Marsh Mash Autumn 2011

1 Autumn Issue 2011

Another Successful Beer Festival at

The Kent & East Sussex Railway

The Beer Festival was a success despite being washed out on the Friday night. Due to

torrential rain on Saturday morning, the event didn‟t pick up significantly until early

afternoon. From then on, however, it became very busy and a lot of lost momentum

was recovered leading to a successful and enjoyable event.

The presentation for the Beer of the Festival to Old Dairy Brewery for Gold Top took

place at the Smallhythe Music & Beer Festival, see page 20.

Champion Beer Old Dairy Gold Top

Runner up Old Dairy Silver Top

Third Pictish Alchemists Ale

The FREE Magazine of the Ashford, Folkestone &

Romney Marsh Branch of CAMRA - Autumn 2011

2 Autumn Issue 2011

3 Autumn Issue 2011

Touring a Selection of TN25 Pubs On a bright and sunny Saturday afternoon in

July a small number of CAMRA members (three) hired a mini bus to visit some of the

remote pubs within the branch that are virtually impossible to visit by public

transport.

Upon leaving Ashford Station we had a 20-minute journey to the first port of call The

Honest Miller on the outskirts of Brook where Sharon warmly welcomed us as the

first customers of the day. Built in 1609 this pub became an ale and cider house in 1793

and renamed the Honest Miller in 1809. The beers on offer were all from the

Admiral Tavern‟s list and included Sharp‟s Doombar, Greene King IPA and Butcombe

Bitter. We all enjoyed a glass of Butcombe before moving on to the next port of call.

The next visit was to the GBG regular Bowl

Inn in Hastingleigh where Ron greeted us in his usual manner and joined us in

conversation whilst we each enjoyed a pint of his excellent beers. We had a choice of

Hopdaemon Incubus or Skrimshander and Harvey‟s Sussex Best Bitter. This listed pub

has been lovingly restored and retains many of its original features including the

Taproom which now houses a pool table. The pub is decorated with Ron‟s collection

of external enamel signs that flow over into the adjacent historic barn together with

other bric-a-brac. After exploring the barn and a wander around the tidy garden with

its European eagle owl and the covered smoking shelter we rejoined the bus for our

next location.

After a short drive through the lanes we arrived at the 15th century Timber Batts, also known as Froggies named either after

Joel, the French owner or the collection of china frogs that ordain the bar and

restaurant area. Whilst this pub is better

known for its food it also supports the local

village community of Bodsham and offered a choice of three cask ales, Woodforde‟s

Wherry, Adnams Bitter and St Austell Tribute.

Like many pubs in this part of rural Kent

most of the village pubs provide cask ale and restaurant quality food. The 16th century

Tiger, in Stowting which is owned by the villagers and still keeps the “Mackeson

Hythe Ales” in the rendering on the front of the pub. Originally known as the Anchor

we had a choice of 4 beers and a draught cider. Shepherd Neame Masterbrew being

the pub‟s regular bitter with guest ales including Sun Top from the Old Dairy

brewery, Reeves Ale from Canterbury Ales and Harvey‟s Sussex Best Bitter. The cider

was from Biddenden but none of us were brave enough to have a pint after several

good beers and more pubs to visit

The next stop was the Black Horse, Monks Horton, which was unusually quiet

for a Saturday, presumably being in the heart of the countryside the locals were all

working in the fields or gone to the beach for the day. However the campsite behind

the pub was fairly busy and has become popular with travellers to and from the

continent. The pub has been accredited with CAMRA‟s LocAle, therefore it was not

surprising to find Hopdaemon Green Daemon and Old Dairy Gold Top, the local

Branch‟s Champion Bitter at the recent joint AFRM and K&ESR beer festival together

with the popular Harvey‟s Sussex Best Bitter all served direct from the cask. There was

also a good selection of cider and perry, Old Rosie and 1st Quality together with County Perry all from Weston‟s.

The Five Bells East Brabourne, which once

had a reputation for good food when under

4 Autumn Issue 2011

the stewardship of Hans and Pauline Pfeiffer,

went into decline a few years ago, but has now been tenderly refurbished by John and

Alison Rogers who bought the pub in May 2010. The bar area has been reorganised

with 6 hand pumps and a barrel of cider from Biddenden on stillage and the original

drinking area converted into a small local grocers selling the same local produce as

used in the kitchen. When we arrived at the 16th century pub we found Goacher‟s

Gold Star and Fine Light, Whitstable Shrimper, Hopdaemon Golden Braid and

Green Daemon together with a house beer Brabourne Black Velvet Stout that was

brewed by Goacher‟s especially for the pub. John and Alison must be congratulated in

returning this pub to its former glory and only selling beers and ciders from Kent.

