A Friendly Welcome Guaranteed - Campaign for Real Alecamraangle.sst.camra.org.uk/documents/Issue41.pdf · A Friendly Welcome Guaranteed CAMRA BRANCH PUB OF THE YEAR 2015 EIGHT ever-changing

A Friendly Welcome Guaranteed

CAMRA BRANCHPUB OF THE YEAR

2015

EIGHT ever-changing alesOne REAL Cider

And 70+ Malt Whiskies

DogFriendly

Pub

Beer Festivals and Meet the Brewer Evenings throughout the year

27 Mill DamSOUTH SHIELDS

NE22 1 EQ Tel: 0191 4540134

THE STEAMBOAT

CAMRA-Angle 41 Autumn 2015 3

Check out our new website at: sst.camra.org.uk

At this time of year we are looking forwardto our Sunderland Octoberfest, which hasbecome an important, regular and popularevent in the calendar of Sunderland andSouth Tyneside CAMRA.For the seventh time the Festival will beheld at The Bonded Warehouse, on LowStreet in Sunderland. The venue providesan ideal surrounding for the Octoberfest,with plenty of seating so that visitors can sitand relax whilst chatting and supping theales and ciders on offer.There will be a similar number of beers onoffer as in previous years, with a slight in-crease in the number of ciders and perries.For the first time at the Sunderland Octo-berfest there will be a selection of alesdrawn from wooden casks.

The souvenir glasses and T-shirts (a smallnumber of the latter available for purchase)will bear reference to two anniversaries im-portant in the history of brewing and beersin the North East of England:● 150 years of brewing by Camerons,

one of this year’s Octoberfest mainsponsors

● 150 years since the birth of ErnestVaux, whose exploits in the Boer Warled to the creation of Maxim beer. Wecelebrate that fact with Maxim Brew-ery, our second main sponsor.

The festival begins on Thursday 8th Octo-ber, at 4.00 p.m., and closes at 7.00 p.m onSaturday 10th (unless the beer runs outbefore that!)We look forward to seeing you there!

1, Gadwall RoadHoughton-le-Spring DH4 5NL

Telephone: (0191) 584 8844 Email: [email protected]



EDITORSid Dobson

[email protected]

EDITORRobin Sanderson

[email protected]

ADVERTISINGDavid Brazier / Robin

[email protected]

Rates for advertisements:Full page: £90.00Half page: £60.00

Quarter page: £40.00

FANCY YOURSELF AS A WRITERWE are always on the lookout forreal ale related stories to be usedin the CAMRAANGLE. They can behistorical or current, locally-basedor involving travel to exoticlocations such as Middlesbrough,Montreal, Moscow or Morpeth, forexample.

LETTERSHAVE you got opinion on the pubor beers available in our brancharea, or on any other matter? Getwriting now, and let our readersknow what you think.

CONTACT USWE welcome comments anddrinkers. They can be emailedto our editor [email protected], orposted to the following address:Sid Dobson, 39 Brodie Close,Whiteleas, Tyne & Wear, NE34 8LB.

****

CAMRAANGLE is published by theSunderland & South Tyneside Branch ofCAMRA © 2003 . Views or commentsexpressed in this publication may not benecessarily those of the Editor or ofCAMRA.

Members Matter

Thanks for having us

In this issue…

Are you getting your fair share?If you come across a pub that fails to serve full measure, fails todisplay a price list, strengths or business names, please contactConsumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06, http://consumerdirect.gov.ukor your local trading standard office:Sunderland Trading StandardsCivic CentreSR2 [email protected] Tyneside CouncilTown Hall & Civic OfficesWestoe RoadSouth Shields

The main event for branch members is the annualbeer festival, and we are all looking forward to thisyear’s Octoberfest at the Bonded Warehouse in Sun-derland, 8th - 10th October. Planning is going well andpublicity materials are appearing in pubs and clubsaround the region. Come and enjoy the festival!

Thanks go to the Stags Head, South Shields and theMuseum Vaults, Sunderland for hosting recentBranch meetings.

