuring has taken out hugeoverheads the previous organisation simplycould not continue to support. Sadly thatmeant some tough decisions had to be made,but given time we hope to build on the salesteam that is now in place and return jobs toBristol. We are now using the same yeastculture, and we are confident we can continueto produce a consistent stable beer that will bea credit to the original.

There has been some trial and error interms of stock needed, and Tradeteam logisticshave moved mountains to put the distributionplan into place. Our thanks go to them and allat Coors for the back room work their teamsput in at incredibly short notice. This nowmeans that, in addition to Smiles beers, a fullrange of Coors brands and wines and spiritsand soft drinks can be purchased with oneorder delivery and invoice.

Of course, the long term plan is to returnSmiles to Bristol and that has to be right. Theintention is to start by refitting the BreweryTap and installing a micro-brewery plant tobrew exclusively one of the existing brandsthat will supply not just the Brewery Tap andthe Cornubia but also local pubs and clubs.

Plans are all well and good, but deliveringthem is something else, and whilst accusationsof previous mismanagement abound it isimperative that the “return Smiles to Bristolplan” gets off to a good start, and for that weneed your members’ and readers’ support, andthe volumes to support it.

So dismiss the cynics – let’s look to thebright side and keep on Smiling!

We would welcome a visit from yourmembership to the Highgate Brewery wherewe would be happy for you to sample theSmiles brews.

Best regards,Bob Norton, Managing Director,Highgate Brewery.

THE PRINCESS OF WALESUSE IT OR LOSE IT

Our little gem of a pub, The Princess ofWales (POW) in Westbourne Grove,Bedminster, has three or four real ales on atany one time and not all of them are Wickwarbeers, but it seems that it has not been on thelist of pubs to visit when you real ale drinkersare in the vicinity. There are a lot pubs in thatarea, but at the POW, if you want to try somedifferent beers from brewers outside the city,then we would be only too happy to oblige.

Even on the recent CAMRA pub crawlaround Bedminster, reported in the Autumnedition of Pints West, the POW wasn’t evenmentioned let alone visited. (Because it was acider crawl around Southville, visiting a fewpubs selling real cask-conditioned cider, Ed.)

In an attempt to bring to your attentionthe quality of this forgotten piece of pubhistory we will be holding a beer festival in

mid June and we will offer a 10% discount tocard-carrying CAMRA members. See ouradvert in this edition.

More should be done to visit, identify andcreate a buzz about more of the real ale pubs inand around Bristol, and they must be sup-ported. Remember what CAMRA is reallyabout, the campaign for real ale. If we have nopubs we certainly will have no real ale.Believe me, you can make a difference.

We are in an ever-changing scenario whenit comes to our local pubs. A pub that sellsyour favourite tipple today may not necessarybe able to sell it to you tomorrow. As thepowerful pub companies (pubcos) areacquiring more and more pubs, our choice ofreal ales are limited more and more. Even J.D.Wetherspoon are insisting that their outletsstock more and more must-sell items from thebigger brewers, leaving less and less choicefrom smaller brewers. So it is vital that our freehouse pubs continue to be viable, to remainout of the clutches of the pubco.

It is all very well CAMRA applauding thebirth of a new brewery, but unless they are bigenough to play with the massive pubcos(between them Punch and Enterprise controlalmost 20,000 pubs) where are they going tosell their beers? If they are unable to sell theirbeers how are they going to survive? On thatpoint, there is an obligation for the pubs thatcan stock a beer from a local brewery to do so,and not to just chase volume-related discountsfrom the large brewers/pubcos. I feel it isridiculous that a pub that has the option of aguest beer takes the decision to have, let’s say,Courage Best as their guest beer so as to havethe volume taken into consideration forretrospective discounts, when that beer isavailable to them anyway. And let’s face it, ussmaller brewers produce a far more wholesomebeer anyway and in most cases the licenseewould make more from offering a smallbrewer’s beer than a run-of-the-mill, mass-produced beer.

There is no legislation to protect theconsumer from being corralled into drinkingwhat the pubcos offer them to drink. Onceupon a time there were the beer orders to insistthat any brewer with over 2,000 pubs mustallow their lessees to sell a cask-conditionedbeer from an independent supply. The beerorders have now been abolished after, as theysaid, “having done what they set out toachieve”. What rubbish – the market is nowtied up tighter than before, and no legislationhas been put into place to replace the old beerorders.

Why is it we see more and more pubsputting food way before the beer? Maybe it isbecause they can make more profit on foodthan they can on the beer. Why? Well they arepossibly not tied on the supply of food asthey are on beer. Their landlord (pubco) ownsthe property and they have to buy the beersupply through the landlord at greatly inflatedprices. Beer has become secondary in thosepubs. How can they call them pubs? I haveseen in certain publications many reviews ofpubs, with vast lines of print dedicated to themenu and the qualifications of their chefs andat best the real ales, if they have any, are either

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not mentioned or are the same boring ones thatyou will see in any Brewers Fayre or the like.Surely they wouldn’t like to be compared to aBrewers Fayre, so why have the sameselection of beers? Perhaps real ale is not thatimportant, because they are really a restaurantand not a pub. So why call it a pub? Thiscould happen to your free house tomorrow.

The moral of this story is simple: supportyour real ale pub now! It will be too late whenthe doors have closed. So I hope to see a lotmore of you all at the forthcoming mini beerfestival at The Princess of Wales, WestbourneGrove, Bedminster, Bristol.

Whilst writing, myself, my wife Debra,and Les and Carol of The White Lion, ColstonAvenue – the real ale pub on the Centre –would like to thank all of you who have madeit the success it is today.

Ray Penny,Founder & Managing Director,Wickwar Brewing Co.

THE COOPERS ARMSUSE IT OR LOSE IT

Dear Sir,I write as one of a group of people who

use the Coopers Arms in Highbridge on analmost daily basis and have done so for at leastsixteen years and as such I feel more qualifiedto comment on what goes on in the pub thanVince Murray who wrote his comments in theSpring edition of Pints West based on secondhand information and not the evidence of hisown eyes and taste buds.

We regulars were naturally concernedwhen we heard that our beloved pub had beensold to, horror of horrors, a national brewerychain and we had mental images of familydining areas, children’s ball pits and kitsch allover the walls. We were therefore relieved onmeeting the new landlord (who continues the30-year tradition of the licensee being a John)and learning that not a lot would change: nofood (just the superb rolls at lunch time), nochildren, and most importantly, real ale and agood variety of it too.

