Darlington Drinker 163

Newsletter of the Darlington Campaign for Real Ale - Jan/Feb 2007

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Promote and Protect!

2007 COULD be the year that local communities get a greater say in stemming the loss of local facilities such as shops and pubs.

Over seventy national organisations, including consumer groups like the Campaign for Real Ale, have been working for three years through a lobbying body called Local Works to put together a draft Bill to permit communities to create their own ‘local sustainability strategies’.

The strategies would state ways in which community decline is to be reversed and local sustainability is to be created. They could include measures to promote local services, local jobs and local businesses, helping to protect local pubs from closure, promote local guest beers and promote local brewing.

A spokesman for Local Works said: “Politics could be turned upside down as communities are given the power to reverse Ghost Town Britain and decide how places are developed or conserved, rather than being dictated to by government.”

There is now a very strong possibility that the Sustainable Communities Bill could be made law as the Nick Hurd, the MP drawn first in the private members ballot for this session, has agreed to take the Bill through Parliament. Already there is cross-party support from over half the House of Commons - 352 MPs.

Further information on the Sustainable Communities Bill can be found at www.localworks.org.

Camerons Grows

HARTLEPOOL independent brewer Cameron’s has bought nine new pubs in a £5.3m deal and says it is on target to double its tied estate to 100 houses within a year. Camerons currently owns 45 tenanted pubs across the north east and produces 500,000 barrels a year from its Lion Brewery.

The new acquisitions, in Darlington (sorry, we don’t know which it is), Kirk Merrington, Crook, Ferryhill, Spennymoor, Chilton and Redcar were part funded by Scottish & Newcastle, whose beers will feature prominently in them alongside Cameron’s own brands like Strongarm.

Cameron’s is contracted by S&N to produce 200,000 barrels a year of Kronenbourg and Brian Morton, acquisitions director explained: “In return for funding we lead with Scottish and Newcastle's brands which are then backed up by our own products.”

The latest purchases follow a £2.5m deal for four other pubs in September and Mr Morton said: “We are also in negotiations for six other pubs and I am confident that we will be over the 100 tenanted pub total by the middle of 2007.”

Despite the growth and the contract-brewing the Lion Brewery is said to be still only running at about 60% capacity. Brian Morton said: “We are in negotiations at the moment with other pub companies and leading brewers to handle more contract work. They are attracted because we have one of the most modern lager and bitter producing plants in Europe.”

Camerons became independent in April 2002 when it was bought by the now chairman David Soley from Wolverhampton & Dudley. He merged it with his Castle Eden brewery, which was closed shortly after and its site sold for development.

Darlington Drinker …Twenty Years Ago

“TRADITIONAL beer remains the best value pint around here. That’s the conclusion of the latest Darlington Drinker survey. The average price of a pint of cask beer in this area is now 79p, up 3p in the last year. The rise is in line with the general rate of inflation, despite no Budget increase in 1986.

A pint of medium-strength beer can cost anything between 72p (Big Lamp Bitter at the Cleveland Arms) and 88p (Castle Eden Ale at the King’s Arm, Great Stainton).

The customer is charged an average of 10p a pint more for a keg lager and up to 28p more for some ‘premium’ lagers.”

Darlington Drinker 50, Jan 1987

Stanwick Charms

AFTER 18 YEARS, Suzie and Phil Winder have sold the Stanwick Arms at Aldbrough St John to local lad Nick Todd. The pub had a great reputation for food in recent years, but the real ale wasn’t the best and locals took to drinking elsewhere.

Now Nick says he wants to attract back the locals, make it a community pub, “a local pub for local people”. He’s given the cellar and lines an overhaul and will push real ale. To start with Daleside Bitter will be available all the time, and there will be a guest beer, mainly from northern breweries. The pub will get a lick of paint and the carpets are being taken out of the main bar to display some fine boards.

Food will still be a focal point, but Nick doesn’t see why good food and good real ale can’t go hand in hand. Here’s wishing him good luck. Open 6.30-11 Monday to Friday, 12-11 Saturday and 12-10.30 Sunday.

Twenty-Five Cheers

DARLINGTON CAMRA, the local branch of the Campaign for Real Ale, is 25 years old this year. And members of the branch are being invited to use every excuse to celebrate that fact !.

A special logo has been designed by committee member Colin Holmes for use during 2007 in Darlington Drinker, on the commemorative beer glasses which will be available at the annual beer festivals, on T-shirts and on whatever else we can think of.

