No.173 Summer 2015

FREE

The Railway Armswins Cider Pub of the

Year 2015See Page 57

The Beehive wins City andBranch Pub of the Year 2015

Read more on page 5!

Magazine of the Norfolk Branches of the Campaign for Real Ale

Members of CAMRA, Europe’slargest beer consumer group,have reinforced the organisa-tion’s positive approach tocampaigning for beer and pubsby passing a series of progres-sive motions at its annualconference.

More than 1,200 CAMRAmembers attended the confer-ence in Nottingham between18-19 April and debated andvoted on 20 motions aboutissues affecting the beer andpub industry, as well asCAMRA’s future campaigning.

Decisions were taken tosupport the practice of servingreal ale from ‘key-kegs’ and torecognise cider with whole fruitand spices as ‘real’ were passed,whereas motions that advo-cated CAMRA distancing itselffrom wider beer industry initia-tives were rejected.

Members clearly voted insupport of an inclusiveapproach to the beer industry,reaffirming that the Campaign

is about the promotion andchampioning of real ale, andproviding a choice for drinkers,rather than outright oppositionto other types of beer.

CAMRA chief executive TimPage said: “It was clear fromthe debate in the hall that themajority of members think thatcriticising drinkers for notchoosing real ale is counter-productive.

CAMRA’s inclusive andsupportive attitude to the beerand pub industry was alsoshown when members clearlyvoted to continue support forwider beer industry campaignssuch as Cyclops and “There’s abeer for that”.

CAMRA will also help promotebeer in non-traditional venuesand pubs and bars unable toserve cask, with membersagreeing two measures torefocus CAMRA’s Real Ale in aBottle scheme: the continuedpromotion of “high quality

Let’s get behindthe beer industryCAMRA members vote for a more inclusive campaign

Norfolk Nips | Campaigning

In this issue:Get behind the beer industry 3

Norwich & Norfolk POTY 5

Stig’s Words 6

The Ed’lines 7

Pub and Brewery News 8-12

Bar Man - How Much?? 15

Beer Sommelier 16

Cider POTY 17

Black Horse Rampant 19

The Albion - End of an Era 20

In Memory of Wolfe 22-23

Correspondence 23

Green Dragon wins the Rural! 25

From the Archives 27

Key Keg debate 29

The Rant 32

Going to Gorleston 34-37

Bar Man - Philosophy of 39

Norfolk’s champion beers 42-43

LocAle 45

Great British Beer Festival 46

A truly Norfolk ale 48

CAMRA Discounts 51

CAMRA Beer Festivals 53

Join CAMRA 58

Last Orders 59

CAMRA Branch Calendar 60-61

Contact Details 62Continued Overleaf

We are pleased to announcethat the well deserved winnerof the City Pub of the Year andthe overall Branch Pub of theYear 2015 is The Beehive onLeopold Road in Norwich.

Of course no pub is a greatpub, as in this case, without itscolourful customers, a greatlandlady in Alex Kerridge and of course very knowledgeableand friendly staff.

Alex comes from a back-ground of brewing and real alewhere this all started off in herearly career at the Reindeer onDereham Road in Norwich.

Alex runs a great house nowat the Beehive which has beena pub since 1922. Prior to thatthe pub was a local shop on thecorner of two Victorian Terraces.

For the 7 years, Alex has beenlandlady she has worked totransform this real communitypub into the award winningexcellent venue it is today. Whyhas it won? Well, 7 handpumps with a strong focus onsmaller local breweries goes along way to guarantee that75% of the beers are local.From there you can understandwhy there will always be a goodchoice of real ale, be it from thetwo regular house beers or the5 guest ales!

Of course when the Beehiveputs on its beer festivals thenumber goes up and with aBeer Festival looming in July (2nd to 5th) you can be sure of

many more being on cask fromthe outside bar / garden area.

The other things that makethis pub special are its regularSaturday BBQs that help localcharities, Monday night Folknight, the extremely popularWednesday Quiz Nights, thecommunity sport and socialgroups that use the bars andthe upstairs function room andits great lunchtime food menu.Oh and of course the recentlyintroduced Pie Day Friday! Onoccasions you can catch sporton TV, but it’s not in your faceand you can still enjoy the greatexperience this pub gives you.

So there is not much to stopyou checking out this greatNorwich pub then. Say hello toAlex and her staff, enjoy theambiance and retro style of thepub and chat to the locals! A warm and friendly welcomeassured, oh and of course -fantastic beer!

Rob WhitmoreBranch Secretary

bottle-conditioned beers” andthe mounting of a campaign toencourage pubs to "identifyand market bottle-conditionedales and bottled real cider andperry clearly.”

On cider and perry, CAMRAmembers decided that theCampaign needed to recognisechanges in the cider marketand the growth in popularity ofauthentic flavoured ciders andperries.

The Conference voted toadopt a motion changingCAMRA’s definition of real ciderand perry to remove thecriteria that “no added flavour-ings to be used” and to allow“pure fruits, vegetables, honey,hops, herbs and spices, but noconcentrates, cordials oressences” to be added.

Let’s get behindthe beer industrycontinued

Norfolk Nips | City Pub of the Year

Norwich & Norfolk Branch Pub of the Year

Summer 2015 | 5

Stig’s WordsThe leaves are on the trees the birds are singing,but the wind is still bloomin’ freezing! This couldbe a description of an English spring or apessimistic out look on life in general.

Although the economy is picking up the situationin the pub world, especially for smaller pubs is notthat good. Some rely on tourist business to keepthem afloat, some on the number of people usinga town centre and some on the sheer confidenceof the local community. We have examples of theeffect of these factors all over Norfolk. In this issue Ihave found both ends of the stick in one town, soread inside…

On a lighter note some of our west Norfolk estab-lishments have been getting awards.

Whin Hill Cider in Wells is just outside our areabut are long term friends of the branch so congrat-ulations go to them for winning the East AnglianPerry award.

The Railway at Downham Market has won bothour branch and Norfolk Cider pub of the year good

luck in the next (regional) stage! We have alsopresented our Pub of the year award to the Coachand Horses at Dersingham for the second yearrunning! A great achievement against excellentopposition. Congratulations to Sheila and herteam. The Coach and Horses will now competewith the Norwich branch choice for the countyPOTY 2015.

Narborough Social club has been awarded ourClub of the year award for its beer range andquality not to mention its downright friendliness,just show your CAMRA membership card and you’llbe welcome (Another good reason to join us).

The season of beer festivals is starting to roll inex-orably down hill to land on summer greens all overEast Anglia, so hopefully I’ll see some of you sittingin the sun enjoying the light reflecting through awell crafted pint, assuming of course it stays in theglass long enough!

CheersStig

Five years ago, I agreed to become the Editor ofthis wonderful magazine, on the understandingthat I would do it for a fixed term of five years.The time has now come and so this is my last issue.

It has been a wonderful experience, and one ofthe best jobs that I have ever had. Norfolk NIPSand Cask Force is a well-loved and muchrespected magazine which is read the worldover, since the digital version has been available.

I have visited many fine pubs and breweriesand met some wonderful people. It wouldappear that I am not alone in announcing my

retirement – Dougie and Bernie from the Dukeof Wellington and Chris and Glynis from theTrafford Arms are also looking for pastures new.Good luck to them.

I would like to place on record my sincerethanks to everyone who contributed, offeredtips and suggestions, and even criticised. You areholding the result in your hands, a magazine ofwhich I am immensely proud.

Good luck to the new Editor, GrahamFreeman, who incidentally gave me the job allthose years ago.

Please give him your wholehearted supportand copy and photos and letters and suggestions...Time for a beer.

Cheers!Mike Baldwin

Summer 2015 | 7

Norfolk Nips | From the Editors

The Ed’lines

The face and name are the same but my job isnot the same. Yes I'm back. For some reason Ihave decided to be re-activated and wanted tohelp out as the new joint Editor with Stig. I hopehe will be gentle with me.

I take this opportunity to thank Mike Baldwinfor his many years of service and his help inmaking Norfolk Nips & Cask Force one of the bestnewsletters around. Well what comes next? I dofeel we should concentrate more on local issuesas we do need to remember our focus is topromote Real Ale & Cider in Norfolk. This iswhere I would like your help. I'm looking for anyitems you would like to see in the Nips.

Please send us your ideas and we will givethem our consideration and hopefully will be

able to include them in our future editions.

As Summer approaches please go out into ourmany Norfolk Pubs and have an enjoyable expe-rience. However don’t forget to tell us about it.

Graham Freeman

We have a growing number of postalsubscribers to Norfolk Nips and Cask Force,and I would like to send my thanks for the kindcomments and best wishes from those whohave renewed their subscriptions recently.

If you would like to join them in receiving thenext 4 issues by post, send 10 first classstamps or £6.50 cheque payable to WestNorfolk CAMRA, 91 Tennyson Road,Kings Lynn, Norfolk, PE30 5NG.

Subscriptions

8 | Summer 2015

News from Norwich& Norfolk

Lots of news this edition, somegood, some bad, and quite alot of it happening in Norwich.

But first, I’d like to mention apub well outside our area,Carlton Tavern, in MaidaVale, London. Ninety-fouryears old, and the only buildingin the street to survive WWIIbombing, the pub wassummarily demolished by it’sowners, shortly after they’dbeen denied planning permis-sion to convert it to flats, anddays before it was to be listedas a building of historicalinterest. It wasn’t failing, it wasjust more valuable to theowners as flats than as a pub.Conversion required planningpermission for change of use,but as the law stands, once apub is demolished, there is no‘use’ to change, and thereforeno planning permissionrequired!*

*Beyond that required to buildon any empty site.

This disgraceful behaviour isfortunately rare, but highlightsthe need for better protectionof pubs - a major campaigningissue for CAMRA in recentyears, which has resulted in animportant change in the law:from now on, any pub which islisted as an Asset of Commu-nity Value (ACV) can not bedemolished, and can not beconverted to a shop or restau-

rant, without planning permis-sion. This is in addition to theexisting protection an ACVlisting gives, preventing salewithout giving the localcommunity a chance to bid.And what’smore, a recent legaljudgement means that CAMRAbranches can submit ACVnominations in their own right,without the need to collect 21local signatures!

In response to this change,the CAMRA intend to step upmassively their activity in thisarea. Norwich & NorfolkBranch have an objective to list100 pubs this year, and WENEED YOUR HELP to identifythe pubs most in danger, andthose which would be mostsorely missed. Typically, but notexclusively, these will fall intoone or more of the followingcategories:

the last pub in the village,area or suburb

pubs in ‘sought after’ loca-tions which make them worthmore as flats

have gardens / car parks /open space which could bedeveloped

owned by pub companies /large breweries

So if you know of such pubs,please let me know at pubsof-ficer@norwichcamra.org.uk, orwrite to the Editor.

