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the new branch site is at www.westcumbriacamra.org.uk
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Our Branch's next Beer Festival
- the Egremont Beer and Cider Festival (Oct 29th / 30th).
DO not miss this - we need your support for this new venture!!!
Featuring beers from Great Gable and Blackbeck breweries, together with carefully chosen seasonals and specials from far away breweries -
many beers never seen in West Cumbria before!!
Beers list here, ciders and perry to follow.
For further information on times, prices etc,
Next planning meeting: Bransty Arch 3pm, Sun 17th Oct.
Please get your staffing forms in - commit to as little or as much as you want.
Pub of the Year
Nine great pubs were nominated, and after a good discussion, four were shortlisted by voting: the Kirkstile Inn; the Brown Cow, Waberthwaite;
the Brook, Cleator and the Lifeboat, Maryport.
This year members can take part in the judging by visiting any of them and completing a judging form and returning it to the chairperson.
Forms and guidance on what to look for and how to score are here. Please return forms by Dec meeting
The online searchable pubs database is now available. All our pubs are here with lost of info about them that can be searched for, eg which
have free wifi!!! What real ale pubs are there in a town, Please let us know of any errors or changes so we can keep this as
up to date as possible. Photos are needed for many of the pubs, too.
You will find it on the Cumbria CAMRA website - direct link here
There have been changes at Whitehaven Brewing Company (aka Ennerdale Brewery). Shelagh and David have left for pastures new, hopefully an exciting
brand-new brewery, to be built in Eskdale, an area with a great tradition of good beer! Further news eagerly awaited -watch this space!!!!
Chris and Barrie are now back running the brewery, and Phil is continuing to brew the Ennerdale beers as he has done ...
The brewery remains open and the beers, improved over the last year or so, continue to be available to pubs, festivals etc, although contact
will have to be by phone for the time being (01946 861755)
Best wishes to both parties.
The next edition of the branch newsletter, What Ales? will be a bumper Autumn/Winter issue. It will be distributed in mid-November and your pub,
real ale premises or brewery could be reaching thousands of beer enthusiasts across West Cumbria and beyond - if you take out an advertisement.
A quarter page, full colour advert would cost just £29 ( or four issues for only £105). download the order form now - but hurry -
the deadline is Monday 18th October
News from the Brown Cow, Waberthwaite
The next beer festival is on Oct 29th, 30th, 31st. The beer and food will all be locally sourced. Music on Sat with 'Bag of Spanners' from 9.30pm.
Saturday will be a Hallowe'en theme. Music on Sunday with one hand clapping from 6pm.
Please note: kitchen will be closed Sun 31st for approx 12 days for refurbishment.
The BaileyGround Hotel hotel in Seascale is now selling real ale again! After a few tries with beers that did not sell well enough, they have hit
on the latest fantastic brew from Great Gable - Wastwater Gold 3.9%, and it is proving very popular. Now with two good real ale outlets and a railway station
handy, it is well worth a jump off a train for an hour or two in Seascale!
The community bid to buyout the Lamplugh Tip has failed. Sadly, a few months ago they would have been successful but the government has now
axed its support for community owned pubs, whereby it matched their funds. This pub will probably be lost altogether now, in favour of some more
housing
The Central in Egremont has reopened, under care of new licensees, Lisa and Ian. Please support. Beers (Oct 4th) were Hobgoblin
and Black Sheep Bitter
The Sun Inn at Arlecdon has at last reopened, with two real ales - Jennings Bitter and Thwaites Wainwrights, to start with.
The Lifeboat in Maryport now has FIVE handpumps, due to BIG demand!
Horse and Groom in Gosforth is now owned by Great Gable Brewery and is already doing well with real ales from the
brewery, and beers from other breweries will be available, too. It is being run by Howard Christie, who used to run the Wasdale Head Inn, together with two of his former key staff! Local are beginning to use it.
Open all day and every day - please support.
The Distressed Sailor at Hensingham is in danger of losing real ale, due to lack of sales. Please support before it is too late!
Food is nice there, too
The Lutwidge Arms at Holmrook is now stocking Great Gable beers
Billy McGradys in Whitehaven now selling Corby Ale beers as one of the guests (3rd Oct) to be followed by Blackbeck Belle. Brew Dog
Trashy Blonde will be followed by Hobgoblin
Beer is £2.30 per pint.