DD will also carry a series of articles contrasting the dire situation, in terms of availability of traditional cask-conditioned brews, which beer drinkers in the area faced in 1982 with the choice which, with only a modicum of effort, can be found today.

The branch was founded on 19th May 1982 so we will hold fire for now on fuller details of how, why and where it came about. But we know there are plenty of people out there reading this who will remember that day - many have been CAMRA members ever since. Why not drop us a line at DD with what you do remember of the founding meeting?

Can you remember the name of the pub? And what beers it sold? Do you know what happened to it? Tell us why you came to that meeting - and how you think the founding of a local Campaign in this area has improved choice for you.

We plan to hold a party in May and all current members of the branch will be sent details when the arrangements have been finalised. In the meantime: Cheers !.

Oak Takes Root

THE OAK Tree (or ‘Twig’), close to the airport at Middleton St George, is in new hands. And Don Laroche and Gayle Taylor are a good deal more enthusiastic about serving real ale than their predecessors.

Don and Gayle moved from Ingleby Barwick in late November to take over this, their first pub. One of their first decisions was to install handpulls for Black Sheep Bitter. They spent over a month refurbishing the pub, which consists of a small, bright bar, a quieter lounge and an authentic Thai restaurant, complete with Thai chef Traditional pub fare is also available. Gayle says they are keen to extend the beer choice by adding Old Speckled Hen, and possibly in time a third cask ale, probably Cameron’s Strongarm.

Rhyme and Reason

Lovers of good beer and good music will be please to know that real ale, in the form of Village Brewer White Boar, is available at the R‘n’B nights organised by Carmel Rhythm Club to raise funds for Darlington’s Carmel College in Darlington’s west end.

An ambitious programme of events is planned for 2007, including Connie Lush on Friday 2nd Feb and Paul Lamb & the King Snakes on Saturday 3rd Feb. Nine Below Zero play on 16th March, The Nimmo Brothers on 27th April and Geno Washington on 28th April. Tickets (£8-£15 depending on event) are available from Williams music shop, Darlington and or from Simon Hannaford on (01325) 390130.

Further details on www.carmel.org.uk/carmelrhythmclub.

Otter Returns

THE OTTER is becoming an attraction in the Darlington area again. One minute there’s a sighting of the furry, fish-loving mammal in the unlikely urban reaches of the Skerne, the next the village pub that bears its name is welcoming customers again after months of closure.

The Otter & Fish, which overlooks the more credible habitat of the rural Tees at the east end of Hurworth, reopened in November after extensions and refurbishments reported variously as costing £200,000 or £400,000. Billed now as ‘bars and restaurants’, most of the money has clearly been spent on developing the latter side of the business, food being essential to the survival of most country hostelries these days.

The incoming tenants are the partnership of Billy and Barbara and Richard and Janice Weeks who also run the Beeswing in nearby East Cowton and will continue to do so. Billy and Richard are brothers. The freehold owners of the pub, Punch Taverns, have chipped in a substantial wedge towards the costs.

Between them all they’ve done the decent thing you’d expect of any quality pub - they’ve installed cask beer. After a break of over a decade the Otter & Fish is serving real ale again. Three in fact - Black Sheep Best Bitter, Caledonian Deuchar’s IPA and changing guest brew. The handpumps are hidden behind a pillar if you approach the counter from the restaurant, but the ales are promoted on a blackboard.

The small bar area is at the old end of the building and is in two parts, one low-ceilinged with leather benches, a TV and a fireplace, and the other with deep armchairs. Good views of the fields of Yorkshire across Low Hail Bridge from here. In 1974, the Otter & Fish came close to extinction when Camerons brewery drew up plans to demolish it and build housing. Thankfully, like the otters of the Skerne, the pub survived and looks set to prosper.

*The Otter & Fish, 1 Strait Lane, Hurworth-on-Tees, DL2 2AH. Real ales: Black Sheep Best Bitter, Caledonian Deuchar’s IPA and guest beer. Food served noon-9.30pm. Tel. (01325) 720019; email: r.weeks@btconnect.com.

Marston’s Is Back

THE NAME of Marston’s is big in British brewing again.

In an ironic twist of commercial logic, the Midlands rival which took over the famous Burton-upon-Trent brewer in 1999 has decided to ditch its own identity and revive that of its long-digested prey. For Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries has concluded that its own name - which dates from a Black Country merger of 1890 - is just too parochial for the company’s present scale and future ambitions.

