SoxonAle issue 27

Autumn 2015 Issue 27 www.soxoncamra.org.uk

Your FREE guide to real ale and pubs in South Oxfordshire

MILLERTHE

OF MANSFIELD • GORING

OPENING TIMESMonday - SaturdayLunch 12 - 2.30 Dinner 6 - 9SundayLunch 12 - 3.30 Supper Club 6 - 8

CAMRA Pub of the Season 201518th Century Coaching Inn with 13 Individual Rooms

Local Discounts & Corporate Rates Apply.

Miller of Mansfield High Street, Goring, RG8 9AW t: 01491 872 829 m: 07702 853 413email: [email protected]

Miller-of-Mansfield TheMillerofMan

LocalsNights £25 5 courses£15 wine flight1st Thursday ofevery monthFor dates please

see website or call in for flyer.

Contact Mary for any further enquiries

WeeklyChanging

Lunch Menu2 courses £12.503 courses £15.00Sunday SupperClub £12.50

main course & drink. Nibbles menu now available.

Calendar ofMonthly Events

Live bandsWine/Beer dinnersHenley MarketLocals NightsGuest Beers

Subscribe to our FacebookEvents to find out more.

Published every threemonths by the SouthOxfordshire branch ofthe Campaign for RealAle © CAMRA 2015SoxonAle is producedand distributed by

members of the branch in their own time. Views expressed in SoxonAle are not necessarily those of the editor, publisher orof CAMRA.

Edited by:Paul DixonEmail: [email protected].

Design & Production:Daniel Speed - Orchard House Media Ltd01778 382758Email: [email protected]

Advertising:For advertising enquiries please contact Jane Michelson on: 07732 393 62101778 [email protected]

Distribution:3,000 copies / four times a year

Got a short pint? If you believe that you have been treated unfairly in a pub, club or bar, you should contact the Trading Standards service by writing to them at Oxfordshire Trading Standards, Graham Hill House, Electric Avenue, Ferry Hinksey Rd, Oxford OX2 0BYor call them on 0845 051 0845.

A wide range of consumer information andadvice is also available online from the Consumer Direct website at www.consumerdirect.gov.uk

LOCAL NEWS

The Bear, North Moreton, is an example of how an under-performing pub can become successful when run by the rightpeople. Taken on by Tim and Alison Haworth in 2006 it rapidly got into the Good Beer Guide and was a repeat winnerof the South Oxfordshire Pub of the Year. Tim and Alison leftlast year. But happily the Bear has retained its momentumunder new tenants, the father and daughter team of Patrickand Lucy Marples. Patrick and Lucy have put their own stampon the pub by introducing a programme of sympathetic refurbishment, but the winning formula of four real ales hasbeen retained. There are two regulars: Timothy Taylor’sLandlord and Bear Beer, brewed specially for the pub by WestBerkshire. The other two beers change all the time and cancome from anywhere. The food is always excellent and thereare regular social events and the weekly quiz, which is nearlyalways at capacity. In particular, the partnership with the localcricket club has flourished and the beer and cricket festivaleach July continues to grow and grow. So it was appropriatethat Patrick and Lucy’s efforts should be recognised in frontof a large crowd on the Saturday evening of the festival, withthe award of South Oxfordshire Summer Pub of the Season.

In July SOX fulfilled its traditional role of providing the beertent at the Woodcote Rally. We sold 8250 pints of beer andcider, the equivalent of 90 bottles of wine and over 300 litresof soft drinks. The unstinting efforts of our band of volunteerbar staff kept the Rally-goers well lubricated with the result

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CAMRA, the Campaign forReal Ale is an independent,voluntary organisation campaigning for real ale,community pubs and consumer rights.

that we will again make a handsome dona-tion of £4500 to the Woodcote Rally charitiesas well as a contribution to CAMRA’s campaigning fund.

Previous SoxonAles have followed the fortunes of the grade II listed Bottle andGlass, Binfield Heath, which was closed byBrakspear in July 2013. The parish councilregistered the pub as an Asset of CommunityValue with South Oxfordshire District Coun-cil (SODC). This measure was introduced in

the 2011 Localism Act and, once approved, gives communities six months to bid on a prop-erty before it can be sold on the open market – more on this in the National News section.Tentative plans were made for a community purchase, then the Phillimore Estate bought itin August last year.