The final call was to have been to the Blue

Anchor in Brabourne Lees, which according to the published opening times

when I previously visited in April, should have been open all day on Saturdays and

Sundays, but was found to be closed when we arrived shortly after 3pm. Not to be out

done, we decided to finish our tour by visiting the Farriers Arms, Mersham for a

final pint of 1606. Although the pub was holding a busy beer festival, which may have

accounted for the lack of numbers on our trip we decided not to join in having

sampled sufficient beers during the course of the afternoon so it was back in the bus and

return to Ashford Railway Station to continue our homeward journeys.

For those who couldn‟t make the trip they

missed visits to some excellent historical pubs, a fine choice of beers mainly from Kent, which considering a few years ago

there was only one Kentish brewer was very encouraging, splendid weather and

wonderful countryside panoramas from the North Downs.

5 Autumn Issue 2011

Produced by the Ashford, Folkestone and Romney

Marsh Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale Ltd.

(CAMRA)

Circulation 1800

Editors: Bob Martin & Keith Johnson

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: 0845 388 1062

Contributors: Bob Martin,

Shirley & Keith Johnson, Chris Excell

Contributions, letters, pub reports and news are

always welcome. Please write to Marsh Mash at:

The Cottage, The Green, Saltwood, Hythe, Kent

CT21 4PS

Views expressed are not necessary those of the

editor, CAMRA Ltd. , or the Branch. The

existence of this publication in a particular outlet

does not imply an endorsement of it by AF&RM

CAMRA.

Branch Contacts

Chairman: Paul Meredith

Treasurer: Stephen Rawlings

Secretary: Bob Martin

Membership Secretary: Virginia Hodge

Branch Contact: Stephen Rawlings

Telephone: 07885 218972

Branch Webmaster: Keith Johnson

Pubs Officer: Justin Nelson

Advertising: Bob Martin

Website: www.camra-afrm.org.uk

© Campaign for Real Ale 2011

CAMRA

230 Hatfield Road,

St Albans AL1 4LW

Telephone: 01727 867201

www.camra.org.uk

MARSH MASH What to do about it

The law says that when you order a pint

of beer, that is exactly what you should

get. If you‟re served short, then ask for

your glass to be filled to the correct

measure. It should be done with good

grace. Naturally it is important that it is

requested politely, however, if

satisfaction is not forthcoming you may

report it to:

Trading Standards, Kent County

Council, County Hall, Maidstone,

ME14 1XQ. Tel: 08458 247247.

Short Measures

6 Autumn Issue 2011

Real Cider & Bramley Apple Crumble with Cider Sauce

INGREDIENTS: Serves 6

Apples:

1lb 8oz (750g) Bramley Apples (or suitable cooking apple)

1 pint (560 ml) Real Still Medium Cider (I used Biddenden medium)

Approx 2oz (50g) Demerara Sugar (or to taste)

1 tsp Mixed Spice (or cloves or any sweet powdered spice you like)

Topping:

10oz (300g) Plain or Self Raising Flour

1-2 tsp Mixed Spice (or any sweet powdered spice you like)

4oz (125g) Butter or Margarine

2oz (50g) Demerara Sugar (add extra if you prefer a sweeter crumble)

Sauce:

Apple Cooking Sauce made up to 1 pint (560ml) with water (see method below)

¼ pint (140 ml) milk

6 heaped tsp Corn Flour

Approx 1oz (25g) Demerara Sugar (or to taste)

METHOD:

Crumble:

Turn oven on to 200oC (400 o F, gas 6)

Peel and core apples, cut into chunks, place in a saucepan, cover with cider and slowly bring to

the boil. Turn heat out and leave in saucepan for 5 minutes. Drain cooking liquid into a jug and

keep. Place apples in a large oven proof dish, sprinkle over mixed spice then add sugar to taste.

Set aside.

Sieve the flour and spice into a large bowl. Rub the fat into the flour until it resembles fine

breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar (alternatively, put flour, fat, spice and sugar into a food processor

and process until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs). Pour crumble mix over apples and

spread out evenly. Bake in pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes.

