Mad Cow Issue 39

MAY-JUL 2015 Issue 39

Circulation 2,600 Copies

In This Issue Why Pubs Succeed – p7

Craft Beer Pilgrimage – p14

Pub Circular Walks – Page 19

Walking for Health – p38

Beer Festival Update - p24

Campaign Update – p28

ascot.co.uk

Friday 2nd - Saturday 3rd October 2015

THE ASCOT CAMRA BEER FESTIVAL AND RACING WEEKEND

E XC I T E M E N T O N TA P

CAMPAIGNFOR

REAL ALE

Grandstand Admission from £18 pp | Premier Admission from £25 pp | Fine Dining from £150 pp +VAT

Exclusive discount available for CAMRA members using discount code BEER2015

Ascot’s annual CAMRA Beer Festival returns for its ninth year accompanied by two days of dramatic Flat

racing. With over 280 real ales, ciders and perries to sample including a regional bar from Greater Manchester,

as well as traditional pub games, a quiz and live music, Ascot will transform into the ultimate local.

www.seberkscamra.org.uk

Issue 39, May-Jul 2015 Page 3

Introduction

Welcome to the thirty-ninth edition of the Mad Cow mag-azine. We continue to limp along without a permanent editor for our magazine and

this time it has fallen to my hands to pro-duce something which I hope will bring you some reading pleasure whilst you sup your pint. The theme for this edition is walking. With the summer approaching fast it is time for us to dust off our walking boots again to venture out into the countryside, and after several miles of heart pumping striding, to arrive at the village local where we can enjoy the quench of their finest ale. In this edition you will find a number of interesting articles including the details of a couple of circular walks from the New Leathern Bottle and Jack o’Newbury on pages 19, 20 and 21. Walking for Health is a relatively new initia-tive being lead by some of our local coun-cils. It encourages groups of individuals to motivate others to get outside and be more active to stimulate a healthier lifestyle. Further details are on page 38. Whilst preparing this edition of the Mad Cow I have also been busily planning a walk of my own, which I hope to complete in April/May this year. This 850 mile walk across the length of England will hopefully help me discover the true meaning of ‘craft beer’. Details of my plans can be found on page 14.

Cheers! Mike Rathge

Contacts Mad Cow Magazine Editor ~ position vacant Advertising ~ Jeremy Barber [email protected] Berkshire South East Branch General Enquiries ~ Mike Rathge [email protected] Chairman ~ David Richards [email protected] Website ~ www.seberkscamra.org.uk Join CAMRA ~ www.camra.org.uk Trading Standards 0845 404 0506 www.consumerdirect.gov.uk Front cover picture © Copyright Andrew Bowden and licensed for reuse under Cre-ative Commons Licence.

@CamraBSE @Ascot_Beer_Fest

Bse Camra

The views expressed in the Mad Cow are those of individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Campaign for Real Ale.

© Berkshire South East CAMRA 2015


Page 4 Issue 39, May-Jul 2015

Pub News

Ascot The Royal Hunt is shut. Inside has been stripped bare and high on the wall above the door to the darts-bar is a large sign saying CONVENIENCE STORE. Hawthorn Leisure have advised that it is for sale but declined to comment further. Our Pub Preservation Officer is currently looking into the options to try and save the pub.

Royal Hunt Ascot – Under threat Thatched Tavern. A member reported - Asked for a half of Windsor and Eton Guardsman but the barrel had just gone, “wait” said the young lady serving me and soon her manager Anna arrived and quick-ly pumped through a new barrel. Now that's what I call service!

Winkfield

Following the recent

refurbish-ment at the

Squirrels Bar, some

changes have been

happening on their cask beers. They have recently started serving Vale beer, which appears to be selling well. In addition they now sell Fullers London Pride as a solid regular offering and will keep one pump on LocAle (Rebellion more often than not).

Warfield The Shepherds House Moss End, Warfield (Chef and Brewer) has been re-freshed inside and has just reopened. It has been very busy recently, which is al-ways a good thing to see.

Woodside A member reported - A recent visit to the Rose and Crown Woodside raised an initial concern, as only Greene King IPA Gold appeared to be on offer. The three hand-pumps had no clips. Handing a wad of beermats to the nice lady behind the bar, she said “would you like a drink?” add-ing, “I've a barrel of Abbot tapped out the back”. The half pint proved to be in tiptop condition and the pub had a lovely relaxed atmosphere and a good feeling about the place.

Rose and Crown Woodside The Duke of Edinburgh in Woodside now has Arkell's latest special ale on tap - Hop-eration IPA at 4.5%. It's so 'hoppy' it's go-ing down a storm! The garden opened at the Easter weekend, so if the weather is bright then maybe consider popping to the Duke for a well earned drink in the fresh air. Food can also be served in the gar-den.

www.TheDukeOfEdinburgh.com

The Duke of Edinburgh, Woodside Road, Winkfi eld, SL4 2DP Tel: 01344-882736Located in the hamlet of Woodside, just 1/2 mile from Ascot racecourse

A Menu for all OccasionsBar & Light Lunch menu available lunchtimes & evenings.

Evenings also offer our extensive A-la-Carte menu, with always a large selection of ‘Specials’ available.

On Thursdays we have our ever popular ‘Hot & Spicy Night’ – a meal & drink for just £10.95.

Real Ales @ the DukeThe Duke’s real ale collection is popular. Arkell’s of Swindon provide an excellent range of beers, with favourites offered such as: 2B, 3B, Wiltshire Gold ale, Moonlight and Kingsdown special ale, with others such as: Bee’s organic ale and Noël ale also offered in different seasons.

The Duke has free WiFi access (high speed compu-fi x system)

Check out our website for all news, menus, events, local information, as well as info on our range of real ales, lagers & wines. The Duke also offers a spacious beer garden which boasts a large avery.

bit.ly/UuEEFk

bit.ly/Qag3nQ on.fb.me/SzsVcd



Pub News (Cont.)