The Estate has recently submitted a planning application for the pub’s refurbishment. Thisincludes a two-storey extension with refurbishment and alterations to the existing building.The car park is to be relocated to the rear of the site and an infill three-bedroom propertybuilt. Binfield Heath Parish Council supports the application and SODC should be making adecision on the proposals very soon.

For many months we’ve been closely following the fortunes of the White Lion, Crays Pond.This has finally been resolved and SOX Pubs Protection Officer, David Cooper, tells the fullstory later in this magazine.

In happier days the Lamb, Satwell, was a lovely country pub and a Good Beer Guide regular.It was sold a several years ago and entered a strange twilight existence. The signage re-mained in place, though it was never entirely clear whether it was open or not. The newowner apparently had a second-hand car business and appeared to use the car park to storehis stock since it was always completely full. Anyway, as was almost inevitable, a planningapplication has been submitted to SODC for change of use to a dwelling. SOX has registeredan objection and we await the SODC decision in mid-September.

Since re-opening under new management the Miller of Mansfield, Goring, has won yet another award being named Restaurant of the Year 2016 in the readers’ category of theGood Food Guide. The hotel and restaurant, a former 18th century coaching inn, was previously owned by Enterprise Inns and was facing closure because the kitchen was deemeda health hazard. Nick and Mary Galer from Streatley spent £75,000 on refurbishment beforere-opening the business just over a year ago. It came third in the River Thames Guide’s bestThames local awards in November and was awarded two AA rosettes for its food and accommodation. But of course the biggest accolade so far has been the award of WinterPub of the Season 2015 by South Oxfordshire CAMRA.

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Local News - continued

In the previous SoxonAle we reported on the fortunes of two Crowns. Sadly, there havebeen developments with both, and it’s not good.

The Crown, South Moreton, is a handsome pub that had once been very successful but forsome reason fell on hard times and saw a number of tenants who stayed for only a littlewhile, and was frequently closed. In the Summer SoxonAle we reported that it had just beentaken on by two experienced tenants, Jane and Mike Binyon, who had previously run GoodBeer Guide pubs in other counties. So it all seemed very promising until a couple of weeksago when they suddenly left. It is believed that the owner, Wadworth, had sold the pubwithout telling them. The identity of the new owner is currently unknown – so we couldhave a rebirth like the Bottle & Glass, or an attempt at closure like the White Lion. At the time of writing the pub is ‘closed for the foreseeable future’.

We also recorded that a planning application had been submitted to demolish the Crown,Didcot, and replace it with housing. Shortly after publication the application was approved.At the time of writing the Crown remains open.

The Flowing Spring, Playhatch, continues to provide a wide range of events from live musicto mind-reading to the chilli pizza challenge. Two forthcoming events to look out for arethe Autumn Real Ale Festival in October and Nick and Hazel’s Five Year Anniversary Partyin December. The Autumn Beer Festival will run from Friday 9th

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Continued on page 6

the Bear at Home

The Bear at Home, High St, North Moreton. OX11 9AT

Tel: 01235 811311 www.bear-at-home.co.uk

Patrick and Lucy are delighted to welcome you to the Bear-at-Home in South Oxfordshire. Dating from the 16th Century with low beamed ceilings, inglenookfireplaces and comfortable seating areas, The Bear is open for excellent food, finewines and a variety of real ales. You can be assured of a warm welcome at this

friendly, family run freehouse.

We take great care in the quality of the food we serve. Everything is freshly prepared on site and every effort is made to source seasonal produce from local

suppliers to be sure of provenance.

Opening Times Weekdays: 12 - 3pm lunchtimes, and 6pm -11pm in the evenings.

Saturday and Sunday: All day from 12 noon during the summer months.

To book, please phone Lucy on 01235 811311

North Moreton

Pub of the SeasonSummer 2015

to Sunday 11th October with plenty of real ales and real ciders and live entertainment onSaturday 10th. Saturday 12th December is the time to celebrate five years of Nick and Hazelrunning this wonderful pub, something of which they are immensely proud. See www. theflowingspringpub.co.uk for details and other events.

The Crown, Pishill, is holding its annual Beer Festival on the last weekend of September.The format is a little different this year. As well as the a range of excellent ales there will bea big screen showing that weekend’s Rugby World Cup games. The programme of event is:Friday 25th: 6pm - 11pm. Live music from the Stanley Moon Trio.Saturday 26th: 12pm - 11pm. 2:30pm Italy v Canada; 4:45pm South Africa v Samoa; 8pmEngland v Wales.Sunday 27th: 11am - 10pm. 12pm Australia v Uruguay; 2:30pm Scotland v USA; 4:45pmIreland v Romania.See www.thecrowninnpishill.co.uk.

