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Darlington Drinker 164
Newsletter of the Darlington Campaign for Real Ale - April/May 2007
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An Endangered Species THE CAMPAIGN
for Real Ale is calling for communities to rally behind their local pub
as a new survey reveals over a thousand pubs nationwide are threatened
with closure.
Reports from CAMRA branches across the country show
that 56 pubs a month are being lost and that 1300 are already closed and
face an uncertain future. CAMRA Chief Executive Mike Benner said, “This is not a problem confined to rural areas: 80% of pubs permanently lost are in urban areas. This is due in part to the high demand for housing that means town dwellers have to watch their community pub ripped from them to make space for another soulless development.”
Many other pubs are being converted to restaurants,
shops and offices. CAMRA believes pubs are a unique sector and should be
placed in a separate planning use class to other retail businesses.
Mike Benner continued, “We can't allow ourselves to
be in a situation where communities across the UK are without the
amenity of a public house. At a time when more and more amenities are
being lost it is time for licensees, residents and local authorities to
make a stand. Currently the developers can demolish most pubs without the need for planning permission. CAMRA is lobbying MPs in an effort to have this loophole closed. The organisation is also calling for all new large housing developments to include provision for a pub.
Priceless Findings
BEER PRICES
shock: price of a pint increases
by no more than the inflation rate!.
Yes folks, that rare event actually happened in
2006. But don’t get too excited: the big brewers and chains are doing
their best to make sure it won’t happen again.
The
Darlington branch of CAMRA has been
monitoring the price of real ale since the 1980s. Virtually every year
beer prices have risen ahead of the norm.
But the latest survey in December, showed that the average price of a
standard-strength pint (up to 4.5% abv) now stands at £2.15 - up six
pence, or 3.0%, in the year. The general inflation rate (CPI) for the
year was also bang on 3.0%.
The Government added a penny in the Budget, brewers and pub owners added
the rest. But we have to commend them, for once, for their untypical
restraint.
Contrast this with the previous five-year period when our surveys showed
that in Darlington town pubs real ale prices rose by more than twice the
general rate of inflation: by 19.5% as opposed to 8.6%. The difference
amounted to an additional 18p per pint, every penny persuading more
people to stay at home.
Calendars had barely been turned to 2007, of course, before
Scottish & Newcastle et al were
announcing wholesale beer price increases of 3.9% or more...
Other findings:
*Village
pubs generally
charge more than Darlington town pubs: £2.22 against £2.06.
*Rotating
guest beers cost more than
regularly-stocked house beers: almost £2.18 a pint against £2.13 for
standard strengths.
*The survey
took in 37
pubs and sampled 122 prices. There were 76 different cask beers on sale
at any one time in those pubs. The most common was Black Sheep Best
Bitter: found in 14 pubs at an average £2.29.
*The cheapest pint was Samuel Smith’s OBB at the Glittering Star,
Darlington at £1.30.
*The dearest was the 5%-strength Hambleton Nightmare at Number
Twenty-2 at £2.56.
Darlington Drinker
Twenty Years Ago
VAUX
could soon be re-introducing one or more of their real ales into
Darlington.
The Sunderland brewery are
about to undertake major alterations to the Market Tavern, including
extending into the adjoining antiques shop, and are believed to be
considering installing cask-conditioned beer. At present only processed
keg and tank beers are sold in Vaux pubs in the town.
What a real ale Mecca the Market Tavern would become if Vaux used its
assets to the full and started selling such exotic traditional ales as
Wards, Darleys and Lorimers.
Darlington Drinker 50,
Jan 1987
Oh Blessed Ale
A RARE cask version of Durham Brewery’s Benedictus has been awarded bronze
prize in the stouts and porters section of the Winter Beer of Britain
competition.
The warming 8.4% abv tipple - more normally seen in bottle-conditioned
form - is described by its makers as a classic barley wine in which
mouthfeel, aroma, bitterness and body fuse to create a strong but
aromatic and lively experience.
The overall Champion Winter Beer was declared in judging at the national
Winter Ales Festival in Manchester to be another strong un, Ripper
(8.5%) from the Green Jack micro-brewery of Lowestoft, Suffolk.
Runner-up was Fuller's London Porter.
Rudgate Brewery of North Yorkshire won bronze for their Ruby Mild (4.4%)
in the old ales and strong milds category.
Sheep Goes Wild and Sows Hops
DARLINGTON RESIDENT Patrick Green has achieved a long-held ambition
after years in the industry - and set up his very own brewing company.
