|
|
Darlington
Drinker 179 Newsletter of the Darlington Campaign for Real Ale - Autumn 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A
Blow, but Still Negotiating A
£3.3 MILLION government fund to help stem the closure of local pubs has
been closed down by the Conservative - LibDem coalition before a penny was
paid out. More
than 80 groups had come forward for help to buy out their local pub since
the Community-Owned Pubs Support Programme was announced by the then
Labour government in March. Dave
Hollins, an adviser who helped the community of Hudswell, near Richmond,
reopen the long-closed George and Dragon in the village told the Sunday
Telegraph the decision would mean some community pub buyouts would now
fail. Marie
Church, one of the residents leading the campaign to buy the closed
Travellers Rest from a housing developer, said they had expected to
receive between £50,000 and £100,000 from the programme to help them. She
said the pub, shut since 2008, had been run down by a previous owner and
was sold to the developer for £150,000 - about half the asking price when
it was put on the market 18 months ago. The community is now negotiating
with the owner to buy the pub outright, or take on a lease, and already
has 40 locals willing to invest. "People
are very passionate about getting the pub running again. It would be
somewhere for our elderly people to gather, somewhere for our young people
to gather. It would reopen the heart of the community again, because,
frankly, we have all drawn away from each other." See www.travellersrestskeeby.co.uk for news and to join the Travellers Rest campaign.
Nigel
and the Bill THE
CAMPAIGN for Real Ale, is supporting moves by a Conservative MP to bring
forward a Bill to help protect valued community pubs and other local
services. This
was a central proposal of CAMRA's 'Beer Drinkers and Pub-Goers Charter'
which gained the support of over 150 Members of Parliament. Nigel Adams,
MP, was recently selected by a ballot in Parliament to bring forward
legislation on a subject of his choice. He had decided to use the
opportunity to give local services, such as pubs, greater protection from
demolition or change of use. His
Protection of Local Services (Planning) Bill will give local councils in
England the power to close loopholes in planning law which allow services
such as pubs, local shops and community centres to be demolished without
the need to seek planning permission. Mr
Adams said: “For too long, community buildings have been able to be
demolished despite the wishes of local people. It is crucial that we stand
up for them.” His
decision to bring the Bill forward was warmly welcomed by CAMRA Chief
Executive Mike Benner. He said: “This Bill will empower local
communities and offer a much-needed lifeline to community pubs. Pubs are
in crisis, with 39 closing every week. A third of these are then
demolished without giving local communities a chance to save them. Both
councils and communities are powerless to act as valued and viable pubs
are destroyed.” *4,700
PUBS have
closed since the start of 2008. CAMRA research shows that of the pubs
permanently lost, 31% were demolished, 36% converted to shop, café,
restaurant or financial services use and 33% converted to another use,
mainly residential.
Darlington
Drinker .…Twenty-Five Years Ago “THIS
IS probably the most critical month ever in the history of British
brewing. The fate of dozens of traditional breweries rests in the hands of
one man: the Secretary of Sate for Industry, Leon Brittan. Mr
Brittan will either block the takeover bid by Scottish & Newcastle for
Matthew Brown/Theakstons or by allowing it to proceed will give the green
light to a spate of takeovers throughout the country. The
stock market is convinced that if S&N get the go-ahead other big
companies will rush down the same takeover trail.” Darlington
Drinker 39,
November 1985 Keg
‘Cask’ Con - Continued FOLLOWING
OUR last edition of Darlington Drinker - when we denounced as deceitful
the practice of the management and owners of the Travellers Rest at
Cockerton, Darlington of passing off pasteurised, keg John Smith's Magnet
through handpumps as if it was real ale - Darlington Council's trading
standards officers have been stirred into a bit more action than
originally intended. The
supplier of the beer has also come out with a stronger criticism of the
practice issuing a statement that "Heineken UK does not endorse this
method of dispense" for keg Magnet. It
took two requests even to get this vague reply: “I visited and spoke to
the landlord of the Travellers Rest and a number of suggestions were
raised by both parties. A number of these suggestion were agreed and the
landlord is currently implementing them. I will be visiting the landlord
again in a few weeks to view their implementation.” Mr Watt refused to
disclose to CAMRA - and thus consumers - just what the agreement was! We
do, however, know from another source - a professional in consumer law who
after reading DD178 challenged the Council on its initial
conclusion that passing off one very different kind of product from
another was legal. Mr
Phillips will also amend the price lists to state 'Keg' John Smiths
Magnet, and train staff that Magnet is sold in a keg form only. Darlington