Crumble can be served hot or cold, with cider sauce (see below). Alternatively, serve with

cream, custard, ice cream, vanilla yogurt, crème freche - or whatever you like!

Sauce:

Make the apple cooking sauce up to 1 pint (560ml) with water, add milk and stir well. Pour most

of liquid into a saucepan, put on a low heat to warm. With the remainder, add the corn flour

and stir well until there are no lumps. Add the warm liquid to the corn flour mix and stir well,

return the liquid to the pan. Put back on to the heat and gently heat

through, stirring all the time, until thick. Add Demerara sugar to taste.

Serve with above.

Recipe by Shirley Johnson

7 Autumn Issue 2011

Ashford Area

The Locomotive has recently been selling

both Ridgeway and Samphire beers from

Abigale Brewery .

The only pub in the branch area with its own

brewery is the Farriers Arms in Mersham.

The pub continues to offer their regular

1606 with changing seasonal and celebration

beers along side Timothy Taylor Landlord.

The brewery has also been supplying 1606

to several local beer festivals including the

Kent Beer Festival during the summer.

The Enterprise Inns owned Churchill in

Willesborough which has closed “until

further notice” in June with rumours that an

application for change of use is likely.

The Queens Head, Kingsnorth is on the

market at £725,000 as the current landlord

of 11 years is looking to retire. Looks to me

like another pub being priced above the

market value to enable the vendor to claim,

after marketing it as a going concern when

no offers are received, applying for change of

use to either residential or other retail use,

for example a supermarket.

Folkestone Area

The Lifeboat continues to provide a

changing selection of beers including beers

from Kent and Cornwall.

The Black Horse, Denton, is reported to

be up for sale and the Victoria in Cheriton

has closed forever and is being converted

into accommodation.

In Sandgate, if you have the energy to

climb up Brewery Hill, the Earl of

Clarendon has been offering several

different beers from across the country

including some from Kent breweries with

very good NBSS scores (CAMRA‟s National

Beer Scoring System).

Hythe Area

Since going to press with the May edition the

Gate Inn has closed, future unknown, after

being sold prior to auction in March with

planning permission to convert the site to

accommodation.

The Carousel Lounge is now open

additionally on Mondays 12 until 6pm and

continues to offer beer at £2.50/pint. The

Carousel Lounge restaurant that closed

last year has now re-opened as Hong Kong

House, which also provides excellent and

reasonably priced takeaways. What better

Pub News

8 Autumn Issue 2011

way to wait for your take away than having a

pint or two!!

The Bell, which has been rumoured to be

for sale for some time has now being

offered with the remaining lease at an

advertised figure of £62,500.

The Three Mariners, reported by the

Guardian Weekend on 20 August as the

best pub in Hythe, continues to provide a

good range of changing cask ales from

around the country, but always some from

Kent brewers in excellent condition, as one

would expect from a GBG listed pub.

The White Hart is developing a good

reputation for food and now offers a local

beer, usually from the Old Dairy brewery,

along side Greene King IPA at £2.50/pint,

but on a recent visit Abigale Bramling was

available, a worthy resting place whilst

shopping in the High Street.

Botolph’s Bridge, West Hythe, held a

successful beer festival with 6 beers and 2

ciders over the May Bank holiday weekend.

The Marsh and the Hills

The Ship, Dymchurch, which changed hands

at the beginning of the year, has been

presented with the Kent Messenger Tasty

Magazine restaurant of the year award in

August; congratulations to Elaine. On a

recent visit Harvey‟s Sussex Bitter,

Doombar and Adnams Broadside were all

available.

Lisa and Gordon Russell have purchased the

White Horse, Bilsington, after many

changes of tenants from the troubled Punch

Taverns. Previously they ran the Blue

Anchor Ruckinge and they intend to

supplement the three hand pumps serving

beer with a couple of barrels on stillage, plus

another 3 hand pumps dispensing cider.

This move has meant the closure of the Blue

Anchor, which hopefully Enterprise Inns will

find a new tenant in the near future to

enable the pub to continue as licensed

premises.

The Swan at Wittersham has been offered

for sale with an asking price of £750,000 but

currently with no offers, what a surprise at

that price.

The Shepherd and Crook, Burmarsh, a

regular GBG entry, is up for sale for

£445,000, but is still offering excellent beers

from national micro-breweries in addition to

9 Autumn Issue 2011

the regular Adnams Bitter.

