As part of its 50th anniversary celebrations, CAMRA is presenting Golden Awards to individuals, groups of people or businesses that, over those 50 years, have made a significant contribution to CAMRA’s aims and have helped us to get to where we are today. The awards are being presented in three categories, Pubs, Pints and People, and are limited to a total of fifty. Nominations for the awards came from CAMRA members, although those nominated did not need to be CAMRA members. The closing date was 16 March and the decisions are now starting to be made.
The first set of awards to be announced are for pubs. The criteria are that they should have stood the test of time, be convivial, characterful and community focused, and have consistently served a great pint of beer. I’m pleased to announce that there are three winners in Greater London:
- Buckingham Arms, 62 Petty France, Westminster, SW1H 9EU
- Leyton Orient Supporters Club, Breyer Group Stadium, Oliver Road, Leyton E10 5NF
- Star Tavern, 6 Belgrave Mews West, Belgravia, SW1X 8HT
Both the Buckingham Arms (Young’s) and the Star (Fuller’s) are in CAMRA’s West London branch. They both also belong to that elite group of pubs which have been in every edition of the Good Beer Guide. The Leyton Orient Supporters Club is in CAMRA’s East London & City branch and is a perennial winner of CAMRA’s London Regional Club of the Year award. LOSC has restricted opening times so please check in advance of any planned visit.
Special certificates are being prepared and will be forwarded to the appropriate CAMRA branches for them to arrange for their presentation. Hopefully, by the time this happens, we will be free of COVID restrictions. The presentations will, of course, be covered in full in future editions of London Drinker.
Inevitably, given that they cover 50 years, some awards will be made to those who are no longer with us. Their names will instead be added to a Roll of Honour.
The next set of awards, for ‘Pints’ (breweries) will be announced in September.