The Wild Hop Brewery commenced
operations in March after months of plotting and planning. Beer is produced on integrated, modern
equipment which until recently formed part of Cameron's Lion brewery of
Hartlepool. Cameron's installed the kit in June 2003
at a cost of £500,000 to allow them to experiment with new lines. They
christened it the 'Lions Den' mini-brewery.
'Mini' of course is relative: the Lion
brewery proper has a capacity of 500,000 barrels; the Wild Hops capacity
is 10 barrels (360 gallons) at a time. But that's plenty for Pat for the
time being. It comes complete with a malt mill, mash
tun, copper, hot liquor tank, wort heat exchanger and control panel, hop
strainer and dual purpose fermentation and conditioning tanks.
The first beer produced by Pat's brewer
is Wild Hop OPA, or 'organic pale
ale'. At a quaffable 3.8%
abv it is described as 'dry and fruity with a hint of spice, and
bitterness in the finish'. It
was due to be launched at Darlington's Spring Thing festival as
we went to press. Pat will primarily focus on marketing
his beers - and there is none better qualified to do that.
Pat Green can be contacted on (07764) 696070 if you're interested in
helping him sow a few Wild Hops.
Little Big Cellar
MAYBE THERE'S
something in the air in Darlington. There's certainly something in the
bottle. And it's alive and thriving.
Because after a decade of being served
by one of the best beer shops in the country - Binns department store -
the town now has another. And dare we whisper it: the newcomer offers
even more choice. The man with the bottle to claim he
stocks "the North's largest selection of real ales and beers from around
the world" is Johnny Singh. When we started writing this Johnny had
assembled 380 beers; as we go to print it's 530, including 200
bottled-conditioned, and rising.
Trappist brews, fruit beers and
spontaneously-fermented ales from Belgium; black lagers and cloudy
wheats from Bavaria; sparkling ales from Oz; steam beer from Frisco and
hophead beer from Chicago. Czech, French, Dutch; little bottles, big
bottles, mega-bottle jeroboams. And best of all, British real ales in a
bottle by the score: flavoursome, additive-free produce from many of the
best micro-breweries. Among the local stars are Durham Brewery of
Bowburn, with five styles from the quaffing Cloister to the heavenly
Temptation (10%abv), and North Yorkshire Brewery of Pinchinthorpe with
their huge array of organic ales, brewed with their own spring water at
the foot of Roseberry Topping.
Add in special glasses - including a
'foot of ale' for Belgium's Kwak - gift packs, very competitive prices
and free delivery in postcodes DL1, DL2 and DL3 (for orders of 12+
bottles) and the Ale Cellar may be starting to interest you.
Almost as remarkable is that Johnny -
whose family has run the shop as a simple local store for 18 years -
operates from what must be one of the town's smallest retail premises: a
single-storey lock-up secreted in the heart of the residential west end.
Little cellar, big seller.
*Ale Cellar, 24 Woodland Terrace Darlington DL3 9NJ. Tel:
(01325) 252022. Website: www.alecellar.com.
Email: enquiries@alecellar.com. Open 10.30am(12
Sun)-8pm.
Directions:
from Woodland Road (A68) follow Pierremont Crescent for 150m, turn right into
Barlow Street, then left into Woodland Terrace. From Carmel Road North (B6280)
take Milbank Road for 200m, then turn left into Woodland Terrace.
A Cask Collection of Memories
DARLINGTON CAMRA
is 25 years old. The local branch of the
Campaign for Real Ale was founded on 19th May 1982 at a packed meeting
in a small upstairs bar in an obscure corner of Darlington.
No
fewer than 63 people responded to the modest advance publicity - amazing
when only 30 CAMRA members lived in the area !. What brought them together
was an ambition to improve the dire shortage of traditional beer in the
area.
DD163 asked readers to send in memories
of the founding meeting. We're delighted to bring you three, starting
with those of the joint-owner of that long-gone bar... The Landlord: George Gledhill
EARLY IN 1981, Ken Kidd and I bought a derelict warehouse in Richardson's Yard,
Blackwellgate with a view to making it the best real ale house in the
town. Both of us had day jobs, Ken as a
college lecturer and me as an estate agent. We put a lot of work into
transforming the building. The ground floor was set out with trestle
tables which antique collectors used to buy and sell antiques at
weekends. That gave us the name for the pub we opened above it - the
Collectors Arms.
We helped out in the bar and restaurant
in the evenings and at weekends. The pub was set out rather like an old
railway carriage with genuine British Railways tables. I remember that
Scottish & Newcastle's No.3 was the best seller, and Gillespie's beers
from Edinburgh also went well. I believe they sold at 70p per pint. We
sold only wine in addition to the real ale.
I bought out Ken after less than a year
and then, as my estate agency expanded, I sold it on to Trevor Robinson.