After helping Keith to prepare the first draft

of this Marsh Mash we went on a short

wander around New Romney. After

acquiring a sandwich in the local Sainsbury‟s

since it was too late to expect sandwiches in

the pubs, we visited the Prince of Wales

where we had an excellent pint of

Bombardier at £2.60/pint. Moving on we

called in at the New Inn where Doombar,

and Tribute were on offer. We both

enjoyed a pint of Tribute. Our final call

before returning home was the Cinque

Ports Arms where an interesting range of

beers were available, Harvey‟s Olympia,

Waggledance, and St Austell Proper Job.

Having tried a pint of Olympia I was looking

forward to a Proper Job but it ran out and

replaced by a beer I used to drink regularly

in Bedfordshire, Wells Eagle IPA, thus

renewing and old acquaintance.

The Downs

The Five Bells, East Brabourne, which

locally is acquiring a good reputation for

food is also receiving high scores in the

NBSS with offerings from Whitstable Bay,

Hopdaemon, and Goacher‟s breweries

regularly featuring.

The Kings Arms, Elham, continues to offer

Hopdaemon beers in good condition, well

worth a visit after the Elham Sunday market

or at any other time by hopping off the

number 17 bus.

The Bowl, Hastingleigh, continues to prove

a popular pub with excellent cask

conditioned local ales, and well filled

baguettes at weekends and they are now

offering food from a barbeque on weekend

evenings

The Coach and Horses, Lyminge was

offering London Pride and Harvey‟s when I

recently visited. I am assured that their beer

festival during August was a successful event.

Tenterden Area

In Tenterden the Vine continues to offer

reasonable beers from Shepherd Neame and

the White Lion beers from Marston‟s

including Banks, Jennings, Wychwood, and

Ringwood beers.

The White Hart, Newenden continues to

offer beers from Rother Valley and recently

Blue Top from the Old Dairy Brewery.

The Star, Rolvenden, whilst still believed to

be owned by Greene King has a free of tie

arrangement which has enabled the landlord

to allow the pub to almost become the

brewery tap for the Old Dairy Brewery.

Thank you to all who have provided

information to enable me to compile pub

news.

If there is anything interesting, however

small about your local pubs, please let us

know and then I won‟t be chastised for not

including it in the next Pub News.

You can email Bob with pub news at

[email protected]

10 Autumn Issue 2011

Marsh Mash first appeared in the spring of

1999 when it replaced “Boozeletter” a joint

typed production produced by the branch

and finally with the Dover and Swale

branches, both of which now also produce

their own newsletters “Draught Copy” and

“Swale Ale”.

The banner on the first edition read “Rare

Breeds Beer Festival 29 May 1999”

announcing the 6th AFRM beer festival. The

beer festivals are still going strong but have

moved to the Kent & East Sussex Railway,

Tenterden, which provides better transport

links with the major Kent towns.

The editorial announced a duty freeze on the

price of beer, how things have changed since,

with various chancellors adding duty and

VAT to balance the Government coffers!!!

The advertisers then were the Clarendon

Inn, Sandgate, the Bowl Charing, the South

Eastern Tavern Ashford, closed and now a

mosque, the Crown Stone in Oxney, the

Red Lion Snargate, the Star Rolvenden, and

the now closed Blacksmiths Arms Pluckley.

With the conversion of the South Eastern to

a place of worship, the converse happened a

few years ago when the Chapel at

Folkestone became a Weatherspoons‟

establishment. Two breweries also

advertised, Rother Valley, which is still

trading, and the Kent Garden Brewery -

what happened to them?

Virginia Hodge produced the first “word

search” and continues to do so today, for

which we are grateful.

Chris Excell, who still contributes to Marsh

Mash, wrote an interesting article on getting

round the branch area to visit local pubs by

bus, it‟s a shame the buses no longer provide

the same services and some of the pubs he

mentions are no longer trading. Chris is still

an expert on public transport to pubs, not

only in Kent.

Pub News mourned the demise of Hooden

Horse pubs after being acquired by Inn

Business who then replaced the local

Goacher‟s beers and Biddenden ciders with

national brews from Carlsberg Tetley

claiming that there was no demand for the

local products. These pubs have now

become part of the pubco, Punch Taverns,

but do sell good quality cask ales again.

