GOODBYE TO GEOFF AND WELCOME TO ELLIE
The Annual General Meeting of CAMRA’s Greater London Region took place on 29 March. It was significant in that it saw the retirement of Geoff Strawbridge as regional director after a nine year stint.
The meeting thanked Geoff for his long and effective service and Christine Cryne presented him with a bottle of Fuller’s Vintage Ale as a parting gift. The meeting elected Ellie Eames, also of South West London branch, as Geoff’s successor. We offer our congratulations accordingly.
GREATER LONDON YOUNG MEMBERS
On Sunday 23 April, CAMRA’s Greater London Region Young Members group held a social event at the 2 Locks Brewery in Camden (NW1 8NZ), a relatively new taproom that was featured in the February/March 2023 edition of London Drinker. We were given a brewery tour and it was great to learn the brewery’s story and the specifics of how they brew there. The brewer even let some of us try out their labelling machine, which members of our group got very excited about!
The brewery had six good quality beers on, including pale ales, a darker beer and a fruity sour, and it was a great opportunity to catch up with fellow younger members again. We are planning to continue doing regular Young Members meetups and so, if you enjoy real ale and would like to meet like-minded people for a friendly chat, keep an eye on our Facebook Group: Greater London Young CAMRA Members.
Joseph Paul
South East London branch
BROMLEY BEER FESTIVAL
CAMRA’s Bromley branch are pleased to announce that their beer festival will return on 27 to 29 July. The venue will, as before, be the Beckenham Rugby Club (Balmoral Avenue, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 3RD). There will be around 90 beers and ciders available and the club bar will be open to provide wines and spirits and soft and no/low alcohol options will be available. Food from independent local suppliers will be on sale throughout. The festival co-ordinator, Anne Claridge, says, “We are determined that, as well as something for everyone, there’ll be enough for everyone. That’s why this festival is bigger than ever. More beer, more choice, more smiles.” Tickets and beer/cider vouchers are now on general sale and the organisers strongly recommend early booking to avoid disappointment. Tickets are priced at £3 if bought online and £4 on the door. Entry is free for CAMRA members and under-26s. More information can be found at http://bromley.camra.org.uk/festival-2023.
EALING BEER FESTIVAL
The Ealing Beer Festival, organised by CAMRA’s West Middlesex branch, will return to Walpole Park in Mattock Lane (W5 5EQ) from 12 to 15 July. Opening hours are 12pm to 10.30 (Sat 12pm to 8pm). We will be repeating the ‘big top’ marquee seen for the first time in 2022 and there will be an increased range of beer for 2023! Admission is by package, £18 for CAMRA Members or £20 for non members. This includes £10 in drinks vouchers, a souvenir glass (non-refundable) and a souvenir Program. Admission for all is reduced after 8.30 to £15 when purchased on the door. The nearest stations are Ealing Broadway (Central, District and Elizabeth lines) or South Ealing (Piccadilly Line). There are plenty of buses serving Uxbridge Road. For more details go to ebf.camra.org.uk.
Ben Hart – Festival Organiser
BEXLEY BEER FESTIVAL
This year’s festival, held on 4 to 6 May, went well. We had a good Thursday night and a very good Friday but Saturday was spoiled by the rain, with the scheduled cricket match being cancelled. Although attendance was down on previous years, visitors seemed to drink more. Holding a beer festival when your new monarch is due to be crowned gave us the opportunity of ordering, in the end, nineteen beers related to the event. Kent Brewery’s King Charles III was the first beer to run out.
The beer of the festival, by customer vote, was Cherry Bakewell Stout (5.3% ABV), from our local Bexley Brewery. Second place was a three way tie between Bexley Brewery’s Black Prince Vanilla Bean Porter (4.6% ABV), Broken Drum Home Brew’s Quirm Brown Ale (a brand new beer; 3.8% ABV) and A Walk On The Mild Side (3.5% ABV) from Ralph’s Ruin brewery, based at the Royal Oak, Bath. The cider/perry winner was Turners Apple Pie Cider. Thank you to all who voted. We would like to thank all of our sponsors and suppliers, including Bexley and Westerham breweries for the glasses. Likewise, thanks to all of our volunteers from far and wide without whom there would be no festival. The festival charity was Cancer Research and over £870 was raised in memory of Paul Thomas.
The branch took the opportunity to present its Club of the Year award to our hosts, Dartfordians Community Sports Club. The photo shows the festival organiser, Andy Wheeler, presenting the certificate to the club’s steward, Megan Lewis.
Peter Trout
PIG’S EAR FESTIVAL CHARITY DONATION
Each year the Pig’s Ear Beer Festival, organised by CAMRA’s East London & City branch, supports the Speaker of Hackney’s chosen charity. This year this is St Mary’s secret garden in Haggerston, which offers social and horticultural therapy. A total of £1,087.54 was raised at the last festival in December and a cheque for this amount was recently presented to the speaker’s office.
Pictured on the right is Councillor Anya Sizer, the deputy speaker of Hackney, together with, from left, Dave Gilchrist, Hugh Smith, Andy Kinch, Mick Lewis and Steve Hall from the festival organising committee. Pig’s Ear should be back at its usual venue, the Round Chapel from 28 November to 2 December 1923.
Steve Hall
FULL STEAM AHEAD FOR ALES ON RAILS
On 21 to 23 July, the Epping Ongar Railway will be hosting a summer beer festival in conjunction with CAMRA, the first since 2019. This year will see cask beer return to North Weald with an additional bar added at Ongar station. There will be ale (and cider) on the rails too, with heritage train and bus services operating into the evening. For the first time, Ongar station will host a craft beer bar featuring a range of interesting pints from East London. CAMRA members will get a discount on all day train fares and, for anyone looking to enjoy just the evening session, there’ll be a reduced fare valid on buses and trains after 5pm. Travel tickets are available both in advance online and on the day. Other attractions include music each day and, on the Sunday, we are expecting there to be a celebration of the 70th anniversary of the introduction of the Guy Special bus that first served London Country routes in 1953.
For more information regarding the beer festival, please visit https://www.eorailway.co.uk/. Epping Ongar Railway will also continue to host its popular Ale and Cider Train events, with trains planned to operate for the evenings on Saturdays 24 June, 5 August and 23 September.
Alan Perryman
To plan your festival trips and to see all upcoming CAMRA events, visit https://events.camra.org.uk/.