JOHN YOUNG MEMORIAL AWARD
In December, the commemorative shield and certificate were presented to the winner for 2022, Steve Brown, the founder and managing director of Twickenham Fine Ales. The award was made in recognition of the importance of the brewery’s contribution to real ale and pubs in Greater London.
The presentation was made by CAMRA’s Regional Director for Greater London, Geoff Strawbridge (right), seen here toasting Steve with a pint of TFA’s award winning Naked Ladies golden ale.
John Austin (who also took the photo)
WEST MIDDLESEX AWARDS
West Middlesex Branch spent much of the later part of 2022 presenting awards based on votes held earlier in the year. The branch choose a winning pub in each of the three boroughs in their area (Ealing, Harrow and Hillingdon) and then select an overall winner from the three.
First up was the Hillingdon Pub of the Year, J.J. Moon’s in Ruislip Manor (HA4 0AA). The pub has won the award previously in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017. This win was a first for manager Sam Garvey who took over the pub late in 2021, having previously managed J.J. Moon’s in Wembley and the Moon on the Hill in Harrow. The presentation coincided with the first day of the Wetherspoon’s autumn beer festival, with 18 festival beers available on stillage or handpump or else from the cellar. The pub came second in the country for the amount of beer sold during the festival. The presentation is also covered on page 11 of the current Wetherspoon News magazine.
Branch chairman Thomas Black (right) presented Sam with the certificate and commented, “J.J. Moon’s is an excellent welcoming community pub which always serves a good beer from local breweries.” Branch Secretary Roy Tunstall added, “I first came across Sam when he was one of Gil Cooray’s trainees here. Sam was part of Gil’s team who would help us with the set-up of CAMRA’s Ealing Beer Festival, mostly with the heavy lifting, placing casks on the stillage. With Gil retired, Sam has now taken over providing volunteers for our beer festival set-up.” With thanks to Wetherspoons for the photo.
The Harrow borough Pub of the Year was the Castle (HA1 3EF), located very close to the famous school at Harrow-on-the-Hill. Fuller’s policy of allowing more guest ales saw Verdant Radio Silence and Utopian America Amber on sale along with the usual stable of Fuller’s and Dark Star beers. The pub very kindly provided some sandwiches and chips to those CAMRA members who had ventured up the hill to witness the presentation in this Grade II-listed and CAMRA National Inventory pub.
Thomas did the honours here as well, presenting the certificate to manager Dan Emson (pictured centre).
The Ealing borough pub, and the overall branch Pub of the Year, was the Owl & the Pussycat in Northfields (W13 9RT). They also won the Cider Pub of the Year award. Co-owner Paul Nock thanked all those who had supported the micropub during the pandemic and beyond.
The branch Club of the Year award once again went to the Grapevine Bar at the Questors Theatre. This was presented to Bar Chair Cecily Johnson. The presentation coincided with the return of the beer festival when, for the first time, beers were available from a stillage in the snug under cooling. This was thanks to Ben Hart, who is a Grapevine committee member as well as the organiser of the branch’s Ealing Beer Festival.
Roy Tunstall
WINTER SEASON PUBS
Both CAMRA’s Kingston & Leatherhead and North London branches have announced their pubs of the season for the winter. K&L’s choice is the Prince of Wales in East Molesey (KT8 9EU) and the award was presented on 18 January. The pub usually has a good selection of local beers and is close to Hampton Court station. North London’s selection is the recently reopened Grade II*-listed Black Lion in Kilburn (NW6 2BY). The presentation was made on 17 January.
DATE FOR YOUR DIARIES
CAMRA’s Bexley branch are planning to hold their beer festival from 4 to 6 May 2023 at the same venue as before, the Dartfordians Community Sports Club. Volunteers will be welcome. More details in the next edition.
OPEN HOUSE PUB QUIZ
I’m sure that many readers will have heard of the charity Open City, best known for organising the Open House days when the public can visit historic and/or significant buildings that are not normally open. They are holding a pub quiz to raise funds on Thursday 2 February. The venue is the community owned Ivy House in Stuart Road, Nunhead, SE15 3BE. Tickets cost £10.00 and are available from https://open-city.org.uk/events/pub-pub-quiz, although there may not be many left by the time that you read this. The quiz will be hosted by Cristina Monteiro and David Knight, who edited Open City’s recent book, Public House: A Cultural and Social History of the London Pub (highly recommended). Teams are limited to ten people and all participants must have their own ticket. There will be prizes! All proceeds will go to support Open City’s year-round charitable work.