A couple of important points:Don’t wait until the pub is

for sale (or worse!) - it will betoo late!

It doesn’t matter if the pubsells real ale or not - we’rehappy to list any pub at risk

Just because a pub is a bitrun down, doesn’t mean itdeserves to close or beconverted - there are plenty ofexamples of pubs ‘coming backfrom the dead’ under newmanagement

We don’t expect you to doanything more than tell usabout the pub (unless youwant to of course!). We will doall the leg-work.

Back to the usual subject ofthis column, and starting withnews from Norwich.

We have probably lost theBread & Cheese, AdelaideSt to housing. The planningapplication was due to beheard at the start of May, withobjections from residents basedon the size of the developmentand its effect on parking, butnot on the loss of the pub,which was believed to betrading adequately prior toclosure in January. I have to sayit is disappointing to see thatthe Norwich Society “welcome”the conversion of the pub,despite it being on their LocalList of important buildings dueto, among other things, itsimportance to the community“for over 150 years”.

Nearby, the Perseverance,also on Adelaide St, closedagain only a few months afterre-opening. However at time ofwriting it is believed to have

Pub and Brewery NewsPub and Brewery News | Norfolk Nips

been sold for continued use asa pub - watch this space.

Several other pubs havechanged hands, with the LordRosebery, on RoseberyRoad sold to RedwellBrewery (although the B&Baccommodation is retained),and the Trafford Arms,Grove Rd, sold by long-timelandlord, and ex-Sheriff ofNorwich Chris Higgins, to NickDe’Ath, owner of theUnthank Arms and part-owner of the Lawyer.

The Cottage, Silver Road,has been bought by GrainBrewery and given a verystylish makeover, including anew copper-topped bar on theright as you enter, with lotsmore space, expensive woodpanelling, exposed brickwork,brand new solid wood floors -oh and six handpumpsdispensing mainly Grain beers,and an array of taps on theback bar for other craft beers.

Greene King have opened anew Hungry Horse outlet, theFieldfare, on the BroadlandBusiness Park in Postwick.Interestingly the premiseslicence application was spelled“Hungary” Horse, althoughhaving opened there’sno goulash or other East-Euro-pean dishes on their extensivemenu!

Work is still progressing atwhat we can now stop calling“ex-Delaney’s” - the StAndrews Brewhouse, in StAndrews Street. which weexpect to open very soon, withplanning consent for an on-sitemicro-brewery. It seems

Brewdog are serious about anew bar in Norwich - advertsfor staff have been spotted, butwe’re still not sure where,although Hideout on Queen Sthas ‘Let’ signs up and wouldn’tneed an awful lot of work, orany serious planning consent.

Outside the city, celebritychef Marco-Pierre White’s fourNorfolk pubs have all been putup for sale. The Chequers andthe Lifeboat, both atThornham; the WayfordBridge Inn, WayfordBridge; and the Acle BridgeInn, Acle Bridge, were in thehands of administratorsfollowing the companies whichowned them failing last year.

From the northern andsouthern extremes of our area,news of two previous BranchPubs of the Year. In the south,the iconic Geldeston LocksInn is no longer owned byGreen Jack Brewery. Howeveraward-winning landlord ColinSmith is staying on, and willmaintain a wide range of beers,featuring several from Grain.And up on the north coast, theWindham Arms, Sher-ingham has been taken over bythe people who have the RobinHood in the same town.

Along the coast, the WhiteHorse, East Runton, hasbeen renamed the DozyDormouse - apparently inaffectionate tribute to the land-lord’s wife! - and has beenrefurbished in the modernstyle. And the White Horse,on Blakeney’s High St has hada major refurb by ownersAdnams.

Three new outlets for real alehave been discovered by myinformants! Dereham has anew build Marston’s pub, theGreenstone, opening ‘soon’.The Lawns Hotel, Holt nowhas two ales usually available -a Moongazer from NorfolkBrewhouse and an Adnamsbeer at my correspondent’svisit. And the Fritton Arms,Fritton on the Somerleytonestate now also stocks beersfrom Greene King and localbreweries.

Following a very pleasant visitto the Golden Trianglebrewery in Barford, where wewere treated to an energetic re-enactment of a brew day byowner and brewer KevinTweedy, we crossed the road tothe Cock, which has beentransformed in the last coupleof years by owner MarvinShalders, and is now a lovelytraditional pub, with light wallsand dark wood and a real fire,plus three handpumps - and isno longer painted orange!

The Erpingham Arms,Erpingham, re-opened in lateApril, the White Lodge,Attleborough re-opened inMarch, and we hear that theDog, Swardeston, may alsohave re-opened.

However, on the debit side ofthe account, we believe theFeathers at North Walshamis closed and for sale, Greens/ The Forge at Aylsham isclosed and to let; the Mill,Newton Flotman has beensold, and the Fox & Hounds,

Norfolk Nips | Pub and Brewery News

Summer 2015 | 9

Continued Overleaf

10 | Summer 2015

Great Moulton, is closed andfor sale by auction.

In April Tacey and DavidMoore celebrated 2 years atthe Railway Tavern Framingham Earl. The focusis serving great value qualitypub food, national and locallysourced cask ales, lagers, wines,spirits and soft drinks in afriendly environment. TheRailway Tavern is also buildingan enviable reputation as a lifemusic venue. Sky Sports hasbeen recently added.

For more information aboutpubs in the Branch, please visitwww.whatpub.com/nor, whereyou can also report any errors,omissions and update directlyto me via the ‘Submit Update’option.

News from the West

Good news from Ringsteadwhere the Gin Trap hasreopened after being takenover by local resident AnnelliTaylor, who has had the pubcompletely refurbished,including three letting rooms.The locally sourced food isproving popular. The Gin Trapwas one of our key advertiserswhen we launched the WestNorfolk CAMRA magazine CaskForce around 25 years ago.

Unfortunately this was alsothe time when a motion wasput forward to the nationalAGM seeking to ban pubs fromthe Good Beer Guide which inany way supported hunting,

such as hand pumps paintedwith hunting scenes. The GinTrap had a display of man trapshung from the ceiling whichwould probably fallen foul ofthe new regulations if themotion had been passed, andit took a bit of persuasion thesatisfy the landlord, Brian,noted for his outspoken anduncompromising views, that itwas not a serious proposal.

Brian built the place into afantastic pub, and we lookforward to it returning to itsformer glory once again,although one correspondentwrites to tell be that he calledin at 7.25pm one eveningattracted by the sign promisingfood all day. After ordering hisdrinks and asking for a menuhe was then told that theywere not doing food, soalthough he was impressed bythe range of four cask beers, hewill not be in a hurry to return.

Another pub that has reopenedis the former Ostrich at SouthCreake, now called the Plumeof Feathers. Punch Tavernsare reported to have helpedwith the £100,000 refurbish-ment and are workingalongside the new operator,Paul Vials. The grade II listedbuilding has been repaired andredecorated and there are threeletting rooms. It is hoped thatthe attached barn will soon beavailable to host events.

The Marshland Arms outon the Smeeth, near Wisbechwas closed for refurbishmentwhen we swung by in March,but according to the website

and the notices it is beingrefurbished and may well bereopen by the time you readthis. Also being refurbished isthe Dray and Horses atTottenhill, though I have heardvarious rumours as to what thefinal outcome may be, and it ispossible that this will notreopen as a pub.

Up for sale after the owningcompany had financial prob-lems are the Lifeboat and itssister pub, the Chequers atThornham. A colour supple-ment favourite, the Lifeboat isone of the best known pubs inthe area, so should create someinterest. The Chequers was, formany years named the OldCoach House and used as akind of overspill for peoplestaying in the Lifeboat, butmore recently has beenpromoted in its own right,reverting back to its originalname. Hopefully there will beenough trade for three pubs tosurvive in the village, given thatit is popular with tourists. Thedifficulty may be attractingenough custom out of thesummer season when thesecond home owners makefewer visits. Both are listed as‘offers invited’.

In Terrington St John, there isa mysterious planning applica-tion in for the Woolpack, toconstruct three 4 bed dwellingswith attached garages,however I cannot discover ifthis means that the pub itself isunder threat as the WestNorfolk Planning Site gives me

Pub and Brewery News - continued | Norfolk Nips

Continued Overleaf

Spring 2015 | 11

12 | Summer 2015

Pub and Brewery News - continued | Norfolk Nips

After sounding opinionamongst West Norfolkcommittee members I have applied in the name ofthe branch for an ACV for theWinch in West Winch. This pubhas been chosen as a test casebecause it is the only remainingpub in the village and I haveheard rumours from a local resident that it is shortly to closeand be demolished.

Pub Preservation

Coach and Horses at Ders-ingham have announced aSummer solstice Cider festival tobe held Sunday 21st June,2015. Music all day and KingsMorris men at 2.00 pm.Also a beer festival 16th - 18th

October, 15 - 20 beers.

Coach & HorsesCelebrate Summer

an error message when Iattempt a search.

We hear that the Dolphin inThetford is currently closed andindeed it is being advertised onthe Enterprise Inns website ifyou fancy taking it over, so theintention seems to be for it tocontinue as a pub (Currentlybeing run by the landlady of thegreen Dragon. ED), unlike theBridge in Thetford which isnow reported to be Zaks Amer-ican Diner. Two more pubsadvertised on the Enterprisesite are the Swan in EastHarling and the Flintknap-pers in Brandon, which as faras I know are still trading.

I have been asked to give amention to a couple of beerfestivals coming up. TheKings Arms at Shouldham,have a festival on the weekendof 4th – 6th September andthe Chequers at Wimbot-sham are in action on 28th-30th August, where there isanticipated to be an appear-ance by the classic motor cycleclub.

As reported in the last issue,Wetherspoons have submitteda planning application to turnthe White Hart in Downhaminto one of their outlets. Objec-tions have been lodged, andwe await the decision of thecommittee.

Up at Snettisham theCompasses has been emptyfor several years since themurder of the landlady. TheCoop has submitted plans toturn it into a store, which I

guess is a satisfactory solutionfor the building. I recentlycame across a channel 5 televi-sion programme about thetragic events at the pub whichdid not make for comfortableviewing. I also wonder aboutthe accuracy of the programmewhen the makers use stockfootage of the Norfolk Broadsto illustrate a West Norfolkvillage.

Jeff

Just In!The Jolly Brewers pub andrestaurant in ShouldhamThorpe has a new owner inJulie Wales who has over 20years experience in the busi-ness and is the owner of thenearby Foldgate Inn at Strad-sett. Food will be served everyday and there will be a livemusic night once a month. No news on the beer, yet butfood and produce is beingsourced from named localsuppliers, so lets hope that thesame attention to detail andquality is reflected on the bar.The grand opening was sched-uled for 15th May, so it shouldhave settled down by now andbe well worth a look.