As can be expected with a new cellarsystem, there were some teething problemsbut things have settled down and I can confirmthat on our (slightly wobbly) return from theBristol Beer Festival yesterday (three cheersfor that event by the way), there were eightreal ales on the board. Furthermore John is asgood as his word and has altered ScotCo(Scottish & Newcastle) policy and is gettingRCH beers back in the pub.

I am no fan of the big brewers but ScotCoseem to have kept faith with the real aledrinkers at The Coopers Arms. I understandthat there were twelve parties interested inbuying the lease of the pub. Eleven of themwere going to introduce food and totallychange the character of the pub and the onewho got the Coopers wanted to maintain itjust as it already was.

The message is that if we want to keep theCoopers as a real ale pub we have to keepusing it and those readers put off by VinceMurray’s comments should come and try itfor themselves and make their own minds up. Ithink we can all guess what will happen if

trade falls off and the lease becomes availableagain.

The comments made in Pints West were abit premature, the new regime had only been inplace for a few weeks and more of a chanceshould have been given. I (and the friends thatI drink with at The Coopers) will be grateful ifyou will print this letter by way of balanceand helping us to keep our pub the way thatwe like it.

Yours faithfully,Ian McLaren,Biddisham,Axbridge, Somerset.

Vince Murray replies:Since Ian sent in this response to my

article, I have exchanged a number of veryconstructive emails with him on the subject. Ihave also heard from a couple of other localstoo.

The gist of the correspondence seems to bethat most of the regulars are relieved that therenow is still a good choice of beers available.Apparently the range that I described in PintsWest was temporary and up to eight or ninebeers are sometimes available now – includingfrom RCH brewery. The RCH beers areapparently selling well – which seems to makemy point about owners Scottish & Newcastleinitially removing them as soon as they tookover.

I can only report the views of others as Ihave still not visited since the change ofownership. I offered (via Ian) to meet thelandlord to discuss my earlier comments, andfeed back his views and future plans to PintsWest readers. Disappointingly he declined andI got the feeling that I would be unwelcome inthe pub (that I had frequented for over 26years). So I have so far stayed away.

I must say that I am bemused by this as allI did was criticise the decision to remove theprevious beers and replace them with widelyavailable big brand ones. That decision wasnot even down to the landlord, about whom Imade no comment.

John Sinclair, landlord of the Coopers,went on to state:

RCH was always going to be a feature ofthe Coopers Arms. However before this couldtake place and RCH could be reintroduced,certain contracts and logistics had to be put inplace. It takes time to close and open accounts,arrange delivery schedules, direct debits, etc,and so, yes, there was a small gap beforecustomers could again sup Firebox, DoubleHeader and Santa Fe. If Mr Murray thoughtthat RCH and high gravity beers might begone forever and the Coopers Arms was notworth a visit, I can assure him that is not thecase.

I would also like to point out that LondonPride is the best selling cask ale in the Coop-ers: a point which John Hayes (the previouslandlord) made very clear to me prior to hand-over. As a regular user of the pub for so manyyears, Mr Murray would have known this.

The selection of cask ales that have beenintroduced since takeover has been outstandingaccording to local CAMRA members and otherreal ale drinkers. The list of beers availablechanges on a daily basis and very few are big

brand ales. The vast majority are from smallindependent brewers up and down the countryfrom Cornwall to Scotland.

The proof of the pudding is in the eatingand the real ale drinkers in the Coopers arebeing well fed! So sometimes the regionalbrewers do get it right by listening to the localswith regard to their concerns and drinkinghabits.

RCH AND PITCHFORKDear Editor,

Congratulations on a double-page spread inthe last edition of Pints West singing thepraises of the RCH Brewery (based in WestHewish, just outside Weston-super-Mare) andreporting on the considerable difficultiesmaintaining an independent brewery inPubcoland.

In a section headed “Where To GetThem”, Tim Nickolls reports on a comprehen-sive guide to pubs in Weston where RCHbeers are dispensed. However, the Boar’sHead in Tyle Garw, Glamorgan, Wales (aboutquarter of a mile from Pontyclun station, 40yards from the level crossing, seven hand-pumps) takes pride in that Pitchfork is aregular house beer, where the locals keepcoming back for more.

In fact, Pitchfork is described as “...hopspredominate in a full-bodied taste, which isslightly sweet.” I had noticed, and so had theregulars, that Pitchfork stands out among allthe beers for being the bitterest – or does itmean that Pitchfork travels excellently?

You can perhaps imagine how avidly wewere reading Pints West to see the latest newsof Pitchfork in our far outpost. Can you thankTim Nickolls for doing a great job?

(I was a journalist who spent 19 yearsworking for the South Wales Echo in Cardiff –I even made it to Chief Sub Editor. Then Icommuted and worked on the Bristol EveningPost in Temple Way – great paper! I took ajob on the South Wales Argus, then fell ill witha serious stroke.)

If Bristol CAMRA members (or any ofyour readers) want to drink a pint of Pitchforkat the Boar’s Head, they should take a train toCardiff from Temple Meads (occasionalservices stop at Pontyclun.) It’s just a shortwalk down the footpath and over the levelcrossing, and you can be assured of a warmwelcome when you get there.

Yours sincerely,Mick Tems,Talbot Green,Pontyclun.

57 Old Market StreetOld Market

Bristol BS2 0ERwww.hounsfieldprinting.activenet.co.uk

Tel: (0117) 925 5541

HounsfieldPrinting

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READERS’ LETTERS

The Annexe InnSeymour Road, Bishopston, Bristol

Tel. 0117 9493931

Enjoy a Warm Welcomeand a Pleasant Atmosphere

A Real Ale Pub##### 7 Real Ales##### Large conservatory (available for private hire)##### Family room (including baby changing facilities)##### Enclosed garden open throughout the year##### Disabled access##### Lunchtime and early evening snacks - including children’s menu -##### Pool table##### All TV sports events covered##### Relaxed, friendly atmosphere

Open Lunchtimes & EveningsAll day Saturday, Sunday & Bank Holidays

Monday Night is Quiz NightYou can also enjoy various promotions

and special offers during the year

Pub newsRohan Shadbolt, who used to run theSmiles Brewery Tap, recently took overthe tennacy at the Shakespeare on PrinceStreet in Bristol.

The Swan, Conham Hill has been sellingBristol Beer Factory No. 7.