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Well done to Stuart and Lynda at the Prince of Wales, Foxfield,on yet another fantastic
award:
National Cider Pub of the Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Won jointly with the Hop and Vine, Hull
and presented by Competition Organiser and Apple member, Sarah Newson, on Friday October 1st, whilst the pub was packed with people visiting the
Broughton festival of Beers
to go with, also this year:
Regional Cider Pub of the Year
and
National Beer Styles Pub of the Year
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26 members and friends went on the Stainton trip, visiting Cumbria Pub of the Year, White Horse at King's Meaburn,
and village real ale pubs at Dacre, Stainton, Troutbeck, Dockwray and Watermillock and had a very good time!
The Manor House at St Bees real ales this Month (Sept) are; Deuchars IPA- 3.8%, Jennings Crag Rat 4.3% and
two guest ales from all around the UK
(This month our guest ales
are:- York Brewery- Guzzler 3.6%, Batemans- Thirsty Work 4%, Palmers
copper ale 3.7% and Websters Bitter 3.5%.
We always have a local real ale on (changes most weeks from Jennings, Yates, Hawkshead etc)
We are very sad to learn of the death of the well-known Annie Starkie, license of the Black Cock Inn, Eaglesfield, near Cockermouth. Annie, who had
run the pub since 1963 died, aged 83, on Saturday, following a fall.
Monthly guest at the Whittington Cat, Whitehaven Ringwood Showman's Tipple 3.8%
Well done to Dave Taylor, of Beckstones Brewery, for winning the Bronze Award for Strong Bitters with his fantastic Rev Rob, at the Champion Beer
Britain competitions at the Great British Beer Festival this week.
And congratulations to both Him and Graeme Baxter of Yates Brewery, for both having two beers in the finals - Beckstones Black Gun Dog Freddy
and Graeme's Yates Bitter and Yates Sun Goddess.
Only nine beers throughout the whole country get to this stage for each category, so getting that far is fantastic, anyway!
The new beer, Wastwater Gold, 3.9%, from Great Gable is going down well in the Whitehaven area. Look out for it!!
Current ales at the Last Man Inn, Plumbland, are Brysons "Thirst Class" 4.3% and Yates "Bee's Knees"4.5%
and waiting patiently are "Loweswater Gold" 4.3% and Yates "Sun Goddess"4.2%.
George 1V Eskdale
The new owners are Jim Marsham, Jonty Harrison, and Mike watson - all local folk. The George IV opened a few weeks ago
and is doing very well under the steerage of James Marsham. He has initially selected the following beers :TT Landlord, Yates beer; Black Sheep,
Strands Tete a Tete and Strands Corrs berg.
July 22nd MORNING ADVERTISER included a full page advert
for a tenant for the Horse & Jockey, Parsonby.
Punch Partnership expect it "to be snapped up" as it is "a gem of a business". They are holding an Open Day on Wednesday July 28th from 2pm until 6pm.
They are offering a ten year lease but the rent is £33250 which is pretty steep. They claim to have spent over £100,000 refurbishing it in 2009 and
they believe there should be an estimated profit of £27500 "based on the average operator".
This means takings of over £300,000 or £6,000 a week which is a lot of money even if they keep the 40 covers in dining area pretty busy.
Update on brewing at the Brown horse Inn (Winster Valley Brewery).
"We are now producing a Best Bitter with an ABV of 3.7%, a smooth full bodied bitter with a hint of caramel. The Old School is a pale ale
with a floral aroma ABV 3.9.
Pub of the Season, Summer. The branch are pleased to announce that this award goes to the Woolpack in Eskdale, to acknowledge the hard work going into
the pub, now run by Harry and Paddington Berger, who used to run the highly successful Boot Inn, which was given a similar award just before they left
it! This is a hard pub to run, due to its extreme location, and if anyone can make it a success, this couple will!!! We continue our hopes for the best possible recovery for Harry
and feel great sympathy with their difficulties.
Those who went on the Yates Brewery trip had a really great day! Graeme and Caroline were great hosts, and very generous, with three casks
of beer to be drunk. Graeme showed us his new brewing equipment, which will allow bigger brews twice a week instead of every day, and explained very
clearly how beer is made ... one of the best explanations ever! We also enjoyed looking at the reed bed effluent system and hearing how that worked.
Following this, the company enjoyed a visit to the Last Man Inn in Plumbland and to the Miner's Arms at Broughton Moor
If you have never been on a CAMRA trip and don't know any members, they are very sociable events - everyone is very friendly and easy -going, talking to everyone
else! Give one a try!
