{"id":6228,"date":"2026-03-25T11:14:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T11:14:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=6228"},"modified":"2026-03-25T11:20:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T11:20:07","slug":"news-and-events-march-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2026\/03\/25\/news-and-events-march-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"News and events – March 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reminder for CAMRA members<\/strong>

The Campaign\u2019s Members\u2019 Weekend, including the national AGM, takes place this year from 17 to 19 April in St Albans.\u00a0 It\u2019s not too late to register. \u00a0Go to https:\/\/camra.org.uk\/members-weekend<\/em><\/a>.<\/em>\u00a0 If you just want to go for the day, it\u2019s less than 30 minutes by Thameslink from St Pancras.\u00a0 The organising branch, South Hertfordshire, have set up a series of guides and events called St Albans: City of Ale<\/em>.\u00a0 This is available not just for the duration of the Members\u2019 Weekend and is open to non-members.\u00a0 Go to the website https:\/\/stalbanscityofale.org.uk\/<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

National Club of the Year<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The winner of CAMRA\u2019s National Club of the Year award for 2025 is the Billingham Catholic Club on Teesside (TS23 2RU).  Housed in a Victorian former Roman Catholic school and run by volunteers, the club has no current direct links with the Catholic church.  It is a long running entry in the Good Beer Guide<\/em> and has a reputation for its live music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bromley branch awards<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bromley branch Pub of the Year for 2026 is the Cockpit<\/strong><\/a> in Chislehurst.\u00a0 This is their fourth successive win and, last year, they were runners-up in the Regional Pub of the Year competition.\u00a0 Bromley\u2019s 2026 runner-up was the One Inn the Wood<\/a><\/strong> micropub in Petts Wood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The branch\u2019s Club of the Year once again is the Orpington Liberal Club<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 One of the four finalists in the national competition last year, it has won the Greater London Regional competition on a number of occasions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations to all concerned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

East London & City awards<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations to the Cock Tavern<\/strong><\/a> in Hackney on achieving the double of being both the Pub of the Year and Cider Pub of the Year for 2026.\u00a0 This is the first time that this has happened while the current committee members have been active.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The branch\u2019s Club of the Year is, once again, the Leyton Orient Supporters Club<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 Wasting no time, the presentation was made at one of the club\u2019s recent ale nights.\u00a0 The photograph shows Steve Hall from the branch [left presenting the certificate to Mark Harrison [right] from the club, alongside several of the club\u2019s volunteers.\u00a0 With thanks to Dave Gilchrist for the photograph.\u00a0
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These winners will go forward as our entries in the respective CAMRA Greater London competitions.\u00a0 Many thanks to everyone who took part in the process, whether by nominating pubs or by ranking the finalists.
Steve Hall<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kingston & Leatherhead Pub of the Season<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The branch\u2019s Winter Pub of the Season is the Barley Mow<\/strong><\/a> in Epsom.\u00a0 It is a Fuller’s tenanted pub whose beer range has increased over the past few months and they now have access to a selection of guest beers. \u00a0The presentation was made on 29 January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South East London Pubs of the Year<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The branch has completed the first stage of its Pub of the Year competition and has chosen its four area winners.\u00a0 The winner for the SE1 area is the uniquely named Hand & Marigold<\/a><\/strong> in Bermondsey Street.\u00a0 For the Lambeth and Southwark (excluding SE1) area, the winner is the historic Mayflowe<\/strong>r<\/a> in Rotherhithe.\u00a0 For Greenwich, it is the Green Goddess<\/a><\/strong> in Blackheath Standard while for Lewisham it is the Shirker’s Rest<\/a><\/strong> micropub in New Cross.\u00a0 Our congratulations to all four.\u00a0 In due course, each will be presented with a framed certificate.\u00a0 The voting to decide an overall winner is in hand and the result should be announced in the next edition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

News from Norwich<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is some good news about a CAMRA beer festival that I know is a favourite among London drinkers.  The renovation works to the historic St Andrew’s and Blackfriars’ Halls, having taken longer than expected, are now complete and the Norwich Beer Festival will return to its traditional home in October.  Full details will follow.  The train journey is just short of two hours.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reminder for CAMRA members The Campaign\u2019s Members\u2019 Weekend, including the national AGM, takes place this year from 17 to 19 April in St Albans.\u00a0 It\u2019s not too late to register.… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6229,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6228","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\/6228","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6228"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6232,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6228\/revisions\/6232"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londondrinker.camra.org.uk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}