NEW BREW PUBSteve,

During a visit to Neath I visited a newbrew pub based at the Borough Arms at 2New Henry Street, just ten minutes’ walkfrom Neath Railway Station (London-Swansealine). It is called the Eagles Bush Brewery andis run by a Bristolian. It has just recommencedbrewing due to expansion and is well worth avisit. When I visited its own beers were noton but they were due on any day as they werejust settling in the cellar. The pub is a genuinefreehouse and had three guest beers on in top-notch condition, plus a real cider.

Cheers,Glynn Williams,Hanham,Bristol.

OLD FOXDear Steve,

I live down the road from the Old Fox inEaston and it is my sad duty to inform you (ifyou weren’t already aware) that builders havestarted to rip out the heart of the pub. The barwas one of the first items into the skip. I haveonly recently moved to Easton from St.Werburghs. I was spoilt to have the Duke ofYork as my local there so I never venturedover the motorway to the Old Fox but waslooking forward to having it as my local when I

moved. I was gutted when I found out that ithad closed.

It is typical of Bristol’s lack of respect forits cultural and architectural heritage. I just feelI must express my frustration at the destruc-tion of historical sites in favour of quickmoney-making schemes that seems to happenso often in Bristol. I guess my frustrationshould be aimed at the council more thananyone.

Had I been a local and known in advanceabout the closure I certainly would have mademore of an effort but it’s hard to know whatpeople could have done. It would have beennice if the locals could have got together andrun it as a co-operative but in this fairly poorpart of town I think people probably feelpowerless against big businesses.

Jez Toogood(by email).

GUIDE MEDear Sir,

Over the years, I have found the “LastGuide to Avon’s Ale” an invaluable guide inplanning a day’s or weekend’s drinking.

Pubs close down, change their names,change landlords and various other thingshappen, and I was wondering if there were anyplans to update and reprint the guide.

Yours,Tarquin Reece-Jones,Yate, South Glos.

We have no plans to produce a new guide at themoment. Perhaps I can direct you to the on-linepub guide at www.britishpubguide.com, Ed.

Dear Steve,Way back in Spring

2004 information cameout about the “BristolPub Guide”. Havinggone around all thebookshops, includingWaterstones and WHSmiths, I can’t find athing. I enquired downat the Cornubiarecently and theydidn’t know about it,and I was told tocontact you. Is itavailable yet, and if sowhere do I get it?

Yours,Dennis Richards,Stoke Gifford,South Glos.

Duncan Shine replies:Sadly, the Bristol PubGuide was neverpublished due tofunding issues. Thereare plans to publish itat the end of thesummer. [email protected] you want to knowmore.

BUTHAY SAFESirs,

As you may know The Buthay, Wickwarclosed its doors on Friday night (20 May)....however the good news is that it will re-openshortly (we hope within ten days) in thehands of Dave and Alix McKillop who alsorun the Cask Marque accredited pub, The NewInn at Mayshill. (They will also continue torun the New Inn).

As a long standing CAMRA member andcask ale enthusiast, the future of ‘real’ beer atThe Buthay is safe, and this closure betweenlicensees is merely a small blip.

The only fly in the ointment is that thenew lease on the premises does not include aguest ale provison or acess to the SIBA ATMscheme enjoyed at The New Inn. This in theshort term will see the demise of BOB at TheButhay. However we hope to be able to workwith the Wickwar Brewing Co. in gaining a fulllisting with Interbrew for Enterprise pubs.

We only came on board for this propertylate on Thursday last week when the originalpurchaser pulled out and the sale fell throughso we are a little up in the air at the moment,but we hope this information helps.

Regards,Dave & Alix McKillop,Dallyins Limited.

CYRIL FOR MAYORDear Steve,

I am writing to you to inform you that Mr.Cyril Standbridge, formerly the Bar Managerat the Plume of Feathers in Hotwells, has nowtaken over the Mayor’s Arms in Redcliffe.

All the customers and staff at the Plume ofFeathers would like to take this opportunityto wish him well in his new venture.

I would be most grateful if this informationcould be passed on in the next Pints Westediton if possible.

Many thanks and best regards,Mark Farrell,Landlord of the Plume of Feathers,Hotwells,Bristol.

Steve,Sadly, as I sure that many of you are

already aware, Cyril has left the Plume OfFeathers in Hotwells. I am sure that we willgreatly miss Cyril (the squirrel).

Geoff Larsen,St George,Bristol.

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In the Market for SuccessA profile of Fuller’s Old Fish Market pub in central Bristol

I WELL remember the sense of anticipation inthe late 1990s when London brewer Fuller’sfirst announced that they were to open theirfirst Bristol outlet. Those of us familiar withtheir award-winning beers were delighted thatwe were to have a regular supply of ChiswickBitter, London Pride and ESB on our doorstep.The Old Fish Market at the Bristol Bridge endof Baldwin Street is, as the name suggests, apub built on the original site of Bristol’s mainmarket specialising in fish. Fuller’s name haslong been associated with high standards inboth pubs and real ale. For reasons that I willoutline below, we have been sadly disap-pointed with the place since it opened – but Iam glad to say that there are now very goodreasons to believe that things have changed forthe better and it is developing into the excellentpub that we had all expected.

The first problem that we encountered wasthat when the place first opened, and forseveral years afterwards, all of the real ale wassold at ridiculously cold temperatures, wellbelow the recommended level for real ale. Theproblem with too cold real ale is that all thesubtleties of flavour become masked by thecoldness and the beer tastes bland. Theproblem was so acute that it is only a slightexaggeration to say that it was difficult todistinguish between drinking London Pride at4.1% and ESB at 5.5%! As a result the FishMarket became known mockingly as the“Fridge Market”. This coldness, coupled withprices that seemed very high at the time,dissuaded many of us from calling in, althoughthe place was often very busy.

After a couple of years, and severalconsultations between CAMRA and Fuller’s,the extreme coldness seemed to be less evidentbut other problems emerged. The generalavailability and quality of the beers becamevery patchy and the temperature ranged fromtoo cold to too warm and all points in be-tween. I remember a period when it was notunusual to find only one, or sometimes no,beers available with all other pumps out ofaction. I also recall feeling hungry oneafternoon about 5 pm and being enticed in bythe “food all day” signs outside and on the bartop. I bought a pint and tried to order a mealonly to be told, “We don’t do food until thechef starts at 6.30”!

