BEXLEY BEER FESTIVAL
Having to cancel our 15th festival in May 2020 because of Covid was quite a blow, given that we had spent several months planning it. Happily, we were finally able to hold it in early May. The glasses had already been produced and so were dated 2020 but we still wanted to use them because they celebrated the 75th Anniversary of VE day. We also kept the same logo for our t-shirts, with the date changed.
For the eighth time, the event was held at the Dartfordians Community Sports Club. We had 96 beers, 27 ciders and three perries available, all of which had been consumed by the time we closed at 8pm on the Saturday. Attendance was good, although slightly down on 2019. The Beer of the Festival was Bexley Brewery’s Cherry Brandy Stout while the cider and perry award was a tie between Turners Apple Pie Cider and Perry’s Barn Owl.
The festival charity was Cancer Research UK and over £1,000 was raised in memory of Helen Wright, our former membership secretary, who passed away in July 2019 and whose photo appeared in the programme and on posters around the site. This year, for the first time, we had a Real Ale Finder App (RAF) available to show which beers were available (or not…). As ever, thanks are due to organiser Andy Wheeler (proprietor of the Broken Drum micropub and brewery) and everyone else who helped out. We will return next year, subject to confirmation, 5-7 May 2023.
Peter Trout
SOUTH NORWOOD BEER FESTIVAL
The South Norwood beer festival, run by CAMRA’s Croydon & Sutton branch, is on target to return to the Stanley Halls this autumn. A recent refurbishment of parts of the building will mean a few changes but the festival still promises to provide an interesting range of ales as well as cider and perry. Once the details are finalised, they will appear on the branch website https://www.croydon.camra.org.uk/.
PIG’S EAR PRESENTATION
Volunteers from the Pig’s Ear Beer Festival, organised by CAMRA’s East London & City branch, recently made a visit to the Redemption Brewery to celebrate their taking the top two places in the Beer of the Festival competition.
The winning beer was Victorian Mild (7% ABV), brewed in collaboration with Kernel Brewery. Pictured with the certificate is Andy Moffat from Redemption along with some of the volunteers. Pig’s Ear 2022 will take place at the Round Chapel in Hackney from Tuesday 29 November to Saturday 3 December. With thanks to Dave Gilchrist for the photo.
Steve Hall
TWICKENHAM BEER FESTIVAL
CAMRA’s Richmond & Hounslow branch would like to give notice that Twickenham Beer Festival will be held from Thursday 27 to Saturday 29 October at a new location, the Winchester Hall, Turk’s Head, St Margarets TW1 1FF.
EAST MALLING BEER FESTIVAL
The East Malling Beer Festival, organised by CAMRA’s Maidstone and Mid-Kent Branch, returns after its pandemic-enforced break on Saturday 3 September. It will be held in the grounds of the National Institute of Agricultural Botany’s East Malling centre. The festival runs from 11am to 7pm, admission costs £6 (free for CAMRA members) and there is a free shuttle bus service between the site and Aylesford and West Malling railway stations. See https://mmk.camra.org.uk/.
CROYDON & SUTTON BRANCH PUBS OF THE YEAR
CAMRA’s Croydon & Sutton branch select a pub of the year for both boroughs, judged by members in line with CAMRA’s pub of the year scoring guidelines. certificates have recently been presented. The winner for Croydon borough is the Claret & Ale in Addiscombe (CR0 7AA). The pub is the branch’s longest continuous Good Beer Guide entry and has won the Croydon Pub of the Year award on many occasions. The picture shows their team behind the bar.
The Hope in Carshalton (SM5 2PR), a former Greater London Pub of the Year, is again our Sutton winner.
Known to many, it remains a destination of choice for those seeking a wide range of beers from near and far. Dominic Hemy is pictured with the certificate in front of the bar at one of their regular beer festivals.
Dave Lands
ELAC CLUB OF THE YEAR
CAMRA’s East London & City branch have presented their Club of the Year certificate to the multi-award winning Leyton Orient Supporters Club (E10 5NF). The presentation was made at the ale night held at the end of last season.
Pictured with Branch chair Kim Scott are Mark Harrison (left) and David Dodds (right) from the supporters club. With thanks to James Watson for the photo.