Cumbria Pub of the Year, 2010
Congratulations to Westmorland's nomination - The White Horse, Kings Meaburn
Well done to all Runners up:
Solway - Cumberland Inn, Alston
Furness - Black Dog Inn, Dalton
West Cumbria - Brook House Inn, Boot
The regional winner for West Pennines was the Taps at Lytham
The Victoria, Drigg, usually has a beer from Great Gable on these days - and frequently a Great Gable brewer drinking it!!
Real ciders - where have you seen any?
Bransty Arch - Marcle Hill,
Candlestick - Weston's Traditional Scrumpy,
Tavern - 2 real ciders ...!
Lifeboat, Maryport
Non-real ciders - where have you seen any?
Ship - Dovenby - Addlestones Premium Cloudy Cider, on handpump. Beware!!
Also be ready for a hefty price tag of £3.85 per pint - (and £1.90 per half pint of diet coke) (as of 13th May)
Send your cider info here to add to this list!!
Brook House, Boot has replaced Landlord with CLA Langdale Gold as a permanent beer.
perhaps Langdale might get to be 2nd best beer in Britain in next year's CBOB finals!!!
The Lutwidge Arms, Holmrook, has four real ales - an interesting selection - Blond witch this week (1st July).
Special offer for Real ale drinkers: no public transport so the driver
bringing a car load of real ale drinkers for a session can have free soft drinks.
(Might be some restriction as to what .... cola was mentioned ...)
The previously mentioned 'Red Man Brewery' at Florence mine, Egremont, looks as though it is going to be in production soon.
The kit is in place and waiting on electricians and solving of other issues! Keep looking here for further info!
Please let branch committee members know if you would support or help at a beer festival in Egremont and note the date: 29th / 30th October
Good news for those who like to visit the Punchbowl at the Green - home to Beckstones Beers. Although the pub has a new tenant, Beckstones beers are still
being sold there, with help and advice from the brewer, David Taylor, and best news of all is the pub is now open on Saturday and Sunday afternoons! Please make an effort
to visit - make it worth their while opening! Combine with a stop at Drigg (Great Gable), Silecroft (more Beckstones) and finish at Foxfield for a great day out!
What a rail trail!!
Congratulations to the Manor House at St Bees on their Pride of Copeland award!
The CAMRA quiz team, in the Whitehaven area, now back playing from the Globe Hensingham for the Summer League, won the 2nd
division cup in the Summer league and now in first divison, and they also won the Ann Kewin trophy in the knockout competitions.
Other members welcome
The quiz team had a match at the Mason's Arms, Gilcruz and found handpumps with Tetley's Bitter and Taylor's Golden Best on.
First visit for all to a really nice pub.
They also called into a much-changed Horse & Jockey at Parsonby, when the beer was Jennings Cumberland and
a turned round pump clip for Lancaster Amber, indicating guest ales are sometimes available.
Real ale in Whitehaven - now considerably different to entries in CRAG now!
Real ale still on at Bransty Arch, Candlestick, Puncheon, Vagabond, Whittington Cat
Real ale on since CRAG: Barra Jacks, Howgate Hotel, Lowther Club (Cons club), Sunny Hill, Tavern,
And NEW!! McGrady's, formerly the Strand.
Real ale was back on at the Waterfront for the Whitehaven Festival, but will it continue?
In CRAG but no longer selling real ale: Anchor Vaults, John Paul Jones, Three Tuns, (Waterfront)
Congratulations to the Brook House Inn, Boot,
which has been chosen as branch pub of the Year for 2010.
And well done the the two runners-up: the Brook at Cleator and the Middle Ruddings at Braithwaite. All three are fantastic!
New Rail Trail leaflet - Whistle Stops - along the Tyne Valley line - train stations and real ale pubs.
Download as pdf here.
Last Man Inn at Plumbland
From a reviewer:
"... So, we popped in for a bite to eat (not the bog standard bar food that we had expected from the Special Weekday Offers board o/s the
pub - Certain meals £5 plus free half pint of real ale...oooooh!). The menu was quite extensive and had an interesting selection plus
specials and quite a choice for the veggiematarians amongst us.
Opted for the beer battered cod (way to go!) and MB had the fish pie with "chips" - home made wedgies. Enjoyed the meal, it wasn't
awash with fat as can oft happen with batter/chips.
But the real beauty was the beer. Langdale, sweet as pie and very moooorish at an astonishing £1.80/pint.