About two years ago the place was beingrun by a team of staff that seemed to specialise

in being unfriendly andsurly. A particularlyannoying trait was toserve you a pint rightup until 10.59 pm andthen start hassling youto “drink up and leave”at about 11.03 pm!Many bus servicesstop right outside thedoor and my last bushome leaves at 23.13,making it an ideal last

stop of the night – but this was spoilt by beingejected by burly bouncers at 11.05 as all chairswere placed upside down on the tables as youtried to drink. This kind of behaviour is notonly rude it is highly irresponsible in encourag-ing someone to drink a strong beer too quicklybefore exiting onto the street – something akinto unintentional binge drinking. By this timeour visits were becoming few and far betweenand the pub was becoming noticeably quietand often empty – clearly others shared ourfeelings.

Now for the good news – things havebecome massively better over the last ninemonths or so. Frankly, we had stopped goingin apart from the odd occasion to watch atelevised football match or other sportingoccasion. It is one of the very few places incentral Bristol to offer both a good range ofreal ales and a good location to watch the sport(a plasma TV near the bar and a bigger screenat the rear). In mid 2004 a temporary landlordappeared “on loan” from the South East and itwas immediately clear that he took the qualityof the real ale on offer, and of service offered,much more seriously than the previousmanagement teams. All of the beers wereusually available and now in pristine condition.All of Fuller’s seasonal beers were sold whenavailable, and Butcombe Bitter and Smiles IPAtoo. Slowly but surely we regained confidencein the pub, as did many other people – it wasgetting noticeably busier again. Unfortunatelyhe made it clear all along that his tenure wastemporary until a permanent manager was inplace.

This precluded the Old Fish Market fromconsideration for inclusion in the 2006 GoodBeer Guide, which was decided in March/April 20005.

In March 2005 a new manager wasappointed – Mr. Jauma Escoriza who is anEnglishman despite the name! Shortlyafterwards came his assistant Ben Reidy(pictured) who is Australian. Ben assured methat they plan to stay for the foreseeablefuture and are committed to carrying on thegreat work done by the previous manager. Sofar they are certainly as good as their word –the beer has been tremendous on recent visits.The current range is London Pride (£2.30),ESB (£2.55), Discovery, a brand new 3.9%golden brew (£2.30), Smiles IPA (£2.40) andButcombe Bitter (strangely overpriced at£2.60, as it is a lot weaker than ESB). Inadditional one of Fuller’s range of seasonalbeers is offered as available. These haveincluded Hock (a mild recently reintroduced),Jack Frost, Honeydew, Red Fox, Summer Ale,and the utterly magnificent London Porter at awhopping 5.4%. The porter, until this yearonly available for about two weeks everyNovember, was on for two to three months asa result of popular demand. Ben says thatthey sold “a lot” of it too. The one bigdisappointment is that Fuller’s ChiswickBitter (their excellent weaker session beer) hasnot been served for several years now – mytheory is that the quality issues that I haveoutlined earlier caused a lack of trust in thebeer amongst drinkers, and that it would bewell worth trying to reintroduce it now that itwould be better kept.

Two parts of the pub are undergoingrefurbishment currently. The little usedcourtyard to the left of the entrance is beingfitted out to become a no-smoking dining areaand the gents’ toilets are to be changed.Currently they must qualify as amongst thequirkiest around. An unfeasibly long walkfrom the bar into the basement of the pubbrings you out into a very large square roomwhich contains just three urinals set at belowknee height and a cubicle, plus a lot of emptyspace – perhaps it was designed by a drunkenshort person?

The food service at the pub was recentlyfranchised out to “Thai Toms” who offer a fullmenu of Thai food daily from noon to 10.30.A glance at the menu showed that startersranged from £4.50 to £7.50 and main courses£7.50 to £8.50 plus rice and sundries. A “Thaibanquet” at £17 per head for a minimum oftwo people also features. The pub is air-conditioned making for a pleasant environ-ment. A quiz is held each Sunday at 8 pm.

If, like us, you stopped visiting the FishMarket after less than great experiences in thepast, you could do worse than to give itanother try – I believe that you will bepleasantly surprised. Beer range and quality ismassively improved, at prices broadly in linewith most other pubs. The service is muchmore welcoming and friendly and you will notbe forced out at 11.05 any more. If you travelhome on the 507, 506 or 536 buses then it isthe perfect last stop of the night. It alsoremains a very good location for televisedsports events.Vince Murray (oustide photo by Phil Cummings)The Old Fish Market, 59-63 Baldwin Street, Bristol.Open 12-11 Mon-Sat, 12-10.30 Sun.

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Shine on the Centre

A Bunch of Grapes

Another Bunch of GrapesThree Sugar Loaves

The Naval Volunteer

The Llandoger Trow

Having spent the last few issuesexploring the length and depth ofBristol, Duncan Shine has ventured tothe very heart of the City, to give us hisviews on the Real Ale scene in BristolCity Centre.Full details and photographs of all thepubs mentioned can be found on thewww.britishpubguide.com web site.Landlords and regulars in these pubsare welcome to update the informationon the web site whenever they like.

THE shambling, slightly jaded lookingfigure – our Guide over the last couple ofyears – is currently in Fiji, where he is firstreserve for Celebrity Love Island. So I’mafraid you’re stuck with me this timearound.

Right, find some good real ale in theCentre of Bristol. That’s gotta be easy,right? Well, it depends what we mean bythe Centre. For the purposes of this visit,the Centre includes Corn Street, SmallStreet, Broad Street, Baldwin Street, KingStreet and the Centre itself. We are notvisiting the Watershed bars today, andexcellent pubs like the Cornubia, BridgeInn and the Bag O’Nails all fall justoutside my remit for the day.

By the way, has anyone else noticedthe piece of graffiti on the old Bristol &West Building in the Centre? It reads“We are living in a hippocracy!”. Now, Ican’t work out whether the graffitist hasdone it on purpose, but I think he meantto say “hypocrisy”, meaning that all ourleaders are dishonest. However, whathe’s actually said is that our great nationis being ruled by horses (that’s what“hippocracy” means). I was tempted towrite something clever underneath, like“Yes, but there’s no point nagging aboutit; we’re saddled with it and can’t justchange it on the hoof”. Then I decidedthat would make me both a vandal and asmart-arse, so I settled for finding anexcuse to mention it in a future article. Soat least I’m no vandal.

