{"id":4554,"date":"2024-05-28T15:11:58","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T15:11:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=4554"},"modified":"2024-05-28T15:11:58","modified_gmt":"2024-05-28T15:11:58","slug":"camra-news-and-events-may-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2024\/05\/28\/camra-news-and-events-may-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"CAMRA news and events &#8211; May 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>KINGSTON &amp; LEATHERHEAD PUBS OF THE YEAR<\/strong><br>CAMRA\u2019s Kingston &amp; Leatherhead branch are delighted to announce that the joint winners of their Pub of The Year award for 2024 are the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/whatpub.com\/pubs\/KIN\/7007\/lamb-surbiton\">Lamb<\/a><\/strong> in Surbiton and the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/whatpub.com\/pubs\/KIN\/7024\/walton-village-walton-on-thames\">Walton Village<\/a><\/strong> in Walton on Thames. Congratulations go to both pubs who are worthy winners, always serving an excellent range of well kept beers. Both pubs also have a huge focus on being community hubs. We will arrange presentation evenings later in the year, once the regional pub of the year judging has been completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Lamb, 73 Brighton Road, Surbiton KT6 5NF<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Walton Village, 29 High Street, Walton On Thames KT12 1DG<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>NORTH LONDON PUB OF THE YEAR<\/strong><br>This year\u2019s CAMRA North London branch\u2019s Pub of the Year is the <a href=\"https:\/\/whatpub.com\/pubs\/NLD\/6089\/southampton-arms\"><strong>Southampton Arms<\/strong><\/a> in Kentish Town, a previous winner in 2011. Colin Coyne, the branch chairman, said, \u201c<em>The CAMRA North London Pub of the Year award is determined by CAMRA members voting for a list of pubs selling real ale in North London. It may have been some time since the Southampton has got the top spot but the pub has appeared on the short list on numerous occasions and, during this last decade, it has won the branch\u2019s Cider Pub of the Year a staggering five times. It is probably no wonder that our branch members have voted it as winner again; it reflects its continuing commitment to consistency and quality of good traditional real ale and cider<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"752\" height=\"510\" src=\"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-46.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4555\" srcset=\"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-46.png 752w, https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-46-300x203.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Colin (centre) with Glenn and the assistant manager, James<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/whatpub.com\/pubs\/NLD\/6089\/southampton-arms\"><strong>Southampton Arms<\/strong><\/a> is a traditional ale house with an old wooden bar and walls adorned with memorabilia. It is a community pub and its focus is on conversation and excellent ale and cider from independent producers. The Southampton came runner-up in our recent \u2018Pub of Pubs\u2019 competition, held to celebrate the branch\u2019s 50th anniversary. The pub\u2019s general manager, Glenn Murphy, said, <em>&#8220;It&#8217;s a great honour to be voted Pub of the Year by North London CAMRA branch. CAMRA has done an amazing job of supporting pubs over the years and to know that its members appreciate the work we out into this wonderful pub brings a smile to my face<\/em>.\u201d It is close to Gospel Oak Overground Station. <br><strong><em>Christine Cryne<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"746\" height=\"593\" src=\"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-47.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4556\" srcset=\"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-47.png 746w, https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-47-300x238.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 746px) 100vw, 746px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Happy staff at the Magdala<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The runner up, for the second year running, was the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/whatpub.com\/pubs\/NLD\/6068\/magdala-hampstead\">Magdala<\/a> <\/strong>in Hampstead. Colin commented, \u201cThis pub was closed for at least five years and we were concerned that it would never open again. This is despite the efforts of locals to get the pub listed as an Asset of Community Value. Then the new owners, Twickenham Green Taverns, who are experienced pub owners, really invested in this pub. And this is the result! It\u2019s a lovely looking establishment with a range of terrific well-kept beer.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>WEST LONDON PUB OF THE YEAR<\/strong><br>The <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/whatpub.com\/pubs\/WLD\/15917\/victoria-paddington\">Victoria<\/a><\/strong>, near Paddington Station, is this year\u2019s CAMRA West London branch Pub of the Year. The pub, which is Grade II-listed and has just reopened after redecoration, has been managed by Chris Cochran for 23 years. Chris commented, \u201c<em>This is such great recognition. We have come second in West London CAMRA\u2019s Pub of the Year competition more times than I care to remember. So, having just reopened and with the pub looking so fantastic, this is the icing on the cake. People used to think my wife Helen played a major role in helping me maintain the quality of my beer but now she\u2019s off running another Fuller\u2019s pub, I\u2019ve finally won. I can\u2019t believe she\u2019s been holding me back all these years!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"751\" height=\"580\" src=\"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-48.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4557\" srcset=\"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-48.png 751w, https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-48-300x232.