There was a comparison between the 1979

and 1999 GBG. The 1979 edition had 294

pages and included 6000 pubs at a cost

£2.95, whilst the 1999 edition had 576 pages

and cost £10.99. The Farriers Arms

Mersham, the Clarendon Sandgate, and

Crown, Stone in Oxney appeared in both

editions whilst the Trumpeter Ashford, the

Welcome Stranger, Court at Street, the

Black Bull Newchurch and the Globe in

Romney Street had all closed since appearing

in the 1979 edition.

Graham Hodge, our current beer festival

organiser, wrote an article about the demise

of mild, claiming it to be his favourite tipple,

but with the larger brewers, Shepherd

Neame and Courage stopping brewing it was

left to his good knowledge to find mild in the

area. Notable exceptions were the Star

Rolvenden with Greene King XX, and the

Rose and Crown, Old Romney providing

Bateman‟s Dark Mild. Mild also appeared

occasionally at the Rose and Crown, Elham

(a free house then), Queens Arms Egerton

Forstal and the Red Lion Snargate.

Travelling around the branch pubs today

mild is still a rare find as a regular offering.

The Kent breweries in 1999 were Shepherd

Neame Faversham, Kent Garden Brewery

Ospringe who ceased brewing in 2001,

G o a c h e r ‟ s M a i d s t o n e , L a r k i n ‟ s

Chiddingstone, Flagship Rochester and Swale

Sittingbourne. Whilst the number of pubs in

Kent has reduced since 1999 the number of

breweries has increased with some from

A Look Back To 1999


1999 still trading and new ones opened.

Bob Martin

As part of the 40th Birthday Celebrations

CAMRA HQ issued facsimile copies of the

1972 and 1974 editions of the Good Beer

Guide.

Looking through them was an eye opening

experience. The

1972 edition being

the first were typed

sheets, which listed

only one pub within

our Branch, the

B r i t i s h L i o n

Folkestone that is in

the current edition.

The 1974 edition was

a printed book where

we faired a little

better with six listed

pubs. Brookland the

W o o l p a c k ,

Folkestone the Earl

Grey, Hythe the Globe, Sandgate the Royal

Norfolk Hotel, Tenterden the Vine and the

Flying Horse, Wye all of them being Shepherd

Neame establishments with the exception of

the Royal Norfolk Hotel which was offering

Young‟s bitter.

With the ongoing success of CAMRA

nationally we are now limited to 17 entries in

the Good Beer Guide from the 173 pubs

known to be selling cask ale in our branch,

which causes some

disappointment with

our local landlords.

The Branch website

www.camra-afrm.org.uk

provides details of all

the pubs in the Branch.

Another Bit of History




H P R

I D L P

L E

R A

L P R A

E S

I H D

P S D R

E S I

The lucky winner of the last Wordsearch was Mrs L.R. Fytche from Redhill, Surrey who

won a copy of the 2011 Good Beer Guide

To go with the new look Marsh Mash we thought that a Sudoku would make a change

from Virginia‟s Wordsearch.

Fill in all the squares in the grid so that every row, column, and each of the nine 3 x 3

squares contain one of all of the letters.

Send your completed Sudoku to CAMRA Autumn Competition, The Cottage, The Green,

Saltwood, Kent CT21 4PS by 11 November 2011 and the first drawn will receive a mystery prize.



REAL ALE

CAMRA originally called the Campaign for the Revitalisation of Ale, the name

was changed to the Campaign for Real Ale at the London 1973 AGM. The term Real Ale is now in the Oxford

English Dictionary. Today the membership is over 120,000 and still growing. The campaign exists to

promote good quality beer and variety of choice, as well as campaigning against pub closures and fighting for the rights

of all pub users.

Campaign successes over the last

40 years:

Saving Real Ale from the Red Peril

One of CAMRA‟s first successes was to stop the flood of fizzy, metallic, keg

beers sweeping the country. One of the leading keg beer brands was Watney's Red Barrel, subsequently rebranded as

Watney‟s Red, which was withdrawn from sale in the UK after the failure of the “Red Revolution” advertising campaign to persuade people to drink

the metallic fizzy concoction. This was CAMRA‟s first really big campaign to reach public notice; and it worked. Not

only did Watney's Red disappear, apart from the odd references in Monty Python sketches, but it also helped

CAMRA‟s membership grow. Following the demise of Watney‟s Red many traditional UK brewers halted their rush

to keg and reverted to producing and

promoting real ale.

