Clive, a stalwart of CAMRA’s Kingston & Leatherhead branch, passed away on 29 June 2024 after a period of deteriorating health. Clive was known for his for his love of visiting pubs, the detailed notes he made and for organising a number of legendary beer trips. Being a keen photographer, he also kept a comprehensive pictorial record of the myriad pubs he had visited over the years and the people he met along the way.
Living in New Malden, Clive was first elected to the branch committee in 1993. Over 32 years, Clive made an outstanding contribution to the branch as both membership and social secretary. In the latter role, he organised many a memorable pub crawl, collectively covering most of the pubs in the branch and many more beyond. As a former railway signalman, his love of trains contributed to the transport arrangements. Even after standing down as official social secretary some years ago, he continued to arrange events while the role remained vacant.
He also manned the membership and product stands at the Kingston Beer Festival (and also the Woking Beer Festival) over many years, recruiting dozens of new members in the process, as well as providing valuable assistance with set up, takedown and serving on the organising committee. Happily, Clive managed to attend the most recent Kingston festival, where he enjoyed a few pints.
Clive and his wife Olga regularly attended CAMRA London Pubs Group outings for many years. He also wrote regular articles for London Drinker, detailing his pub tours in various parts of London and beyond. His trusty notebook was always with him and, if he had visited a pub before, he could invariably recall the previous occasion, tell you the beers he had drunk, along with their price, and inform you of the beer quality: almost always ‘good’!
As a regular participator in London Regional Pub of the Year judging, a volunteer at various beer festivals and for his eccentricities, including his love of Bombay mix and out of date pork pies, he will be sorely missed.
Clive’s funeral was held on Monday 22 July at Putney Vale crematorium. A memorial pub tour has been planned for Wednesday 28 August (see Kingston & Leatherhead branch diary).
Kingston & Leatherhead branch