Steve Hall
ENFIELD & BARNET BRANCH PUB OF THE YEAR
CAMRA’s Enfield & Barnet branch have voted the Little Green Dragon in Green Lanes, Winchmore Hill (N21 2AD) their Pub of the Year for 2022. This makes a remarkable fifth consecutive year since it opened. This micropub serves an ever changing range of real ales in a friendly atmosphere, often with local entertainers on Wednesdays. The presentation took place on 4 June and, in this photo by Owen Woodliffe, proprietor Richard Reeve proudly holds the certificate in company with wife Sujal and able regular assistants Janet and Gulliver.
Readers will recall that Richard is a keen cyclist and visited the first 100 micropubs in Britain on a fundraising ride for the Alzheimer’s Charity. Recently he took the opportunity offered by a matching part-funded grant from the Mayor of London to acquire a Netherlands built Urban Arrow 250W electric cycle. During lockdown it was used to make many deliveries in local postcode areas until March of this year when orders diminished as customers returned to the pub. With its capacity of 100 kilo however, it is still useful for the collection of supplies from the cash and carry store.
Given how the Pub of the Year competition has grown, this year the branch reintroduced a runners-up award. For 2022, this deservedly went to the Lord Nelson in High Barnet (EN5 2SA). The pub was one of the Ram Pub Company tenancies sold by Young’s to Punch Pubs.
Happily the pub is now going stronger than ever. The award was presented to Julie, the licensee, on 14 June by E&B member (and Lord Nelson regular) Mark Shepherd.
Mike Hodgkinson
HAMPTON HERO
On 24 May, Bob Gordon, the chairman of CAMRA’s Richmond & Hounslow branch, supported by a number of branch members, presented a special Lockdown Hero award (a framed graphic artwork) to the Jolly Coopers pub in Hampton TW12 2SJ.
The picture (on page 12) shows Suheil (on the left) and Gemma receiving the award on behalf of licensees Jane and Nick Witham, who were unfortunately unable to attend on the night. The pub was already helping the local community before the pandemic but they then increased their support with help and donations from local businesses and, during the Christmas holiday period, over 90 food parcels were distributed. Jane and Nick and the team should be congratulated on their community support and, of course, running a superb pub!
THE SUSSEX ARMS IS CIDER CHAMPION
CAMRA’s Richmond & Hounslow branch’s Cider Pub of the Year for 2022 is the Sussex Arms in Twickenham (TW2 5BG). The certificate was presented at the end of June and the photo shows branch members surrounding pub manager Paul Rymer.
This is the third time that the pub has won this competition and, in both previous successful years, the pub went on to win the Greater London Cider Pub of the Year award.
John Austin (who also took the photo)
SOUTH WEST LONDON PUB OF THE YEAR
On 15 June, Beer Day Britain, members of CAMRA’s South West London branch gathered at the Eagle Ale House in Battersea (SW11 6HG) for the presentation of the branch’s Pub of the Year award for 2022. This is the third time that the Eagle has won the award (previously in 2012 and 2014) and it had been a very close runner up in the 2021 competition.
As branch chair Mark Bravery observed, this was a testament to its consistency over many years. Mark added that what had particularly impressed the judges was the relaxed and friendly atmosphere, which comes from the staff and the customers, and of course the quality of the beer.
Mark again did the honours on 6 July when he presented the runners up award to Gary Robinson, manager of the Sultan in South Wimbledon (SW19 1BT). Mark explained that the branch does not usually present what are, in effect, silver medals but, for the second year in a row, the gap between the winner and the runner-up was so tight that it was felt to be only right to recognise this pub’s strong showing.
For the Sultan, the judges were impressed by the pub’s community spirit, including popular quizzes and live music. It is also where people can come for a quiet drink and a chat. The Sultan is owned by the Hop Back Brewery from Downton, Wiltshire, and is their only tied house in London.
YOUNG MEMBERS
Beer Day Britain: CAMRA’s London Regional Young Members group celebrated Beer Day Britain on 15 June with a meet up in central London. The group visited two pubs: the Seven Stars, a pub dating back to 1602 and popular with lawyers because of its location behind the Royal Courts of Justice, and the Edgar Wallace, which is famous for having its ceilings and walls covered in beer mats and vintage smoking posters. The members caught up over real ales, joined in the national cheers at 7pm and toasted two young members on their newly published book of London pub names.
Upcoming event: Join the Young Members at the Great British Beer Festival on Thursday 4 August at 6pm. We’ll be exploring the festival and trying as many beers as we can! Please buy your tickets in advance and meet us near the glass collection point. Friends and family are welcome to join in.
Tori Bishop Rowe