So from January ‘Marston’s PLC’ it is.

The company, whatever you prefer to call it, today owns over 2,000 pubs - double that of 1999 - and it claims the title of ‘largest brewer of cask beer in Britain’. This is due in no small part to its acquisition of Marston’s brewery and brands and then, in 2005, of Jenning’s of Cumbria. Both these classic real ale breweries remain in operation, as does the company’s HQ plant of Bank’s in Wolverhampton.

From the emphasis that chairman David Thompson now puts on the firm’s cask ales and their places of origin that should continue to be the case for a while longer. Mr Thompson explained that the name change reflects the fact that W&D have now developed into a national, rather than regional. He said it also represents “an opportunity to emphasise our tradition, heritage and values, and to better promote our pubs across the country.”

The company will rebrand the majority of its 448 managed and 1,893 tenanted houses as Marston’s pubs over the next three to four years. The Jenning’s name will be used on pubs in Cumbria and some other parts of the North. The name change is particularly ironic given that during the bitter takeover battle of 1999 the board of the original Marston’s launched a counter bid to take over Wolverhampton & Dudley. If successful, W&D and their pubs would have been called Marston’s years ago…

THE CAMPAIGN for Real Ale is leading a week of action to help preserve and promote true local, or community, pubs.

Community Pubs Week will raise the profile of the kind of pubs which are at the focus of their communities, both in towns and villages. Pubs which appeal to a cross section of people, of all kinds of backgrounds, not narrow social or age groups. Pubs which are not simply refuelling stops on a town centre circuit; which are more than a mere fashion bar; more than a good out-of-town eatery.

The week, which will run from 17th-24th February and could become an annual event, will celebrate the core values of the traditional public house. More importantly, it will be a call for proper appreciation of the role of community pubs by politicians, owners - and members of the public themselves.

Because CAMRA research shows that 26 or more pubs are lost in Britain every month - and it is not theme pubs or chain bars that are under threat but pubs at the heart of their community. CAMRA chief executive Mike Benner said: “All soaps on TV and radio have community pubs - The Bull, The Rovers Return, The Queen Vic, The Woolpack - but many real communities in rural and urban areas are in danger of losing, or have already lost, their community pub. “An increasing number are being lost. The threat is dire and unless we do something to curb the trend many communities will find their local pub torn from them.”

Licensees and customers are being urged to take part in Community Pubs Week by mounting events. See below for our search for the stars: do take part.

Ale Trailing

SIX SEASONED Darlington drinkers set forth on the well-travelled rail ale trail through West Yorkshire recently. But their native guide added a twist, introducing the innocents to no-go areas and some thick slubbers. Most returned home without mishap…

THE DAY started on time: 9.41 to Marsden, change at Huddersfield. On the way JB regaled a tale of confusion on a recent rip to Gay Paris. At Marsden we were picked up by Gary Earnshaw, mine host of the Tunnel End Inn (and brother-in-law). The beers on offer were Black Sheep Bitter, Taylor’s Landlord, Archer’s Autumn Mist and Empire Valour, all in very good order. After a good lunch we moved via taxi to the Sair Inn at Linthwaite run by legend Ron Crabtree. This award winning brewpub is a must not only for the excellent Linfit ales but the jukebox to which JC went into a dancing frenzy. The only problem with the Sair is when to leave. The beer - English Guineas Stout, Old Eli, etc - flowed, the conversation blossomed and the dancing continued into mid-afternoon. But no, we must continue and so we called our trusty cab and on to the Grove Inn in Huddersfield.

Now I’m Huddersfield born and bred and the Grove years ago was a no-go area. But what a miracle has occurred. The pub is a real ale beacon: seven guest beers, two house beers, continental beers and what can only be described as an A-Z of world bottled beers. See www.groveinn.co.uk and be amazed.

A short walk to the Albert, once under threat but saved. The interior will take your breath away but the beer choice on that early evening didn’t: Summer Lightning and Bombardier only; the landlord said he had four others for later on.

Another short walk to a taxi rank and on to the Slubber’s Arms. A slub is a thick piece of yarn with an irregular appearance, removed from the finished fine worsted cloth by ‘slubbers’. Textile memorabilia abounds in this Tim Taylor’s pub. Very well kept ales, including guests from local breweries. Good atmosphere, no music, no machines, just good banter.

Back to the station in time for a half in the Station Tavern before we caught the train back. Or most of us did: JC thought it was time for a pit stop, JB went to the rescue - both missed the train.

