Our pub of the season for Winter 2002 is the Swan in Westnewton. Owners Alan and Suzanne Benson have been in the pub for only two years but have turned it round from a rather weary village pub to the thriving heart of the community. They have also made it straight into the 2003 Good Beer Guide.

Westnewton is a charming village between Aspatria and Allonby which is stretched out along one main road, with wide grass verges on each side. Some houses have to be reached by crossing a small stream which runs alongside the road. The village is a frequent winner of Allerdale's best kept village awards. The pub stands at the top end of the village, near the junction with the main road. It is a traditional 18th century pub, with two bar areas and a dining room, and beer garden at the back.

Beer is Jennings Bitter plus a Yates' beer – usually either Yates Bitter or Fever Pitch. This makes sense as the brewery is just down the road and brewers Graeme and Caroline Baxter and their staff are regular visitors to the pub. Visitors to the brewery finish up at the Swan after a tour. So you can be sure the beer is in the best possible condition!

This is Sue and Alan's first pub; Alan used to be in the haulage business and now breeds pheasants in the Eden Valley. He was born and brought up in Ravenstonedale, but his father came from Ireby. In addition to running the pub, Sue continues to work full time from home as a business advisor with Business Link, working with small and medium size enterprises in Cumbria. During the Foot and Mouth crisis last year she was heavily involved in running grants schemes.

The Swan is still in the process of refurbishment. There are four bedrooms available for visitors, two at present have en-suite bathrooms. Sue and Alan have three part time staff, and everyone helps out with most aspects of running the pub. Food is mostly home made; chips are made from potatoes grown in the village and Kelly, Helen and Danielle like experimenting with new soup recipes.

There is a regular fun quiz on a Sunday night; there are pool, darts and dominoes teams. On seventies nights customers and staff dress up in seventies gear. All in all it is one of the friendliest village pubs I know.

The West Cumbria CAMRA branch made a formal presentation at the Swan on Wednesday 8th January 2003.

These photos shows branch chair, Jim Chapple, (left) presenting Alan and Sue with their award and below, members of the branch who were present on that occasion.

In the blue shirt, standing at the back, is brewer, Graeme Baxter, whose brewery (Yates) is in the village, and whose wonderful beer, Yates Fever Pitch, was being greatly enjoyed by members that night.