Went past the Dray andHorses Tottenhill on Fridayand it looks like it is now somekind of restaurant, but have notbeen able to find any details.May not yet be open.

Familieswelcome

Good Beer Guide 2015 listed pub

The ONLY Thai Restaurant for Norwich in

THE GOOD FOOD GUIDE!

Refurbished restaurant

Open Monday to Saturday

Thai Foodlunchtimes& evenings

City Centre

Location

Well Keptreal ales

Our offers and events...

Curry and a Pint for £10

Monday to Thursday 5-7pmCome and enjoy a great Thai

curry and a pint of real ale for only a tenner!

Quiz NightsFirst Tuesday of the MonthStarts 7.30pm. £10 a TicketIncludes curry and a pint of ale

or small glass of wine£20 voucher to winner!

Please book tickets in advance.

We are in the Good Beer Guide

2015

Thai Steak & Chips only £10Marinated with Thai herbs and red wine

and served with sweet chilli sauce. Monday evenings only.

If a pint of beer in a pub costs £3, then a halfwould cost £1.50, right? Well no, actually. Many pubs charge over half the price of a pintwhen purchasing a half measure. Is this fair? Itwas a topic of discussion at the recent CAMRAAGM in Nottingham and opinion was divided.

Some felt that it is obvious that you should payhalf as much for half the quantity, and to chargemore than this is both sharp practice and anencouragement to drink larger measures whichis probably a bad thing, especially in Scotlandwhere the drink drive limits have been cut from80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres ofblood to 50 milligrams.

Others hold that the price you pay for a pint isnot just for the drink, and if you buy a half youexpect the same effort for the serving staff as ifyou were buying a pint. A half pint glass costjust as much to wash, you are occupying a chairand want the same heating and lighting andentertainment, such as the football on TV asthose who buy a pint. If you go to a super-market, the unit price of almost everything isgreater if you buy in smaller amounts, so whyshould beer be different?

The consensus seemed to be that it was OK topay a little more, for instance to round the priceup to a sensible number so the customer wasnot charged £1.57 for example, but big differ-ences were unacceptable, such as some Londonpubs quoted which charge 50 or 60p extra for ahalf. Anyway, if you are that worried it is alwayspossible to check the price list before making adecision. Except that it isn’t.

I was under the impression that all pubs haveto display a price list, but this is no longer thecase. It certainly used to be, but the law waschanged by the ‘The Consumer Protection from

Unfair Trading Regulations 2008’. This resultedin the repeal of the Price Marking (Food andDrink Services) Order, which specifically coveredprice lists and their display. Now there is ‘ageneral obligation to give sufficient informationto customers at the point of sale, so that theyare not misled on prices.’ Clearly the best way todo this is to display a price list, but you couldargue that if the prices are in line with whatwould be generally expected in the area, itwould be very difficult to bring any kind ofaction against a publican for failing to displayprices. On the other hand, if you bought a pintfor £4, what would be the reasonable expecta-tion for a half a pint? £2.20 might be OK, butwhat if it was £2.60? Some might argue (and indeed did in Nottingham) that this is notreasonable. This is covered by a section of theact detailing ‘misleading omissions’. This is whena trader leaves out important information tomislead you into buying something that youmay not have bought if you had been given allthe facts. I can find a case of an oil firm beingprosecuted for delivering oil to homes without aquote and then charging higher than expectedprices, but none of a pub being prosecuted.

I doubt that Trading Standards would have thetime or inclination to take on a case of over-charging by a few pence in these straightenedtimes. Maybe the requirement to display a pricelist should have been spared from the bonfire ofred tape.

bar.man@btinternet.comFirst published in the Lynn News

Howmuch???

Summer 2015 | 15

Norfolk Nips | Bar Man

16 | Summer 2015

Norwich and NorfolkCAMRA are pleased thattwo of their long standingmembers have beenawarded Beer Sommelieraccreditation by the BeerAcademy. Mark and CherylCade have long had an

interest in beer and hope that this award willenable them to pursue their new careers in theindustry organising tours, tutored tastings andother beers related events in Norfolk and beyond.Cheryl and Mark will also continue their work atthe Norwich Beer Festival with Cheryl co-managing the Foreign and Bottled Beer Baralongside Keith Loney. They will also be organ-ising the tutored beer tastings at the NorwichBeer Festival and hope to continue the good workthat Ian Stamp has begun.

Cheryl (a committee member) is part of a groupof women in the area championing the image ofladies enjoying the delicious tipple of beer.

So what is a Beer Sommelier? A Beer Somme-lier specialises in the service and knowledgeof beer. This knowledge includes an under-standing of styles, brewing, ingredients, history ofbeer and brewing, glassware, beer service, draught systems, beertasting and food pairings. Cheryl and Mark wereassessed on their beer knowledge and sat a oneto one exam that involved blind tasting a numberof beers (yes it was hard work!) to evaluate stylesand flavours and to indentify a number of faultsthat can occur in beer.

If you would like more information about whatthey do and how they promote local and interna-tional beers take a look at their websitewww.thirstconsultants.com or find them on Facebook and Twitter. They are always happy tochat about beer.

Beer experts gainaccreditation

For the fourth consecutive year, the membersof the Norwich & Norfolk branch of CAMRAhave selected The White Lion pub, on OakStreet in Norwich, as the Cider Pub of the Year.Pubs within the branch providing the best realcider and perry had been nominated bymembers and the final voting took place at therecent branch AGM.

Although the White Lion has won the awardsince the Cider Pub of the Year was introducedin 2012, it is the first time that Landlord AlexWaters has received the Norwich & Norfolkbranch’s title although he has worked there fora number of years. Mr Waters said after being-given the good news “We are thrilled to hearthat The White Lion has been awarded theNorwich & Norfolk CAMRA Cider Pub of theYear. Since taking over from Ben and BeckyAckers in August 2014, we have continued tospecialise in providing a diverse range of qualityreal ciders from all parts of the country, with anemphasis on Norfolk cider. ”

He continued “We sell ciders from Jonty’s,Crone’s, East Norfolk, Harleston, Burnard's, theNorfolk Cider Company and Whin Hill, as wellas 10-15 ciders from the West Country, Wales,Essex and elsewhere. We also sell lots of goodreal ale and home cooked, locally sourcedseasonal British food. We are passionate aboutwhat we do here and would like to thank theNorfolk and Norwich branch CAMRA membersfor voting for us and continuing to drink at TheWhite Lion.”

The White Lion now goes head-to-head withthe West Norfolk branch’s winner, The RailwayTavern in Downham Market and also theWortwell Bell which was Mid Anglia’s winner,with the overall Norfolk victor progressing tothe Regional level of the competition.

Warren Wordsworth, the Norwich and NorfolkBranch Chairman said “I would like to congratu-late The White Lion for winning Norwich &Norfolk Branch’s Cider Pub of the Year for animpressive fourth year in a row. The White Lion isa great pub, which actually was closed for quite anumber of years but reopened in September2008, and now has an excellent choice of cidersand perries which has helped raise awareness oflocal producers and the variety of these tradi-tional, natural drinks available at pubs. I wish TheWhite Lion and Mr Waters good luck in thefuture rounds of the competition”.

Result! Four in a row for The White Lion

Summer 2015 | 17

Norfolk Nips | Norwich & Norfolk branch Cider Pub of the Year 2015

Norwich BeerFestivalWe are promised some changes for the 38thBeer Festival this year. Worry ye not, it willstill be in The Halls and will be held duringthe October Half Term week. More will berevealed in the next issue, but there is animportant change regarding the facilities.

In St Andrew’s Hall, the Ladies will be theGents and the Gents will be the Ladies.Doors will be blocked off and new walls and partitions built – you have been warned!

Please check the Branch website, or speakto a Committee Member if you wish tovolunteer.

The Black Horse in Thetford was for several yearsa regular in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide, andthen due to various factors, including a changeof management, it dropped out.

In 2014 Terry and Pam Gillman were lookingto move from the Green Dragon to a pub thathad more potential to be shaped to their ideas.

The owners of the Black Horse approachedthem and after some initial doubts they decidedto arrive at a deal.

The pub was from personal memory a bit darkinside and the food side had slowed significantly,to be fair the beer was fine. As well as writing forand editing the west Norfolk part of this maga-zine, I also help to distribute it locally. So when Idropped in to deliver NIPS after the takeover Iwas immediately impressed by the change,heavy curtains had gone and light allowed intothe bars, the atmosphere was much lighter aswell with obvious chatter between hosts andcustomers. Terry and Pam had already begun tomake the Horse their own.

The beer quality had gone up a notch, stillserved through the three pumps they inheritedwith the pub. This was only the beginning; avarying menu of good honest home made foodwas (and still is) on offer, all excellent in myopinion. Considering the fact that the Wether-spoons is very close by with its mass feeding at lowprices, you would think Terry and Pam had takenon a challenge but the food is in great demandand the eating area is often pretty full. To giveanother reason for the foods popularity regularDan Bailey describes it as “bangin’” nuff said!

This is a beer magazine so back to the real ales,Terry has installed five handpumps now and usesall of them beers range from the regular IPA,Wherry and St Austel Tribute to Mauldons andBellhaven all turned over quickly and in superbcondition. Terry has an arrangement with Wood-fordes that they don’t supply the Horse and the

Red Lion (Wetherspoon) with clashing beers.

The atmosphere is helped by the fact that allsectors of the local community use the blackHorse, and all ages, including old Thetfordians.

Terry has introduced a number of traditionalboard and dice games which have proven a bighit with customers, “Shut the box” anyone?

There are occasional live music sessions and aquiz night on the last Wednesday in a month.

On the community theme the pub has 5 dartsand 2 crib teams and kit sponsors ThetfordRovers. The beer garden is also a very pleasantfeature, some people don’t realise it is for visitorsuse as it looks almost too nice!

I know Terry and Pam are in the Black Horse forthe long run and wish them continued success.

Black Horse Rampant

Summer 2015 | 19

Norfolk Nips | West Norfolk

There are always pubs that seem as if they willgo on forever, it would be hard to find a betterexample than the Albion.

Run by the same family since 1969 originallyby John and Eunice Middlebrook and for the last20 years by their daughter Amanda, the Albionhas always been essentially the same, a propersmall town local surviving on wet sales and astrong sense of community. When you visitedthere were some real characters, I remember achap named Richard who always sat in the sameplace in the bar, with plenty of tales of localpersonalities from the surrounding villages, hewas a contemporary of and knew my ownrecently departed next door neighbour Rose andbetween them they knew pretty much everyonein the area! Both gone now, they don’t reallymake people like them anymore.

The Albion never offered more than a cheesetoastie but you could bring in food from else-where. Prior to the arrival of Wetherspoon inThetford the Albion always had the cheapestbeer in the town yet featured in the Good BeerGuide for many years without a break. The pubwas in the Greene King portfolio and servedtheir range to a very high standard.