Wokingham

Ye Olde Leath-ern Bottel (Chef & Brewer), south west of Woking-ham on the Barkham Road, has had a make over with a new pub sign and freshly painted exterior. Inside the wall cover-ings and furniture have been refreshed in a 17th Century style with matching wallpaper and uphol-stery. Bingham's Twyford Tipple is still leading the beer offering supported by Wild Weather, London Pride and Doom Bar on a recent visit. Separate good value lunch and evening set food menus are available alongside the main menu with some more adventurous dishes such as an Asian-style rare beef salad.

Bracknell Long standing licensees Mo and Alan Cannon at the Green Man have left to run the Narrow Boat in Newbury. The pub will now undergo a refurbishment knocking it into one bar with a focus on food.

Protect Your Local Pub

The government has recently an-nounced that any previous pub listed as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) will have its permitted development rights removed. Whereas normally a pub is allowed to change to a shop, restaurant or vari-ous other uses, or indeed be demolished completely, without needing planning per-mission, this step will remove these rights from any pub that the community have had listed as an ACV. Change of use or demoli-tion could still happen but it would first need planning permission, meaning the local community will have a say where they currently do not. While CAMRA continues to believe that permitted development rights should be removed from all pubs, this is a very wel-come step. The government has said it intends to introduce the legislation before the election, and we need to keep up the pressure to ensure that happens. Nationally over 600 pubs have been listed as ACVs and will benefit from this protec-tion. Locally we have one pub listed, which is the Rose and Crown in Woodside. If you want to protect your local it's relative-ly simple, so get in touch with our Pub Preservation Officer, Gareth Forster. [email protected].



Why Pubs Succeed By Mike Smith I read with great interest David Richard’s article in the last Mad Cow (Feb/Apr-15) titled ‘Why Pubs Fail’ and couldn’t help but mourn the numerous examples that I know in Berkshire where pubs have failed or are currently failing, seemingly for the reasons that David cited - in particular, for not hav-ing a ‘Unique Selling Proposition’ (USP). I am not going to name them as I’m sure you all know which ones we’re talking about – yes, the one just down the road that you don’t visit very often! This led me to think about some examples from across the county and beyond where pubs are highly successful simply because they provide something different; a quality offering; a high level of customer service from trained staff who are enthused and more often than not, with real ale at the heart of their business. Here are a few examples of, what my for-mer Director used to call, “what good looks like”. Swan Inn, Inkpen, Berkshire

Before moving to Wokingham in the late 1990’s I considered the Swan as my sec-ond home. When I first visited, it used to be a fairly average country pub serving rea-sonable food and not very interesting beer. Then the rigours of dwindling customer numbers versus its value as a private resi-dence got the better of the owner culminat-ing in a sale and a rescue at the eleventh

hour under auction by local farmers (and CAMRA members) Bernard and Mary Har-ris. They transformed the place building quality accommodation and adding an or-ganic butchery to supply an on-site farm shop and restaurant. But at the heart of the business was a vibrant bar that really sup-ported the local community with quizzes, meat raffles, Morris Dancing, onion grow-ing and cheese rolling competitions; all washed down with beers supplied by the local organic Butts Brewery and a regular Mild beer. It was a real pleasure for me to revisit the Swan recently to find that this winning formula is still going strong over sixteen years later. Bell Inn, Aldworth, Berkshire

You might think that a pub of this architec-tural magnificence cited in the beautiful Berkshire Downs at the heart of a quintes-sentially British village would not need a USP or even know what one was, yet they have been doing it successfully for dec-ades. Luckily for those that appreciate the traditions of an English pub not much has changed here over the years; the Bell still focuses on the best locally brewed beer from West Berkshire and fantastic yet sim-ple hot filled rolls enjoyed alongside the pleasant burble of conversation. Elsewhere you might expect such a gem to be cov-ered in aspic and selling Ye Olde burger & chips. But not at the Bell, it’s a real public house selling real beer and real food local-ly sourced.



Nags Head, Reading, Berkshire Most of the readership will be familiar with the offering at the Nags mak-ing it a haven for beer and cider drinkers with twelve

hand-pumps dispensing a changing selec-tion of real ales from across the country, a stack of bag-in-box

ciders and an eclectic range of specialist bottled beers. Not difficult to spot the USP here and a far cry from the succinct de-scription in the 1999 Berkshire Pub Guide “No Real Ale” before its current incarna-tion. Brewhouse & Kitchen, Islington London EC1

Brewhouse & Kitchen is part of a chain of seven brewpubs where the beer is actually brewed in the pub. Shinning copper ves-sels are on display so that you can watch the brewer at work whilst you sip a selec-tion of different beer styles including IPA, Old Ale, Stout, Porter and Wheat Beer; all available in halves, pints or a tray of third pints allowing customers to experience the lot without overindulging. The interior is light and airy with stripped timber floors and a simple food offering in which special-

ty burgers feature. The bar staff are knowl-edgeable and keen to tell you all about the beers and will recommend a pairing to go with your food. Finborough Arms, West Brompton London SW10 A classic Victori-an pub restored in 2014 with fashionably min-imalist décor serving six real ales, two real ciders, the latest boutique craft keg and wood-fire pizza from next door’s pizza kitchen/take-away. Local brewers are well represented here in their beer offerings from Portobello, Purity and Twickenham. The cellar bar hosts monthly comedy nights and above the pub is the home of the Finborough Theatre showing the latest creative talent and re-vival of old forgotten works from the 19th and 20th centuries.

___ It has become a perennial point of discus-sion within the local CAMRA branch when we select our Pub of the Year that, whilst we have some good pubs, we are rarely able to put forward a truly excellent pub that would come anywhere near to beating our neighbouring branches in the regional round of the competition. So why is it that in South East Berkshire, one of the wealthiest areas in the country with one of the highest levels of disposable income, very few of our pubs have grasped the opportunity to provide a fantastic pub experience that people will flock to?