In this issue of CAMRA-Angle:● Pub and Brewery News● Featured pubs: The Cross Keys, Washington Village

and The Wouldhave, South Shields● Our new website and social media - Ian Monteith-

Preston (Branch webmaster)● Looking forward to Sunderland Octoberfest 2015● Ken Paul visits Cropton Brewery and New Inn● Cider - Landlord’s nightmare or untapped business

opportunity● Regional news● Ale of Two Cities - Ken Paul visits Edinburgh and

Glasgow● Rail Ale Trip to Dumfries - Michael Wynne● Focus on CAMRA-Angle● Ken Paul’s Pub Quiz and the Picture Puzzle● Where am I…..?

14 Real Ales!Yes! !14!!!

MARSTON’SNORTH EAST REGION

CASK ALE PUB

THIS AWARD ISPRESENTED TO THE

ALUM ALE HOUSE

FOR OUTSTANDINGCELLAR MANAGEMENT

ANDCASK ALE QUALITY

CASK MARQUEThe Alum Ale Houseachieved 100% gradeacross all categories

Amazing views from the beer gardenJoin us on Facebook

Ferry Landing, SOUTH SHIELDS



The Point on Park Lanein Sunderland is holdingits Octobeerfest, adver-tised on page 14. (CAMRAmembers are offered a 20%discount on entry prices onadvance tickets: [email protected] )

We wish to make clearthat this is in no way con-nected with our own Oc-toberfest which onceagain will be held at theBonded Warehouse be-tween 8 and 10 October.Fitzgeralds in Sunder-land is offering 50p off apint of cask beer on Mon-days from 6.

Tony, the manager at theDun Cow in Sunderlandhas produced a collabora-tion brew for the pub atBox Social brewing inNewcastle . Called For-bidden Fruit, it was fla-voured with elderflowerand grapefruit. Very nice itwas too. Following therecent cider month, extrahand pumps have nowbeen installed increasingthe number of real cidersto 3.

An extra handpump hasbeen installed inChaplins offering a realcider. On our visit it wasAbrahalls Lily the Link.

The Avenue (Sunder-land) and The Courtyard,Washington are havingbeer festivals during theAugust Bank HolidayWeekend (Friday to Mon-day) There will be lots oflovely live music too.

In South Shields a com-pulsory purchase order,issued as part of the rede-velopment of SouthShields town centre, hasresulted in the closure ofThe Cross Arms Hotel,formerly the DouglasVaults, in BarringtonStreet.

It was reported in an earli-er issue that Yates, in MileEnd Road had ceasedselling cask ales. Since

that Yates has closed, andthe building is being rede-veloped and will openshortly as Hogarths. Ad-vertising boards displayedoutside show that CaskAles will be available.

The Marsden Grotto isnow under new manage-ment and after refurbish-ment is now open. TheWaterfront (Mill Dam,South Shields) is cur-rently being refurbished(under the same man-agement.)

There is to be a BeerFestival at SouthShields and WestoeClub, Dean Road, SouthShields from Friday Oc-tober 2nd (4.00pm) -Sunday 4th. Twenty realales, ciders and perrieswill be on offer. Admis-

sion £8.00 includes sou-venir glass and two drinks.

In Washington, The Bid-dick Inn now has twohandpulls. After a recentrefurbishment the CrossKeys in Washington vil-lage has re opened serv-ing 2 real ales. There is aCross Keys Pale Ale anda guest. See feature onpage 9.

PUB NEWS


MAXIMBLO - Ian MonteithPrestonMaximus has won theGold Medal at the BritishBottling Institute awards(2015) in the Strong AleCategory.Lambtons new tweakedrecipe {now dry hopped}has been chosen as oneof the 280 British beersfor this year’s GreatBritish Beer Fest inOlympia, London

Maxim. have provided aspecial bottled edition ofDouble Maxim for the 1stSunderland Film Festival– labelled as “Reel Ale”

New beers out recently:Last month – Maverick, a4.6% American styleBrown Ale.

This month – Chinook, a4.0% single hopped PaleAle.

JARROWBLO - George Ritson

As we go to press ourunderstanding is thatJarrow Brewery arestill awaiting the newbrewing licence re-quired after the re-structuring of thecompany earlier thisyear. As a result noJarrow Brewery alesare being produced atthe moment.

CASTLE EDENTwo ales from theSeaham based CastleEden brewery will bemaking an appearanceat the Durham Beer

Festival. Names yet to beconfirmed.No reports from Tempta-tion or Darwin/Brewlab


Wood NewsThe north east branch ofthe Society for the Pres-ervation of Beers fromthe Wood (SPBW) re-turned to our patch for ourJune meeting. The firstSunderland meeting washeld in the MuseumVaults. Two beers fromwooden casks Tempta-tion Revolution and Three

Kings Shieldsman wereavailable. They were wellreceived and a furtherThree Kings beer wasavailable the followingweekend.Also joining in the woodrevival in meeting day wasFitzgeralds who had aThree Kings beer andMaxim Lambtons from thewood.