I still live in the area and have a pub in Maryport, Cumbria. I'm also a
property developer. My current project is at Amen Corner in
Barnard Castle, where I will be creating a new pub over the next six
months with the same name as a previous one on the site - the Bucket of
Blood. It will concentrate on real ale and I hope to find someone to run
a micro-brewery on the premises. Any readers interested ?.
In the meantime, I wish Darlington CAMRA
a happy silver anniversary. Here's to the next 25 years.
(As told to Malcolm Dunstone. But sorry, George, there was no
"Gillespie's": the second real ale was McEwan's 80/-. Ed)
The Incomer: Caroline Hodgson MICHAEL AND I
moved to Darlington in 1980 and found the choice and availability of
real ale in the town depressingly limited.
With a group of like-minded friends we would drink at the Fox & Hounds
at Neasham or the King's Arms at Great Stainton.
Once a week Michael and I would drive to the Raby Hunt at Summerhouse to
enjoy Mike Allison's delicious pint of Theakston bitter, or
to the Newbus Arms for exquisite Old Peculier and free nuts.
Theakston's was, for us, the brewery of the highest quality beers (how things have changed) and the "new" XB was also in a class of its own, but you had to travel to find
them.
Suddenly we heard that there was to be meeting at a new pub, the
Collectors Arms, with the possibility of starting a local branch of
CAMRA.
The pub was on the upper floor of a building in Houndgate, with access
via an external staircase. I was in awe of those present that night.
Brendan Boyle became our first chairman and he and his committee
inspired us to start spreading the real ale message.
It became quite amusing to go into a fizz pub, ask whether they had any
real ale (knowing they hadn't) and come away again, shaking one's
head in mock despair, but hoping to have made a point.
It was a hard fight to break down the negative attitude of some
landlords but it worked, and now drinkers in the town can enjoy a
variety of real ales in many establishments. Such a campaign has to go on. Supporters of real ale must never be complacent while we rely on the dedication of landlords to provide us with a quality pint. We should thank them for it, and we should be eternally grateful to the first committee for what they achieved for us to enjoy.
The Resident: Ross Chisholm
I WELL remember that packed meeting in the Collectors Arms, although not many
present were CAMRA members at the time.
It had been open a little while and
Chris Johnson had persuaded the owner to sell cask Younger's No.3. It
became a popular spot and became very crowded and noisy at times. It
expanded by moving into the former saleroom downstairs, but lost its
appeal and eventually sank into oblivion. Real ale was hard to find in Darlington
and in the region generally and much of what did exist was of variable
quality; the first few years were a hard slog for the Darlington Branch.
Campaigning was mixed with family social
activity and meetings were spread around town and countryside. Reports
of handpump spotting were often followed up with a family cycle ride. We
also became quite adept at quoits!
Campaigning has to tackle different
issues these days; in my view it is pricing and the control of the big
pub groups and suppliers. I am happy that production is in the hands of
so many small brewers but the behaviour of new nationals eg Greene King
reminds me of the Whitbreads of old. Congratulations and cheers for the next 25 years !.
That's the Community Spirit!
TWO LOCAL real ale houses have been named as the best community pubs in the area.
The Britannia in Archer Street and The
Crown at Manfield have been awarded the titles of "Town Community Pub of
the Year" and "Village Community Pub of the Year" respectively by the
Darlington branch of the Campaign for Real Ale. The awards marked the inaugural national
Community Pubs Week, a campaign to highlight the vital role pubs play in
the lives of local communities.
DD163 invited readers to put forward
nominations from the 200 pubs in the area. CAMRA members then selected
the winners from a shortlist.
CAMRA pubs officer Peter Fenwick said:
"The Brit and The Crown stood out for their contributions to community
life. In the best traditions of the British pub they go beyond being
mere businesses - they play a real part in the community." "They also appeal to a wide cross-section
of customers, not targeted niche groups, as so many town bars and
out-of-town food pubs seem to these days".
Both provide a home base for darts and
dominoes teams - increasingly rare these days. "The Britannia stands on the edge of the town centre but is the 'local' for regulars from throughout Darlington. Its customers span the years right up to 92-year olds. "Summer sees a fantastic floral display which brightens up the town. The Britannia Folk Club has met here for decades, and licensee Sue Carr ensures the pub celebrates every worthy occasion, from Burns Night to New Year's Eve !"
Peter and Karen Hynes - who recently
celebrated five years at The Crown - raise money for the village hall,
school and church at the two beer festivals they organise each year. The
pub also hosts the local leek club, including its annual show. Pete Fenwick added: "The Crown really
came into its own last winter when a power cut affected the village for
days: Peter and Karen opened their doors, providing roaring fires and
gaslight for all."