FREE ENTRY FUN FOR ALL AGES

This popular Food Festival is back for a third year. The Mansion House and Grounds provide the perfect setting for this bijoux festival.

^ Browse and taste samples from specialist food stalls ^ Listen to live music from local musicians ^ Have a bite to eat with an international flavour ^ Entertain the children - bouncy castle (weather permitting) ^ Soak up the atmosphere.

South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell · 01344 484123 · www.southhillpark.org.uk

South Hill Park Food FestivalSat 6 June 10am–6pm · Sun 7 June 10am–5pm · FREE ENTRY for all

South Hill Park welcomes you

to bring along the family for

this FREE ENTRY event

Andy and Pauline welcome you to the

Pinewood bar and café Pinewood Festival & Beer Festival

Sunday 5th July 12.00 noon - 4.00pm

All day breakfast, Good selection of Freshly cooked food,

Baguettes, Sandwiches, Tea, coffee, and cakes.

- Home to many clubs - Darts /pool - Tuesday night, Bike night & MX5 & VW campers - Ballroom dancing to Burlesque - New skittle alley for hire

Decked Patio Area Function room available for hire Ideal for weddings, parties, wakes etc Party’s catered for all ages Real Ales, Licensed bar & Catering

www.pinewoodbarandcafe.co.uk Unit 8, Pinewood Leisure [email protected] Old Wokingham Road, 01344 778543 Wokingham, RG40 3AQ

BOTTLE BEERS BREWERY TOURS

WEST BERKSHIRE BREWERYThe Flour Barn Frilsham Home Farm Yattendon, RG18 0XT



Brewery News

West Berkshire

The Brewery has announced two new appointments to its Board. Simon Lewis has joined the Company as Chief Executive Officer and Tom Lucas, ACCA, has been promoted to Finance Director and Company Secretary.

West Berkshire Brewery took its beer to Sheffield in March to compete against other beers from across the country at the BeerX National Beer Competition 2015 organised by SIBA (the Society of Independent Brewers). Dr Hexter’s Healer won a silver award at the SIBA beer competition. Also, West Berkshire Brewery are delighted that their Tommy Atkins Traditional Ale was recognised at BeerX as they won an award for Best Marketing and Communications. Celebrations all round at the brewery! West Berkshire Brewery also congratulates the Royals of Reading FC on their quarter-final triumph with a dual-branded limited edition pump-clip. The multi-award winning bitter, Good Old Boy brewed by the West Berkshire Brewery and the official beer of Reading FC launched a new limited-edition pump-clip replete with the club badge and shirt colours, to celebrate the team’s FA Cup quarter-final tri-umph, and ensuing trip to Wembley.

Ascot Ales

The Single Hop series continues. Single hop is a 4.6% light copper coloured IPA, brewed with a different single variety of hops every month. The latest is a new experimental Slovenian hop 30/96 (so new it doesn't have a name!). It has fruity & floral aromas & flavour. The brewery has won three awards at the recent CAMRA 2014 London and South East Area Champion Beer of Britain competition:

- Anastasia's Imperial Stout was judged Gold in the Stout Category, - Anastasia's Exile Stout was judged Bronze in the Real Ale in a Bottle Category, - On the Rails was judged Bronze in the Mild Category.

Siren Craft Brew

Siren Craft Brew celebrated their second an-niversary in style in March with a Festival of Wood. The party proved to be a huge suc-cess with burgers, music, beers and company enjoyed by everyone. Over 500 people turned up during the seven hours of festivities and kept the Siren staff working until they dropped. The beer list was extensive and

there were many outstanding beers. Siren tells us that plans are already being hatched for their next event so keep your diaries free for June.



Brewery News (contd.) Windsor & Eton

The local CAMRA branches teamed up to visit the popular Windsor and Eton Brewery in March. A full round up of the evening can be found on page 33. Due to popular demand W&E have increased their open tours to every 1st & 3rd Wednesday of each month as well as a Saturday tour once a month.

Longdog Brewery

Longdog Brewery were thrilled to be awarded “Gold” in the Porter Category of the London and South East Regional Champion Beer of Britain

competition with Lamplight Porter recently, in Camden. After receiving “Silver” last year, it is a great achievement to get Gold in this year’s competition. The hop shortage has bitten once again and the Pacific Jade hops that Longdog usually put in their Kismet are no long-er available so they have substituted a couple of other New World hops to retain much of the same character. Longdog are looking forward to a busy Summer ahead with several outdoor events and beer festivals already in their calendar.

Twickenham Brewery

Twickenham Brewery recently brewed a collaboration with Page 24, a French brewery who came to Twicken-ham to brew a Biere de Mars. Twickenham reciprocated and brewed a porter in France, the last few bottles of which may still be available in the shop at Twickenham Brewery. Twickenham has also won a national award for its first ever keg product – Tusk. It won Bronze in the SIBA national BeerX awards in the Premium, Golden and Pale Ale keg category.

Frensham Brewery With spring in their step, their route planning hats on, and with the common surrounding Frensham, why not get involved in their ‘Stroll In Sun Days’. If you know of a good route that passes their brewery you are invited to share it with them. If you’re a dab hand at march-ing and want to be their ‘Beer Leader Volunteer’ once a month they would love to hear from you. Both Forager 4.5% & Rambler 3.9% will be served fresh from the cask all year round but this year with the addition of ‘Soul Of The Shoes’ to the summer line up. Named by ‘The Three Horse-shoes’ in Thursley and made by Frensham Brewery especially for their 10th anniversary. This is a light floral session ale at 3.8% and is only available exclusively at the pub or direct from the brewery over the summer months.



Craft Beer Pilgrimage How far would you walk for a pint? On the morning of April 10th one of our branch members flew to the Isles of Scilly to start an 850-mile walk along the entire length of England in search of the true meaning of “craft beer”.

CAMRA member and the Brewery Liaison Officer for Siren Craft Brewery, Mike Rathge has tak-en two months off work to take on this epic quest and says he intends to visit

approximately 70 breweries along the route to discuss the rise of craft beer with the brewers and to listen to their views and opinions on what the future of craft beer might be.

