CAMRA awards Merseyside and Cheshire pubs with anniversary Golden Awards marking 50 years of campaigning

#CheersToCAMRA

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has awarded two pubs and a club across Merseyside and Cheshire with a Golden Award, marking 50 years of the organisation’s campaigns.

As part of its anniversary celebrations throughout 2021, CAMRA is recognising people, groups of people or businesses that have made a significant contribution to CAMRA’s aims, helping us get to where we are today.

The two pubs and club that have been awarded across the Merseyside and Cheshire area are:

• Appleton Thorn Village Hall, Cheshire - CAMRA’s National Club of the Year winner in 2019, that has consistently poured great pints

• Borough Arms, Crewe, Cheshire – a popular town pub with ten ever-changing real ales plus a very wide selection of Belgian beers on tap and in bottles

• Roscoe Head, Liverpool, Merseyside – now under the ownership of tenant Carol Ross, it is one of the five pubs that has been included in every edition of the Good Beer Guide, now in its 48th edition

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CAMRA’s Awards Director Gary Timmins said: “I am delighted to be honouring these establishments today with a CAMRA Golden Award. 2021 is our anniversary year, and we want to take this opportunity to celebrate the successes of great British locals as well as CAMRA’s achievements – we wouldn’t have got far without their support!

“This anniversary comes on the heels of an incredibly difficult time for the industry after a year of lockdowns and restrictions. I hope the teams behind the winning pubs and their locals will take this award as appreciation for all the hard work involved in running the business, over the decades and especially now. Nominations were submitted by our members and consumers, which says a lot about the support and impact they have had. "

“Winners have been chosen for their successes in standing the test of time; for being convivial, characterful and community-focused, and of course for consistently pouring great pints. I applaud these pubs for their dedication, for being community stalwarts and campaigning heroes.”

The full successful cohort contains 32 pubs, including five that have appeared in all 48 editions of the Good Beer Guide, the longest standing community-owned pub in the country, and the current Pub of the Year title holder. Nominations for the Golden Awards were made by CAMRA members and locals. Over 240 pubs submitted were whittled down to the list of awardees.

The Golden Awards will be celebrating recipients in three different categories: ‘Pubs’, ‘Pints’, and ‘People’. The winners in the ‘Pints’ and ‘People’ categories will be announced later in the year. Local presentation events are in the process of being arranged, with each pub receiving a certificate of achievement.

Today we are announcing 32 pubs across the country who have won Golden Awards in our ‘Pubs’ category. The successful cohort includes five pubs that have appeared in all 48 editions of the Good Beer Guide, the longest standing community-owned pub in the country, and the current Pub of the Year title holder.

"I am delighted to be honouring these pubs today with a CAMRA Golden Award. We will be celebrating our anniversary throughout 2021, and we want to take this opportunity to celebrate the successes of these pubs as well as CAMRA’s achievements – we wouldn’t have got far without their support."

"This anniversary comes on the heels of an incredibly difficult time for the industry after a year of lockdowns and restrictions. I hope publicans, managers, bar staff and all involved will take this award as appreciation for all the hard work involved in running the pub, over the decades and especially now."

"I applaud our winning pubs for their dedication, for being community stalwarts and campaigning heroes. "

CAMRA is celebrating its 50th anniversary throughout 2021, with a host of activity including a new biography 50 Years of CAMRA, awards for campaigners, pubs and breweries, virtual festivals, and commemorative merchandise. Learn more on our 50th Anniversary Page.

PUB IN DANGER

The Holly Bush in Little Leigh

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2021

We talked again to Little Leigh resident, licensee/partner in Hush Brewing and a leader of The Campaign to Save the Holly Bush Inn (see Facebook Group with this name) Simon Appleton. The ambition of the campaign is to purchase the whole site and run the Holly Bush as a community pub.

