April Branch Meeting
The next branch meeting will be held on 4 April 2024 at the Spinning Mule Nelson Square, Bolton. The meeting will begin with a presentation by a member of the team at Lord’s Brewing Company of Huddersfield who are brewing some ales exclusively for J D Wetherspoon. Members should have the opportunity to taste the beers and hear about how they are made. This will be followed by a short branch meeting. Please note the earlier starting time of 7pm.
Awards Season
With the Oscars out of the way, it’s now the turn of Bolton CAMRA Branch to hand out its awards for the Pub, Cider Pub and Club of the Year. The winners this year are:
Pub of the Year
Winner – Bank Top Brewery Ale House, Horwich.
Runner-up – Blackedge Brewery Bar, also in Horwich.
Cider Pub of the Year
Winner – Beer School, Westhoughton.
Runner-up – B33R@33, Horwich.
Club of the Year
Winner – Bolton Ukrainian Social Club, Bolton.
Joint Runners-up – Bradshaw Cricket Club.
Heaton Cricket Club.
Congratulations to the winners and finalists. Presentations are being arranged and everyone is welcome to come along and celebrate the best real ale outlets in the Bolton branch area. Check the branch website for details.
Spring Budget
The Chancellor delivered the Spring Budget on 6th March 2024.
CAMRA’s key ask was a significant 20% reduction in the duty charged on draught beer and cider to help consumers, pubs and small brewers. We also used the opportunity to push our other messages including a VAT cut and changes to the rules around draught takeaway sales from draught duty-paid containers.
There were three relevant announcements made by the Chancellor:
• Alcohol duty will be frozen until February 2025 for all types of alcohol.
• New funding for community ventures – which we are hoping will include pubs.
• Increase in the VAT registration threshold for small businesses – though this may not help the majority of breweries, cider producers and pubs.
Whilst these measures were welcome, the general feeling was that this was a missed opportunity to give real support to the hospitality industry during these difficult times. CAMRA’s press release can be read here.
Save Your Local Pub
CAMRA has recently released data on the number of pub closures during 2023. The headline figures show that 1293 pub businesses closed last year with 194 either demolished or converted to other uses. Bolton is not immune from this trend with a number of pubs closed, either waiting for new tenants/managers or in the worst cases, being the subject of planning applications for a change of use. On the positive side, there continues to be a steady stream of new openings – 296 across the country in 2023 – but the overall picture is still pretty gloomy.
If you find your local pub is in danger of being lost forever and you want to take action to stop it becoming another of these statistics, CAMRA may be able to help. Nationally, CAMRA has guides that can provide in-depth support and advice on the practicalities of campaigning to save a pub, options available, and how to use the planning system to combat unwanted change. The CAMRA branch also has local knowledge of the relevant contacts to help you get in touch with the right people. The branch can be contacted at pubs@bolton.camra.org.uk whilst the national guides can be accessed here.
The thing to remember is that in order to keep drinking quality real ale, we need places to drink it. The best way to make sure your local pub thrives is to keep supporting it, so, as the first signs of Spring appear and the evenings get lighter, why not head out to your local pub or club and enjoy a pint or two.
Cheers!
Thanks
John Mitchell
Chair