There has been a majorrevival of beer from wood-en casks and there shouldbe around 14 such beersavailable at Durham beer.festival at the end of Au-gustWe are having a numberof beers from the wood atour own Octoberfest.Check our website for de-tails nearer the festival.

BREWERY NEWS

Saturday in the lounge live acoustic acts from 9-00Tuesday in the candle lit bar open mic from 9-00Friday in the lounge BUSKERS from 9-00

OPENING TIMESMonday - Thursday open from 4-00Friday open from 3-00Saturday & Sunday open from 12-00

Live Music

Four real ale pumps everchanging!Always a choice of two lightand two dark ales, includinglocally brewed as well asestablished favourites.

Family and Dog FriendlyCosy lounge with real fires

Dun Cow,Seaton Village, Seaham, Co.Durham SR7 0NATel: 0191 5131133

Facebook: Duncow Seaton-Village



The Cross Keys, occupy-ing a prominent positionalongside the picturesqueWashington VillageGreen, is one of the old-est pubs in the area.There is in fact a record ofthe first licensee being in1827. I have fond memo-ries from the 70s (that’sthe 1970’s!) in the daysbefore real ale took off.

In 2015 the pub brieflyclosed for a makeover byWear Inns. It reopenedwith the welcome return oftwo handpulls serving realale which are right in frontof you when you enter thefront entrance. The pub isopen plan and tastefullydecorated in a traditionalcontemporary style. Manyphotographs depictingscenes of Old Washingtonadorn the walls.

Weather permitting, thereare some tables andchairs at the front over-looking the village greenand tucked at the back isa small beer garden andcar park. The rear en-trance from the gardenand car park is through animpressive wrought ironarchway.

The house real ale iscalled Cross Keys PaleAle. At 3.9% it is brewedby local brewer Cam-erons. The second hand-

pull is for changing guestales. Examples latelyhave been Sharps DoomBar and NorthumberlandBlonde. If you are luckyyou get these well-keptales served in a dimpledglass!

Amongst the bottled beeravailable, there is interest-ingly an offering from NewZealand, MonteithsSouthern Pale, a 4.6%straw coloured ale.

There is an extensive rea-sonably priced food menuwith themed meal nights: -Tuesday for the grill,Wednesday for curriesand Thursday for burgers.There is also a traditionalSunday lunch.

The Keys has set aside agames area with a dart-board and pool table.

There are also 4 sportsTV screens dotted aroundthe pub. Sunday afternoonsees a domino handicap.

The Cross Keys is a goodplace for a relaxing drinkor a meal and is conven-iently placed with otherreal ale pubs, namely TheSteps, The WashingtonArms and The Black Bushto form a mini pub crawl.There are buses to Wash-ington Town Centre or a15 minute walk north upSpout Lane finds ConcordBus Station.

The pubs website givesmore details including themain menu:-(http://www.wearinns.co.uk/our-pubs/2/The-Cross-Keys-Washington-Tyne-&-Wear)

THE CROSS KEYS –WASHINGTON VILLAGE



A J.D.Wetherspoons’ pub,The Wouldhave is situatedin South Shields towncentre, close to the mainshopping streets and pub-lic transport.The Wetherspoons’ brandprovides very competitive-ly priced meals anddrinks, with the Would-have being no exception.It is a busy place.Within recent months PubManager Darren Simp-son and his team of dutymanagers have beenjoined by Craig Bolton,who has been given spe-cial responsibility for caskales. Craig has previouslyworked at The Five Swansunder the tutelage of man-ager Kay Masson, well-known in the Branch bothas a member and also asone half of the brewingteam running TemptationBrewery and its sister op-eration at the Hop andCleaver. Kay has clearlybeen an inspiration forCraig who is on a missionto improve the choice andquality of real ales at TheWouldhave. It is perhapsno coincidence that com-paring figures from lastyear, the of cask ales hasvirtually doubled. The sixhand-pulls offer two stand-ard regular ales, but theintention is to bring in alesfrom throughout the coun-try as well as introducinglocal ales from both estab-lished and burgeoningbreweries in the region.