Anyway, back to the pubs. First stopthis time around is the Three SugarLoaves, that beautiful and historic estab-lishment at the bottom of Christmas Steps.With its lovely nooks and crannies spreadover three levels, this pub should be onany heritage tour of the city. Currentlythe real ale is Sharp’s Doom Bar Bitter.Some people have noted that the qualityof Doom Bar has dropped as Sharp’sbrewery’s massive expansion has kickedin, but on my visit it was as good as ever.

From there, it’s a short stroll in the rainto the Centre (at least it was raining whenI did it) and to Yates’s Wine Lodge. Noreal ales there (you’ll get used to thatphrase by the end), so straight on to the

Horn & Trumpet. No real ales there (see,there it is again…) so swiftly downDenmark Street to Encoré. Althoughstrongly linked to Brain’s brewery, thepumpclips were all reversed on my visit so‘no real ales there’.

Next, then, is the theatre-goers’ haventhe Bunch of Grapes. A lovely little pub,with ornate exterior and a welcoming, L-shaped drinking area with a long bar downthe left hand side and posters of famousactors on the walls. Best of all, there is atop selection of four or more real ales,usually including something from Bath,something from Wickwar and a couple ofothers. If you haven’t sought out thisplace before, give it a go.

Next, across the Centre – and, yes, Ithink the little fountains look ridiculoustoo – past where the Sedan Chair used tobe (now sadly converted to office andresidential use) and right past the graffitiand on to King Street.

Delighted that the Bunch of Grapeshere is back to its traditional name.Morland Old Speckled Hen is the only realale on offer here, another brew that hassuffered from massive expansion of itsrange, not to mention the change ofbrewery to Greene King. However, againthe pub is doing its bit, keeping it verynicely thank you.

Brief mention for the King William AleHouse across the road. No real ales there(that’s four and counting) but as kegbeers go, the Ayingerbräu Hefe Weisse is

more interesting than most.The Naval Volunteer (or the Famous

Royal Navy Volunteer as it is ratherunnecessarily sometimes called) is like anold but tired thoroughbred given a newlease of life. Tastefully decorated, though

I confess I miss the old gnarled wood,grizzled customers and piano that used tograce the ‘Front Room’ as it is now called.Excellent real ale selection, though. Onmy visit there was Palmer’s IPA, Jenning’sGolden Host, Smiles Best and ‘Slap &Tipple’. I confess I’ve gone off Smilessince it moved to Highgate (personalchoice, of course) so went for the GoldenHost, which was a smashing summer ale,perfect accompaniment to the hailstonesthat had started to pound the cobblesoutside.

Next, along past Brownstone (no realales there) to the Llandoger Trow

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The White LionAll Bar One

The Commercial RoomsThe Old Duke

The Old Fish Market

Horts

The Hog’s Head

(Morland Old Speckled Hen and GreeneKing I.P.A.). Architecturally very impor-tant, with its literary connections andbeautiful frontage, the Llandoger is also aheritage ‘must’, even though it just fails tomake my top five for beer this time around.

We bypass the Bed bar, Bar Med andthe Zee Bar – three more ‘no real alesthere’ establishments – and follow thesound of chilled-out jazz music into theOld Duke. Now, we all know Old Duke’smagnificent and continuing contributionto the live music scene in Bristol, but it isoften easy to overlook the excellent realales available here. The Courage Best andDirectors are not exactly my cup of tea –though there have been times when Besthas tasted like it – but excellent pints ofDoom Bar and Bath Gem are also to befound here.

Next stop, along to the end of QueenCharlotte Street and across to the OldFish Market. This pub is featured indepth elsewhere in this edition of PintsWest, so suffice it to say here that the fullrange of Fuller’s beers, including the newDiscovery, are available and very wellkept.

Cut into St. Nicholas Market and youare met by a whole world of ‘no real alesthere’. Seamus O’Donnell’s, Revolution,Fiesta Havana, Legends, and the Man-hattan Bar have all chosen not to offerreal ales. Their decision, of course, but ashame nonetheless. Condell’s Ale houseis still closed and boarded up. RomeoBrown’s, Edwards, the Hard Rock Café,the Slug & Lettuce, Walkabout and Toad(soon to become Que Pasa Bar) haveformed the same view. Only the Crown,

with its Fuller’s London Pride, bucks thetrend.

On, then, to the Commercial Rooms.Now, the Commercial Rooms has anadvantage in that, on the day I visit, theyare in the middle of the Wetherspoon’sbeer festival, and are offering a staggering14 different real ales. Watch out for thesebi-annual festivals, as they do seem to getsome unusual brews in. However, evenwhen there isn’t a festival, there’s alwaysa good selection, and the quality here isas good as in any of the Wetherspoon’soutlets around the city.

All Bar One on the corner offers adecent pint of Fuller’s London Pride, whilethe Assize Courts round the corner hasnow become ‘La Cantina’, a Mexican-themed bar restaurant with, you’veguessed it, no real ales there.

Nearly done, but not before we popinto Horts. A newish pub in an oldbuilding. It seems quite small from thefront entrance but stretches back so far

that before you reach the back of the pubyou wonder if you are now in Narnia.Beers here are Young’s Bitter, Special andWaggledance, alongside Smiles Best andBristol IPA, plus a guest ale (St. Georgeson my visit) and two traditional ciders(Thatcher’s Cheddar Valley and TauntonTraditional). This place is something of agem, if you ask me.

Right, back onto the Centre, where BarExcellence is another ‘No Real AlesThere’, but the Hog’s Head offers tableservice and a fine pint of CaledonianDeuchar’s IPA. alongside the LondonPride.

Finally, we pay a visit to the small butperfectly formed White Lion Hotel in thecorner of the centre by the old SWEBbuilding. A Wickwar Brewery oasis, andcharming establishment, the White Lionoffers Mr Perrett’s, IKB, BOB, Spring Aleand Cotswold Way on our visit. I am a bitof a fan of the IKB, and it is in tip-topcondition as I sit quietly and listen to therain pound down outside. There’ssomething quite relaxing about sitting in afeature window of a pub watching theworld scurry by trying to keep theirclothes dry during a flash flood.

Duncan Shine

Is there an area covered by the Bristol &District Branch of CAMRA that youwould like to see featured in this columnin the next issue? If so, send an email [email protected] andwe’ll see what we can do.

