Welcome to your latest Bolton CAMRA Branch update. I hope you enjoyed the Easter break and got the opportunity to try some of the Six Nations, Easter and St George’s day brews that have been on offer.
Branch Meeting
The May Branch Meeting will be held at 8 p.m. on Thursday 1 May at the Ukraininan Social Club, 99 Castle Street, Bolton BL2 1JP. The meeting will start with a presentation to the club, having been voted, once again, Club of the Year for the Bolton Branch.
On the subject of presentations, on Thursday 15 May we will be handing over the awards for Pub of the Year and Cider Pub of the Year to B33R@33, Horwich. The presentation will be at 7.15 so please come along to celebrate a rare double win for this popular bar.
Pub Closures
CAMRA has published its data on pub closures for 2023. The headline figures are quite stark, with 1293 businesses closed across the UK and 194 lost permanently through demolition or conversion to other uses. Although there have been some openings too, these tend to be town centre bars and do not replace the community locals which are too often the casualties. It is often said that the battle for cask beer has been won and it is true that real ale is now available in many more outlets, however, as cask beer can only be drunk in a pub or club, the closure of so many pubs means cask beer is under threat once again. In recognition of this CAMRA gives equal weight to campaigning for the promotion and protection of pubs as to campaigning for live beer, cider and perry. We campaign to help save pubs regardless of whether they serve cask beer or not. As I mentioned in my last update, it is important that we know what is going on with the pubs and clubs in our area so please keep us updated by emailing pubs@bolton.camra.org.uk or updating the pub/club details on the website. Information on how to do that is below. As, I presume, we all joined CAMRA because we enjoy drinking real ale in convivial surroundings, let’s all try to make sure we can carry on doing just that! The full report on closures can be read here.
Mild Month
In May each year, CAMRA branches across the UK celebrate Mild Month, an initiative to celebrate and highlight the mild beer style. Mild was once, by far, the most widely drunk beer in Bolton but with the decline of heavy industry in the town and the huge sums spent on promoting lager, mild was until recently under threat of extinction. That is starting to change and some local breweries, including Bank Top and Holt’s usually have a mild on sale in their pubs. On May 10, the branch will be holding a Mild Trail, setting off from the town centre and heading by bus to Horwich. It is hoped that there will be a mild available in each of the pubs visited. More details on this event and all our socials can be found here
Stockport and South Manchester Branch are also holding a Mild Magic trail which continues until 18 May.
CAMRA Website
If you haven’t visited the national website recently you will find that it has been completely changed and offers far more facilities than the old site. The opening page here allows you to search for pubs and clubs anywhere in the country, regardless of whether they serve real or not, and to make it easier you can click on the ‘Pubs and Clubs Nearby’ button to take you straight to the pubs and clubs near your location. If you click on any of the entries it will take you to the page for that pub or club (e.g.B33R@33, Horwich – our current Pub and Cider Pub of the Year) and give you lots of information including which beers you can expect to see on the bar and (if you’re logged in as a member) the quality of the beer based on beer scores by members. Other tabs allow you to add your own scores and to update any other information that may be out of date. Keeping all this information accurate means a much better experience for anyone wanting to try out those venues so you’ll be helping all your fellow members as well as the public at large by checking it out.
With a couple of bank holidays and (apparently) a heatwave on the way, a bit of research on the CAMRA website will reveal lots of places where you can find excellent beer, so whether it be a pint of mild while watching cricket or a mango infused IPA in a micropub, enjoy!
Cheers!
John Mitchell – Chair