CAMRA regards this softly- softly, 'secret' agreement as a partial
solution but no more. After
all, Mr Phillips claimed at the beginning of April that “all
customers” were already being told that the handpulled Magnet was not
real ale - a claim shown to be false by the Northern Echo's Mike Amos and
others. *IN
A RELATED move,
the pub's owners, Ashcroft Pollard of York, have announced that another
Heineken UK product, Caledonian Deuchar's IPA, is also now being sold at
the Travellers, served by handpump. Normally we would unreservedly welcome
the return of proper cask beer. But, as we all now know, unlike any other
pub in the Darlington / South Durham / North Yorkshire area, a handpulled
beer at the Travellers is no guarantee of real ale. Is it? Mithril
Hails Well FOLLOWING
its official launch in June, the Darlington area's newest micro-brewery,
Mithril Ales of Aldbrough St John, is developing nicely. So says
owner-brewer-delivery boy Pete Fenwick, who in what spare time he has
after also squeezing in a full-time day job is also Darlington CAMRA pubs
officer. Here's his own progress report... THE
NAME for our monthly Mithril special for July was ‘Heatwave’,
unfortunately literally the minute I decided on this name the weather
changed and it rained practically every day! The
special for August was ‘Feast’, after the Aldbrough Feast week (and
indeed a number of other local villages) which had summer events that
month. Unlike Heatwave, naming this beer didn't affect the village
activities! I
have extended the pubs into which I supply Mithril's ales, delivering now
also to the George and Dragon at Hudswell, the George Hotel at
Piercebridge, the Ship at Middlestone Village and the Black Swan at
Staindrop. But delivering is getting expensive when accompanied by Corinna
as we always end up eating out at one of the pubs on the way round! In
addition to DD, I hope discerning local drinkers will look out for
a new, free bi-monthly magazine being published in the North East called
‘Cheers’. *INTERESTED
potential
stockists for Mithril ales should ring (01325) 374817 or (07792) 093245.
Read Pete's blog on www.mithrilales.co.uk.
Cheers has a excellent website, including back issues, at www.cheersnortheast.co.uk.
THE
MORRITT hotel at Greta Bridge is the latest local venue to be awarded the
Cask Marque for the quality of its ales. Pubs
and hotels that join the scheme are visited unannounced by an independent
assessor twice a year, checking its cask ales for temperature, appearance,
aroma and taste. The
scheme is operated by an independent body, the Cask Marque Trust. Its
website (www.cask-marque.co.uk)
describes the Cask Marque as ‘a sign that appears outside pubs
guaranteeing that inside you will get a great pint of cask ale’. “We
Play On” THE
PROPRIETOR of the award winning Darlington Snooker Club has vowed to
continue to fight its potential closure, following news that the freehold
owner wants to renew a controversial planning permission. Permission
to convert the upper floor premises, above White Bros. motorcycle shop on
the corner of Northgate and Corporation Road, into four flats was granted
by a planning inspector two years ago - in the face of vociferous
protests. It was due to expire next summer but shop owner Derek White
wants to extend the time limit for implementation. Mr
White told the Northern Echo: “We haven’t done anything yet with the
permission and know we could extend it. We haven’t decided what to do
yet. It depends on the state of the housing market.” Peter
Everett, who runs the club with his mother Rita and the help of other
family members, said: “We never give up. Everyone is bouncing on with
keeping the club. We will keep on trading but we are always waiting for
that day for more news.” Under
Peter, who is also chairman of the Darlington branch of CAMRA, the club
has won numerous awards as best real ale club in the region and features
in the national Good Beer Guide. The club was initially founded in 1915,
with the premises purpose built to accommodate the heavy playing tables. Face
of Mystery PUB
SIGN enthusiast Ted Matthewson was taking photographs in Darlington
recently and came across the strange case of the 'tender face'. He asks if
DD readers can solve the mystery. Over to you, Ted... “I
took a photo of each side of the Railway Tavern sign in Northgate,
where both sides feature the locomotive Mallard. I was surprised when I
blew the pictures up to find a mysterious face painted into the centre of
Mallard’s tender. It appears on the north-facing side of the sign only.
The south facing tender is blank. “It
is clearly a human face, and appears to have been deliberately put in
place of a railway logo which would have occupied that spot on the tender.
From a distance and with the naked eye no one is likely to notice it. “Did
the painter have a little joke? Is it a self-portrait? Is it the Ghost of
North Road Station? Has it ever been noticed by anyone else? I would value
any information.” If
anybody has any information about the "tender face", please email DD by clicking here
and we'll be happy to pass them on to Ted, and other readers. *TED'S
collections,
including Pubs and Pub Signs of London, feature on YouTube. He tells us
Signs of the North East is coming soon.