Some local brewery news now. Loose Cannon has a series of monthly specials until theend of the year. We had their excellent American Pale Ale (4% ABV) at Woodcote, whereit was very popular. Look out for Session IPA (4% ABV) in September, English Bitter (4.5%ABV) in October, with Session Bitter (3.9% ABV) following in November.

Hook Norton has had success at the World Beer Awards 2015 with two best in class, twogolds and two bronze medals in the United Kingdom country category. The World Beer Awardsare the global awards selecting the very best internationally recognised beer styles. This annualtasting selects, awards and promotes the 'World's Best Beers' to consumers and the tradethroughout the world. Beers must be generally available and for sale in bottles or cans.

In the Spring edition of SoxonAle we announced that the South Oxfordshire Pub of the Yearis the Plum Pudding, Milton. The Plum Pudding went into the next stage of the competitioncovering CAMRA’s Central Southern Region. In a tight contest the eventual winner was theRoyal Oak, Wantage. This process will eventually deliver the National Pub of the Year in afew months time. Meanwhile, the Plum Pudding will be holding it’s autumn beer festival onFriday 2nd and Saturday 3rd October.

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The SOX Branch holds a meeting on the first Wednesday of each month and a socialevening on the third Thursday. We vary the venues to cover as much of the Branch’s(quite extensive) territory. For news and events take a look at the Branch website:www.soxoncamra.org.uk. Alternatively email us at [email protected].

NATIONAL NEWS

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THE GREAT BRITISH BEER FESTIVAL CAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival returned to Olympia in mid-August. Around 50,000+ beer-loversdescended on London to sample the huge range of top class ales on offer. The GBBF is now firmly established having been an annual event since, incredibly, 1977. CAMRA’s first large beer festival wasactually held three years earlier, in Convent Garden. The 1977 event was held in Alexandra Palaceand is generally considered the first GBBF and continued there for a few years. In 1980 part of theAlly Pally burned down and that year the festival was held in marquees at the foot of the hill. TheGBBF then went on a tour of the UK for a few years, returning to London in 1991 in the Docklands’Arena. The next year saw it transferred to Olympia where it remained until 2005. Subsequently itmoved to Earl’s Court until the 2012 Olympics pushed it out, so it returned to Olympia and has remained there since. (Earl’s Court is currently being demolished.)

After over a year of local tasting panels and regional heats leading up to the finals the champion beersof Britain are announced at the start of the festival, and it’s always a pleasant challenge to roam thehalls seeking of them out. This year’s supreme champion is Cwtch (pronounced ‘cutch’, meaning cud-dle in Welsh) from the Newport brewer Tiny Rebel. For the record, the winners are as follows.

GOLD SILVER BRONZESupreme Champions

Tiny Rebel Kelburn Dancing DuckCwtch Jaguar Dark Drake

MildWilliams Bros Rudgate Great OrmeBlack Ruby Mild Welsh Black

BitterPheasantry Acorn Purple MooseBest Bitter Barnsley Bitter Madog's Ale Timothy Taylor Boltmaker

Best BitterTiny Rebel Highland BarngatesCwtch Scapa Special Tag Lag

Salopian Darwin's OriginStrong Bitter

Dark Star Fallen Angel Salopian Golden Thread Grain India Pale Ale Golden

Kelburn Jaguar Adnams CExplorer Blue Monkey InfinitySpeciality

Titanic Kissingate Black Cherry Mild HanlonsPlum Porter Saltaire Triple Chocolate Port Stout

Champion Bottled BeerHarveys Fyne Ales MordueImperial Extra Double Stout Superior India Pale Ale India Pale Ale

There is, as you would expect, a reasonable churn on the successful beers. But for interest andas a pointer when you’re at a beer festival and confronted with a large number of beers you’venever heard of, it’s useful to look out for some that perform consistently. So comparing 2015with the 2014 winners we can see that:

Last year’s Supreme Champion Boltmaker got a creditable bronze this year in the Bitter category.

The Salopian brewery is on a roll. Last year Darwin’s Origin won the Best Bitter category;this year it got bronze. Salopian also scored silver in Strong bitter with Golden Thread. They gota double in 2014 too when their golden ale Hop Twister got a bronze.

This year’s bronze went to Blue Monkey’s Ape Ale which last year won silver.

Saltair’s Triple Chocolate won gold in 2014 in the Speciality category and in 2015 made it tosilver.

