CAMRA was founded in 1971 and a specific London branch was set up the following year. Membership was booming in those early days and soon the single branch became impractical, not least because it became difficult to find meeting places. Consequently, in 1973, the one branch divided into four: North, South, East and West London. There was further division the following year into, more or less, the arrangement we have now. Most London CAMRA branches are therefore celebrating their 50th anniversaries this year. A number of them have had or are planning celebrations accordingly.
Croydon & Sutton
The branch acknowledged its anniversary by presenting certificates to those pubs that were selling real ale in 1974 and are still doing so today. They also had a celebration in August at the Hope in Carshalton. Watch out for details of a further event in Croydon in October.
East London & City
The East London & City branch of CAMRA was formed in April 1974. The inaugural meeting was held at the Prince of Wales pub (since renamed as the Princess of Wales) in Lea Bridge Road on 23 April 1974. It was followed by a lunch the following day at the Cheshire Cheese in Fleet Street. Our history shows that when the North, West and South London branches were inaugurated in 1973 there wasn’t enough response to have a separate East London branch and therefore North London branch had to cover the east as well. However, this was rectified in April 1974 with the formation of ELAC. The branch has held a number of events to celebrate this auspicious anniversary. On Saturday 27 April (the nearest convenient Saturday to the actual anniversary) we met up at the Princess of Wales in Lea Bridge Road where we raised a glass to the formation of the branch.
We then moved onto other pubs in the Clapton and Hackney area, including the Elderfield and the Chesham Arms. A 50th anniversary party was held on Saturday 6 July at the Craft Beer Co pub in Leather Lane. This pub was called the Clock House in 1974 and was an entry in the first Good Beer Guide. There was a good turnout at the party with pizza provided. It was a very successful event with lots of faces from the earlier days of the branch turning up. We have also held two heritage pub crawls covering the ELAC entries in the 1974 Good Beer Guide. The first was held in March when we visited the East India Arms, Bunch of Grapes, Lamb Tavern and the Cock & Woolpack, all in the City. In August we visited the Queen’s Head in Poplar and then the Olde Watling, the Black Friar and the Olde Cheshire Cheese in the City. A further crawl to visit the remaining 1974 GBG entries that are still open will be made later in the year; details will appear on our website in due course.
Andy Kinch
South East London
CAMRA’s South East London branch celebrated its 50th anniversary on 15 July, gathering firstly at the Great Harry in Woolwich before travelling to Plumstead to the site of the Lord Derby pub, where the inaugural branch meeting took place. Sadly, the Lord Derby is no more but celebrations continued at the popular Plumstead micropub, the Plum Tree Beer Shop (Greenwich District 2023 Pub of the Year), where CAMRA members and Plumstead locals gathered for a few beers/ciders and, of course, birthday cake! In attendance were founder branch members, Mostyn Lewis and Colin Hillier. Andy Large, the branch chair said, “It has been a pleasure to celebrate the Branch’s 50th anniversary. We had a special ESB brewed by Southwark Brewery to mark our first 50 years and we had 50 casks of beer and 20 ciders/perries at our successful Dulwich Beer Festival. Thank you to all Branch colleagues past and present for helping us flourish.” The branch covers the boroughs of Southwark, Lewisham and Greenwich and the parts of Lambeth with an SE postcode. There is an active social calendar. We would love to see more members getting involved in the branch and coming to our socials.
Maria Freeman
South West London
A party was planned for Monday 23 September at the Railway in Streatham.
West Middlesex
A party was held on Saturday 21 September at the White Hart in Harlington. The branch produced some commemorative T-shirts (£10 in sizes S to 4XL) which were available at the event but you might be able to buy one at a future branch event.