Achieved Licensing Hours Reform

CAMRA had campaigned long and hard to end the UK‟s restrictive licensing laws. In 1988, there were the first

changes in pub hours in England and Wales since the Defence of the Realm Act 1915 which brought in restrictive

opening hours as a World War I measure. Pubs in England and Wales could now open all day Monday to

Saturday and till 3.00pm on Sunday. In 1995 all day opening on Sunday was permitted in England and Wales, Scotland having had moved to permit

longer hours several years before. Licensing in England and Wales moved to more flexibility with the 2003

Licensing Act for England and Wales which gave licensees the great flexibility to open when they wished something

for which CAMRA had campaigned.

Small Brewers Relief Achieved

In 1993 „End Point Duty‟ was

introduced where excise duty levied on the beer as it leaves the brewery according to strength and its volume.

Prior to this it had been based on the original gravity of the wort prior to fermentation with a 6% wastage

allowance given. This system favoured very large brewers with low wastage

and penalised small breweries.

„Progressive Beer Duty‟ introduced 2002 and extended in 2004. The excise duty relief gave a welcome boost to the

microbrewery sector and helps them invest in their businesses. It also acted as the catalyst for a growth in new breweries. Between 2002 and 2010 the

CAMRA successes over the last 40 years


number of breweries in the UK has

grown from 350 to 767. There are now more breweries in the UK than at any time since the 1930s and four times as

many as when CAMRA was founded in

1971.

Achieved a reduced rate of duty

for lower strength beers

Following lobbying from CAMRA the Government has agreed to take

advantage of European Union rules, to introduce a lower rate of excise duty for beers below 2.8% abv. This rate was announced in the 2011 Budget but has

yet to be introduced. CAMRA continues to press the Government to lobby the EU raise the level at which the

reduced rate can apply up to 3.5% abv

The right to know – publication of

the strengths of beers

CAMRA wished to publish the strengths of real ales in the 1976 Good Beer Guide, however brewers refused to

reveal the strengths or original gravities of their beers, therefore CAMRA tested the beers themselves and published the

figures. The following year when brewers were asked for this information they gave it freely. Today all brewers

will freely state the strengths of their beers – in fact there is a legal

requirement to do so.

Saved the Guest Beer (if only for a short time) against the threats of

the EU

There was an attempt by the European Union to ban the Guest Beer, which had to be a cask conditioned beer, because they said it conflicted with Article 30 of

the Treaty of Rome. The EU claimed

that brewers in the rest of Europe did

not produce cask conditioned beer and so could not benefit from this opening up of the UK market. CAMRA won by

persuading the UK Government to adapt the guest beer law to also include a bottle conditioned beer, also

persuading the EU that there were brewers in Europe that did produce cask conditioned beers and there were

very many more who produced bottle

conditioned beers.

Challenged the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) over the adverse

effects of the beer tie

CAMRA forced the OFT to re-open their investigation of the tie after they

had turned down CAMRA‟s original super-compliant about the way that large pub companies operated their

beer tie which acted against the interests of the consumer. Whilst the OFT subsequently ruled that the tie did

not adversely affect the consumer, CAMRA d id secure f rom the Government a commitment to deal

with the pub companies if they did not introduce clear codes of practice by

June 2011. This is still dragging on!!!

Achieved Rate Relief for pubs in

England

CAMRA successfully lobbied for the

mandatory rate relief for shops and post offices to be extended to pubs. Pubs in rural areas are now entitled to 50%

mandatory relief where they are the only pub in the village and have a rateable value of less than £10,500. They are also entitled to a further 50%

discretionary relief.


Successfully pressed for the end of

Restrictive Covenants on pub sales

CAMRA has been campaigning to end the practise of sellers attaching

Restr ict ive Covenants on pubs preventing their further use as pubs. The Government is now minded to ban

such covenants and has now announced that it will issue a consultation on the

practice.

Under pressure from CAMRA, pub companies such as Punch Taverns and Enterprise Inns have specifically said that they wi ll cease from imposing

Restrictive Covenants on pubs, banning their future use as pubs on all pubs that

they sell.

Ach ieved bet ter p lanning

protection for pubs

CAMRA has campaigned long for better

planning protection for pubs. The “last pub in the village” is now protected by Local Planning Authorities and has a far

greater chance of surviving as a pub. Pubs can now no longer be turned into fast food outlets without „change of use‟

planning permission. 50% - 60% of local councils now have pub protection policies in their local plans. CAMRA has

lobbied on the right for communities to have the right to buy their local pub. The Localism Bill currently going

throu gh Par l i a ment w i l l g i ve communities this right to acquire local

services and assets.