This trip is highly recommended and I will be arranging another in spring. Join us.

Peter Hynes (Crown Inn, Manfield)

It’s a Beer World: Copenhagen

ACE beer hunter ADRIAN BELL continues his mission to encourage Darlington drinkers to look beyond the end of their pint glasses with his series on short-break destinations. Here he is seduced by the city of a famous mermaid ...

VISIT EUROPE’S newest beer destination, Copenhagen!

In the past you had a choice of two beers in Denmark, Carlsberg or Tuborg, but in the last few years lots of micro-breweries have sprung up, making Denmark a close rival to Britain and Belgium for real ale.

Even Carlsberg now brew real ale with their ‘Semper Ardens’ and ‘Jacobsen’ brands. Their brewery is worth visiting to see the huge stone elephants which hold up the front gate.

The rather disappointing brewery tour is optional but you do get a couple of samples at the end. On the way back from stop off at Vinstue 90 which serves draught unfiltered Carlsberg. It takes 20mins to pour and has a head like an ice cream cone.

There are four micro-breweries in the city. Bryggeriet Apollo, near the station, has one regular brew and occasional specials. Færgekroen, inside the Tivoli Gardens, brews two beers whilst BrewPub København, closest to the Strøget (main street) has over a dozen. Nørrebro Bryghus - a short a walk out of town but well worth it - also has over a dozen beers.

As for bars, the Lord Nelson serves a selection of 14 beers from Danish micro-breweries and Charlie's Bar serves six English real ales and lots of other European brews.

More pubs are listed at www.europeanbeerguide.net and www.adrianbell.co.uk. Note that pubs stay open very late Fri-Sat but Sundays are quiet. A metric pint (50cl) in Copenhagen will typically cost about £4.50, however other costs are reasonable. There are restaurants and cafes to suit all budgets along the Strøget, and you are never far from a kebab/pizza shop or a hot-dog stand.

Sights include four royal palaces, the Tivoli Gardens (Apr-Sept), Nyhavn, and even a mermaid. Other things to do include boat trips along the canals and harbour, and you can even borrow a free bike (£2 deposit). More details at www.copenhagen.com and www.visitcopenhagen.dk.

Accommodation can be booked online through the latter from £35 per night single or £45 double.

Flights can be booked from Newcastle with www.scandinavian.net but prices vary wildly for no logical reason: just keep trying every day until you get a price near £130, which is about as cheap as you will get. Copenhagen airport (Kastrup) is a 15min train ride from the centre (about £3). Alternatively, you could take a cruise with DFDS Seaways, more details at  www.dfds.co.uk

Stamped Out

HAVE YOU noticed? From late October new-issue beer and wine glasses in pubs have lost the old British crown stamp, the ubiquitous European ‘CE’ mark taking its place. The crown stamp has been in use since 1699 to verify the capacity of brim-measure and lined glasses. The good news for traditionalists and royalists is that existing stocks of crown stamped glasses can still be used for as long as they last.

The CE mark is the sign that a product - almost any product, not just glasses - meets relevant European directives. The Government has reiterated that draught beer and cider will continue be served in imperial measures of a third-of-pint (rare these days), half-pint or multiples of a half-pint - usually a pint.

 
Real Ale in and around Darlington & Teesdale

DARLINGTON CAMRA published a free 24-page guide, Real Ale in and around Darlington & Teesdale, with DD160. Paper copies are still available on request from the editor of DD, and we can also now supply a simplified electronic version in PDF format - see back page for contact details.

We hope to bring a new edition of the guide out this coming May. In the meantime here are the latest updates brought to our attention.

Darlington Town Centre

Number Twenty-2, Coniscliffe Road now has a total of 15 handpumps, with up to 13 real ales available at any one time. (So don’t believe everything you read in an advert…)

One to watch: The Old Dun Cow, Post House Wynd has installed three handpumps so real ale may be imminent.

And another: The Cricketers, Parkgate is likely to serve real ale any time now, new bar manager Stuart Price tells us.

County Durham

Additional real ale pub: Hurworth-on-Tees, The Otter & Fish reopened on November 4 (see feature).

Middleton St George, The Oak Tree reopened on November 23 and now regularly stocks real ale (see feature).

North Yorkshire

Aldbrough St John, The Stanwick Arms now sells Daleside Bitter in place of Black Sheep (see feature).

Piercebridge, The George Hotel has reopened after a brief closure.