A refurbishment was carried out a few yearsago, with an extension to the length of the barand a refit of the drinking area which resulted inthe loss of what had been Richards traditionalposition. One difficulty with this refurb was thatthe cost of fixtures and fittings fell to Amanda,who was after all on a rolling three year lease!

The arrival of the Wetherspoon Red Lion withattendant cut price beer shortly afterwards didnot help Amanda’s situation as she was tied toGK’s wholesale prices and although many regu-lars said they would continue to support herthey slowly moved to the Red Lion. She told meshe was having a hard time two years ago, thena visit during last year she revealed that a groupof builders from a holiday project had helped tokeep the Albion afloat through that winter.

So I was taken aback to discover that GK hadsold the Albion last June to Hawthorn Leisureand that due to beer supply problems and lateinvoicing for lease payments Amanda haddecided to give up the lease as of thisSeptember! She told me that no help had beenoffered with her payments and that bad beersupply continues today.

Amanda has spent most of her life in andaround the pub and although she is putting abrave face on it, the prospect of leaving mustreally hurt. If you are any good as a publican youhave to invest quite a bit of yourself in a pub butthe Albion is much more than just a pub toAmanda its her life history.

I know she will miss the community spirit,banter and company of her regulars, but maybenot the 24-7 commitment. I believe there areplans to break free and travel in the future,sounds like a great idea. Whoever takes on theAlbion will have a hard act to follow.

Bon voyage Amanda, you’ll be missed!

The Albion Thetford,end of an era

20 | Summer 2015

End of an Era | Norfolk Nips

I've had the privilege of knowing Wolfe Withamfor the past 30 years, There’s more to him thanbeer and brewing and being 6ft 8. Wolfe was afamily man, with his partner Sonja by his side,Alex Kerridge, his step daughter and his stepsonPaul, who brewed the beers, both worked forWolfe in the Reindeer, went on to produce themany award winning ales at Wolf brewery. Hemade a point of visiting every pub he sold Wolfales to, pop in for a drink with the landlord/ladyand a chat, He believed in the personalapproach, and he could get suggestions fromhis clients too. Also in this way he became verywell known in the Norwich pubs.

He was a stickler for detail, I recall him tellingme that once in the Reindeer, an elderly womancame up to him, the week he opened therestaurant there, and told him she never went topubs, but as she came past the pub eachmorning on the bus and saw him regularlywatering the hanging baskets, she thought if hecared so much about the outside of his pub, hemust take the same care inside, with the foodand drink. So she had brought her husband infor the first time. He often mentioned that,when discussing people's perception of a busi-ness, keep it personable, its a people centredbusiness. I think many pub owners could do wellto heed that advice instead of putting facelessmanagers behind their bars, who have no realvested interest.

Socially he would hold centre stage, a story-teller. Wolfe told me in his own inimitableanimated manner of one time, he moved housefor the Bonzo Dog Dooda Band front man VivStanshal, Laden with furniture, and piano, theydrove down Bayswater Road in an flatback truck.Wolfe heard the honky tonk of the piano, lookedin the mirror and there was Viv Stanshall sittingat the piano, naked. He loved peoples reactionsto his tales.

Before the brewing trade, Wolfe was in a

theatre company which performed amongstothers “three men in a boat”, at an event atMannington Hall, Wherein Wolfe, and twoothers, appeared in a canoe like boat, with nobottom, which they wore strapped over theirshoulders. Intending to walk around the lawnpretending to be on water. Lord Walpole, camealong and said, why don’t you use the moat, itsonly four feet deep so they duly did, after aboutten minutes into the play, and safely walkingalong the moat. They didn’t see a hidden sink-hole and suddenly there were only two men inthe boat.

In the Reindeer pub, he still managed to keepup his love of theatre. He was encouraging oflocal theatre company, “Great Escape”, andhosted a week of theatrical events for ComicRelief . It was a typically generous offer.

Some of you may have noticed that Wolfe hadvery long strong fingernails on one hand, thiswas because he was a proficient self taughtclassic flamenco guitarist, and needed long nails,

Wolfe Witham

22 | Summer 2015

In Memory | Norfolk Nips

However Sonja his partner pointed out to methat they were fake fingernails stuck on withsuperglue which was often all over the kitchentable. I can recall a few occasions when Heplayed in public, not long after Alex Kerridgetook over the Beehive. Wolfe, myself and othershad been cooking, and brought pies andsausage rolls. Wolfe, brought a Spanish tortilla,which incidentally he was pretty good atcooking, and once won a blind tasting ofSpanish tortillas against a Spanish friend.Encouraged by beer and food, Wolfe brought inhis classical guitar, and wearing a ridiculouslysilly hat sporting a stuffed cloth Seagull playedflamenco to an astounded group of regulars,who had no idea he could play. Alex, had a lookof consternation on her face, saying “ I don’tthink I’ve got a license for music yet” suffice tosay a good time was had by all.

Always creative, he had poems published inthe EDP , and even wrote a novel once.Wolfe's humour was eccentric and surreal,much of it influenced by the goon shows, hewas recently writing a play intended for radio,which featured a group of people, whoappeared to be trapped in a strange place.. itturned out that they had been turned intochickens. He was a member of the Mardlersradio theatre company, and played a curmud-geonly old man , called Wolfy, who sat in thesnug and moaned about the corrupt politicians,the rising price and declining quality of food,restrictive pub legislation and the decline ofstandards. This was of course a fictional char-acter…and nothing like the Wolfe we knew.

He was generous, sociable, and spontaneous, Irecall one evening bemoaning the end of theMussel season, he suggested we drive to Calais,for lunch the next day, where mussels were stillin season. So we were up at 4.30am, passportsat the ready, and drove to Dover, crossed thechannel, ate delicious Mussels in Boulogne, anddrove back the same day. He was always gamefor an adventure.

Wolfe of course was a character, A larger thanlife character a loving family man, at the sametime, irascible, supportive, grumpy, likeable,exasperating, amusing, funny, sage, erudite, and

worldly wise. but wholly human.. you remem-bered him, many respected him, everyonelooked up to him, You had no option. Healways managed to be noticed besides hisheight, his inimitable conversational manner,laced with wit, and jocularity made him a personpeople would go over to talk to, someone theyenjoyed being with.

I miss him very much, as I am sure manyreaders who know him will also do, so lets raisea pint and to use Wolfe's old tag line “drinkmore beer! Cheers.”

Summer 2015 | 23

CorrespondenceDear Editor,I read with interest the article on soft drinks inpubs in the last issue. Do I want to pay aninflated price for a cheap sweet fizzy drink? NO!

What I really want is something that I canenjoy, something with a bit of flavour that Issatisfying.

Peter Tinniswood in his books about theBrandon family from up North refers toTemperance Bars who would dispense“foaming pints of Sarsaparilla.” That’s morelike it. A pint pulled from a handpump. Pourthat into a jug with a handle and I would bewell pleased.

I have to admit that I would rather drink afilter coffee than endure some of the fizzyofferings. Fentiman’s is one company thatproduces decent alternatives, but in tinybottles.

A pint of Fentiman’s Dandelion and Burdockfrom that redundant handpump in themiddle, anyone?Yours,

Disgruntled of Dereham

Summer 2015 | 25

The winner of the Norwich and Norfolk BranchRural Pub of the Year 2015 is located in the heartof Wymondham. The Green Dragon is a medievalpublic house dating back to the 14th century andis one of the oldest pubs in the country with arich history that lives on every day.

It is the third time in six years that this popular14th century tavern has picked up this accolade,with a further five wins in the South NorfolkCommunity Pub of the Year competition as well.Many community and charity events pour out ofGreen Dragon now and are all well supported.Landlord Justin Harvey said: “It’s great - it’s reallynice for us to get recognition for what we doand it’s good for the town and bringing extrapeople in.”

Apart from great real ale, local and national, alovely customer environment, the Green Dragonwith historic roots, still meets and exceedscustomer needs today! It’s great on a quieterday and also when its bustling, which it often is!But you will always find space in the labyrinth ofrooms and outdoor space. Food is available ofcourse so whether you are looking to washdown great ales with some honest British pubgrub, a light bite, or something more adven-turous, the Green Dragon has the answer.

If that does not show you why the award hasbeen won then also check out the great BankHoliday weekends (May 22-25th and August28th-31st) when they hold the ever growingand popular Ale, Cider, and Music festivals. Theyput on lots of great beers and ciders and anatmosphere that's hard to beat.

The bursting awards cabinet is down to “a lotof things”. Ales, nice, friendly staff home cookedfood and desserts, and the history of thebuilding has been kept too. Justin has moreplans for the Green Dragon to become evenbetter, check it out to watch the improvementsbeing made made! So if you are wonderingwhere to go – then we definitely recommendour Rural Pub of the Year, the Green Dragon inChurch Street Wymondham. See you there!

Cheers!Rob Whitmore

The Green Dragon wins again!Norwich & Norfolk CAMRA Rural Pub of the Year 2015 | Norfolk Nips

EATON COTTAGE UNTHANK RD, NORWICH Tel: 01603 453048

Fine Real Ales, lagers, wines and spirits

All Sky & BT Sports • A traditional pub

Good covered outside areas

Doggies welcome

“A festival of beers every day”

Issue No.152 Spring 2010A5 72 pages, full colour throughout on gloss white coated paper.Editors – Warren Wordsworth/ MikeBaldwin.

It was Pub of the Year time again and it wasannounced that the two Branch pubs whichwould go head to head to decide the overallNorfolk Pub of the Year were The MarinersTavern in Great Yarmouth and The Angel,Larling.

The previous edition had sported a photo ofGraham Freeman wearing a Humpty DumptyBrewery t-shirt at the Acropolis in Athens. Inresponse, reader Richard Dixon submitted aphoto of himself and two Barmen wearingWoodfordes t-shirts in a bar in Baja California inMexico. No real ale though.

In Pub News, it was reported that The Consti-tution, The Woodside, The Walnut Tree Shadesand The Cross Keys in Dilham had all closed.However, The Cottage, The Reindeer and TheMermaid in Hedenham had all reopened. TheFerry Boat in King Street, Norwich, which hadbeen shut for three years had been purchasedfrom Greene King by Deepdale Backpackers&Camping of North Norfolk, who planned toopen it as a hostel.

The weather featured heavily in this issue,there had apparently been some stuff calledsnow. One correspondent reported on thedelights of delivering NIPS in blizzard conditionsand a visit to the Beeston Brewery was followedby a swift retreat to warmth of The Bull atLitcham, where Mark Riches had arranged formore Beeston Brewery beer to be available.Worth the Wait, apparently.

Andrea Kirkby described a North Norwich PubCrawl. A few years previously this had been abarren wasteland, but that had all changedthanks to the Wig and Pen, King’s Head, WhiteLion, Cottage, Cider Shed, Whalebone and TheDuke of Wellington.