His beery pilgrimage will commence from the southern-most pub, the Turks Head in St Agnes in the Isles of Scilly, with the first brewery en route being the Ales of Scilly in St Mary’s, the most southerly brewery in England. After a couple of days circum-navigating the islands by foot, Mike will make the short boat trip across the main-land where he will start the long trek from Lands End on the 12th April.

Mike will initially follow the south coast of Cornwall visiting Cornish Crown and Pen-zance Brew Co before stopping at the Blue Anchor in Helston for a pint of their leg-endary Spingo. Heading North across Cornwall to St Agnes, Mike will visit the

Keltek, Coastal and Driftwood Breweries before turning right on to the northern coastal path towards Newquay. One week, 10 breweries and 100 miles later, Mike will head inland across Exmoor and into Somerset.

Cotleigh, Quantock, and the Wild Beer Company in Evercreech are all on the list as Mike’s journey commences northbound across the Mendip Hills. A couple of nights of well deserved rest in Bath will allow Mike to sample some of the local ales including Bath and Abbey Ales. The beautiful Cots-wold Way will carry him on for a further 100 miles (and twelve more breweries) to Chipping Campden. The exquisite county of Warwickshire, with its quintessentially English towns of Stratford Upon Avon, Warwick and Royal Leamington Spa follow and culminate with a quick pint with Jerry from Warwickshire Beer to refuel.

A hop, skip and a jump around Birmingham and Mike will arrive at his half way point, the brewing Capital of England, Burton Upon Trent. Mike plans to spend a couple of days here visiting the heritage breweries and seeing how they are reacting to the emergence of craft beer.

Burton Upon Trent – Coors



The Peak district brings with it the delights of Buxton and Thornbridge Breweries, and here Mike hopes to meet up with branch chairman David Richards for a couple of days so that he can share his tales of the journey so far over a refreshing pint of Jai-pur.

Pennine Way

Edale is the gateway to the Pennine Way which celebrates its Golden Jubilee this year. Steeped in history, this national trail chases along the mountain tops along the rugged backbone of England and offers 268 miles of the finest upland walking in England. The population of breweries are surprisingly high along the Southern sec-tion of the Pennine Way with approximately one every nine miles, but they get very thin on the ground once Mike passes the Dent Brewery in the Yorkshire Dales, with only the Tirril and Allendale breweries along the remaining 130 miles up to Kirk Yetholm.

Mike says this will be the toughest part of the challenge for him as he walks across the desolate moorlands with very few hos-telries available to refuel (let’s hope the weather is kind!).

With the Pennine way finally behind him, Mike can head East for the final leg of his journey along the old pilgrims route St Cuthberts Way. This inspiring 100km cross-border route links Melrose in the Scottish Borders, where St. Cuthbert start-ed his religious life in 650AD, with Holy Island off the Northumberland Coast, his eventual resting place and his original pil-grimage shrine.

After a nights rest on the Holy Island and after approximately 50 walking days, Mike’s trek will end at England's northern-most brewery, Bear Claw in Berwick upon Tweed where Brewer Rikki Graham has promised to have a pint waiting for him!

If you would like to keep track of Mike’s adventure he will be keeping a daily blog on his facebook page:

www.facebook.com/mikescraftbeerpilgrimage

Mike’s pilgrimage will be in memory of his stepfather and brother-in-law who both had their lives cut tragically short after losing their battles against Bowel Cancer. If you would like to make a donation to Bowel Cancer UK then please visit his JustGiving page.

www.justgiving.com/Mike-Rathge

P i W



Branch Diary

Visit our branch website for the latest diary updates. We welcome your suggestions for a future social visit.

Contact our social secretary, Clive Doran. [email protected]

MAY Thursday 14th May, 8pm Branch Pub of the Year presentation & Mild celebration, Queen's Head, 23 The Terrace, Wokingham. RG40 1BP

Saturday 16th May, 12 noon Social, Aylesbury Vale & Wycombe Branch – Reading Pub Crawl – Fisherman’s Cot-tage, Canal Way, Newtown. RG1 3HJ

Thursday 21st May, 8pm Branch Pub of the Year Runner-up presen-tation, Rose & Crown, High Street, Sand-hurst. GU47 8HA

Saturday 23rd May Central Southern Regional Meeting, Hares-foot Brewery, 2 River Park, Billet Lane, Berkhamsted, Herts HP4 1HL

Sunday 24th May, 1pm Social, Bracknell Ale & Wine Festival 2015, Bracknell Town FC, Larges Lane, Brack-nell. Doors open 1pm.

Thursday 28th May, 8pm Social & Mild Celebration, Cannie Man, Hanworth, Bracknell. RG12 7RF

JUNE Saturday 6th June Beer Festival, Queen's Head, 23 The Ter-race, Wokingham. RG40 1BP Details TBC

Wednesday 10th June, 8pm Branch Annual General Meeting, Old Man-or, Grenville Place, Bracknell. RG12 1PB

Saturday 13th June Social, Twyford Beer Festival. Details TBC.

Thursday 18th June, 8pm Social, Crispin, Denmark Street, Woking-ham. RG40 2AY

Saturday 20th June Social, Binfield Pub Crawl by Bus. Details TBC

JULY Thursday 16th July, 8pm Social, Bull, Barkham Road, Barkham. RG41 4TL

Saturday 25th July Social, Maidenhead Beer Festival. Des-borough College. Details TBC.

AUGUST Thursday 6th August, 8pm Open Meeting, Victoria Arms, Terrace Road North, Binfield, RG42 5HX

Saturday 8th August, 1pm Social, Egham United Services Club Beer Festival, 111 Spring Rise, Egham. TW20 9PE

Wed 12th / Thur 13th August Social, Great British Beer Festival, Olym-pia, London. Details TBC.