Saving the historic pub interiors.

CAMRA has done sterling work to save and protect historic pub interiors. It has launched the National Inventory of Pub

Interiors, published national and

regional guides to pubs with historic

interiors. This has raised the awareness of people of the importance of our pub heritage. CAMRA has worked

successfully with English Heritage to achieve listing for many pubs with historic interiors and thus help preserve

them for future generations.

CAMRA has succeeded in getting the Government’s to recognise the

importance of the pub

In 2010 The Labour Government appointed John Healey as Pubs Minister who set out a 10 Point Action Plan to

save the pub, including a provision for grants for community groups wishing to acquire their local pub. At the 2010

General Election 670 parliamentary candidates signed up to pledges in CAMRA‟s pub charter and 150 of them

were subsequent ly elected to Parliament. Following the formation of the Coalition Government, CAMRA

lobbied for the appointment of a pubs minister and the Government has now appointed Bob Neill as Community Pubs

Minister.

Saving and Raising the profile of

Real Ale

Without the o n g o i n g campaign of

CAMRA over the last 40 years there

may well not have been any or very much real ale

left in the UK or brewers still producing

it.


LocAle, the successful promotion

of locally brewed real ale

CAMRA has established an initiative that promotes pubs that sell locally brewed real ale. Since its launch in 2007

CAMRA branches have accredited hundreds of LocAle pubs across the country regularly who sell locally

brewed real ale in good condition.

Successfully promoted Real Ale in

a bottle

When CAMRA was formed there were only 5 regularly produced bottled conditioned beers. Today there are now

over 1300 regularly produced bottled conditioned beers. CAMRA campaigns such as “CAMRA says this is Real Ale”

and the “Good Bottled Beer Guide” has

helped enormously this growth.

Saved quality Czech lager

Budweiser Budvar from US

takeover

CAMRA in 1989 following the velvet revolution in the then Czechoslovakia,

worried about a potential threat of the takeover of Budweiser Budvar by the US Global beer giant Anheuser-Busch,

w r o t e t o t h e P r e s i d e n t o f Czechoslovakia, Vlacav Havel, urging him not to sell the state owned brewery

to the Americans. In the following years the campaign has given its support for Budvar to keep its independence and so

far we have been successful.

Created an Effective Beer

Campaigning Voice in Europe

May 1990 European Beer Consumers Union, a federation of national beer consumer groups, was founded in

Bruges in May – the first three members

were CAMRA, PINT from the Netherlands and OBP from Belgium. Today EBCU had grown to encompass

twelve national beer consumer groups from Finland to the Czech Republic and Poland. We hold regular receptions for

MEPs in Brussels and use EBCU as an avenue to lobby on relevant matters at

Commission and Parliamentary level.

Britain's Best-Selling, Independent Guide to Good Beer and Good

Pubs. With the Good Beer Guide to hand, you're never far

from a decent pint.

Buy the Good Beer Guide 2012 today

Edited by Roger Protz


Beer of the Festival Presentation

CAMRA Kent & East Sussex Railway Beer

Festival organiser Graham Hodge presents the

award for ‘Beer of the Festival’ to Lionel & Will

of the Old Dairy Brewery for Gold Top.

Brabourne Five Bells

Elham Kings Arms

Folkestone Chambers

Hastingleigh Bowl

Hythe Three Mariners

Mersham Farriers Arms

Monks Horton Black Horse

New Romney Cinque Port Arms

Rolvenden Star

Sandgate Ship

Snargate Red Lion

Wittersham Swan

Woodchurch Six Bells

With your help we would like to

promote pubs within the AF&RM area that offer their customers LocAle. LocAles are produced locally, usually

within a radius of 30 miles from the pub thereby benefitting and helping the local economy and helping environmentally as

the beers will have travelled a lesser distance than National brands. If your local pub regularly serves beers brewed

locally please let us know and we will consider them for LocAle accreditation. The following are the current pubs that

have been accredited :-


Tuesday 18 October @ 7.30pm

Ashford Social - meet at Oranges

Wednesday 2 November @ 7.30pm

GBG Nominations - County Hotel, Ashford

CAMRA members only

Wednesday 16 November @ 7.30pm

Sandgate Wander - start Earl of Clarendon

Wednesday 25 January @ 7.30pm

Meeting - Star, Rolvenden

For other forthcoming meetings find them in

WHAT‟S BREWING or on the branch

website at www.camra-afrm.org.uk

14 &15 October

Thanet CAMRA 4th Cider Festival

Churchill Tavern, Ramsgate

21 - 23 October

Six Bells Beer Festival, Woodchurch

22 & 23 October

CAMRA Beer and Cider Festival

Spa Valley Railway

With lots of beers and a few ciders to choose

from, there'll be plenty of choice at Tunbridge

Wells, Groombridge and Eridge stations, plus

on the trains as well.