Our first regular Competition asked readers toname ten pub signs from photos supplied byMaurice Bobbitt.

And finally, tribute was paid to Nicholas FrankStimpson who had recently passed away.

Norfolk Nips | From the archives

From the ArchivesAnother trawl through our files looking at the burning issues of the day

Open from Midday EverydayFresh home cooked food

to be found on our bar and specials menus

Ever changing selection oflocal ales and fifty whiskies

to be sampled

Upcoming Events

Real Ale, Cider, and Music Festivals during the summer bank holidays, May 22nd till the 25th and August 28th till the 31st, Pub Quiz every Thursday, DragonFest open mic nights, and much more!

Check our website and Facebook page to stay updated through the summer.

One of the most interesting Motions at the AGMconcerned the use of Key Kegs, or Cask Kegs,which is the version used for beer.

Basically, it’s beer in a bag. Ah, I hear you say,we’ve been there before, Panther Brewery havebeen doing it. It’s a great way to get real ale intoan establishment that struggles with it becausethey do not get the turnover. The Beer lastslonger because it is not contaminated with air.

So how does it work? The brewery fills the bagwith beer and puts it into a goldfish bowlshaped container, which is then enclosed.

In order to serve the beer, air or gas is intro-duced into the bowl, but not into the beer! Itgoes between the bowl and the bag, so that the

beer is squeezed out. Care has to be taken toensure that the beer is not frothy and has the rightamount of head on it, but this is controllable.

The Cask Kegs are non-returnable, so theBrewery does not have to worry about missingcasks and the bowls have gone to be used as –goldfish bowls! The debate at the AGM wasgetting somewhat heated, with the main pointof contention being – is this real ale?

CAMRA has looked into these and says that it isreal ale and that should be good enough. True,the method of dispense could be confusing and,yes, there may have to be a label saying“CAMRA says this is real ale”. But if it gets realale into new places and attracts new fans, thenisn’t it worth it?

Criteria for Key KegsNorfolk Nips | Beer Debate

Motion 15 This Conference instructs the National Executive to investigate a labellingscheme for naturally conditioned Key Keg beer which would allow customers to iden-tify which beers, at the point of sale, conform with the CAMRA criteria for real ale.

Summer 2015 | 31

Mini Beer Festival Every Day!with over a dozen real ales and ciders

Fresh rolls served daily or bring in your favourite take-away

Free Wi-Fi • Dog friendly

Under New Ownership and newly decorated inside

Live Bands, Quiz and Poker Nights

Check our website and Facebook page to stay updated

Open Mon - Thurs 11-11,

Fri -Sat 11-11:30 Sun 12-10:30.

We’rein it!

In Germany they have this Purity Law, whichbasically says that only barley, hops, yeast andwater can go into the making of a beer. To theuninitiated, this would mean that all Germanbeers look and taste alike. But we know that thisis not so. Depending on the variety of hops andwhat you do with the barley, you can get amyriad of different tastes and beer styles.

But what about apples? The quality of the cropvaries from year to year according to growingconditions and so will the taste of any cider orperry. Little wonder that the majorproducers of commercial ciders addchemicals to ensure a consistent, if notbland product. The latest notion hasbeen to introduce other fruits intothe mix to produce flavouredciders. And this is not just the mainbrands, smaller producers aredoing it as well as the CAMRAAGM in Nottingham heard.

And for beer? Her indoors still ravesabout the Cherry Bomb ale that was atthe Norwich Beer Festival a few years ago.Not my cup of tea I have to admit, but oneof my all-time favourites comes from a well-known East Anglian Brewery. It’s aporter, a style that I love, but at theend of the process, concentratedblackberry juice is added. Pure nectar,in my opinion.

Flavoured ciders, flavoured beers – is this just pandering to the Nation’ssweet tooth? I know someone whosays that all beers taste the same,though admittedly they only drinkBitter and that is what they ask for inthe pub. You would be hard pushed to find someone who thinks thatWoodforde’s Wherry and CherryBomb, for example, taste the same.(Editor’s Note: Other beers are avail-

able). In Nottingham, I ordered Root Beer froma local Brewery. Root Beer is my drink of choicewhen driving on the other side of the pond.Sadly, it tasted nothing like Root Beer.

In France, I discovered Picon, an orangeflavoured aperitif that you add to beer. Itcertainly adds colour and flavour to youreveryday lager.

But what I really love is the chocolate andcoffee flavoured beers.

Anybody know if thereis a Bournville Porter?

Getting Fruity!

32 | Summer 2015

The Rant | Norfolk Nips

Summer 2015 | 33

Norfolk Nips | Please support our advertisers

Ice Cream, De  Did you know that Gorleston has the second largestpopulation in Norfolk. Only Norwich has morepeople living there. Welcome to the seaside! That isone of the pleasant things about Norfolk, you arenever far from it. Gorleston has a superb beach andwonderful views out to the North Sea.

Welcome to the Gorleston ClusterThere are six pubs all very close together around theharbour's mouth. They can provide between them arange of priced food, accommodation, characterfulpub decor, superb views and all with great Real Ale.Almost all buses that run through Gorleston stop atthe town centre. From there leaving the Library onyour right go down Baker Street and follow the roadaround, another 400 yards and there you are. Lookout for the three local breweries ales (Green Jack fromLowestoft, Lacons and Tombstone from Yarmouth).You are sure to find them represented here.

Lets start at the NEW ENTERTAINER (NR31 6PG)on Pier Plain. Although this is deceiving in thatit's not new and it's no where near the pier, it iscloser to the town centre. But its been in the GoodBeer Guide 10 of the last 11 years. Averages 5-8 RealAles plus 5 draught ciders. The range tends to bevaried including some dark beers. A quaint, odd,thin triangle wedge shape of a place. Frequented by

34 | Summer 2015

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

OPEN ALL DAYFIVE REAL ALES

Meals Served 12noon to 2.30pm

and in the evening 6.30 to 9.30pm

Bookings 01692 404800

FREE

ACCESS

a wide variety of customers. Originally namedthe Suffolk Hotel but that was before Gorlestonmoved to Norfolk. The door is at what appearsto be the back. Take care coming out, trafficcomes from both sides.

Leaving there go right then right again or leftthen left again. Either will bring you facing No1 (NR31 6DA) . This used to be Peggotty's andbefore that The Ship. Good food served (5 starson Trip Advisor) and 4 Real Ales from variousbreweries. This was a Killet's Brewery Housebefore 1792 when it was taken over by theGorleston based Bells Brewery ending up withS&P some evidence of which you will seeoutside.

Leave there and you are faced with a big deci-sion. In front of you is a five finger junction.Turn right or far right and you will be back atthe Entertainer, not a bad choice. But lets beadventurous and go either left or straight on upthe hill. I toss a coin and its left towards the river.About 100 yards down there on the right wasthe LIFEBOAT TAVERN. You can see whichbuilding it was and I dare say the boys from theRNLI (around the corner left) might just havepaused there on their way home to refreshthemselves. Good for them. It closed on my17th birthday so I dont apologise for not havingbeen there. It’s still shut now and so our haven isthe KING WILLIAM IV (NR31 6PH) unsurpris-ingly known around here, as the King Willy)which is another 100 yards on. They are keen tobring Real Ale into their pub and deserve to besupported. Usually a local brew or two. This wasa Bullard’s house back in 1839. Inexpensive,straight forward food provided. Nice beergarden and over the road great views of theharbour's mouth.

Leaving there and turning right you can walkalongside the river and around the bend of theharbour's mouth. As you go look at the level ofthe river as it is now and consider what it was

like one cold night in December 2013 duringthe tidal surge. I was here then and leant overthe concrete wall to your left and could touchthe water which was running fast inland lookinglike cold black oil. Now turn and look behindyou at all the houses that would have beenunder water but for that most necessary wall.Look too at the quay on the opposite side. I sawlorries axle-deep standing next to the silos. See if you can spot the port traffic lights that tellships in the harbour that it is safe to leave. Ifthey are on green then go to the next pub butbe on the look out for a ship going out. If theyare on red then be on the look out for a shipcoming in. Either way dont miss the old Victo-rian lighthouse positioned right opposite theharbour's mouth which was once a life saver forlocal fishermen. Carry on past the sadly closed

ckchairs, Prom and Beer! 

Summer 2015 | 35

Norfolk Nips | Going to Gorleston

Continued Overleaf

Green circles are pubs, Red stars are food

36 | Summer 2015

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

Free House, Restaurant and Live Music venue

Great ales by Woodfordes, GreeneKing, Elgoods and Mauldons available

Excellent Food, very popular SundayCarvery, you will need to book!

Live music every Friday and SaturdayWhatever your preference, you will

not witness finer bands for free.

Function room • Kids adventure trail

Have you been to California?

www.californiatavern.co.uk email: californiatavern@btconnect.com Tel: 01493 730340

Please support our advertisers | Norfolk Nips

The Farmer’s Arms

‘The pub on the hill’

The Ancient Mariner Inn

‘The pub by the sea’

BEST WESTERN PLUS Knights Hill Hotel & Spa, South Wootton, King’s Lynn PE30 3HQ

email: reception@knightshill.co.uk tel: 01553 675566

BEST WESTERN Le Strange Arms Hotel, Golf Course Road, Hunstanton PE36 6JJ

email: reception@lestrangearms.co.uk tel: 01485 534411

All food purchasedwhen you50%

OFF

Terms and Conditions - Coupon valid only when £25 or more is spent on food, cannot be exchanged for cash, does not apply to spend on drinks cannot be used in conjuction with any other promotion, not valid for parties in excess of 8 people. Valid until 28th August 2015.

If you do not wish to receive further promotions please tick here

Name

Email

Postcode

For special offers visit www.traditionalinns.co.ukOpen for meals 12 noon – 9.00pm daily - Real food, Real ales, Real pub

spend £25or more

BELLE VUE to arrive at the PUB ON THEPIER (NR31 6PL). This is a gastro pub/hotelwhich provides a wide range of food and acouple or three Real Ales. Nothing exciting butwell kept. Fine views north and south fromdifferent bars.

From the main entrance turn left and followthe road around until you are looking at theglorious sands and you see a row of small shops.Here will be found chips, bingo, slot machines,buckets and spades, kiss-me-quick hats andREALLY excellent ice-cream. Refresh yourself herebefore you take on the steps to the top of thecliff. With the shops at your back go right andright again or, if your inclination goes that wayleft and left again. Either way it's a climb. Thiswill be rewarded by a drink or meal in the CLIFFHOTEL (NR31 6DH). This is a busy place whichhas regular specialty evenings and you can oftenget special offers to stay. But strictly speakingyou dont want to actually linger at the bar nomatter how pleasant it is. The great thing aboutthe Cliff is to be sat outside on the terrace. It haswonderful views of the river and the beach. Thebest to be had in any pub this side of Norfolk.Again the choice of beer is uninspiring but it isreasonably well kept.