Last Edition - Quiz answers

1. Rose & Crown (Sandhurst) 2. Lock Stock & Barrel (Newbury) 3. Elm Tree (Beech Hill) 4. Bell (Aldworth) 5. Bell (Waltham St Lawrence) 6. Crooked Billet (Wokingham Without) 7. Old Manor (Bracknell) Rearrange first letter of each to spell CLOBBER (heavy defeat)



Beer Quality Is Your Pub serving Your Real Ale as it Should Be? CAMRA members are invited to score the real ales that they try according to the scale opposite. You may use half scores if you are undecided between two of the cat-egories. Enter your score on the What Pub website – you will need to login by entering your membership number and password (the default is your postcode without spaces)

www.whatpub.com Alternatively, you can send your scores to our beer score analyst, Lee Allsopp, by email. Please remember to include your membership number, date of visit, name of the beer and the pub.

[email protected] Remember – you are judging how well the beer has been kept and served, not whether you particularly like the style or brewery. Greene King IPA can score just as highly as Binghams Twyford Tipple. The scores are vital to help us choose our Good Beer Guide entries, local Pub of the Year and help us maintain an overview of real ale offerings in the area. Current Top Five Pubs

1. Queen's Head, Wokingham 2. Cannie Man, Bracknell 3. Rose & Crown, Sandhurst 4. Duke of Edinburgh, Ascot 5. Nags Head, Sunningdale

0 No Real Ale

No cask-conditioned ale available. 1 Poor

Beer that is anything from barely drinkable to drinkable with consid-erable resentment.

2 Average Competently kept, drinkable pint but doesn’t inspire in any way, not worth moving to another pub but you drink the beer without really noticing.

3 Good Good beer in good form. You can-cel plans to move to the next pub. You want to stay for another pint and seek out the beer again.

4 Very Good Excellent beer in excellent condi-tion.

5 Perfect Probably the best you are ever likely to find. A seasoned drinker will award this score very rarely.

We recommend that if you have to return a beer that is undrinkable you don’t score this beer – as long as the landlord takes the beer off sale and offers a replacement with good grace.

Under new ownership, Emily and the team welcome you to

Jealotts Hill, Warfield, Berkshire, RG42 6ET 01344 421 282 Facebook 'The New Leathern Bottle’ http://www.newleathernbottle.co.uk

Welcoming log fires on cold days. Dogs welcome. Real ales, CAMRA LocAle accredited Menu includes homemade favourites like Pork medallions in a sherry and pepper sauce, calves liver, beef and mushroom pie, fish pie. Steak nights every Friday night, meat sourced locally from quintessential meats. Bouncy castle will be out subject to weather. Brilliant kids play area making pub very child friendly. Karaoke on the last Friday of every month. Disco’s - May 10th, June 13th.

Annual charity STEAM FAIR

Saturday 10th October



Pub Walk 1

Lanes of Warfield Short walk around the Northern Lanes. This 2.7-mile circular walk starts and ends at a most friendly and welcoming pub ‘The New Leathern Bottle’ in Jealott’s Hill. This is a gentle walk around the lanes of Warfield, having a total ascent of 91 feet, and a maximum elevation of 249 feet. The meeting point for this cosy pub can be found at post code RG42 6ET.

The Walk Leaving the pub, cross over the road and turn left, after a few yards turn right in Tick-leback Row. This is a quiet, tarmac road which you follow until you reach a resi-dence called Four Winds, ignore the public bridleway sign and bear left. The road is now Buckle Lane, keep up on here until you reach the Shepherds House Pub. Cross over the main road into Bow-yers Lane. Carry on walking until you reach Wellers Lane.

Turn left and follow Weller’s Lane. Pass many fields, Weller’s Covert and private entrance to Syngenta you will see on your left Penfurzen Lane, take this unmade lane (can be a little muddy). Follow this lane and just before you reach the main road (Ascot Road) bear left. Keep on this lane which bends a lot until you reach the end. Cross over the road leading into Syngenta. Follow road straight ahead and you will be back at the New Leathern Bottle. Other and longer walks are available from the Pub on request; don’t forget to order your return lunch!



Pub Walk 2 The Hill Farm Lane Circuit Countryside walk in Bracknell Forest

This Binfield walk is 2.5 miles (4km).

The walk starts and finishes at the car park of the Jack o’ Newbury Pub on Terrace Road North in Binfield. Grid reference SU845718.

On leaving the pub turn right and follow the pavement to the first turning on the right into Wicks Green.

After approximately 100m take the public footpath into the field on your right. Follow this field-edge path to its junction with an-other footpath and turn right keeping to the field edge for nearly 400m until you exit into Carters Hill.

Turn right along the road and take the first public footpath on your left after 150m. This is a private drive as well as a public footpath but don’t be put off.

Allow yourself to linger and admire the fine views across the rolling wooded country-side to the east.

Just past the large house take the footpath through the hedge on the left. It’s easy to miss, so as you pass in front of the house keep your eyes peeled! Follow this field path down to its junction with Billingbear Lane.

Turn right and follow the road for approxi-mately 400m to its junction with the Twyford Road. Go almost straight across into Hill Farm Lane, an unsurfaced track which heads uphill to Hill Farm and then turns right onto a tarmac road. Carry on downhill past private houses, the Binfield Archery Club and Football Club to a t-junction with Stubbs Hill where you will see the cemetery opposite.

Turn right here and then bear right to join the pavement in Church Lane. Take the next left turn into Terrace Road North, next to Binfield All Saints Parish Church, which dates from the 14th century. The Jack o’Newbury pub will then appear on your right and you can sample some of its delicious refreshments!