Teesdale

Additional real ale pub: Middleton-in-Teesdale, The Foresters Arms.

Whorlton, The Bridge Inn now regularly stocks real ale.

Untangled Web

THE ALL NEW website of Darlington’s Campaign for Real Ale is now fully up-and-running thanks to Wear Valley Brewery's brewing guru and former branch chairman Ian Jackson. It carries the latest branch news and details of beery events in general in our area. And of course it provides an electronic copy of good old Darlington Drinker. If you haven’t bookmarked the site yet, you’ll find it at www.darlocamra.org.uk

Swell Idea

COOL craft-brewed beer appeared in an unlikely place in Darlington in December, and generated hot media interest.

The occasion was the launch of Kayani Lager (4% abv) at the Garden of India restaurant in Bondgate. But this was no ordinary curry-quenching fizz: it was real, handpulled lager, produced by the Wear Valley micro-brewery just up the A68 at Bishop Auckland.

Kayani is named after Arshad Kayani, the local entrepreneur whose brainchild it is. Arshad had been thinking about how lagers could better complement Indian dishes. Cooling, refreshing aspects were important but so was how the customer felt. He discussed it with Simon Gillespie of Wear Valley Brewery and they agreed - standard, gas-filled lagers can leave curry-eating drinkers in some discomfort!

Simon explained: “Lagers which are normally served at an Indian restaurant are gassy and after a few pints you become bloated. Real ale is a natural product and doesn't do that. I have real ale with curries at home so why not have it at an Indian restaurant ?”.

Head brewer Ian Jackson uses special lager hops to give Kayani its distinctive, flowery taste. It is at present only available at the Garden of India but Arshad has plans to make it available nationally in restaurants.

Bitter Tasting

GREENE KING seem hell-bent on upsetting people up and down the country.

Not content with simply taking over and closing the 174 year old Hardy’s & Hansons brewery in Nottinghamshire they appeared to frustrate the efforts of the people of Kimberley to preserve some of the old buildings. Local conservationists had requested a final tour around the brewery but their hopes were dashed when Greene King cancelled at the last minute - on the day before the brewery closed its doors for the last time in December. Susan McEntee of the Save Our Brewery action group said “It's just destroyed the identity of the town.”

Meanwhile in the far south, Greene King sparked anger by confirming its decision to ban a traditional Sussex ale from one of its pubs despite it having been a top-seller there for decades and in the face of a huge campaign to keep it. The East Anglian based giant infuriated drinkers of Harveys, a hugely popular Lewes ale, after banning it from the Lewes Arms in a bid to bolster sales of its own brands such as IPA. Many drinkers say they will no longer go there. One regular, said: “I will never touch a pint of Greene King and to be honest they can go screw themselves”. More than 1,200 people signed petitions to keep the Harveys and Lewes MP Norman Baker tried to broker a deal.

Mr Baker said: “There were options which would have allowed the local bitter to stay while providing compensatory benefits for Greene King. But Greene King have shown themselves to be inflexible. This leaves a very bitter taste in the mouth. Sadly not that of Harveys.”

In a Perfect World

THERE HAVE been a few comings and goings behind the bars of the pubs of Heighington, ‘Britain’s Perfect Village’ (©BBC4).

Paul Wade moved the short distance from the Iron Horse in Newton Aycliffe to take over CUMBY ARMS. He swiftly installed cask beers in the shape of Black Sheep Best Bitter and a guest ale.

Then down at Heighington Station Alan and Norma Fish, who previously had a pub in the Yorkshire Dales, took charge of the LOCOMOTION ONE, replacing Craig and Sue.

Finally, back in the centre of the village on East Green, Dave Kilpatrick moved on from the centre of the dominoes universe, the GEORGE & DRAGON, at Christmas. Details of the new guv’nor in our next edition.

Long Search

DD162 SPECULATED that if ‘The White Heifer That Travelled’ isn’t the longest pub name in Britain it can’t be far off.

Phil Chinery of Darlington has been researching to see if he can find a moniker longer than that of the new Westpark local. Phil thinks he hadn’t. The longest candidate he thought he could find - a Wetherspoon’s pub in Oadby, Leicestershire by the name of ‘The Lord Keeper of the Great Seal’ - being the same length, with 27 letters.