Miles
of Smiles A
CELEBRATORY group of Darlington CAMRA members experienced three seasons in
a day. And went the further Yard... The
occasion was a kind of Oscars on wheels: presenting a mass of awards on
location, not en masse. First
up, and representing North Yorkshire, was the idyllically-located Shoulder
of Mutton at Kirby Hill, where Darlington CAMRA pubs officer Pete
Fenwick handed over a framed certificate to Toni Bennett in return for a
juicy smack on the cheek. After
refreshment it was back north of the Tees for the minibus, to the hamlet
of Preston-le-Skerne, east of Newton Aycliffe. Here stands the 'Hammers' -
the Blacksmiths Arms, where Pete showed rather more composure in
handing Martin Whear his deserved accolade. Later
it was back to town and the Old Yard Tapas Bar, where delighted
owner Pete Turnbull was the worthy recipient of the town category prize. In
the middle of all of these the inexhaustible group even found time to dash
across to the Surtees Arms at Ferryhill Station for a different kind of
presentation. Well
done to all the winners. And to the itinerant MCs and audience… Hard
Times? AS
WE ARRIVED, the chimes from the church bell ringers stopped and we had our
first sup of the evening, in peace with great expectations. No
music or TV at the Glittering Star, or any Samuel Smith pub -
another attraction beyond the prices. We had a pleasant greeting from the
landlady. It was a Monday, we were stoney broke so were on an economy
crawl. £1.49 for the Old Brewery Bitter here, although a touch cold for
me. Around
the corner to Crown Street and the sound of a quizmaster at the William
Stead, a pub on the site of a previous bleak house. Daleside's old
Lubrication at £1.85 was our choice from the five real ales available. An
uphill walk took us to the Tanners Hall, in Skinnergate where there
is more than one old curiosity shop. There were plenty of customers. I had
brought along two Wetherspoon vouchers, thus getting a pint of Abbot at
£1.25 and Ruddles for 95 pence. A pal kept us occupied with a tale of two
cities before we had to move on, Gordon still wanting more, like Oliver
Twist. We
reached Arden Street (Central) Club in time to be treated to
Jenning's Snecklifter, at £2.10 the priciest of the night but a bargain.
Last time I was here was to sing a Christmas carol. No music tonight. Over
the night we had three-and-a-half pints each, at a total cost of £10.98. Malcolm
Dunstone *DETECT
a thread running through this? How many examples are there? First correct
answer wins a real ale prize: call Malcolm on (01325) 362462. Keep
on Nagging THE
NAG'S Head in Darlington's Tubwell Row has been renamed the 'Joseph Pease'
and proclaims 'Now Selling Real Ales'. The
Echo's Mike Amos found none on his visit but our bar-fly reports better
luck - in spite of first appearances... “The
one handpump had the pump clip turned round but Michelle, a very helpful
barmaid from Essex, said it was because the beer was Greene King IPA and
they did not have a pumpclip for it, only for the previous ale on Black
Sheep, which had proved popular." “I
told her she won't sell much beer if the clip is turned round - and she
pointed to a chalk board stating 'Guest Beer Greene King IPA', which I had
not noticed. The guests are all £2.40 a pint. Apart from the front two
bars there is a 'family room at the back.” Bike
& Bottle DARLINGTON
READER Brian Dixon took early retirement recently and,
“thinking about this massive thing about to happen to me”, set himself
a “little project” to see where in the town he could find British
bottle-conditioned beers - real ale in a bottle. This is what he found in
a few days surveying on his bike. BACK
IN 2006, the ‘Real Ale in and around Darlington & Teesdale’
guide included a clause, ‘the following also usually stock some bottled
real ales’. Since then, that section of the guide has been dominated by
Binns (now a suit clearance department) and the Ale Cellar (also sadly
gone). So, I set out to find the current truth. I was pleasantly
surprised. I
found the following retailers to have these British bottle-conditioned
beer for sale. Strengths are given in percentage alcohol-by-volume (abv): ●Asda
at Whinfield - Shepherd Neame 1698 (6.5%) and Brakspear Triple (7.2%). ●The
Co-op at both Cockerton and Mowden - Freeminer Gold Miner (5%). ●Ken
Warne in Cleveland Terrace -Shepherd Neame 1698. ●Marks
& Spencer, Northgate - St. Austell Cornish IPA (5%), Cairngorm
Scottish Ale (4.5%), Cropton Yorkshire Bitter (4.6%), Hepworth Sussex
Golden Ale (3.8%); another ale was temporarily out of stock. ●Majestic
in Grange Road - Young's Bitter (4.5%); minimum purchase eight
bottles. ●Morrisons
at Morton Park - Hopback Summer Lightning (5%), Young's Kew Gold
(4.8%), Worthington White Shield IPA (5.6%) and Fuller's 1845 (6.3%). ●Oddbins,
Grange Road - Hobsons beers: Manor Ale (4.2%), Town Crier (4.5%), Postmans
Knock (4.8%) and Old Henry (5.2%). ●Sainsbury’s
in Victoria Road - Young's London Special Ale (6.4%) and Brakspear
Triple (7.2%). I’m
sure I’ll have missed someone’s business out, sorry ! The
breadth of the strengths on offer in this format was 3.8 to 7.2%, which
looks like ‘something for everyone’. And this was without looking at
non-British beer. So, if you can’t get to the pub for whatever reason, keep encouraging these retailers to stick with, or improve, the choices they currently offer. Perhaps, like the local, if there’s a bottle-conditioned ale seller near you, it's a case of 'use it or lose it'.