Walk details provided courtesy of Bracknell Forest Council Further walks are available at www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/walking





LocAle Update By Mike Smith Our LocAle campaign seeks to encourage pubs, clubs, off-licences and restaurants within our branch area to permanently stock at least one real ale produced by a local brewery (draught or bottled) and serve it in good condition. New additions to the accredited LocAle pub list this period include – Thatched Tavern (Ascot) who have been serving Windsor & Eton; Roebuck (Binfield) serv-ing Rebellion or West Berkshire; Pin-ewood Bar and Café (Wokingham With-out) serving Hogs Back and the Atrium Bar at South Hill Park (Bracknell) serving Windsor & Eton. We have also added the Frensham Brewery in Surrey and Malt the Brewery in Prestwood, Bucks who were both established in 2012 and are beginning to establish a presence in and around their local area. I recently tried a superbly kept Frensham Rambler at the Forrester in Church Crookham whilst eating my lunch from what looked like a discarded roof tile (check out the @wewantplates crusade on Twitter).

Please keep sending in your reports. [email protected]

Accredited LocAle Outlets Ascot Station Inn (Jagz)

Thatched Tavern Binfield Jack O’Newbury

Roebuck Bracknell Cannie Man

Green Man Old Manor South Hill Park

Eversley Tally Ho Jealott’s Hill New Leathern Bottle Sandhurst Rose & Crown Sindlesham Walter Arms Sunningdale Royal Oak Winkfield Squirrels Bar

White Hart Wokingham Crispin

Molly Millar Olde Leathern Bottel Queens Head

Wokingham Without

Pinewood Bar & Café

LocAle Breweries (within 25 miles of Bracknell)

Berkshire Bingham’s (Ruscombe); Siren Craft (Fin-champstead); West Berkshire (Frilsham); Wild Weather (Silchester); Windsor & Eton (Windsor); Zero Degrees (Reading) Buckinghamshire Malt the Brewer (Prestwood); Rebellion (Marlow) Hampshire Andwell (Andwell); Longdog (Basing-stoke); Sherfield Village (Sherfield); Triple fff (Four Marks) Middlesex Twickenham (Twickenham) Oxfordshire Bell Street (Henley); Loddon (Dunsden Green) Surrey Abbey Ford (Chertsey); Ascot Ales (Cam-berley); Brightwater (Claygate); Frensham (Frensham); Hogs Back (Tongham); Tillingbourne (Shere)



The Beer Festival Guide By Simon Grist

Updates will be put on our website at seberkscamra.org.uk/localfestivals.shtml

30th April – 3rd May 2015: Reading Beer & Cider Festival readingbeerfestival.org.uk This is the 21st festival organised by our neighbours in Reading & Mid Berks CAMRA. It features a remarkable 550 real ales, around 150 ci-ders & perries, an extensive selection of foreign beers, and some Eng-lish wines too. Reduced entry for CAMRA members.

1st – 4th May 2015: Marlow Royal British Legion Beer Festival rblmarlow.co.uk Located right next to Marlow station, this club puts on regular beer festi-vals featuring carefully selected ales from both local brewers and across the country. Expect around 15 beers plus a cider. Free entry. 14th - 16th May 2015: Kingston Beer & Cider Festival camrasurrey.org.uk/festivals/kingston-beer-cider-festival A fine festival organised by Kingston & Leatherhead CAMRA. It is ac-cessible by train from our area (changing at Twickenham). They prom-ise over 60 ales plus 12 ciders and perries. Reduced admission prices for CAMRA members.

22nd – 24th May 2015: White Horse, Hedgerley facebook.com/whitehorsehedgerleyThis is a massive beer festival for a country village pub. No wonder the pub is our neighbouring Slough, Windsor & Maidenhead branch’s Pub of the Year. It features over 100 real ales over the course of the week-end plus ciders, perries and foreign beers.

23rd – 24th May 2015: Royal Oak, Sunningdale theroyaloaksunningdale.co.uk/ A first beer festival from this up-and-coming local pub. We anticipate around 15-18 real ales, mostly from local brewers. There will be a “Bat-tle of the Breweries” competition where customers vote for their favour-ite based upon the beers on offer.

24th May 2015: Bracknell Town FC Ale & Wine Festival bracknellalefestival.co.uk Another festival from our friends at Bracknell Town FC. Expect around 30 ales from local and regional breweries, plus ciders and English wines. Free entry for CAMRA members.

29th – 30th May 2015: Alton Summer Beer Festival altonbeerfestival.co.uk A fine beer festival held at Alton College. Expect around 70 ales, plus a dozen ciders and perries. Entry is by advance ticket only. In an envi-ronmental initiative, customers are requested to bring their own lined half pint beer glass.



5th – 7th June 2015: Queen’s Head, Wokingham queensheadwokingham.co.uk A first beer festival for Carol at our branch Pub of the Year. Expect around 10-12 ales on stillage (plus their usual 6 on tap). There is a possibility of other Wokingham pubs holding complimentary beer/cider festivals that same weekend, but at the time of going to press no con-firmations have been received.

12th – 13th June 2015: Guildford Beer Festival guildfordbeerfestival.co.uk This festival is held in a pitch-side marquee at Guildford Cricket Club, with the help of our friends in Surrey Hants Borders CAMRA. Entry is by advance ticket, and you should expect around 70 real ales & ciders. CAMRA members get a free pint token.

13th June 2015: Twyford Beer Festival twyfordbeerfest.co.uk This highly successful community festival is run in aid of the male can-cer charity “Orchid”. So it is sad to report that they have been let down by their normal venue this year. Alternative plans are being formulated at the time of writing, with a marquee on the usual field looking a good possibility. They normally offer 30 real ales, plus a cider and wine bar.

4th July 2015: Lowde Fest lowdefest.com This combined music festival and beer festival will appeal to many. It is located at Hazeley Bottom (between Eversley & Hartley Wintney) and advertises over 80 real ales and ciders this year.

5th July 2015: Pinewood Festival pinewoodfestival.org.uk This bi-annual community festival held just outside Wokingham is ex-pected to feature a small beer festival within it. No specifics have been received but we anticipate around 8-12 real ales plus cider. There will be attractions for all the family too.

8th – 11th July 2015: Ealing Beer Festival ealingbeerfestival.org.uk This is an excellent CAMRA organised beer festival. Expect around 200 real ales plus plenty of ciders & perries, and foreign beers too. Re-duced admission prices for CAMRA members.

