Our pub of the season for Spring 2003 is The Albion, Silloth. Originally tenants of Jennings, Bill and Wendy Allison moved to the Albion 4 years ago.

Silloth is a seaside town on the Solway, eleven miles from Wigton. With a large green and a cobbled main street, Silloth offers a number of attractions to the visitor, including an annual beer festival held on the green in September. The pub is the last building before making the crossing from east to west Silloth. Earliest records for the pub can be traced to 1856 when it was the Albion Hotel, belonging to the long gone Maryport brewery.

With the exception of the Golf Hotel and the annual beer festival, real ale has been something of a rarity in Silloth, but Bill and Wendy have taken up the challenge. The resident beer is Tetley’s Dark Mild, with a guest beer most weekends, especially over the summer months when the population of Silloth is boosted by the influx of holidaymakers. Recent beers have included Greene King IPA and Adnams Broadside.

Bill is a surveyor by training, and is still practising. Both he and Wendy were born in Silloth. Bill’s first experience of the licensed trade was as secretary at Silloth Bowling Club. He then rented the Balmoral, in Silloth, before moving to the Albion. They purchased the pub from Jennings in March 2002. They are very involved in the community; Bill is Mayor of Silloth and a County Councillor.

The Albion is a traditional pub catering for both locals and the summer visitors. It does not serve food; the emphasis is on conversation. There is a quiz night every month, which is open to all comers, where food is offered and the night usually ends with karaoke.

There is a cottage next to the pub that Bill and Wendy plan to offer as a holiday let in the near future.

The West Cumbria CAMRA branch presented the award to Bill and Wendy on the evening of Wednesday 7th May.