And here's a feature on one place that Brian did miss ... Cheese & Beer It may surprise some, writes aptly-named Chris Cheeseman, that there is a specialist Cheese and Wine Shop in Darlington. But as owner Terry Farr says, he's only been here ten years, so is still a recent incomer. The name, however, belies the range of produce on sale. Not just cheese and wine, but other quality foods, rare ports, madeiras and spirit and, since this is Darlington Drinker, more recently beer. Although a small selection compared to some, there are some unusual bottled beers, and one or two coups. From Belgium, there are Orval and Rochefort, Trappists and a wide range of other styles: Celis White, Poperings Hommel, Boon Geuze and Belgian Guiness Export. From the USA there’s Goose Island. And more locally Richmond Ales and, occasionally, Durham Brewery’s bottle-conditioned ales.
The shop is also currently the sole stockist in the North of beers from the Kernel Brewery of Bermondsey, South East London. This is a new brewery whose output is all hand-crafted, bottle-conditioned beers. (see www.thekernelbrewery.com). You can see Evin on You Tube filling, crowning and printing every bottle!. Kernel concentrate on pale ales, India Pale Ales (IPAs) and porters left for at least three months to develop in the bottle. Every week the recipe is altered to try a different hop type or strength. My favourites are the IPAs. *The
Cheese & Wine Shop,
8 Clark's Yard, off High Row, Darlington, DL3 7QH. Closed Mondays. Tel.
(01325) 384803. Website: www.cheeseandwineshop.co.uk.
Blaze
at Oak Tree was Arson FIVE
MEN have been jailed after pleading guilty to arson, or conspiracy to
commit arson, at the Oak Tree near Middleton St George in August last
year. They
were sent down for periods of up to three-and-a-half years by Teesside
Crown Court. The blaze caused more than £118,000 of damage. The
court heard that the gang broke in and stole a plasma TV and drinks optics
before smashing the pub up and setting it alight in an attempt to make it
look like a burglary. However, an investigation by the fire service and police found the cause of the blaze to be arson.
Ale
Mail DECEIT
BY THE HANDPULL: We were amazed at the Traveller’s Rest story
(DD178). We went to the Traveller's Rest on 28 May to attend a gig in the
upstairs room and drank the stuff dispensed up there by handpump, which
was sold to us without narrative. I
didn’t take my reading glasses to the bar to read the pumpclip. My
thinking was “How great is that - Heineken have responded to CAMRA and
customer pressure and brought cask Magnet back!” There
are enough good landlords, tenants and owners out there interested in my
custom without me financing one who takes the mickey out of me, thanks. Please
give my support to Karen and Andy and good luck with any campaign you may
pursue to get officials or Heineken to see the point. [NAME
SUPPLIED], Darlington WHAT
A SUPERB article about the Keg 'Cask' Con, and what superb
campaigning, especially by Karen and Andy Maughan. It takes real guts to
'pub'-licly stand up and be counted like that. Well done to them both, and
I hope your branch considers them when choosing its Campaigner of the
Year. CHRIS
DE CORDOVA, Cumbria I
AM STAGGERED that with 40 years of CAMRA real ale under the
nation's belts we have an Ale Denier for a Trading Standards Officer. Like
the Judge who asked 'who are the Beatles?' there is no place for the
uninformed in such a job. Where
do we go to complain about Trading Standards? Time to abandon the Banana
Republic of Darlo and join a proper county. Waste of space. JOHN
WILSON, Middleton One Row MORRITT
ARMS: Called in here for the Morritt's own cask ale - 'Major
Morritt' - as in the ad in Darlington Drinker 178, expecting to find that
like many other pubs/hotels, they are now brewing their own. Not so - it
is brewed by Thwaites - but the pump clip does not say so! Perhaps you
might suggest they make their ad a bit less misleading next edition? CHRIS
DE CORDOVA, Cumbria (The
Morritt replies: “The provenance was made clear in in the accompanying
story. There was never any intention to mislead.” The Editor adds: DD
tried to make the matter clearer in the story on page nine where we quoted
the owner as saying that the beer was ‘based on Thwaites Original’.