For completeness we should add that the Champion Winter Beers of Britain were selected atthe Winter Ales festival last January and the overall results were:

Gold: Elland Brewery’s 1872 PorterSilver: Purple Moose’s Darkside of the MooseBronze: Dancing Duck’s Dark Drake

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National News - continued

CAMRA WELCOMES BUDGET ANNOUNCEMENT SUPPORTING SMALLCIDER MAKERSCAMRA’s campaign to encourage the Government to support small cider makers has paid off.Over 26,000 cider drinkers signed CAMRA's petition calling on the Government to retain thecurrent duty exemption that was under threat from the European Commission. This exemptionhas been in place since cider duty was introduced and is absolutely vital for supporting the pro-duction and availability of quality real cider.

Removing the exemption would have imposed a new tax burden of up to £2,700 on Britain'ssmallest cider producers, many of whom have sales of under £10,000 a year. This is excellentnews for real cider drinkers who were concerned that many small producers would have closedif this exemption were removed.

ASSETS OF COMMUNITY VALECAMRA is mobilising its members in England to nominate their local pub as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) and offer advice and guidance to other community groups looking todo the same. Currently pubs can be demolished or converted to other uses without planningpermission, whereas pubs with ACV status are given planning protection under laws introducedin April.

Holes in the current planning system allow pubs to be sold off, demolished or converted to manyother uses without planning permission or the involvement of the local community. Howeverwhen a pub is nominated as an Asset of Community Value it automatically receives planning pro-tection, meaning it is no longer a soft target to would-be developers looking to quickly purchaseand convert or demolish the pub – which in some instances has literally happened overnight.

CAMRA is inviting other local community groups to work with it in gaining this vital protectionand urges community groups, or individuals, to get in touch with their local CAMRA branch tohighlight valued pubs.

Nominating a pub as an ACV is a surprisingly simple process. You can either nominate as an unincorporated group of 21 local people, as a Parish Council, or in connection with another localgroup including a CAMRA branch.

An example of the struggle some communities have to hang on to their pubs is the 1,000-daybattle to save the Chesham Arms in Hackney, East London. More than three years ago, the newowner of the pub announced his plans to close it and replace it with luxury flats. After a hard-fought campaign the owner finally saw sense and the Chesham has been let on a 15-year leaseto pub operator Andy Bird. Saving the pub involved a two-year legal battle, its listing as an Assetof Community Value, followed by Hackney council in March placing an Article 4 direction thwart-ing the owner’s efforts to change the commercial use of the property.

Although this pub is an ACV and the community and council have clearly tried to save it, nationally-set permitted development rights allowed this developer to ride roughshod over the wishes ofthe community.


Continued on page 12

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Key to saving embattled pubs targeted by developers is getting the local authority to recognisetheir importance to a community and their financial viability. Once Hackney council recognisedthe community and economic importance of the pub it stood firm and didn’t accept the originalpremise that the pub was loss making.

‘BADGE OF HONOUR’The Community Pubs Minister Marcus Jones MP has launched a new campaign to protect Eng-land's most treasured community pubs from demolition or conversion to other uses by presentingthe first ‘Badge of Honour’ to a licensee - Tina Massie of the Red Lion, Beaconsfield. The pres-entation was made at the recent Great British Beer Festival.

The launch of the initiative comes as new statistics released today show neighbourhood ‘subur-ban' pubs are bearing the brunt of pub closures. An average of 29 pubs close each week: 17 ofthem are in this category, compared to nine in rural locations and just three on the high street.This has prompted CAMRA and the Department for Communities & Local Government (DCLG)to launch the joint initiative to protect England's most valued pubs – those listed as Assets ofCommunity Value.

The 800 pubs already listed as ACVs will receive the quality mark, which proudly states ‘ThisPub Matters'. CAMRA aims to increase that number to 3,000 by the end of 2016 by encouragingmore community groups, pub-regulars and CAMRA branches to nominate their local pub andensure it is protected in the future. To nominate your local pub as an ACV and ensure it gets theprotection it deserves visit www.camra.org.uk/listyourlocal.

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PINT, OR A HALF?Apparently, half-pints are now the most popularway to enjoy beer. A CAMRA survey revealed 34% of people would rather drinkfrom a half pint glass with 25% favouring a pintglass, the same number as those who drink froma third of a pint glass. CAMRA said the trendseems to indicate that people are now drinkingless but are more adventurous about samplingdifferent beers, becoming more open to tryingnew beers and moving away from drinking pint-after-pint of the same brew. The survey of 2,000people also revealed, perhaps unsurprisingly,that most drinkers try new beers at festivals orin pubs rather than at home.