Leaving by the main entrance and turningright you walk gently down hill. More views ofthe harbour's mouth to your right. Houses builton the cliff side. Gardens on the other side ofthe road. About half way down is the ODDFEL-LOWS ARMS (NR31 6DG). Oddies is a well setout and comfortable pub with two bars, apleasant rear patio that faces west and alwaysfour rotating real ales that are bitters between3.5-4.5% ABV. It's in this years GBG. No foodbut real music.

Carry on down the hill and you are back atNo1 and the Entertainer. It’s tempting to startagain! However within easy staggering distanceare further three pubs all selling Real Ale for yourpleasure. The Albion on Lowestoft Road (NR316SH), the Mariners Compass on MiddletonRoad (NR31 7AJ) and the Dock Tavern onDock Tavern Lane. (NR31 6PY). If you feel moreenergetic then The Short Blue, The ThreeTuns or best of all the Ferry Boat Inn awaitfurther up river.

It’s grim in Gorleston, but I must not weakenNow where next ......

Summer 2015 | 37

Norfolk Nips | Going to Gorleston - continued

38 | Summer 2015

Please support our advertisers | Norfolk Nips

Geldeston Locks InnLocks Lane, GeldestonNR34 0HW Tel: 01508 518414

e Locks Inn are pleased to annouce we are now a Waveney Valley Freehouse

so expect an even better range of beers & cidere Locks Inn is one of the county’s best loved pubs. Perfectlysituated on the banks of the river Waveney at Geldeston near

Beccles on the Norfolk / Suffolk border. A pub full of character,one of our biggest attractions is our large expansive garden area,

where children can play and you can relax.

We serve a range of traditional gastro pub dishes daily.

SATURDAY JUNE 13th - LOCKSTOCKAll day folk, folk-rock and roots music festival noon to 1am

Go to www.geldestonlocks.co.ukfor more information on our events, parties and music line-up

Summer 2015 | 39

Norfolk Nips | Bar Man

A recent philosophy night down at the KingsArms in Shouldham (last Tuesday of eachmonth) took consumerism as its theme. Do webuy too much stuff, and is advertising partly toblame? The assembled crowd seemed to feelthat they only ever buy what they need andwere adamant that they were impervious toadvertising, but on reflection I am not so sure.

Ask yourself these questions. Do you ever buystuff to replace things that are not broken orworn out, and if so why? Secondly, given achoice, why do you not always buy the cheapestavailable? When you buy a beer, what influencesyour choice? Do you go for the one with thegold foil round the top of the bottle whichmakes it look a bit classier? Perhaps youconsciously or subconsciously remember anadvertising slogan, ‘the pint that thinks it’s aquart’, ‘probably the best lager in the world’,‘refreshes the parts that other beers cannotreach’. All empty words which either have noreal meaning or are demonstrably false.

Maybe you think that your choice is betterquality, and are willing to pay more for it,soothed by the thought of it being ‘reassuringlyexpensive’, but would you trust your taste budsenough to put them to a test in a blind tasting?Even top wine experts are fooled by the £2.99bottle of plonk slipped into the test, or perhapsthere is no story to report when they do pick it out.

We would be naïve to think that the way thatadvertising works is that we watch somethingon TV and then rush out to buy it. I think it is alot more subtle than that. Imagine that you walkinto a pub and see six hand pumps on the barall selling bitter, which is what you fancy. One ofthem is Greene King IPA, so will you choose it?

Some people do. I have spoken to several land-lords who keep it as a regular beer because thecustomers buy it. Is it the best on the bar? Prob-ably not, so why pick it? Maybe you have seen itadvertised on TV, or associate it with theEngland rugby team. Perhaps it’s on the beer-mats and bar towels in the pub or are youattracted by what they call their new ‘brandingstem’ (the chrome coloured hand pumps intro-duced into many of their pubs). Perhaps thename is on the front of your replica football shirtor they sponsor the stadium where your teamplays or the league they play in. One way oranother it is likely to be familiar, and especially ifyou are a stranger to the pub or a newcomer tobuying bitter, you won’t make a fool of yourselfby ordering it.

Why did James Bond suddenly acquire a tastefor Heineken in Skyfall’? Did the reported $45million payment have something to do with it?Immune to advertising? None of us are, and it’snot just beer. Try doing a little research on howsupermarkets maximise their sales. The smell offresh baked bread, enhanced lighting near theveg to make it look bright and clean, sweets atchild height by the checkout, cold air circulatingnear the chiller cabinets. See if you can find outhow much they charge companies to displaytheir products at eye level. Lots of questions andas Olivia always says at the Kings Arms, there areno right answers. Hopefully though, there issomething for you to think about, preferablydown the pub over a beer.

bar.man@btinternet.com

First published in the Lynn News.

The philosophy of advertising

40 | Summer 2015

Please support our advertisers | Norfolk Nips

COAST ROAD, WALCOTT,NORFOLK NR12 OPE

Telephone(01692) 650371

Proprietor since 1989: STEVE BULLIMOREFREE HOUSE

OPEN FOR FOOD & DRINKS ALL DAY, EVERY DAY, 11am - 11pmFood available all day until 10.30pm10% off food and drink on production of CAMRA membership card

www.lighthouseinn.co.uk

FOUR REAL ALES & CIDER

Summer 2015 | 41

Norfolk Nips | Please support our advertisers

The MarinersUnder new ownership

Shaun Underdown is back at the helm of the Mariners, Shaun is no stranger to successhaving won Norwich & Norfolk’s Branch Pub of the Year 2010.

The pub has undergone a refurbishment and is now back on the map with 10 ales and 5 ciders on offer. The pub is backed by Waveney Ales and Cider to give the most diversechoice of ales. Local brews, national brews, regional large and small expect to amazed

with the variety and choice. If you like real ale, and visiting Great Yarmouth, you shouldvisit the Mariners Tavern.

GREAT YARMOUTH

Beer Festival Starts Tuesday 1st September

and will last 7 days 50 ales and 10 Ciders

Food, music and lots more!

Waveney Ales will be interested in supplying equipmentand beer for any beer festival. please call

Darren on 07733797976for more information.

Woodforde's Brewery has claimed the top prizein the Norwich and Norfolk Campaign for RealAle's (CAMRA) Taste Panel. The trained tastershave sampled 44 different beers, hailing from 14breweries all over Norfolk, and submitted a totalof 2014 taste cards from the tastings held atvarious pubs over the last year.

Alan Edwards, Chair of the Tasting paneldescribed the winning beer as having “decentdepth of flavour, well balanced and malty on thepalate with a lovely sweetness coming through.Subtle hops are there to provide contrast”. He also said that “it is pleasing that the awardscover a variety of our 30-plus Norfolk breweries.Our largest producer can be proud that twobeers, including the flagship Wherry Best Bitter,took the top awards in their categories before

scooping the overall top places . In contrast oursmaller concerns are well represented by theGolden Triangle, Lacon's and Grain Breweries.We can rightly be proud of the number of thebreweries and beers they produce. There issomething for everyone in the brews they offer”.

Neil Bain of Woodforde’s Brewery said he was‘absolutely delighted’ upon hearing the newsfrom Mr Edwards. The Woodbastwick basedbrewery, which is Norfolk’s largest, also claimedthe Bitter award with its Wherry. Great Yarmouthbased Lacon's Brewery’s Affinity won the GoldenAle category. The Speciality category wastopped by Blonde Ash from Grain Brewery fromAlburgh, South Norfolk and the Golden Trianglebrewery from Barford took the Strong Bitteraward with Hop Lobster.

Kett’s Rebellion succeeds as Top Norfolk Beer for 2015

42 | Summer 2015

Champion Beer of Norfolk | Norfolk Nips

Spring 2015 | 43

Mr Edwards continued “however, what is ofconcern is that these beers are not as widelyavailable as either the brewers or CAMRA wouldlike. With more breweries starting every year,continual pub closures and domination by pubchains, large and small, the opportunity for abrewer to sell their beer at a realistic price isincreasingly restricted. The panel is charged withtasting as many local brews as possible. Howeveronly 14 breweries products were sampled as,despite visiting many local hostelries, manyremained disappointingly elusive. Brewer andLandlord need to work together to ensure their-mutual survival in the face of the voraciousnational and international conglomerates. We atCAMRA are willing and able to continue tofurther our relationships with, and efforts insupport of, our dynamic local industries.”

Full Results are:Best Bitter & Champion Woodforde’s, Woodbastwick

Kett’s RebellionTel: 01603 720353

Bitter & runner up Woodforde’s, Woodbastwick

Wherry Tel: 01603 720353

Strong Bitter & third Golden Triangle, Barford

Hop Lobster Tel: 01603 757763

Golden Ale Lacon's Brewery, Yarmouth

Great Affinity Tel: 01493 850578

Speciality Beer Grain Brewery, Alburgh

Blonde Ash Tel: 01986 788884

Porter & Stout Grain Brewery, Alburgh

Porter Tel: 01986 788884

Angel Gardens

Free House

96 Angel Rd, Norwich NR3 3HT01603 427490

www.norwichinns.comemail: ikwarren-angel@tiscali.co.uk

This independently run freehouse has been under theownership of Ian Warren since 1988 and is situated on

the north of the city near to Waterloo Park.

Homecooked and speciality mealsSunday roasts from 12-8pm

Prepared by Ian - a qualified chef with years of experience.

Up to NINE reasonably priced Real Alesand SIX real ciders

Live Music on Saturdays

Now showing Sky Sports

Taking part in the Woodfordes Ale Trail June to Sept

44 | Summer 2015

Please support our advertisers | Norfolk Nips

Brewers of award winning East Anglian ales stouts and porters

Our beers are available throughout East Anglia and also atour brewery shop in Debenham (Unit 1A Meadow Works

Business Park Kenton Road Debenham IP14 6RP)For further details contact us on 01728 861213

www.cliffquay.co.uk or www.earlsohambrewery.co.uk

Our range of Permanent Ales

Full Steam AheadA 4.1% pale straw coloured beer

brewed with a bag of malted wheat andjust a hint of crystal malt. Hopped with

a blend of English target hops andCzech Agnus hops, for a spicy flavour

and floral citrus aroma.

Current Seasonal

EARL SOHAMGannet MildVictoria Bitter

Sir Rogers PorterAlbert Ale

Brandeston Gold

CLIFF QUAYClassic BitterAnchor BitterTolly RogerTumblehome

Sea Dog

Traditional Country Puband Restaurant

•5 Real Ales•Great Food••Sheltered Gardens•

Colby Road, Banningham, Aylsham, NR11 7DY

01263 733534www.banninghamcrown.co.uk

THE BANNINGHAMCROWN FREE HOUSE

We are in it!