Perhaps it wasn't clear enough; sorry.) COMMUNITY
PUBS: Partly thanks to your item in DD178, I went to the
official opening of the community-owned George & Dragon at Hudswell,
near Richmond. Worth proclaiming as a triumph, all round the North! There
was a CAMRA speaker at the ceremony, who shared the platform with the
local activists (what a success story) and the Foreign Secretary! The
three beers were on form, from Black Sheep, Daleside and Darwin. The
Skeeby [Travellers Rest] folk were prominent, in their bright orange
campaign T-shirts, but I’m not sure whether Government support for their
cause was instantly offered! BRIAN DIXON, Darlington
THE
BLACK BULL at Melsonby, near Scotch Corner, has been bought from
Admiral Inns by Sally Williamson. She is increasing the number of real
ales to two and intends to serve some basic, local pub grub when the
Bull's kitchen has been refurbished. Sally plans to also continue running
her bed and breakfast business at Lucy Cross, just outside Aldbrough St
John. OTHER
local pubs to have increased their number of handpumps are the Black
Horse at Ingleton (from three to four) and the George Hotel at
Piercebridge (up from two to four). THE BEESWING at East Cowton has reopened after a brief closure. It now opens Monday and Tuesday evenings and all day Wednesday to Sunday. The real ales are Caledonian Deuchar's IPA, John Smith's Cask Bitter and a guest chosen from the Punch pub-chain list. Food is served lunchtimes and evenings. THE
BLACK SWAN at Staindrop changed hands a few weeks ago - and one of
the first acts of new landlord Steve McLoughlin was to introduce real ale:
Black Sheep Ale to be precise. This is Steve's first pub after a career as
a salesman but his wife has experience of catering, previously at the
Baltic Arts Centre. Steve is hoping to install a second handpump soon.
Early readers of DD can catch the pub's first ever beer festival over the
August bank holiday. THE VANE ARMS at Long Newton has been named the North regional winner of Innserve’s Best Cellar competition. The Vane was closed for two half years and badly neglected before being bought by local couple Jill and Paul Jackson. Jill said: “Being from the village we knew how important the pub was to the community. Having never had a pub before, to win the Regional Best Cellar was unbelievable !”
CAMRA
DIARY
DATES FRI 3RD SEP: Trip to Kirby Hill Beer Festival: Bus departs 7pm from Feethams. Bookings as below. TUES 7TH SEP: Darlington CAMRA Branch Meeting: Darlington Snooker Club, 1 Corporation Road, Darlington. 7.30pm start. All welcome. FRI 10TH SEP: Rural Coach Crawl to Lower Teesdale: Bus departs 7pm from Feethams. Bookings as below. TUE 5TH OCT: Darlington CAMRA Branch Meeting: Tap & Spile (upstairs room), Bondgate, Darlington. 7.30pm start. All welcome. FRI 8TH OCT: Rural Coach Crawl to County Durham Pubs: Bus departs 7pm from Feethams. Bookings as below. TUE 2ND NOV: Darlington CAMRA Branch Meeting: Old Yard Tapas Bar (upstairs room), Bondgate, Darlington. 7.30pm start. All welcome.
For further information about social trips including reservations contact Social Secretary Pete Fenwick on 01325 374817 or 07792 093245 or via email by clicking here. PLEASE NOTE: If you wish to cancel a reservation on any of the above coach crawls we require at least 48 hours notice otherwise a cancellation fee will be charged. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Darlington Drinker is published by the Darlington branch of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale. Circulation 3,500. 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 dd@idnet.com. Additional contributors this issue: Chris Cheeseman, Brian Dixon, Malcolm Dunstone, Pete Fenwick, David Hill, Ian Jackson, Ted Matthewson, Andy & Karen Maughan.. Advertising: Peter Everett (01325) 241388. Ad rates a snip at quarter-page £30, half page £50, full page £80; sixth consecutive insertion free. Branch website: www.darlocamra.org.uk. For colour PDF versions of Darlington Drinker see www.adrianbell.co.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.
|