ALL-DAY DRINKING - FEARS UNFOUNDEDAccording to a new report, alcohol consumption,rates of binge-drinking and alcohol-related crimehave all fallen in the 10 years since the introduction of longer pub opening hours.

The study, Drinking, Fast and Slow: Ten Years ofthe Licensing Act, from the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) hailed the 2005 Licensing Act asa success as it had not led to the disastrous outcomes that critics predicted at the time. Accordingto the report, the adoption of what has become erroneously known as 24-hour drinking hasseen fewer drink-driving accidents, no rise in alcohol-related A&E admissions and no increase inalcohol-related deaths.

In fact alcohol consumption fell by 17% between 2005 and 2013, the biggest decline since the1930s. Far from provoking a 24-hour drinking culture the Licensing Act has removed some ofthe constraints on where and when people can have a drink, providing the public with greaterchoice. The biggest consequence of relaxing licensing laws has been that the public are now better able to enjoy a drink at the time and location of their choice”.

PUB DESIGN AWARDS 2015A castle, a tap and an old bridge have all taken the honours in CAMRA’s prestigious Pub DesignAwards, run in conjunction with English Heritage. Of local(ish!) interest is that this year the Castleat Edgehill in Oxfordshire won both a Refurbishment and Conservation award. This historic listedGothic folly-castle of the mid-1740s, designed by architect Sanderson Miller for himself has beena prominent landmark on this famous ridge for almost three centuries. In fact it’s on the sitewhere King Charles I's standard-bearer planted the royal arms before the first battle of the CivilWar of 1642.


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The White Lion,Cray’s PondThe White Lion at Cray’s Pond, between Woodcote and Whitchurch, has featured in thesepages before. Formerly a very successful drinking and eating destination, the pub fell onhard times under a succession of unsuccessful licensees in the two or three years before2013. Having overseen the pub’s decline, Greene King put it on the market in July 2013through Fleurets, a company that specialises in marketing licensed premises. They did nottell the licensees at the time nor advertise it publicly. The sale particulars specifically warnedanyone interested not to mention the impending sale to the staff. A few people expressedan interest, including Mr Satwinder Sandhu, a businessman from Huddersfield. After a cursory visit to the premises he agreed to pay the asking price of £600,000 and in Octoberof that year became the owner of a (by then) closed pub. Changing his mind about reopeningthe premises either as a pub or an Indian restaurant, he wasted little time turning it into aprivate house for his family by removing the kitchen, two bars, the pub sign and the ladies’toilets along with several trees.

At this point, the local residents became alarmed and contacted South Oxfordshire DistrictCouncil (SODC). The local Parish Council applied, successfully, for a designation as an Assetof Community Value (ACV) and SODC informed Mr Sandhu that he needed planning permission if he wanted to change the use of the premises to a domestic residence. In themeantime, if he continued to convert the building, he might find that his hard work and expenditure would have been in vain if his application failed.

The residents of Cray’s Pond called a public meeting in December 2013 which was attendedby about 80 villagers and other interested parties and this kick-started the campaign to savethe White Lion. The campaign involved forming a Residents’ Association, regular newslettersaround the village, flyers, articles in local parish magazines, press releases, stalls at villagefetes and badges for people to show their support.

Mr Sandhu eventually submitted a planning application, which was opposed by over 40 objectors, including CAMRA members. The application was turned down and an Enforce-ment Notice issued, giving Mr Sandhu 12 months to quit the premises or use them for apermitted purpose. At the time, this would have allowed a range of office, shop or foodservice uses. Mr Sandhu lodged an appeal against the enforcement notice on the groundsthat his original planning application should not have been refused in the first place. This entailed resubmitting all the objections to the planning application and waiting until January this year for an Inspector to visit. The day before this was due the Inspector decidedto hold a public hearing and cancelled the visit. The hearing eventually took place on 16 Juneand lasted almost a full day. About 40 people from Cray’s Pond, CAMRA members and

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other interested parties attended and most voiced objections or supplied information to refute Mr Sandhu’s case. Eventually on 29 July, we received the long-awaited news – wehad WON! The appeal had been dismissed and the building cannot be used as a house. Better still, changes to planning rules mean that, because of the ACV, it cannot be used foranything other than a pub without obtaining planning permission.