Horseshoes, AlbyBlack Boys, AldboroughLondon Tavern, AttleboroughCrown Inn, BanninghamChequers Inn, BinhamCock Inn, BarfordKings Head, BrookeArtichoke, BroomeGreen Gate, Caister-on-SeaReedcutter, CantleyCrown Inn, CatfieldGeorge Hotel, Cley-next-the-SeaThree Swallows, Cley-next-the-SeaVictory, ClenchwartonMuskett Arms, ClippesbyRed Lion, ColtishallUgly Bug Inn, ColtonAlbion, CromerCottage, CromerRed Lion Hotel, CromerRoyal Standard, DerehamBob Carter Centre, DraytonRailway, Downham MarketRoyal Standard, East DerehamQueens Head, EmnethErpingham Arms, ErpinghamBull, FakenhamWellington, FeltwellKings Head, FilbyRampant Horse, FreethorpeLocks Inn, GeldestonWherry, GeldestonDock Tavern, GorlestonMariners Compass, GorlestonDabbling Duck, Great MassinghamBarking Smack, Great YarmouthMariners, Great YarmouthOliver Twist, Great YarmouthRed Herring, Great YarmouthSt. Johns Head, Great YarmouthFox & Hounds, Heacham

Kings Head, HethersettGreyhound Inn, HicklingPleasure Boat Inn, HicklingVictoria, HockeringSwan, HilboroughEagle, Hockham Buck, HoninghamWhite Hart, HoptonNelson Head, HorseyBrickmakers, HorsfordElm Farm Country House,Horsham St. FaithLive and Let Live, Kings LynnStar Inn, LessinghamSwan Inn, LoddonDog Inn, LudhamFox and Hounds, LyngAnchor Inn, MorstonWhite Horse, NeatisheadRelish Restaurant & Bar, NewtonFlotmanRailway Hotel, North ElmhamOrchard Gardens, North WalshamAdam and Eve, NorwichAngel Gardens, NorwichBeehive (Leopold Rd), NorwichBell Hotel, NorwichCellar House, NorwichChampion, NorwichCottage (Silver Road), NorwichDuke of Wellington, NorwichEarlham Arms, NorwichEaton Cottage, NorwichFat Cat and Canary, NorwichFat Cat Tap, NorwichFat Cat, NorwichGarden House, NorwichJubilee, NorwichKetts Tavern, NorwichKings Head, NorwichLeopard, NorwichLollards Pit, Norwich

Lord Rosebery, NorwichMaids Head Hotel, NorwichMurderers, NorwichPlasterers Arms, NorwichRed Lion (Bishopgate), NorwichReindeer, NorwichRibs of Beef, NorwichRose, NorwichSir Garnet, NorwichTake 5, NorwichTemple Bar, NorwichTrafford Arms, NorwichVine, NorwichWig and Pen, NorwichRoyal Oak, PoringlandFerry Inn, ReedhamShip, ReedhamKings Arms, ReephamSwan, RinglandThree Horseshoes, RoydonLobster, SheringhamWindham Arms, SheringhamChalk and Cheese, ShouldhamKings Arms, ShouldhamGoat, SkeytonPeddars Inn, SporleSprowston Manor Hotel &Country Club, SprowstonFerry House, SurlinghamLynn Arms, SyderstoneRed Lion, SwaffhamPelican Inn, TacolnestonRed Lion, ThetfordGunton Arms, Thorpe MarketQueens Head, ThurltonWhite Horse, UptonCherry Tree, WicklewoodWillow House, WattonStag, West AcreBell, WivetonWhite Lady, WorsteadGreen Dragon, WymondhamThe Mill, Yaxham

Here is a current list of all the pubs in Norfolk which are part of the CAMRA LocAlescheme. New entries are in Bold.

Summer 2015 | 45

Summer 2015 | 47

Norfolk Nips | Please support our advertisers

Main Road, North Tuddenham NR20 3DJ www.thelodge-tuddenham.co.uk

Tel: 01362 638466

Saturday 4th JulyLive music acts, Real ales, currybar, cakes & free children’s

bouncy castle. Headlining bandAgainst All Odds. Raising funds

for Myeloma UK

Sunday 5th JulyCHARITY FIREWALK, live

music with LEE VANN & realales. If you fancy a fire walk

you must be registered by 2pmand donate a minimum of £25to charity. Raising funds for

Little Heroes charity

Tickets available from the Fox at Lyng & The Tuddenham Lodge

Cut out andbring for a

FREE pint overthe weekend!

Norfolk is world renowned as one of the topregions for growing malting barley, but twolocal brewers have created a one-off celebra-tory ale to truly promote Norfolk in a glass –and introduce some other iconic Norfolk ingredients on top of the barley.

Moon Gazer Norfolk Harvest ale is a collabo-ration between The Norfolk Brewhouse, basedin Hindringham and Cromer’s PoppylandBrewery. The beer appeared at the fifthanniversary City of Ale festival.

David Holliday of The Norfolk Brewhouseexplained the importance to involving localgrowers in the project: “We wanted to brew abeer which would allow us to feature thepeople involved in the whole chain of thebrewing industry from grower to brewer – toshow the personalities involved, and in sodoing highlight how important beer and agriculture is to the rural economy of Norfolk.”

“The fact that people have already gone theextra mile to help make this possible demon-strates what a great community there is outthere.”

The extra mile which Holliday refers to is thatof local Maltster Crisp Malting – one of thecountry’s foremost producers of malted barleywho distribute malt all over the world andbatch produce malt in serious quantities –usually 200 tonnes at a time (that’s enough tomake 2.78million pints of beer).

This celebratory ale required a batch size forjust 3,000 pints, but the need to name theprecise farm on which the barley was grownmeant a way had to be found to isolate maltfrom just one field.

Step in, Euan Macpherson, Crisp’s Managing

Director who was only too happy to oblige:“When David calls you from the Norfolk Brew-house and opens with; ‘you can say no if youwant’ you know he is hatching a plan whichnormally is hard to say no to.”

“We take great pride in working with somany Norfolk growers and brewers that theopportunity to be part of an ale which presentsthe people behind the beer was an opportu-nity not to miss.”

“We knew we had some excellent Maris Ottermalt coming in from Church Farm, inHeacham (which is owned by G W Harrroldand Partners) and it was a case of corrallingthat delivery and using only that barley in ourseparate pilot plant. It certainly wasn’t aneveryday occurrence but was great to be partof.”

As to the other Norfolk ingredients theseinclude Norfolk mint and honey.

Creating a truly Norfolk alefor City of Ale

48 | Summer 2015

A Special Brew | Norfolk Nips

Summer 2015 | 49

Norfolk Nips | Please support our advertisers

Fresh fish

& chips

every friday

(alongside main menu)

Main Road, Clenchwarton, King’s Lynn PE34 4AQ

Traditional

Roast

every Sunday

(12 - 4pm)

2 Course

senior citizen

Meal £8.50

Tuesdays

(afternoon)

50 | Summer 2015

Please support our advertisers | Norfolk Nips

London Tavern, Attleborough:20p off a pint of real ale

Green Gate, Caister-on-Sea: 20p off apint of real ale

Albion, Cromer: 10% offreal ales, draught and bottled

Red Lion, Drayton: 10% offof real ale

Oliver Twist, GreatYarmouth: 10% off acrossthe board - please show cardbefore ordering

Brickmakers, Horsford:10p off a half, 20p off a pint ofreal ale

Railway, North Elmham:10% off B&B and camping

The Bell, Norwich: 20% offall food. 50p off a pint (withyour CAMRA vouchers)

Compleat Angler,Norwich: 10% off all real ales

Glasshouse, Norwich: 20%off all food. 50p off a pint(with your CAMRA vouchers)

The Leopard, Norwich:10% off

Lollards Pit, Norwich: 10% off

The Pig & Whistle,Norwich: 10% off

Plasterers, Cowgate,Norwich: 10% off all real ales(available to all customers onMondays)

The Whiffler, Norwich:50p off a pint (with yourCAMRA vouchers)

The Woolpack, Norwich:10% off

Grange Hotel, Ormesby St.Margaret, Norwich: 10%off all real ales

Lighthouse Inn, Walcott:10% off all real ales Cherry Tree, Wicklewood:30p off a pint of Buffy’s

If your pub or business offers adiscount to CAMRA, but isn'ton this list, please contactpubsofficer@norwichcamra.org.uk and let us know the details(including any restrictions).

Please note: We believe thediscounts listed are offered atthe time of going to press,however pubs may of coursewithdraw or change offers atany time!

Grab a CAMRA Discount at your local!The following local businesses offer a discount for CAMRA members (usually on presentation of aMembership Card, discounts are on real ale only unless stated). Full details of all pubs can be foundat WhatPub.com

WINTER 2014 | 51Summer 2015 | 51

52 | Summer 2015

Please support our advertisers | Norfolk Nips

A popular pub with locals and holidaymakersalike, the Crown Inn is perched right on theclifftop overlooking the beautiful sandy beachesof Sheringham in Norfolk.

Enjoy a meal or snackfrom our extensive and

popular menu.

Tel: 01263 823213crownsheringham@hotmail.co.uk

www.crown-sheringham.co.ukLifeboat Plain, East Cliff Sheringham NR26 8BQ

Five Real Ales always availableEvery Saturday - Live Local Bands

Monday nights - Pub Quiz with prizes, refreshments and free entry

FOUR REAL ALESWednesday Irish Folk Music

ursday Folk & Singing MusicFriday & Saturday Live Music

Sunday Folk Music

Large garden overlooking the River Wensum

OPEN: Mon - urs 12-11Fri & Sat 12-12 • Sunday 12-11

The Gatehouse Pub 391 Dereham Road, Norwich NR5 8QJ Tel: 01603 620340

JUNE 2-6Thurrock Beer Festival

JUNE 11-13Braintree Real Ale FestivalNorth West Essex BranchHitchin Beer & Cider FestivalNorth Hertfordshire BranchIpswich Beer FestivalIpswich and East Suffolk Branchwww.suffolkcamra.co.uk/ipswich/beerfestival

JUNE 13-14Beer In The Gibberd GardenHerts and Essex Borders Branch

JULY 7-11Chelmsford Summer Beer & Cider Festival Chelmsford and Mid-Essex Branch

JULY 9-12Festival of Beer & Brewing Stowmarket, Ipswich and East Suffolk Branch

JULY 23-25Bishop’s Stortford Beer FestivalHerts and Essex Borders Branch

AUGUST 11-15Great British Beer FestivalLondon, UK

AUGUST 25-29Peterborough Beer FestivalPeterborough and District Branch

AUGUST 26-29Clacton-on-Sea Real Ale & Cider FestivalTendring Branch

CAMRA Beer Festivals Calendar

Norfolk Nips | CAMRA Beer Festivals

Summer 2015 | 53

1100 Kingston Arms (Kingston Street)

1200 Geldart (Ainsworth Street)

1250 Devonsire Arms (Devonshire Road)

1330 Live & Let Live (Mawson Road)

1430 Cambridge Blue (Gwydir Street)

1530 Free Press (Prospect Row)

1615 Elm Tree (Orchard Street)

1700 Hopbine (Fair Street)

1745 Saint Radegund (King Street)

1830 Maypole (Portugal Place)

1930 The Regal (Regent Street)

1915 Flying Pig (Hills Road)

West Norfolk CAMRA Cambridge Pub Tour - Saturday 4th July

So many Beer Festivals, so little time. For further information, please see What’sBrewing, the CAMRA website, or contact the relevant Branches.