Thus four pumps will fea-ture ever changing guestales. A recent visit provid-ed the opportunity to sam-ple the delightful offeringfrom Inveralmond Brew-ery, London Porter, anexcellent example of theporter genre, at 5.6% and£2.09 per pint. The ideapioneered by Wether-spoons for their real festi-vals of inviting brewersfrom around the world tobrew in partnership withestablished British brew-ing companies has ex-tended beyond festivaltimes, so that often thecustomer can opt for anale brewed by a foreignbrewer. There are two realciders normally availableand rather than relying onregulars such as BlackDragon and Old Rosie,the choice of ciders willalso be regularly changed.The national real ale andcider festivals organisedby the Wetherspoonscompany are well-support-

ed at The Wouldhave, butthese are to be supple-mented by tap-takeoversfocusing on local brewer-ies every two months. Thefirst of these featured alesfrom Coxhoe based Son-net 43, with future possi-bilities including Big Lamp,Fat Brewers, Mordue andTyne Bank.Craig is planning to createa "real ale wall" where in-formation on ale types andtastes will be displayed tohelp those new to caskales to make their choiceof beer. Local CAMRAmaterials and publicationswill also be displayedthere, adding to the mem-bership forms and maga-zines already to be foundin the pub.We wish Darren, Craigand the rest of the staffwell in their ambition tomake The Wouldhave a‘must have’ on the real aleroute in South Shields.

The Wouldhave South Shields



Regular CAMRA Angle readers will notice a change of our branch website address inthis addition of CAMRA Angle.

We are changing our website & domain from the “www.camra-angle.co .uk”URL used for several years to “www.sst.camra.org.uk” for two reasons:

● Firstly we had to pay an “ISP” to host “camra-angle.co .uk” on their companyservers, CAMRA HQ however now owns its own secure server & is offeringus free internet hosting.

● Secondly to take advantage of extra security features on the new CAMRAserver, introduced in the wake of recent problems with the CAMRA HQ (thenexternally hosted) website.

The need to change the domainname to “<branchid>.camra.org.uk” is also part ofa standardization all brancheshave been asked to move to-wards.

The new site has been livesince the beginning of June.The old site can still be ac-cessed for a few months as anarchive.The new site uses WordPresssoftware & is optimised to makeviewing from a smart phone ortablet easier, which is in keepingwith the ways people now wantto access online for information.

Important features of the newsite are the news page wherewe can quickly add posts andalso the future events page, which displays our public branch diary of events. Onceagain if you use a smart phones or tablet, or even just an ordinary PC you can displaythis calendar in your own personal calendar. (Instructions on the web page).

A new look for the branch websiteOur webmaster Ian Monteith-Preston brings us up todate with the latest news on our branch website andsocial media communications



You should also note that as we’ve changed domain name all our email addresseshave also changed. All emails now end “@sst.camra.org.uk” instead of “@camraangle.co.uk”.

Importantly, our website is not the branch’sonly online presence!

Everybody these days is familiar with the terms “social media” or “web v2.0” as it wasoriginally known. Both refer to modern online sites where people and organisationscan post and share information.

The branch is active on several of these sites. The main intention is to post or pass oninformation to members and people involved in the real ale/cider world. But in additionwe hope to inform organisations or members of the general public about the campaign.These are powerful campaigning tools for distributing information, stimulating interestin the campaign, provoking discussion and helping to activate members or to encour-age new people to join.You can check us out on:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SSTCAMRA (page)Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SSTCAMRA/ (discussiongroup)Twitter: https://twitter.com/sst_camragoogle plus: https://plus.google.com/+Camra-angleCoUk/postsInstagram: http://websta.me/n/sst_camra_montyAs new social media sites become popular & others decline you can expect us to usethem to our advantage to get the branch & campaigns message out to the world!

As a footnote: Any member reading this article should be aware CAMRA also seeemail as a valuable communications tool. It is important that you update your personalCAMRA membership account with an up-to-date email address. One facility the newHQ server has provided is a centralised email tool that allows authorised branch com-mittee members to send emails giving information about next meetings & things of in-terest direct to branch members via email.