The Inspector ruled that the pub is an essential community facility. On the question of viability he said that the pub is well-located on a crossroads and could attract passing tradeand thrive as it had done when the Pierrepont family from Goring had run it. Tellingly, onthe question of the alleged lack of profitability since then, he noted that poor accounts donot necessarily indicate that the pub was unviable but rather might just show it was not wellmanaged.

Of course, we will only really have won when the White Lion reopens as a pub, serving thepeople of Cray’s Pond and the surrounding area. But the appeal decision is a massive stepin that direction and shows what can be done when a community comes together and fightsto retain its local.

David Cooper

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Winning back the White Lion for the community

GIN-MAKING RETURNS TO THECITY OF LONDONJust for once, this is nothing to do with beer. Butgin has been very much a British staple since thedays of Gin Lane in the 18th century though itlong ago shook off the ‘mother’s ruin’ image. In thelast couple of years, and in the wake of all the microbrewery start-ups, artisan gin has become very fashionable in parts of London and small distilleries are starting to sprout too.One such is the City of London Distillery which is situated in a basement down a small sidestreet behind the Punch Tavern in Fleet Street. Apparently, this is the first gin distillery tooperate (legally!) within the City for 200 years. The two impressive copper stills are on display behind glass in the bar. One distils ethanol from the raw spirit used as feedstock.Then, after the flavourings have been added, the other carries out secondary distillation thatproduces the finished article. The flavourings vary depending on the blend but always includejuniper, with coriander, angelica and liquorice and others added in varying proportions. Wellworth a visit if you’re in the area. It’s not particularly cheap, though price doesn’t usuallydeter CAMRA members. [Actually, that’s entirely untrue. Ed.] It’s a good place for a coupleof liveners, but not a session! If you go when they’re not too busy you can get a tour of thedistillery thrown in. www.cityoflondondistillery.com

Pub Closures– past, present, but hope-fully not futureCAMRA campaigns relentlessly against pub closures and in SoxonAle we always make apoint of reporting closures and celebrating reopenings. But it’s worth putting this in a historical context and considering whether things are getting better, worse, or staying muchthe same.

The UK’s pub estate in terms of pubs per head of population, probably peaked towards theend of the 19th century and has been falling steadily pretty much ever since. In terms of actual pub numbers there were 99,000 pubs in 1905. Following a series of governmentmeasures (some introduced in WW1) which included deliberate suppression, restrictiveopening hours, stringent regulations and higher taxes together with the notorious economicslump by 1935 this figure had fallen to 77,500.

The number remained more or less stable in the long boom following WW2 so that by 1969there were still 75,000 pubs in the UK, falling gradually to 69,000 by 1980 and finally slippingbelow 60,000 only 11 years ago. But then the decline accelerated dramatically. There werestill 58,200 public houses in 2006, but just 48,000 last year: an 18% drop in only seven years.The worst year for the industry came in 2009 when various public policy and behaviouralshifts combined with the recession caused by the banking crisis to shut 52 pubs every week.Closures are still at a historically high level, though at the somewhat lower rate of 31 a week.

Until relatively recently most pubs were owned by breweries which used them to sell theirown products. Then in 1989 the Monopolies and Mergers Commission ruled that this vertically-integrated system was anti-competitive and the government’s response was to introduce the Beer Orders. These broke the power of the breweries and resulted in a largeproportion of Britain’s pubs being handed over to property companies that see a pub as arevenue-generating unit rather than a means of distributing their product. Today, approxi-mately 40% of Britain’s pubs are run by large pubcos such as Enterprise Inns and PunchTaverns and, with the benefit of hindsight, many people would now agree that this was agreat mistake and that the pubcos should never have been created.

Why? Well breaking news is that Punch Taverns has just sold 158 pubs to New River Retail(an investment trust focused on the UK retail sector) for £53.5m. This is a consequence ofPunch’s strategy to sell pubs at a rate of about 200 a year to reduce its debt, currently aneye-watering £1.5bn. After the sale, the company’s core estate will have about 2,900 pubsand the non-core estate will have about 550 pubs. This sale comes on top of the £57m thatPunch raised from asset disposals during the six months to March, which included shedding

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151 pubs. New River has appointed a third-party management company to run thepubs, although it said it would look to usesurplus land for residential or retail use, including for the building of conveniencestores. Back in 2013 New River Retailbought 202 pubs from Marston’s for £90m,which it also plans to convert into conven-ience stores and restaurants.