Join Us! For details contact: Tim Spitzer (07950) 823270.

54 | Summer 2015

Please support our advertisers | Norfolk Nips

Summer 2015 | 55

so try our range of local and regionalales, imported lagers and great

freshly prepared food

Rampant Horse country alehouse & restaurant.2 Chapelfield, Freethorpe NR13 3LY

Tel: 01493 700103 www.rampanthorse.net

Rampant Horse

10% OFF FOOD W

ITH

THIS VOUCHER

available thro

ughout

June & July

IT AIN’T HALFHOT MUM

Get on down to the...

56 | Summer 2015

Please support our advertisers | Norfolk Nips

With spring upon us and everything starting tocome to life the blossom which will becomenext year's cider and Perry is appearing. It isalso the time when the juice that was pressedlast autumn is ready to drink and starts toappear in our pubs and at our beer festivals.

It therefore seemed an ideal time to presentthe East Anglia Perry award, which was judgedat Norwich Beer Festival last October, to WhinHill Cider at Wells-next-the-Sea. Chris Rouse,the East Anglia Regional Cider Co-ordinationjoined local branch members on a sunnySunday to help Mike and Lisa Jarvis celebratetheir success (pictured opposite).

Of course, producers need somewhere to selltheir produce. We are seeing an increase in pubsselling real cider and Perry and the Cider Pub ofthe Year competition is a good way recognisingpubs which are doing this and promoting theproduct. This year all three branches that coverNorfolk entered a pub into the Norfolk CiderPub of the year competition and judges visitedthe Bell at

Wortwell, the White Lion in Norwich, and theRailway Arms at Downham Market. As alwaysthere were some tough decisions as they wereall very good pubs but there has to be a winnerand the Railway Arms, a previous winner of thenational competition, was judged to be thisyear’s Norfolk Cider Pub of the Year.

The Railway Arms tries to promote local products where possible and it is

currently one of the few outlets for cidersfrom one of Norfolk newest producers,the Downham Cider Company, which isrun by Stephen Manton. Their cider iscalled Downham Tickle, a name whichwas an idea from the owner’s daughterand Ian Pinches, the landlord of theRailway Arms.

Why not take the opportunity to visitsome of the pubs selling real cider andperry and give it a try.

Cider apple blossoms in Norfolk

Norfolk Nips | West Norfolk ed

Summer 2015 | 57

58 | Summer 2015

Norfolk is one of the largest counties in England andalthough largely rural many of its inhabitants live inurban areas. I am reliably informed that it containsover six hundred villages of various sizes and character. A century or so ago most people living inthese many villages lived and worked mainly in agricultural employment in their own village andseldom ventured far beyond their villages or homes.In those days most of these communities had theirown church, school, post office, shop and last butcertainly not least their own village local pub. Howdifferent nowadays.

Although we still have our six hundred plus villagesthere is little work to be had in these communitiesand most people living in them now commute tourban areas to work. Many of these villages have lostmost of their amenities which also in some casesalso includes their village local pub.

Now summer is close at hand and there is littlemore tempting than to-go-a-visiting our lovelycountry side. What can be more relaxing than toleave the hustle and bustle of urban life and take tothe roads and lanes and find a picturesque villagewith a gem of a pub?

How lovely it is to sit outside of a long summer’sevening and sup a pint of real ale. How nice to bewith friends and family. And as a bonus most pubsserve anything from a snack to a full dinner.

Nominations for pubs (in Norwich & NorfolkBranch) to be included in CAMRA’s National GoodBeer Guide (GBG) 2017 are now open by loggingonto http://www.norwichcamra.org.uk/gbg/, soalso while you are visiting these pubs pleaseremember if you really like them then nominatethem for possible inclusion in the next GBG andplease score the quality of your beer you drink viaCAMRA’s ‘What Pub’ website.

Warren WordsworthNorwich and Norfolk Branch Chair

Warren’sWords

Summer 2015 | 59

Norfolk Nips | Last orders

As announced in the last edition of NIPS ourPub of the Year is the Coach & Horses at Dersingham. They have won this award for thesecond year in succession; it was a closelyfought contest, with a small number of votesbetween all five contenders. It was reallypleasing to see that Shelia the Landlady was asenthusiastic as ever to receive the award. Thepicture in the Lynn News & Advertiser featuredShelia and her team and yours truly presentingthe award.

Once again, the Railway Arms has wonNorfolk Cider Pub of the year. It is hearteningto see that a venue that has won the awardseveral times still keeps up the high standardsrequired to compete in following years. Goodluck in the Area competition.

Narborough Sports and Social Club havebeen awarded the Norfolk Club of the Year; letme tell you a bit about the club. When thenew Village Hall was built in the Village, it wasdecided to build an extension to house theSocial Club as well. They always have two realales on tap from local and national breweries.They have been keen supporters of our branchfor some time. Anyone who is passing Narbor-ough on the A47 is more than welcome to callin, just show your Membership Card and youwill be afforded a warm welcome.

The recent news is the Election results. I hopethat the present Government will continue thegood work of reducing the Beer Duty. We awaitwith interest any other development, so pleasecontinue to lobby your MP to support anyreforms. One pleasing aspect of the election isthat Greg Mulholland the Liberal Democrat MPhas been re-elected, for many years he hassupported CAMRA and promoted manycampaigns.

Enjoy the summer.Cheers

Steve BarkerW.N. Chairman

Steve’s Words

60 | Summer 2015

Norwich and North Norfolk Branch

Friday 5 JuneFirst Friday Five - Rushcutters, Buck, Rivergarden,Town House and Fat Cat and Canary

Wednesday 10 JuneBeer Tasting Panel - Ribs of Beef, 8pm

Tuesday 16 JuneBranch Meeting - Locks Inn, Geldeston, 8pm

Saturday 20 JuneSummer Social - Bermondsey Mile, visit 6 micro-breweries within 1 mile of each other

Thursday 25 JuneBeer Festival Planning Meeting - Take 5, 8pm

Friday 26 JuneCampaign Trip - Sheringham / Cromer - trip by train

Friday 3 JulyFirst Friday Four - Rose Tavern, Mulberry, EatonCottage, Beehive (Beer Festival) start 7.30pm (30 minutes earlier)

Saturday 11 JulyProvisional Date for Beer Festival SummerBarbecue

Friday 17 to Sunday 19 JulyNorth Norfolk Railway Beer Festival - no officialtrip planned.

CAMRA Branch Calendar

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

Freshly cooked locally sourced food.

Child friendly, large beer garden, pool table, easyaccess from A47, ample parking and on 23A bus

route from the city centre.

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

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

FREE

ACCESS

The Harte

Tuesday 21 JulyBranch Meeting - Wicklewood Cherry Tree,8pm

Friday 31 JulyCampaign Trip - pubs to the north west ofNorwich

Friday 7 AugustFirst Friday Five - Quebec, William IV, Jubilee,Lollards Pit and Virtuoso

Tuesday 18 AugustBranch Meeting - venue tbc

Thursday 27 AugustBeer Festival Planning Meeting - Take 5, 8pm

Friday 28 AugustCampaign Trip - pubs to the south ofNorwich

Friday 4 SeptemberFirst Friday Five - Coach & Horses ThorpeRoad, Compleat Angler, Prince of Wales, EdithCavell, Wig and Pen

Tuesday 15 SeptemberBranch Meeting - Humpty Dumpty Brewery,8pm

Friday 2 OctoberAscot Races and Beer Festival - travel by train,depart Norwich 08.30 return Liverpool Street20.30

If anyone has any other suggestions for tripsand social events in 2015 or to book seatsplease contact Michael Phillips on socialsecretary@norwichcamra.org.uk

West Norfolk Branch

Tuesday 9th JuneWillow House, Watton

Sat 4th July from 11.00amCambridge, tour of pubs.Starts 1100 Kingston ArmsSee separate details in this issue.

Tuesday 14th July Anmer Social Club

Sunday 26th JulyRed Lion, Hockwold Walk at 11 Lunch at 12.30.

Tuesday 11th August Red Lion, Swaffham

Note: all Tuesday meetings start 8pm andnormally include a social

Norfolk Nips | Dates for your Diary

The pub with no bar, ales direct from cask.

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

Tongue twizzling food, and great value.Huge garden and children’s play area.

Shooting parties, lunch & dinnermenus available

Victory Barn Function Roomfor Weddings and Parties

Come & visit Nelson’s local.Walsingham Road, Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk PE31 8HN

01328 738241

Norwich & Norfolk BranchChairman: Warren WordsworthTel: 01603 665557Email: chairman@norwichcamra.org.uk

Secretary: Rob WhitmoreEmail: secretary@norwichcamra.org.uk

Social Secretary: Michael PhilipsEmail: socialsecretary@norwichcamra.org.uk

Pubs Officer: Ian StampEmail: pubsofficer@norwichcamra.org.uk

West Norfolk BranchChairman: Steve Barkeremail: steve.barker495@btinternet.com

Secretary: Ian Bailey

Contact: Ian BaileyTel: 01553 766904

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

Branch mailing list web page:groups.yahoo.com/group/CAMRA_Norwich

Published every 3 months by the Norwichand Norfolk & West Norfolk branches ofthe Campaign for Real Ale © N&N CAMRA 2014 Norfolk Nips is producedand distributed by members of the branch in their own time. Views expressed in Norfolk Nips are not necessarily those of the editor or ofCAMRA.

Edited by:Mike BaldwinEmail: michaelbaldwin8@gmail.comGraham FreemanEmail: freem_kwak@yahoo.co.ukChris LucasEmail: chris-stig@tiscali.co.uk

Design & Production:Daniel Speed - Orchard House Media01778 382758Email: info@orchardhousemedia.co.uk

Advertising:For advertising enquiries please contactJane Michelson on: 07732 393 62101778 382718jane@orchardhousemedia.co.uk

Distribution:12,000 copies / four times a year

Norwich and Norfolk District: Adrian Simpson

West Norfolk District : Ros Harre r.harre@btinternet.com

Branch contacts | NORFOLK NIPS

Contact Details

62 | Spring 2015