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Literary pub trail

The Cock & Bottle Innfrom an 18th century print

HAVE you ever looked on the fantasticBristol’s Lost Pubs website and wonderedwhy two former Bristol pubs were named“The Antelope”? Well one of the reasonsmight be Jonathan Swift’s classic novel“Gulliver’s Travels”, where the hero of thepiece set sail from Bristol in a ship called “TheAntelope”. Another pub to look out for is theformer Bush Inn & Tavern in Corn Street (nowLloyds Bank) which had strong links withCharles Dickens. Incidentally this pub alsofeatured Bristol’s most famous real lifelandlord, John Weeks, whose Turtle Soup andBill of Fare was known throughout theEmpire.

These are just a couple of examples of themany great literary links that exist withBristol’s pubs, ones that go back manycenturies. Do Pints West readers know that“Simon the Cellarer” was based on a Bristolcharacter for instance? To celebrate yetanother historical literary link, a group of localpeople have got together to form the LongJohn Silver Statue Trust. The Trust’s aim isto try and put the past on parade by takingRobert Louis Stevenson’s classic story ofTreasure Island and re-telling it in a series ofhigh quality, high visibility sculptures – everyone sighted sympathetically against thebackdrop of Bristol’s surviving historic streetsand inns, prominently placed with a good viewfrom the floating harbour.

This last point is paramount in ourthoughts as we intend to have two trails forpeople to enjoy, one for land-lubbers, and onefor ferry-passengers. Taking the idea a stagefurther it might even be possible to commis-sion a specially built ferry for those amongst

The Admiral BenbowReproduced courtesy of Redcliff Pressand Frank Shipsides

us with special needs.It is proposed that the trail should start at

the bottom of King Street with that mostsinister of characters, Blind Pew, tip-tappinghis way past the Llandoger Trow, and on tothe Admiral Benbow pub (now unfortunatelyabsorbed into “The Volley”), bearing his blackspot for the hapless Billy Bones.

At this point the trail splits up, with ferrypassengers proceeding to the Grove whilstland-lubbers can cross beautiful Queen’sSquare (where Bristol’s most successfulprivateer Woodes Rogers lived), before movingon to the Hole in the Wall pub.

Here the trail comes together again and wemeet Stevenson’s greatest creation, the anti-hero Long John Silver, one of the mostcomplex characters ever created in fiction.Allegedly crippled in the service of the Kingunder Admiral Hawke, the world’s mostfamous pub landlord enjoyed a mixed-racemarriage (unheard of in 1883!) and wascrucially misunderstood by confirmedbachelors Dr Livesey and Squire Trelawney(they thought he was trying to escape his wife– not pursue treasure). He was describedrecently as the ultimate businessman andpolitician. He is surely the star of TreasureIsland.

If Silver was portrayed on a large chunk ofRed Cliff he would be seen easily from thewater and would also be looking out towardsRedcliffe itself. This is important as Redcliffeis the recognised birthplace of Blackbeard whohappens to be LJS’s spiritual ancestor. Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum was one of his“tricks” and a recurring theme throughout thebook.

The third subject in our series would beJim Hawkins, set up across the water fromSilver on Redcliffe Wharf , and looking upapprehensively at him, whilst leaning againstsome apple barrels. This is another vitalaspect of the story as it was here that Silverand his cut-throats betrayed their true coloursby being overheard.

It has been suggested that if some of thebarrels were hollow, children could climb onthem and replicate Jim’s actions by overhear-ing those around the sculpture – or justpopping out and frightening them. Land-lubbers would have to cross Redciffe Bridge toreach Jim, but ferry-passengers can just lookbetween the two.

Carrying on along Redcliffe (or Phoenix)Wharf, you come to the popular RedcliffeCaves and here the Trust proposes to putartwork number four, Ben Gunn. Just as muchbased on Alexander Selkirk as RobinsonCrusoe was, Ben Gunn is yet another reasonas to why RLS chose Bristol as the backbonefor Treasure Island.

As most Bristolians know, Selkirk wasrescued from four years and four months ofsolitary hell by Woodes Rogers and his party(part-sponsored by Sir John Hawkins, Bristol

brewer and Lord Mayor), and by capturing aSpanish Treasure Ship together they returnedto Bristol wealthy men. Afterwards, whilstRogers was attempting to procure a fleet forthe South Sea Island Company, Selkirk stayedin Bristol for nearly two years, sometimesparading around in his goatskins to theamusement of passers-by.

Whilst Selkirk lived in the Cock & Bottle,local legend states that he met Daniel Defoe inthe Star a few doors away in Cock & BottleLane. He might even have stayed in Bristollonger had he not beaten up a fellow sailor in adrunken brawl and then absconded. Selkirk’sfavourite tipple apparently was egg-flip!

I digress: Ben Gunn was critical to the plotof Treasure Island, as he essentially rescued

the goodies and thwarted the baddies, ulti-mately moving the treasure to his cave, andGunn’s little coracle was what Jim used toboard the Hispaniola (then in pirate hands).

If we move along the quayside we come toanother famous Bristol Inn, the Ostrich, andhere we propose to erect a ship’s mast andportray Israel Hands crashing to his death.This was yet another key point in the story:Israel Hands was Jim’s nemesis, and by killinghim, young Hawkins secured the Hispaniolafor the goodies, as well as ridding himself of anarch enemy.

In real life Israel Hands was Blackbeard’snavigator and only happenstance saved himfrom Execution Dock. Just beforeBlackbeard’s ship, Queen Anne’s Revenge, didbattle with the Royal Navy, they quarrelledand Hands’ life was saved because he wasashore recovering from his wounds.

If you carry on into Bathurst Basin youcan glance up Guinea Street to a cracking little

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With the Government’s proposals to bansmoking in the vast majority of work placeswithin the next three years, the issue has got alot people talking about how this will impacton pubs.

Broadly speaking, the current proposalsfor pubs are that those that serve meals willhave a total ban on smoking. Those that onlyserve drinks with perhaps filled rolls, crisps,nuts and similar will be permitted to have asmoking policy. This begs the question – whydo customers who do not require a mealdeserve less protection than those who wantto eat?

Surveys of the general public regarding aban in the work place indicate that themajority of us would prefer to see a total ban.However, pubs are not like other places ofwork and a survey of adults revealed that 50per cent disagreed with a total smoking ban inpubs.

There is clearly a very serious healthconsideration regarding smoking, both forsmokers and non-smokers. However, smokingis not an illegal pursuit and people who chooseto indulge must all surely know of thepotential risks involved. As for non-smokers,is it unreasonable to allow them the comfort ofa smoke-free environment wherever possible?