However satisfying it is to beat up pubcos,that is by no means the full story. There area number of other factors at work. Unfor-tunately they are many and complex, mademore so by the competing claims from various lobby groups. There has certainlybeen sharp decline in alcohol consumptionin the UK: down by 18% since 2004. Thesmoking ban is blamed for putting people offgoing into pubs. And for several years thegovernment continually increased the dutyon beer, at a time when many people werefeeling the effects of the recession.

But there are grounds for remaining optimistic. CAMRA’s campaign to stop thecontinuing increase in beer duty was a suc-cess. New breweries are being opened atan ever-increasing rate, making this a greattime to be trying out new beers and beerstyles. The long-term consequences of allowing pubs to close are becoming appre-ciated by more and more people. And themicro-pub revolution is steadily gainingground. These factors offer hope that we’veseen the worst and that Britain’s pub heritage is strong and good for a few morecenturies yet.

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Pub Closures

Beer-drinking inEastern Europe

In Britain we tend to have a somewhat outdated view of the countries that werepreviously part of the Soviet bloc. But ofcourse they like and want pretty much thesame things that we do. So in the key area ofsocial drinking, over the last few years East-ern Europe and the Balkans have really joinedin the brew pub revolution with new placesopening up as people have been gaining thetaste for good, locally produced beer. Wehave visited most of these countries, and thisis a brief tour of a couple of them.

For instance, when you think of Albania you might imagine somewhere poor and backward. Buton a recent trip to the capital, Tirana, we discovered the Tirana BrauHaus. This is a large Ger-man-style beerhouse which brews six beers on the premises, including Helles (blond), Märzen(red) and Weizenbier (wheat). We enjoyed trying the Helles and the Märzen. This red beer inparticular had a strong, malty flavour. http://brauhaus.al.

After leaving Tirana, we visited the UNESCO-listed Ottoman town of Berat. This is known asthe ‘town of a thousand windows’ due to the sunlight reflecting off the windows of the Ottomanhouses lining both sides of the river which runs through the town. It's also known as ‘the city oftwo thousand steps’ due to the town's steep cobbled paths leading up the hill to the castle. Afterspending the day climbing those cobbled steps we were in need of plenty of refreshment so wetreated ourselves to more Albanian beers while taking in the views from the terrace of the GuvaHotel, overlooking the town. The most popular with locals and travellers alike were Birra Tiranefrom the Birra Malto Brewery (Albania's largest brewery) and Birra Korçë, the first beer brewedin Albania. Korçë, a refreshing lager-style beer, was our favourite. It was just a shame that wedidn't have time to stop at Korçë to visit its brewery, and also that we weren't visiting in Augustwhen its annual beer festival is held.

On a previous Easter break we visited Košice, Slovakia's second largest city. The city has an im-pressive historic centre, which includes a big gothic cathedral (the largest church in Slovakia) acouple of brewpubs, and a pub with over 15 hand-pumps delivering local beers. This is quite agood city to be in if you want to sample plenty of good beers!

Pivovar Golem is a popular and well established brewpub, with a selection of three beers (dark, lightand mixed). The Golem dark is a nice German style beer, but not as sweet as your average dunkel.

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Luxor was the second brewpub (pictured opposite), which had opened more recently. It’s asmart modern brewhouse which serves a light and dark beer, brewed at 12%ABV and 13%ABV.The Tmavy special (the dark beer) was a bit too sweet really. We didn’t have time to try theother brew as the bar was closing and it remained closed for the rest of our visit. Warning: ifyou're visiting Košice over the Easter break, you’ll have to take pot luck when trying to find ahostelry that’s open.

[Pictured right] Luckily the Red Nose studentbar remained open for business throughoutour stay. With over 15 handpumps coveringall styles of beers from local breweries, thiswas a fantastic place for beer. Unexpectedly,I had a really nice English-style porter whichwas a very flavoursome and on the strongside. http://kosican0.wix.com/rednosepub.

Increasingly, decent beer in Eastern Europeis no longer confined to the Czech Republic.The micro-brewery/brewpub concept issteadily taking over the world.

Phil Adams, Jo Moran

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Beer-drinking in Eastern Europe

Serving fine ales and home cooked food

for 250 years.

The ArgyllPub & Kitchen

Come and visit our famous pubwhere two episodes of the tv series‘Midsomer Murders’ have been

filmed. Join our friendly locals for adrink or enjoy a fantastic meal.