In our last update on the events that followed the Holly Bush Inn being put up for sale, a group of interested parties were working on making the pub an ACV (Asset of Community Value). Once listed as an Asset of Community Value with the local authority, the local community will be informed if the property is listed for sale within the five-year listing period. The community can then enact the Community Right to Bid, which gives them a moratorium period of six months to determine if they can raise the finance to purchase the asset.

Simon now reports that Cheshire West have registered the ACV and it is now in effect. The council is believed to have been trying to contact Mr Khan, who purchased the whole property package at auction, to ensure he knows the ACV is in force and its implications for the owner.

After buying the pub and associated buildings, Mr Khan has subsequently put up for sale a number of parcels of land making up the property. However, it is understood that the seller’s information package did not make it clear that the ACV limited what could be done with the property packages.

CWAC (Cheshire West and Cheshire) council is holding an internal review of the sale process and has frozen the ACV process pending the review outcome, expected to be announced on 10th October. Simon hopes that the review will support his opinion that, because of its heritage, the Holly Bush is protected from being used as anything other than a pub having its own car park.

Look in Facebook for the group “Campaign to save the Holly Bush Inn”.

The Hush Brewery Website is at https://www.hushbrewing.co/ And their Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/HUSH.Brew/

HUSH BREWING UPDATE

When he is not working or campaigning, Simon is partner with Chris in Hush Brewing, a micro-brewery based at present in Little Leigh. The great news is that Simon and Chris are looking for new larger brewing premises in the centre of Northwich where they hope to expand their brewing business. If and when this happens, they intend to supply the community-owned Holly Bush Inn with ale from the brewery. Let’s hope Chris and Simon’s hopes materialize!

CALLING ALL LANDLORDS!

Why not make sure your pub's entry is up-to-date?

1) Goto https://whatpub.com

2) Search for your pub and review its details

3) Use the “Send an email to the CAMRA branch” to send in your updates

SIMPLES!

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You can be CAMRA's eyes and ears as the nation's pubs emerge from restrictions by submitting updates to WhatPub

When you hear or see any news about when a pub you know plans to reopen, keep the local branch informed through WhatPub

Simply select the pub in WhatPub then look at the bottom of the entry to find "Send and Email to the CAMRA branch" and spread the news.

It's up to you now!

PULLING TOGETHER

Pubs, clubs, breweries and taprooms are fighting for their survival against the Coronavirus. Many are finding different and innovative ways to help their business weather the crisis. In support of its members and beer outlets everywhere, CAMRA has launched the #PullingTogether Campaign in partnership with SIBA and Crowdfunder

To find out about this national campaign, click #PullingTogether

For information on Pulling Together in this branch, see our own CAMRA North Cheshire Branch page on this website

You can see the Benefits of CAMRA Membership on the CAMRA Central website.

CAMRA MEMBERS - ARE YOU MISSING OUT??

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CAMRA North Cheshire send a newsletter by email at the start of each month informing members in their area about beer-related activities (both CAMRA and non-CAMRA) happening in the month ahead.

Events listed include Branch Meetings and Socials, local Festivals, Pub and Club Awards and CAMRA Regional meetings.

Our branch is keen to keep in touch with you, but If you are a CAMRA member but not receiving monthly news from your branch, it may be because your email address is not logged with the CAMRA central database.

To check this, all you need to do is to go to the CAMRA national website at https://camra.org.uk/ and log in using your membersip number and password. You then hover over "My Membership" and select Edit Membership Details" where you can enter or change your email address and then save the new values. In the same area you can also adjust your communication preferences.

WHAT ARE REAL ALE AND REAL CIDER?

The CAMRA National Website has a lot to say about the beer and cider you drink in its Learn & Discover pages

CAMRA MEMBER DISCOUNT SCHEMES

You can see information from this branch on member discounts on our CAMRA Member Discount Schemes page

CAMRA calls for urgent Pubs Code Reforms

Explore these and other headline articles on the What's Brewing News Website

Use this link to see the CAMRA National Twitter Feed