And here is my point – can we not find away to accommodate both smokers and non-smokers in some pubs, and let the othersdecide if they want to go down the smoking ornon-smoking route, depending on customerdemand?

The fact is, we are losing pubs at a veryalarming rate. By banning smoking in the vastmajority of pubs, we risk alienating a massivenumber of regular pub users. Do we reallybelieve these people will be replaced by equalnumbers of non-smokers who are not currentlyin the habit of using their local? I doubt it.

It is interesting to note that in Ireland,where a smoking ban has been in place forsome time, the level of community pubclosures has not reduced. Statistics from NewYork, which also has a smoking ban in bars, aredifficult in interpret. It’s been stated thatsome bars have seen an increase in the lastcouple of years – however, given the consider-able drop off in tourism to the Big Apple inthe two years or so post “9/11”, that is hardlysurprising as tourism now picks up.

Then there is the JD Wetherspoonexperience. The pub chain, which has severalpubs in the Bristol & District area, has saidthat profits at its non-smoking outlets havecome under pressure in the 17 pubs concerned.Beer sales in these pubs had dropped when’Spoons made their statement in late April.Finance Director Jim Clarke said, “We havelost some beer sales as there are those smokerswho leave us on day one”. Have thesedrinkers moved on to other pubs or are theynow drinking at home? If ultimately theoverwhelming number of pubs are non-smoking, will this therefore result in a hugepart of the pub-using public being lost to thetrade?

I care about community pubs, be theyrural, suburban, urban or town and city. Myconcern is that we will lose even more unless

Smoking – or not – in pubsboth smokers and non-smokers can beaccommodated. Wherever possible, why notlet those pubs with more than one room have asmoking and a smoke-free room? This can beaided by air-conditioning and extraction.Where pubs only currently have one room,many of these are former multi-roomed pubsand perhaps walls can be reinstated. If this isnot possible, then pubs, based on consumerdemand, can chose a smoking or non-smokingway forward.

There are strong feelings on this issue. Ibelieve that some middle ground needs to befound if we are not to see the rate of pubclosures accelerate or pubs turn into restau-rants, but most likely both.

I do wonder how many people whodemand an outright and total ban on smokingin pubs drive a motor vehicle. The pollutantsfrom transport are mostly air-borne and theeffects on health from benzene, nitrogenoxides, hydrocarbons, tropospheric ozone,carbon monoxide, etc., are many and varied.There is no choice when in comes to breathingin these when simply wandering around town.Would they support a total ban on motorvehicles? To be honest, I am more worriedabout car exhaust fumes than passive smoking– particularly in Bristol where there are somany cars per head of the population.

Let’s have real choice, encourage facilitiesfor all, and help save not only our pubs butalso the many breweries that supply them.Fewer pubs will equal less choice not only inthe pubs themselves but the beer choice.

Peter BridleAn ex-smoker and current car owner

##### Carbon Monoxide (CO)This is produced when the fuel in the enginedoes not burn properly. In the U.K. road trafficproduces 91% of all CO emissions.Problems caused: When you breath it in itreduces the oxygen-carrying capacity of yourblood and can cause headaches, fatigue,stress, respiratory problems and, at highlevels, death.##### Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)These are produced from the burning of fuel inthe engine. In the U.K. road traffic is responsi-ble for 49% of all NOx emissions.Problems caused: NOx emissions help tomake ‘acid rain’. They also combine withhydrocarbons to form low-level ozonepollution and may contribute to lung disease.##### Hydrocarbons (HC)These are compounds of hydrogen andcarbon and are present in petrol and diesel.Benzene is an example. Petrol in the U.K.contains about 2% benzene. In the U.K. roadtraffic is responsible for about 35% of all HCemissions.Problems caused: HCs react with nitrogenoxides to produce a number of pollutants,including ozone. Benzene can cause someforms of cancer.##### Smoke (particulate matter or PM)Smoke is made of fine particles of carboncoated with organic chemicals. It is produced

when fuel is only partly burnt in the engine.Problems caused: Increases in smoke levelsare associated with increases in death fromheart and lung disease and may cause lungcancer.##### OzoneOzone is made when some pollutants fromvehicles combine together in the sunlight. Thishappens some time later and can be muchfurther away from any vehicles, so ‘hot spots’of ozone pollution do not usually occur.Problems caused: Ozone can affect humanhealth and also causes plant damage

The above is taken for a government website at www.elmbridge.gov.uk/services/environment/pollutants.html.

See the following BBC web site for adiscussion of smoking versus car fumes:news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3590578.stm.

The article claims that smoking is moretoxic than car fumes. But note in this articlethey are looking at particulate matter not gasessuch as nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxideand hydrocarbon vapours such as benzenewhich is carcinogenic. Also they are looking atthe best possible fuel they could use – is theaverage car owner that bothered about whatfuel they use?

See the following BBC web site for morehealth implications of car exhaust fumes:news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/1867616.stm.

pub named after, and depicting, a GoldenGuinea. This coinage was even more desirableto a pirate than “pieces of eight”.

Come out of the Basin and resume yourway along the floating harbour and you willcome to the final sculpture, just before PrincesStreet Bridge, on Merchants Wharf, depictingone of the survivors of the quest, dragging aTreasure Chest behind him in the direction ofthe new museum of Bristol – worn out after allhis adventures.

There you have it – from Bristol Bridge toPrinces Street Bridge, a portrayal of ourturbulent past using one of the greatestfictional novels ever written. It’s an opportu-nity for Bristol to put itself on the literarymap of the world, a unique and innovative wayto show off our culture in a totally inclusivefashion. You could start where you wantedand the story would still unfold. It would beone of the best free attractions ever.

Now’s your chance to comment on theproposals. Do you think them good or badand how can the Trust improve on its ideas?Please let the Trust know by ringing the authoron 01454 238217 or by email [email protected].

Mark Steeds

Literary pub trail... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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DiaryPast editions of

PINTS WESTon-line and in colour

Bristol and District CAMRA would like toremind readers that we have a web site atwww.camrabristol.org.ukThis contains information on the local branchand the Campaign for Real Ale generally, aswell as details of forth-coming meetings,socials and other activities. The web site isregularly updated and so is the best place tofind out about any last minute changes toarrangements as well as some of the latest realale related stories. It is also the place whereyou can find past editions of Pints West, fromedition 50 onwards. Number 50 also containsa potted history of Pints West from the veryfirst edition in 1989, when it was then knownas Avon Drinker. Recent editions are in colour.