On offer is top quality home cookedfood, including fillet, rib eye and

sirloin steaks, old English sausage andmash along with homemade

vegetarian options, sea bass, salmonand traditional fish and chips.

Sunday roasts are a specialty.

The Argyll Public House 15 Market Place, Henley-on-Thames, RG9 2AA.

For bookings call: 01491 573 400www.theargyllhenley.co.uk The Argyll Pub & Kitchen

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Traditional Family Run Village PubFour Cask Marque Beers

Award Winning Restaurant7 Station Road, Lower Shiplake,

Henley on Thames, Oxon. RG9 3NYTel: 01189 403332

[email protected] www.thebaskerville.com

The 2016 edition of the Good Beer Guide has just been published.The Good Beer Guide’s key strength is that a pub can’t buy its wayin. The entries are entirely supplied by grass-roots CAMRA mem-bers and are not subject to any form of monitoring or approval byanyone else. That is, the pubs are recommended by volunteers withno axe to grind and who are doing it because they love good beerand pubs. In other words – people like you. With your copy of theGBG under your arm you can go into any GBG pub assured thatpeople who know beer and pubs with local knowledge have de-

cided that it will sell some of the best beer in that area and that you will enjoy the experience.

The most important task your local CAMRA branch carries out during the year is to recommendentries, write a brief description of each pub and ensure that the supporting factual information(beer range, opening hours etc.) is up to date.

The amount of space each branch can have is strictly limited. SOX is permitted to enter only 15pubs out of a total of around 125 in South Oxfordshire. During the year Branch members try tovisit all of our pubs to confirm that existing entries are maintaining standards and to identify po-tential new entries. We input the details to an on-line database that allows us to keep track ofwho’s doing well and to check for pubs that have not been reviewed. Entries are submitted tothe publishing team in March. So although the 2016 edition has only just been published we’realready more than half-way though the process for submission to the 2017 edition!

If you’re a CAMRA member you can contribute to this process. Whenever you go into a pub (inany part of the UK, not just South Oxfordshire) log into WhatPub and leave a beer score. Theprocess is straightforward and easily completed on a Smartphone. The local CAMRA branch canthen use this information as a key part of the decision-making. The beer-scoring method onWhatPub is essentially the same as that used in CAMRA for a number of years. That is:

0 Undrinkable. No cask ale available or so poor you have to take it back or can't finish it.

1 Poor. Beer that is anything from barely drinkable to drinkable with considerable resentment.

2 Average. Competently kept, drinkable pint but doesn't inspire in any way, not worth movingto another pub but you drink the beer without really noticing.

3 Good. Good beer in good form. You may cancel plans to move to the next pub. You want tostay for another pint and may seek out the beer again.

4 Very Good. Excellent beer in excellent condition.

5 Perfect. Probably the best you are ever likely to find. A seasoned drinker will award this scorevery rarely.

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CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2016

The 2016 Good Beer Guide

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Your mum’s first initial

Your first initial

Your birth month

Your last initial

A Ostler’s A Golden Jan Badger A Plucker

B Cobbler’s B Ruby Feb Cow B Blower

C Chandler’s C Dark Mar Toad C Botherer

D Clerk’s D Nutty Apr Rabbit D Beater

E Groom’s E Sweet May Pheasant E Fighter

F Tinker’s F Best June Cock F Wobbler

G Shepherd’s G Old Jul Ferret G Teaser

H Peeler’s H Strong Aug Donkey H Dodger

I Farmer’s I Hoppy Sep Goat I Muncher

J Fisher’s J Pale Oct Lobster J Snapper

K Waggoner’s K Heavy Nov Rat K Licker

L Mason’s L Amber Dec Spaniel L Slurper

M Weaver’s M Vintage M Fancier

N Squire’s N Special N Choker

O Hooper’s O Warm O Chaser

P Fletcher’s P Zesty P Biter

Q Carpenter’s Q Rustic Q Sniffer

R Cooper’s R Fruity R Tickler

S Turner’s S Smooth S Lifter

T Founder’s T Bitter T Shagger

U Bodger’s U Smokey U Fiddler

V Clogger’s V Velvet V Hunter

W Slater’s W Oatmeal W Tosser

X Digger’s X Tangy X Fixer

Y Drover’s Y Malty Y Kisser

Z Ghillie’s Z Blonde Z Puller

What’s your real ale name?

[Reprinted with the permission of Ashford, Folkestone & Romney Marsh CAMRA]

SoxonAle issue 27

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Transcript of SoxonAle issue 27