Gentleman behind the bar is trying to encourage folk to drink real ale. He was a camra member in days of yore, but hasn't got round to
rejoining yet. Moved into the pub in December and, quite frankly, needs our support as it wasn't heaving - a table of 4 were already in
when we arrived and enjoying their meal and a guy came in asking if the Langdale was still on; happy customer! We shall certainly return
there.
He deals in pins, hence the quality of the beer.
Marston's unveils 'revolutionary' new Fast Cask ale technology
Midlands brewery Marston's has today unveiled its 'Fast Cask' concept - which it claims will make it far easier for publicans to store and serve top quality cask ale.
Read the article from the Publican here:
(CAMRA to make a statement about this soon)
Cumbria Real Ale guide now £2 to clear. Pubs may buy them off us at £1 per copy to sell on. Branch stocks held by Treasurer - Contact treasurer@@westcumbriacamra.org.uk
A bit out of our area - in fact the first one out of our area going south - the Miner's Arms at Silecroft is worth a stopover on the train to Foxfield now,
(open Friday and Saturday afternoons) having always got two Beckstones beers on now, as well as Deuchars IPA. On 21st March they were
Freddy and Beer O'Clock, but apparently they get what Dave brings!!!
This seems to be the nearest regular outlet for Beckstones, for the branch, and may be the more valued if the Punchbowl does not come through the change of licensee
at the end of the month.
A quick check at Maryport, on the way to the POTS presentation, revelealed that as well as no longer selling real ale, Maryport Labour Club has had its hand pump taken out!
New breweries: (update July 9th)
The Croglin Castle Hotel (not the King's Arms), Kirkby Stephen, has installed a brewery.
The Ship at Greenodd is brewing now
Rumour that Burgundy's in Kendal are to install a brewery too.
Still no brewing news from the Bampton Beer Co, Mardale (the Mardale Inn) who bought the Loweswater kit, but they are getting a beer brewed
somewhere, which they are selling as Emergency Beer 3.6%
Ulverston Brewery are moving into the centre of Ulverston - bigger and better premises!
Hard Knott brewery is now operating out of Devonshire Road Industrial Estate in Millom and getting beers in pubs in the Furness area
Distressed Sailor, Hensingham, has two real ales - Theakston's Mild (definitely worth a walk up for!!) and a guest - currently Abbot Ale (19th March)
Real ale back on at Bridgefoot!
The Duke's Head in Bridgefoot now has a Robinson's cask ale on (Unicorn, 4.2%). Good to see this cracking la'al pub still surviving.
They have also recently converted the pool room into a small shop.
2 Real ales now at the Blue Bell in Workington
and at Maryport, Golden Fleece: now selling real ale - two Jennings
What Ales
Please check if the pubs you visit advertise in What Ales and invite them to, if they don't already.
List of current advertisers and rates here
Rates are very good - much cheaper than Whitehaven or Workington Magazine, with a more focused audience.
Booking for the year (4 issues) is a very good deal.
No real ale now at the Wheatsheaf in Cleator Moor. It didn;t last long!
CAMRA is launching a new monthly electronic newsletter aimed at active campaigning members, called The Campaigner.
The newsletter will be emailed out to all those that sign up and will feature campaigning news, resources, ideas and best practice branch
activities.
The aim of the publication is to give a place for the hard work and good ideas from branch level and then to share them within the
national community of active members on a monthly basis.
All interested members should consider signing up to, what should be, an invaluable resource. To sign up please email your interest to
membership@camra.org.uk including your membership number, name and email address. Please also include 'Campaigner Newsletter Sign-up' in the
email subject box.
Whitehaven Beer Festival
Due to the Civic Hall not being available for us in November, the branch has decided this would be a good opportunity to move the festival to March,
a period where there is not much happening with real ale events in Cumbria. So the next one will be March 18 - 19th, 2011.
Beers at the Candlestick:
July - August: Bizzy Bee 3.5% (apparently nicer than dizzy blonde), variation between Double Hop 5.0% &
Dizzy Blonde 3.8%; September (see April's); Oct - Nov: Battering Ram 4.0%, Dizzy Blonde 3.8%; December: Mr Scrooge 4.4%,
Dizzy Blonde 3.8%
Our awards are so much appreciated!!
Ever wondered...?
Our branch newsletter has started, what we hope will be, a regular column,'frequently asked questions', about the wonders of real ale. The first
column, in our latest issue (read it via the download, right), included queries about the difference between real ale and other beers, whether lager
is the "enemy" and what makes a "good cellar". If you've got a question, email it to the editorial team at whatales@westcumbriacamra.org.uk or
info@smithplusbell.com
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