PINTS WEST ~ brought to youentirely by unpaid volunteers . . .Seven thousand copies of Pints West aredistributed free to pubs in and around thecities of Bristol and Bath ... and beyond.Letters: please send any correspondence to

Pints West Editor, Steve Plumridge,Garden Flat, 6 Royal York Villas,Clifton, Bristol BS8 4JR

or by email to [email protected]: contact Steve Plumridge (detailsabove) or call – evenings or weekends – (0117)9743242. Current rates are:

6cm x 6cm £28 6cm x 8cm £368cm x 9cm £46 9cm x 12cm £65Full back page £400 Half back page £200

Other sizes may be available (not guaranteed).Published by the Bristol & District Branch ofthe Campaign for Real Ale, May 2005 ©Next edition: end of Aug 2005 (probably).Reproduction: any written article in thispublication may be reproduced provided thesource (Pints West), including the contributor’sname where applicable, is stated. (No usinglogos or pictures without prior permission.)Subscriptions: to be put on a mailing list (forUK addresses) send a cheque for just £2.50 tothe editor, made payable to “Steve Plumridge”(or some 2nd class stamps up to that value).CAMRA Good Beer Guide: suggestions forfuture entries, and comments on existing ones,can be made to our GBG Coordinator, RichardWalters, care of the editor (above).Further information on all aspects ofCAMRA can be had from Ray Holmes on(0117) 9605357 (h).Trading Standards Officers: contactnumbers for problems such as consistent shortmeasures, no price lists...Bristol: 0117 9223444S. Glos: 01454 624000Glos: 01452 426201N. Somerset: 01934 632026B.A.N.E.S: 01225 396755

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THANKS TO THIS ISSUE’SCONTRIBUTORSPennie PostlethwaiteColin PostlethwaiteNorman SpaldingFreya McLuckieErica McLuckieRichard BrooksPhil CummingsLaurie GibneyDuncan ShineDave GrahamSteve O’SheaVince MurrayMark SteedsPhill the PintRobin E WildLesly HuxleyColin PurseyTim NickollsSteve ReedPete Bridle

Editor: Steve Plumridge

Diary of the Bristol & District branch ofCAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale.See inside for the Weston-super-Mare sub-branch diary and contact.Sat 4 June - Pub crawl of central Bristolwith Bath & Borders branch. Start King’sHead, Victoria Street, noon.Wed 8 June - Branch committee meeting atthe Cornubia, 8pm.Tues 14 June - North Somerset Explorer.Leave from Cornubia, 6.45pm.Wed 22 June - Branch AGM, Horts CityTavern, Broad Street, 8pm. Please bringmembership cards.Tues 28 June - Mendips survey trip.Leave from Cornubia, 6.45pm.Tues 5 July - Trip to Butcombe Brewery.Leave from Cornubia, 6.45pm.Wed 13 July - Branch committee meeting,Cornubia, 8pm.Tues 19 July - Chew Valley Explorer.Leave frm Cornubia, 6.45pm.Wed 27 July - Branch Meeting, Mayor’sArms, Clarence Road, Redcliffe, 8pm.Wed 9 August - Branch committeemeeting, Cornubia, 8pm.Tues 15 August - Pub survey trip. Leavefrom Cornubia, 6.45pm.Sat 20 August - Pub crawl of Bath. StartLambrettas, 12:00.Wed 23 August - Branch meeting, Horts,Broad Street, 8pm.For more information on local events eitherattend our branch meetings or check thediary section on our web site atwww.camrabristol.org.uk

BRISTOL & DISTRICT CAMRA are verygrateful to Glen Dawkins, the proprietor of boththe Hillgrove in Kingsdown (just along from theHare on the Hill) and the Miner’s Arms in St.Werburghs. Glen kindly donated vouchers forfree beer at his two pubs to be offered as tombolaprizes at our beer festival.

The good news for people thinking of joiningCAMRA for the first time is that Glen has kindlyagreed that we can offer the left-over vouchers asprizes through Pints West.

Therefore, we will be pleased to offervouchers for four pints of real ale each to the firsttwo new members who join CAMRA with theapplication form in this newsletter (joint memberscount as one as far as this offer is concerned). Wewill send you the four vouchers which you canthen exchange – one voucher equals one pint ofreal ale – at either of Glen’s pubs. In the event ofenvelopes arriving on the same day, the prize willbe given to the first envelopes opened.

Free beer!

The Royal Naval Volunteer in King Street,Bristol, will be holding a Smiles “beerfestival” from Monday 20th June toSunday 26th June, when one and all arewelcome to sample the Smiles productrange. Neil Bain will be present on Thurs-day 23rd June to present a “meet thebrewer evening” and will be available toanswer any related questions.

The Smiles Pub Company have con-firmed they are including a brewpubfacility in the redevelopment plans beingdrawn up for The Brewery Tap and whilst itwill not be on the scale of the formerfacility it will brew one of the four corebrands to be available all year, to start withat least.

StillSmiling

PINTS WEST Award-winning newsletter of the Bristol & District Branch of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

RCH BREWERY celebrated its 21st birthday in style with a partyon 21st May 2005, to an accompaniment of torrential rain, thunderand lightning, entertainment from Fred and Doris Bloggs and theMendip Morris, and some very, very good beer.

Bristol & District CAMRA were amongst those welcomed to amarquee on land next to the brewery to help RCH cut the cakeand toast this family brewery’s success for at least another 21years to come. A mouth-watering selection of eight of RCH’sbeers were available on the stillage, including the 21st Anniver-sary Ale, favourites such as PG Steam (3.9%) and Pitchfork(4.3%), and one I’d not seen before, Steam Pole. I saved the OldSlug Porter for the last hour or so – a great beer for a damp Mayday (and any other day really!).

Fred and Doris helped get the party going and bring a smile toeveryone’s lips with covers of music from the 60s onwards,delivered with a humorous twist and choruses made for joiningin. Even the trek across soggy grass to the portaloos couldn’tdampen our spirits.

Many thanks to RCH for their hospitality and for continuingto provide an excellent range of beers. And of course, manyhappy returns! Lesly Huxley

RCH’s 21st birthday party

The birthday cakeLots and lots of casksAnniversary Ale

Fred Bloggs

Photographs by Lesly Huxley, Tony Durbin and John FirthMendip Morris Men

2005 CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALE PI TS W Tcamrabristol.org.uk/pw66.pdfmarquee and plenty of entertainments...

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