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 751px) 100vw, 751px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Wanda and Chris<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The Victoria is a Fuller\u2019s managed house as are the pubs that came second and third: respectively the Star Tavern (one of only five pubs that has been in every edition of the Good Beer Guide) and the Antelope, both in Belgravia. Branch chairman, Wanda Piontek, said, \u201c<em>The Victoria is just a delightful place to visit; it really is a quintessential embodiment of what a great pub should be. A fantastic pint, an iconic venue and a great host in Chris. It\u2019s a pleasure to recognise it with this award. It\u2019s also good to see Fuller\u2019s pubs scoring so highly. Fuller\u2019s has always taken beer quality incredibly seriously and we are pleased to be able to recognise this. If you are a beer lover in London, I would definitely recommend a visit to all three of these pubs<\/em>.\u201d With thanks to Fuller\u2019s for the photo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>WEST MIDDLESEX PUB AND CLUB OF THE YEAR<\/strong><br>The branch is pleased to announce that the winner of the West Middlesex Pub of the Year 2024 is the <a href=\"https:\/\/whatpub.com\/pubs\/MDX\/17026\/owl-the-pussycat-northfields\"><strong>Owl &amp; the Pussycat<\/strong><\/a> in Northfields. Well done to Mark, Paul and the team. The presentation took place on Thursday 16 May. The full address is 106 Northfield Avenue W13 9RT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our club of the year, by a wide margin, is the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/whatpub.com\/pubs\/MDX\/12195\/questors-grapevine-bar-ealing\">Questors Theatre Grapevine Bar<\/a><\/strong>, close to the site of the Ealing Beer Festival. Congratulations to Ben and his fellow volunteers for all the hard work they put in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>EAST LONDON CLUB OF THE YEAR<\/strong><br>CAMRA\u2019s East London &amp; City branch\u2019s Club of the Year is the <a href=\"https:\/\/whatpub.com\/pubs\/ELC\/13930\/leyton-orient-supporters-club-leyton\"><strong>Leyton Orient Supporters Club<\/strong><\/a>. The presentation was made at their recent end of season ale night.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"484\" src=\"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-51.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-51.png 750w, https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-51-300x194.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><br>Pictured with the certificate is the bar manager Mark Harrison, along with some of the club\u2019s team of volunteers on the evening. With thanks to Dave Gilchrist for the photo.<br><strong><em>Steve Hall<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>EPPING ONGAR BEER FESTIVAL<\/strong><br>Don&#8217;t look back in Ongar &#8211; put this railway beer festival into your diary! The Epping Ongar Railway beer festival, jointly organised with CAMRA\u2019s East London &amp; City branch, will take place from 26 to 28 July. As in previous years, a heritage bus service will connect the festival to public transport options at Epping and Shenfield, with additional services operating into the evening. Heritage trains (with bars on board!) will operate from mid-morning until dusk, with a steam locomotive expected to pull some of the trains during the day. For this year, the bar at Ongar will be doubled in size, with the return of a small keykeg bar, so a wide selection of ales will be available at both main marquee bars. Further information, the latest news and links to ticket purchase pages can be found at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eorailway.co.uk\/\">www.eorailway.co.uk<\/a> and the EOR Social Media pages. Anyone interested in volunteering who hasn&#8217;t done so before should contact ELAC Branch on elacbranch@mail.com.<br><strong><em>Alan Perryman<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>PIG\u2019S EAR CHARITY PRESENTATION<\/strong><br>Last year\u2019s Pig\u2019s Ear beer festival raised a total of \u00a31,116.07 for the Speaker of Hackney\u2019s charities, which were Hoxton Hall, Ministry of Stories and St Joseph\u2019s Hospice. The cheque was presented recently at the Speaker\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"343\" src=\"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-50.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4559\" srcset=\"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-50.png 750w, https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-50-300x137.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><br>Pictured with Councillor Anya Sizer (second left) are Mrs Bernadette Bramble and her consort, with Dave, Steve, Steph, James, Nick and Hugh from the festival organising committee. The Pig\u2019s Ear festival will, provisionally, return to the Round Chapel, its usual venue, from 3 to 7 December. With thanks to Dave Gilchrist for the photo.<br><strong><em>Steve Hall<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>BEER IN THE AFTERNOON<\/strong><br>On 24 April, North London and West London branches held a joint social at the <a href=\"https:\/\/whatpub.com\/pubs\/NLD\/5935\/crown-anchor-london\">Crown &amp; Anchor<\/a> in Euston. We were also joined by members from West Middlesex and East London branches<br>The Crown &amp; Anchor did us proud and unexpectedly served us food. Afterwards we decamped to the <a href=\"https:\/\/whatpub.com\/pubs\/NLD\/5936\/exmouth-arms-london\">Exmouth Arms<\/a> and then the group split up, with some going to the Euston Tap and others to the Signal Box and Doric Arch. It was a delightful way to spend an afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"485\" src=\"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-49.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4558\" srcset=\"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-49.png 750w, https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-49-300x194.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Wanda Piontek<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KINGSTON &amp; LEATHERHEAD PUBS OF THE YEARCAMRA\u2019s Kingston &amp; Leatherhead branch are delighted to announce that the joint winners of their Pub of The Year award for 2024 are the&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4559,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-camra-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4554"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4563,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4554\/revisions\/4563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}