11th – 12th July 2015: Woodcote Steam Rally Festival of Ale woodcoterally.org.uk This steam rally & country fayre held a few miles north of Reading in-cludes a “Festival of Ale” organised by South Oxfordshire CAMRA. Expect around 25 real ales plus a cider or two.

24th – 26th July 2015: Maidenhead Beer Festival maidenheadbeerfest.org.uk Organised by the Slough, Windsor & Maidenhead CAMRA, this festival relocates to Desborough College a short walk from Maidenhead station. Expect around 100 real ales plus about 20 ciders & perries. Reduced admission for CAMRA members.



6th – 9th August 2015: Egham Beer Festival eghambeerfestival.co.uk This will be the 21st charity beer festival at Egham United Services Club, and they have become renown amongst the beer tickers commu-nity. Expect around 60 ales, plus around a dozen ciders & perries. Re-duced entry for CAMRA members.

8th August 2015: Fleet Lions Beer Festival fleetlions.org.uk/beerfest This beer festival is run by the Fleet Lions in aid of charity. They adver-tise over 40 real ales mostly from local brewers, and will also have some local ciders.

11th – 15th August 2015: Great British Beer Festival gbbf.org.uk This beer festival is CAMRA’s pride & joy, and will once again be held at Kensington Olympia. Expect a remarkable 900 ales, ciders, perries and foreign beers, with a large proportion of the ever-growing list of British brewers being represented. Reduced admission prices for CAMRA members.

28th – 30th August 2015: Wokingham Festival wokinghamfestival.co.uk Wokingham Lions put on a charity beer festival alongside the music and food components that also comprise this festival. Expect around 50 ales, plus some ciders & perries.

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Campaign Focus By Barry Garber

Three Cheers to the Chancellor

The budget on 18 March 2015 saw yet another wel-come cut in beer duty, the third such cut in three years. This time it was just 1p a pint, but small as it is, it is hugely significant. Finally the gov-ernment is listening to the pub-goer that enough is enough. An independent re-search company, Cebr, said that the com-bined effect of the duty cuts and the end of the beer duty escalator meant that a pint of beer bought in a pub was now 20p a pint cheaper than it would have been. This success was welcomed by CAMRA Chief Executive, Tim Page who said 'A third cut in beer tax is a huge vote of confidence in the importance of pubs and brewing. It will help ensure the sector returns to long term growth after many years of pub closures and falling beer sales, caused in part by a 42% beer tax increase between 2008 and 2012, and throw a lifeline to struggling community pubs across the country'. Cider drinkers were not overlooked in the budget with a 2% cut in cider duty.

List your Local

Assets of Community Value (ACVs) are enshrined under

the Localism Act and af-ford some protection whereby the local commu-nity has a period of up to 6 months to stop the clock and come up with a plan to

save the pub when it is put up for sale. New rules came into force on 6 April this year which gives pubs listed as an ACV enhanced planning protection. Under the

new rules pubs so listed cannot be demol-ished or converted to other uses without planning permission being obtained. The process of listing an ACV requires 21 like minded people from the local community to support such a listing. It does not need to be for a pub that is currently under threat of closure. In fact when a pub is under threat it is often too late! Currently more than 600 pubs across the country are listed as ACVs and CAMRA has an aim of making this 1000 pubs as soon as possible. If you feel your 'local' would benefit from such a list-ing, there is more information on the CAMRA website but please contact me at [email protected] for advice and support. The more pubs we can get listed the better. CAMRA continues to campaign for planning protection for all pubs irrespective of ACV listing, but the protection afforded from 6 April is a step in the right direction.

General Election

At the time of writing the gen-eral election was yet to take place so it's a bit difficult without knowing the result to make

any comment on the outcome! It is useful to make a few points irrespective of this. CAMRA itself is a non political organisa-tion, but obviously needs to lobby politi-cians, of whichever flavour, to further it's aims. This has proved particularly success-ful of late in a number of areas such as beer duty reductions and changes in plan-ning law to protect our pubs. However, our work is never done. We can always do with more of the same. Prior to the election CAMRA launched it’s General Election Manifesto, and over 500 candidates from all parties signed up in support. Now it is essential that CAMRA holds these politicians to their word!

Assets



May is Mild Month By Barry Garber

CAMRA has desig-nated May as 'Mild Month' and is urging pubs to stock a beer in this style during the month. The CAMRA website states that 'milds are black to dark brown to pale amber in colour and come in a variety of styles from warming roasty ales to light refreshing lunchtime thirst quenchers. Malty and possibly sweet tones dominate the flavour profile but

there may be a light hop flavour or aroma. Slight diacetyl (toffee/butterscotch) flavours are not inappropriate. Alcohol levels are typically low'. Look out for the mild month socials in the branch diary on the 14th May and 28th May at the Queens Head Wo-kingham and Cannie Man Bracknell re-spectively. Both socials start at 8pm. As a bonus if you come to the Queens Head Wokingham on the 14th May, in addition to trying a mild you will also see the branch Pub of the Year 2015 certificate being pre-sented to this excellent establishment. [Barry Garber is the Campaigns Officer for Berkshire South East CAMRA]

Great British Beer Festival 2015

11th – 15th August

Olympia London

900+ Real Ales

Ciders & Perries International Beers

Tickets now on Sale

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The ROYAL OAK, Sunningale

- Local Heroes pub serving up to six quality Real Ales - Good Beer Guide 2015 - Local Real Ales inc. Windsor & Eton + Rebellion ranges - Large enclosed rear Garden - Simple Lunch time food - Open all day. Noon-11pm - Nr. Ascot & Wentworth

19 Station Road Sunningdale

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Windsor & Eton Brewery Trip

Local Berkshire branches teamed up to visit the popular Windsor and Eton Brewery in March. The primary reason for the visit was to present them with a certificate for their black IPA 'Conquerer' being awarded the CAMRA Beer of the Festival at last October's Ascot Beer Festival. It turned out to be an absolutely fantastic evening thanks to Paddy, Kieran and all of their team.