CAMRA AF&RM

Branch Diary

CAMRA and Pub

Beer Festivals


Following on from the July trip on an

overcast but dry day (well at least on the

outside, with the exception of a spilt half pint

from one of the less thirsty travellers), a trip

to some of the pubs to the west of Ashford

was undertaken on an lazy August Sunday

afternoon. This trip was far better

supported with eight thirsty CAMRA

members and a teetotal mini bus driver.

The first stop was the Dering Arms

adjacent to Pluckley station where the beer

on offer was Goacher‟s Dering ale, brewed

specifically for the pub at 3.6% abv. This old

Hunting Lodge, built as a replica of the main

manor house on a smaller scale, is an

impressive building, which was built for the

Dering family in the

1840‟s and has been an

inn for over 100 years.

Pacing ourselves with

several more pubs to

visit, we moved on

(after a pint) to the

Mundy Bois -

originally the Rose and

Crown, a 17th century

free house, which has

j u s t c h a n g e d

management. The pub

has a separate public bar where the regulars

were found to be very friendly, considering

eight of us descending on their quiet Sunday

lunchtime drink. The pub offers changing

Kentish Ales and on our visit there was

Whitstable Native. Not the easiest of pubs

to find in the lanes between Pluckley,

Egerton and Smarden of “Darling Buds of

May” country, but well worth seeking out.

The next stop was the Queen’s Arms,

Egerton Forstal, once in the Good Beer

Guide, but with changes of management now

only appeared to be offering Shepherd

Neame Masterbrew. Unfortunately there

was insufficient beer in the barrel (busy night

on Saturday!) to supply eight pints so we

moved on smartly to the next pub.

Upon arriving at the George Inn Egerton

(what had been rumoured to be a

restaurant), we were greeted with a fine

array of fully charged hand pumps, Young‟s

Bitter, Cottage Elise, Wychwood Hobgoblin,

Harvey‟s Sussex Best, and Masterbrew.

Several of our party tried different beers and

we all agreed that they were in excellent

condition. I had a pint of Harvey‟s at £3.00/

pint and was tempted to have another but

we still had more ports of call to make. A

local Classic Car group meet at the pub on

the first Sunday of the month, the second

Sunday at the Dering Arms, the Farriers

Arms Mersham on

the third and the Six

Bells Brabourne on

the fourth. Definitely

a village local pub

that sells good quality

beer and not the

restaurant as I had

been led to believe.

Onward we ventured

with the mini bus to

the Red Lion,

Charing Heath, a

refurbished Shepherd Neame house, which

was offering Masterbrew and Spitfire. By

this time the sun was shining and we all

decanted to the garden to find a pleasantly

laid out garden and a children‟s “zoo” - well

a couple of goats and a rabbit.

After a short break we ventured in Swale

Branch‟s territory to visit the Plough,

Stalisfield Green, a delightful 15th century

country pub on the North Downs which was

offering a good range of beers mainly from

Kent Breweries including Kent Ales KGB at

£3.20/pint in excellent condition. The beer

and company was so good that we stayed for

another before moving on, after someone

Touring a Selection of TN27 Pubs


had poured half of their beer over my

trousers in an embarrassing position.

The last stop before returning to the station

was the Bowl Inn, Charing, another fine

rural Free House with a good range of beers.

As none of us had eaten since leaving Ashford

it was welcoming that food in the form of

sandwiches were being served all afternoon. I

had an excellent well-filled sausage, bacon and

melted cheese sandwich, at £3.75. By this

time we had all consumed a reasonable

amount of beer, my recollection of the beer

range other than London Pride had become

very hazy.

By this time our driver was running out of his

legal driving hours so we returned back to

Ashford Station just in time for me to miss

my train home. Unfortunately there are no

pubs convenient for the station so it was “set

the mobile alarm clock” and wait for the next

one in an hour.


Documents

Marsh Mash Autumn 2011