However, a pub that Phil discounted as an also-ran, with an apparent 26 characters, is in fact the champion, unless someone can tell us otherwise. He came across it in the 2007 Good Beer Guide, which has 4,500 pub entries (Phil is nothing if not persistent). But because the space-saving convention of the beer-lovers’ bible titles Phil hadn’t reckoned with the absent is not to use the definite article in pub but implicit ‘The’ in ‘Royal Marine Artillery Tavern’ in Portsmouth.

So yes Phil, you did found one after all: 29 letters.

THE SMOKING ban in pubs, clubs and other enclosed public places in England will come into force on 7 July, the government has announced.

It will follow bans in the Republic of Ireland and Scotland. A similar ban is due to start in Wales on 2 April. The prohibition will not cover outdoor spaces such as beer gardens. Pubs will have to display prominent “no smoking” signs around their premises.

The boss of the British Beer and Pub Association, Rob Hayward, welcomed the announcement, saying it gave businesses “greater clarity” and would allow them to prepare their customers for the changes.

JD Feedback

DARLINGTON drinker Bob Steer was disappointed to find no real ale in the Tanner’s Hall in Skinnergate one busy Saturday evening. Not least because the pump handles still displayed beer clips and he had to queue to find out.

Bob took the matter up with the pub’s owners, JD Wetherspoon, and received a speedy response. He is happy to share it:

“Dear Mr Steer, Thank you for taking time to contact us. I am concerned to hear that you had an issue with availability of ale.

Although we aim to provide our customers with the widest possible choice, occasionally we will fall short of the standards we look to achieve. As a result I have asked the area manager to investigate this issue as a matter of urgency. Please be assured that appropriate action will be taken.

I can confirm that our policy is to use ‘out of stock’ clips. I have noted that this is not being done and the area manager will also address this point.

Thank you again for your valuable feedback. I do hope that you will not be put off from visiting our pubs again.

Yours sincerely, Joel Manstoff, Customer Services, customerservices@jd wetherspoon.co.uk”

Standard Advice

BEER DRINKERS, like all consumers, have rights. And council officers are employed to advise on and enforce them. If you have a complaint which isn’t satisfactorily dealt with by pub staff or their bosses then you should contact your local trading standards department as below. For general advice visit www.tradingstandards.gov.uk.

Darlington Borough Council: Public Protection Division, 11 Houndgate, Darlington DL1 5RF; (01325) 388799; email publicprotection@darlington.gov.uk.

Durham County Council: Trading Standards Service, County Hall, Durham DH1 5UB; (0191) 383 3589; email tradingstandards@durham.gov.uk.

North Yorkshire County Council: Standards House, 48 High Street, Northallerton DL7 8EQ; (08454) 040506; email trading.standards@northyorks.gov.uk.

BREWS, NEWS AND VIEWS

THE STRATHMORE ARMS at Holwick, now in the careful charge of tenants Dave and Angela Nixon, aims to stock three real ales through the winter season, stepping up eventually, when warmer weather returns to this idyllic but remote spot, to as many as six real ales.

THE FORESTERS ARMS in Middleton-in-Teesdale now serves handpulled Black Sheep Best Bitter. We hear that a second handpump may appear in due course.

THE BRIDGE INN at Whorlton has been extensively refurbished and is now regularly serving two cask beers: Theakston Black Bull plus a ‘special ale’ from Camerons.

BLACK SHEEP BREWERY has been named Brewery of the Year by the Good Pub Guide for the second year running. It is, says the guide, a “shining example of independence in times when the trend has been for breweries to be taken over by their bigger brethren”. We’ll second that.

DARLINGTON CAMRA DIARY DATES

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Darlington Drinker is published approximately two-monthly (with the odd beer break) by the Darlington branch of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale. Circulation 3,200. News, articles and letters welcome. All items © Darlington CAMRA but may be reproduced if source acknowledged. Editor: Brendan Boyle, 6 Clareville Road, Darlington DL3 8NG; (01325) 362092; email brendan@bjboyle.freeserve.co.uk. Additional contributors this issue: Adrian Bell, Phil Chinery, David Edwards, Peter Fenwick, Alan Holmes, Colin Holmes, Peter Hynes, Ian Jackson, Tony Smith and Bob Steer. To advertise, contact Fred Lawton: email Redfred4@aol.com; (07710) 493514. Rates a snip at quarter-page £30, half page £50, full page £80; sixth consecutive insertion free. Branch website: www.darlocamra.org.uk. CAMRA HQ is at 230 Hatfield Road, St Albans, Herts AL1 4LW; (01727) 867201; see www.camra.org.uk for all other real ale information.