W&E Director - Paddy Johnson

Established in 2010 in just seven weeks by four top blokes, Paddy, Will, Jim and Bob, Windsor & Eton Brewery has placed itself as one of the top breweries in the country.

Paddy has used all his 35 years of brewing experience to develop a range of beers, which are raising the bar for quality and flavour. His beers have won praise and prizes galore, and he is as generous with his help and advice as he is with his hops.

Paddy’s son, Kieran Johnson has been challenging his Dad with some friendly rivalry by creating his own “uprising” within the brewery. Uprising seems a perfect name for the new craft brewery. It captures the idea of overthrowing the old order of doing things. So it’s not surprising that the logo can’t resist a playful dig at Windsor’s very royal heritage and tradition by having a raven snatching the crown in its claws. Uprising’s first beer, Treason is an awesome 5.8% West Coast IPA using huge amounts of US hops.

Having been asked so many times “Where can I get a pint of your beer?” Windsor & Eton have launched a brand new initiative called ‘It’s My Local’ where they are working together with local pubs to ensure that Windsor & Eton beer will ALWAYS be available. You'll know which pubs that'll always have Windsor & Eton beers by their new signs. The first 5 'It's My Local' pubs are:

The Acre, Duke of Connaught, Old Windsor Club, Swan Clewer, Windsor Trooper

a

uge

Pete and Michelle welcome you to

The Rose & Crown, Sandhurst Find us in CAMRA’s GOOD BEER GUIDE 2015 & WhatPub.com

- Real Ales, constantly changing on 7 pumps. - Quality homemade meals: Tuesday - Sunday - Traditional Sunday roasts - CAMRA LocAle accredited, & members discount - CAMRA Pub of The Year 2014 & runner up 2015 - Comfortable surroundings and Large garden area. - Family friendly and dogs welcome - Freshly ground coffees and other hot beverages - Live music most Fri. & Sat. Plse see facebook

The Rose & Crown, 108 High Street, Sandhurst. GU47 8HA. www.roseandcrownsandhurst.info

Catering for parties and special events available. Please call. 01252 878938



Landlord’s Witter By Barry Fenton An interview with a landlord from a local pub. Answers are limited to 140 (ish) characters.

This time we welcome Jim Teasdale, the new licensee at the Jack o’Newbury in Binfield.

Q. How long have you been in the pub business and at the Jack? A. 11 years ago I joined Fullers as a trainee manager in Yiewsley. I did several reliefs, the first being at the Ship in Wokingham. I was licensee at the Victoria, just up the road here in Binfield for 8 years. I have been at the Jack since 1st February this year. Q. What do you most like about the pub trade? A. Every day is different, there’s something to challenge me daily, whether petty or important. Q. And the least? A. The result of the above is that the unexpected can stop me doing the routine jobs. And then there’s the hours……..! Q. What Real Ales are you selling today? A. Binfield Best, Youngs Special, Good Old Boy, Rebellion IPA and the guest ale is Charles Wells Eagle IPA at 3.6% abv. Q. And how will these change over the coming weeks and months? A. The guest ale changes weekly and I am constantly reviewing the range. Rebellion is new, having replaced Hoppit. I actively seek customers’ suggestions for trials. Q. How important are Real Ales to your pub? A. Massive. Being Fullers trained I have their Master Cellarman status. We are one

of the few true free houses in the area and I want to make the best of that position. Q. What are your impressions of CAMRA in the area? A. Pretty active. I had a good relationship with them at the Vic and I hope that it continues at the Jack. Q. What plans have you got for your pub in the next year? A. No big changes, just tweaks, nothing radical. I want people to come here for the ales and the food. The food offer will be expanded. Early signs are encouraging. Q. What would you like to get over to our readers to encourage them to come into your pub? A. We are now open all day. 11-11 Monday- Saturday, and 12-6 ish on Sunday. I will review this for the summer. Generally there will only be subtle changes. Keep an eye on social media for details. Q. What Wrong would you most like to put right in the pub trade? A. The ability of supermarkets and others to sell cheap alcohol, encouraging anti-social behaviour. Q. Which celebrity would you most like to work behind your bar and why? A. Luke Donald to show me how to swing a golf club properly. Q. Finally, there has been many rumours about the future of the Jack. Are you and the Jack here for the long term? A. The rumours about closure are wrong. I’m here for the long haul, and I’m enjoying it.

Thanks, Jim. We wish you well at the Jack o’Newbury.



Walking for Health

Ever feel like it'd be nice to get out and about more often? Get a little more fresh air in your lungs? Be a bit more active? Lots of us wish we

did more exercise. We know it's good for us. And we know our health's important. But it can be easy to find excuses for not actually getting out there and doing it: The gym is boring / expensive. There's not enough time. My knee / back isn't up to it these days. It's no fun.

Sound familiar? If you find it difficult to get active, why not start walking? It's really easy to get started, you don't need any special equipment - and best of all it counts towards your recommended amount of physical activity. Walking can improve your health, your happiness and, if you join one of our groups, it will give you the chance to explore the outdoors, get to know your local area and meet new people. Sometimes a walk alone in the fresh air is just what we need. But if you're just getting started and you're not sure that you want to do all your walking alone - or if you like the idea of having other people around to help you stay motivated – then why not join this band of merry walkers in Sandhurst. Established since February 2014 the number of people participating in their walks continues to rise month-on-month.

They have 130 registered walkers and have collectively walked 5,000 miles, which is the equivalent of walking the length of South America or the coastline of Britain. They are run by a dedicated group of volunteers and offer walks for all ages and abilities. They like to keep it sociable so there will always be an opportunity for a cup of tea or coffee and a chat in the cafe after each walk. If you are interested then please contact Kat Bradshaw

Volunteer Scheme Coordinator Telephone: 01252 876593 Mobile: 07789 226264 Email: [email protected]

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