A Twist in the Tale
THE TWISTED
tale of the White Horse may have another turn, although it is likely to
be short-lived.
The landmark
Harrogate Hill pub was closed by its owner Mr Jay Patel last September
following the controversial granting of planning permission for
apartment development on the site. But as we go to
press there are reports that Leeds-based Mr Patel is in discussions with
a "third party" to reopen the bar and restaurant.
The associated
hotel - which would also be demolished to make way for the housing -
never did close. (Quite why the pub closed prematurely didn't seem to
make economic sense, let alone any other. Surely, it couldn't have been
a fit of pique in the face of the incessant bad publicity?)
Sadly, the whole
saga has become the focus of local political bickering, with all manner
of individuals and parties claiming the higher moral ground. All claim
they wanted the pub to stay, but those who did nothing to ensure it
shelter behind the owner's professed - but wholly unsubstantiated -
reasons for closure.
Darlington CAMRA
did question the case for closure, in lengthy and reasoned objections to
two successive planning applications.
The objections
dismissed the notion that the White Horse, on a prominent roadside site
and with a walk-in catchment of 5,000 people (the size of the town of
Barnard Castle, number of pubs 14) could not be viable. They pointed out
that Mr Patel bought the property just months before drawing up the
first application. And that a residential permission could increase the
value of the site seven-fold compared with what he had paid. We assume that
the subsequent slowdown in the housing market in Darlington, and an
apparent surplus of modern apartments, has put a modest dampener on that
value. But with a residential planning permission in place the odds of a
permanent revival of the White Horse must be slim-to-nil.
As a spokesman for Mr Patel said to the Northern
Echo recently: "Nothing has been finalised. It hasn't been sold, but it
could still happen."
Beer World: Oslo
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 digs deep
in his wallet ...
FIRST LET me warn you that Oslo is very expensive. However with careful budgeting
costs can be kept down. Restaurants are expensive; but at Punjab
Tandoori and Tandoori Curry Corner, next door to each other on Grønland,
a good curry can be had for £6.
As for beer, the micro-brewery Oslo
Mikrobryggeri at Bogstadvn 6 is well worth visiting (open 3pm-1am).
They brew a range of different styles from pils through to stout and
most are priced at around £4.50. In Oslo beers are usually around £5 a
pint.
Most of the bars on the main street are
Irish bars, however better ones can be found. Beer Palace
(www.beerpalace.no) in the Akker Brygge area stocks a large range of
Norwegian and international beers. Further out, just behind the palace,
is Lorry, a bar/restaurant with a range of international beers
and a beer garden. More pubs can be found on
www.oslopubs.com.
The main draw for visitors is Vigeland
Park (www.museumsnett.no/vigelandmuseet) housing a strange collection of
sculptures of the human form in impossible positions. Second has got to
be Bygdøy Island, which houses several ship museums, and the Norsk
Folkmuseum, a large open air collection of buildings from bygone days.
Also worth visiting is the Holmenkollen Ski Jump, there is a good view
from the top and you can take a ride in a simulator.
If you are quick you can fly
Newcastle-Oslo for just over £30, however this route ends on 24th March.
After that you have the option of Newcastle-Stansted with EasyJet from
£45 then Stansted-Oslo Torp with Ryanair from £40. Oslo Torp to Oslo by
bus is a 1 hour 45 minute journey (www.torpekspressen.no, £20).
For accommodation try www.msinnvik.no, a boat moored in the harbour (£35
single, £62 double), or www.perminalen.no, a central budget hotel
popular with the young (£41 single, £57 double). Both are en-suite and
provide a good buffet breakfast.
Ban Plan
A SURVEY by the Campaign for Real Ale has revealed the public's attitudes to the
forthcoming smoking ban in England later in 2007.
CAMRA Chief Executive Mike Benner said:
"The smoking ban will be a difficult transition for licensees, but it is
encouraging that only 3% of people surveyed said they would not visit
pubs at all as a result of the ban". The survey shows that non-smokers will be attracted to pubs after the ban comes into force - and that many of them would like to find a real ale waiting for them when they get there. Mike Benner added: "The key will be to ensure that factors such as quality of beer, food, atmosphere and welcome are all superb. If that is the case then the traditional pub will have a bright and healthy future".
The survey's key findings were that:
* 840,000 people who currently never go to a pub say they will
after the ban.
* 6.2 million people (17% of adults in England and Wales) who visit
pubs regularly are likely to visit pubs more often.
* Only 3% of adults said they would not visit pubs at all as a
result of the ban.
* 93% of real ale drinkers said they would visit pubs more often,
or as often, as now after the ban.
* 68% of regular smokers say it will not change their pub visiting
habits at all.
* Smokers are typically lager drinkers.
Strongarm Blow
CAMERON'S STRONGARM has a weaker presence in the region right now, as a
supply agreement between that brewery and Marston's (ex-Wolverhampton &
Dudley) appears to have come to an end.
W&D entered into the time-limited
agreement in 2002 as part of the deal between them and the-then Castle
Eden brewing company which acquired the historic Hartlepool plant as an
alternative to closure. It ensured the continued availability of
Cameron's beers in many of its traditional North East outlets while the
new Camerons-Castle Eden operation found its feet.
In March, however, Strongarm drinkers in
pubs and clubs across the region which are tied to Marston's by
ownership or loan saw their favourite beer disappear from the bar
overnight. Once such was Darlington Cricket Club, where members were "dismayed" at
the replacement of the popular local beer by Marston-owned brands brewed
elsewhere in the country.
Ale Mail
I WAS GIVEN a copy of Darlington Drinker at the National Winter
Ales Festival. In response to the article on the longest pub name, a few
years ago I went to a pub in Stalybridge named "The Old Thirteenth
Cheshire Astley Volunteer Rifleman Corps Inn". I don't know if the pub
is still there but without bothering to count it certainly has more than
29 letters.
DAVE SHELDON, by email
(Editor: You're right, Dave. The 'Rifleman' at
48 Astley Street, Stalybridge beats our 'The White Heifer That
Travelled' and all other contenders hands down with its 55 letters. It
gained a place in the Guinness Book
of Records in 1995 on the strength of it - and Tameside council have
erected a blue plaque to celebrate the achievement!)
I PICKED
up the latest copy of Darlington Drinker in the Grove in Huddersfield. I
was hoping readers of DD could help. I am a collector of old cast iron
bottle openers. I was hoping one of your readers may have one from the
old J Nimmo Castle Eden brewery.
ANDREW WRIGHT, 93 Green Lane,
Greetland, Halifax, West Yorks HX4 8DB. Tel (01422) 379334
JUST A SHORT
'e' to let you know, that the Wear Valley Kayani has been available in
the Quakerhouse, thus making The Garden of India not the only place in
Darlington where this is available!. JOHN REED, Darlington, by email
Richmond Hails
THE SKILLS OF craft brewers are certainly in demand.
On page 8
we mention the opportunity offered by George
Gledhill in Barnard Castle. CAMRA has also been asked to help find a
micro-brewery for Richmond.
Richmond Station closed to passengers in
1968 and the Victorian building is now being 're-energised' for the
community in the 21st century. The new development, which is scheduled
to open in Autumn 2007, will include auditoriums (for conferences,
cinema, music, etc), exhibition space, a heritage centre, a restaurant
offices and workspace.
Diana Cole from the Purple Leaf
consultancy, who act for the station trustees, explains: "The workspace
units are aimed at food and drink producers and a micro-brewery would
fit particularly well. Already a cheesemaker and a craft baker have
reserved units and we are looking for others to complement these. We'd
be especially interested to hear from local brewers. How about a
Richmond Station beer? That would be something! "This is a fantastic opportunity for producers to showcase their products and production methods to a wide audience".
More information can be found on www.purple-leaf.co.uk/richmondstation
and www.richmondstation.com. Or ring Diana on (01748) 821888.
BREWS, NEWS AND VIEWS / GUIDE UPDATES
THE STANWICK ARMS at Aldbrough St John
has launched a novel promotion aimed at building up its regular trade:
buy six pints and get the seventh free!. The offer applies only to real
ales - and no, you don't have to drink them all at once. Just get a card
on your next visit and get it marked each time you have a handpulled
pint. Guv'nor Nick Todd reinforced his commitment by becoming Darlington
CAMRA's newest member.
THE GEORGE & DRAGON
at Heighington changed
hands at Christmas, with Paul and Karen Keogh taking charge of their
first pub. Paul is keen on real ale and one of his first decisions was
to increase the range to four. The regular brews - Black Sheep Bitter,
Caledonian Deuchar's IPA, Greene King IPA and Wells Bombardier - are
supplemented by a rotating guest ale.
THE BAY HORSE, Middleton Tyas,
otherwise known as the "bottom house" has closed. One report says it
could be some time before it reopens.
DARLINGTON CAMRA DIARY DATES
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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, Ross Chisholm, Malcolm Dunstone, Peter Fenwick,
George Gledhill, Caroline Hodgson, Colin Holmes and Ian Jackson. 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.
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