Breweries in the UK cansometimes be found inunusual places. Northum-berland Brewery near Be-dlington is in a formerschool, Riverhead Brew-ery in Marsden (WestYorkshire) on theTranspennine Rail Ale trailis in a former groceryshop, and Milk Street inSomerset is housed in aformer porn cinema (Ihave not made that lastone up). A recent visitand overnighter on theNorth Yorkshire Moorsfound us in a brewery builtinside an old quarry.I am talking about theGreat Yorkshire Brewery,perhaps better known asCropton Brewery, in thevillage of Cropton nearPickering. We visited inMay for a brewery tourand overnight stay in TheNew Inn.

The original CroptonBrewery was establishedin 1984 by a Mister Monk-man (the farmer) and aMister Slaughter, (thebrewer). It was located inthe extensive basement ofthe New Inn, the only pubin the village. In fact, dur-ing our stay, we discov-ered it was the onlyanything in the village; no

shop, no Post Office, noporn cinema even.Expansion soon followedresulting in an eventualmove out of the New Inninto a new building in theaforesaid quarry just be-hind the pub. When thisbuilding became toocramped, another wasbuilt, and then another.The first building is nowthe store, the second forbottling and filling kegs,the third is the Brewhousewhere casks are filled.Now some of the Croptonbeers at the time may befamiliar to some; Endeav-our, Two Pints, andMonksman Slaughter,

the latter named in honourof the founders.To make the brand moreaccessible and wide-spread, a decision wastaken in 2012 to changethe name to the GreatYorkshire Brewery. Somepopular names weredropped or changed, in-cluding Endeavour. TwoPints became a keg beer.In fact their three corebeers now all have York-shire in their names (Pale,Classic and Gold).Monksman Slaughter re-mains unchanged. Sincethe rebranding, apparentlysales have increased withbeers now shipped as faraway as Japan.

CROPTON NEW INN ANDBREWERY KEN PAUL



As Cropton Brewery, allbottle beer was bottle con-ditioned. Now it is all fil-tered. Keg beers andlagers, (inevitably calledcraft) have been intro-duced to extend theirrange. I noticed during thetour some large plasticcontainers full of darkbeer. Apparently this wasbeer run off used to makebeer shampoo. What awaste.

After the tour, third pintsamples of our choicewere provided in the pub.Now, confession time.One of the thirds chosenwas keg Blackout, achocolate stout. Lookaway now but I have toadmit it was a very palata-ble drink. This beer wasnot on handpull at that

time, but appeared later inthe evening. The New Inn itself is afine pub offering six GreatYorkshire handpulls in thebar ; no guest ales fea-

ture. Meals are availablein the bar, a conservatory,a restaurant or outside inthe pleasant garden.There are Bed and Break-fast rooms available. Hav-ing stayed, I canrecommend this establish-ment for fine beer and ex-cellent food.Finally, during our stay

much was madeof their annualbeer and musicfestival. Appar-ently it has beenheld for the last20 years. Giventhat the firstnight coincideswith my birthdayin November, itwas a no brainerto book another

overnighter to visit their21st. Can’t wait.

.

Enjoying your pint?Perhaps you are reading this copy of CAMRA-Angle in your favouritepub? Perhaps you have picked it up in a pub you seldom visit? Per-haps you are a visitor to the area? Did you enjoy the pint you weredrinking as you read it? Did you score the beer out of 5, where 1means it was pretty awful and 5 means you have decided to move in?In the Sunderland and South Tyneside CAMRA Branch area we usethose scores to select those pubs which will be in the next Good BeerGuide, and which pubs will be voted upon for our Pub of the Year. Notsure how to score your beer for quality? Visit www.whatpub.com fordetails. Your scores count.



We’ve all seen a forlorntub of cider balanced onthe end of the bar – as thelicensee tries his hand(again) at selling real cider– probably in the height ofsummer.It’s fine for a few days,with customers trying theodd pint or two (at 6.5%abv they daren’t drink toomuch), but then it starts toturn a little sharp and thenquickly becomes unpalat-able, resulting in perhapshalf a tub of cider beingused as drain cleaner.It’s enough to make thecider maker weep – not tomention those who hand-picked the apples!In order to satisfy the de-mand for cider, The licen-see is then enticed intothe world of kegged andgassed apple-flavouredfizz. The world of the alco-holic fizzy apple-flavouredsquash that is 90%+ ofthe kegged cider marketpresents a solution thatticks the ‘cider’ box formany publicans.For many licensees there-fore, the selling of real ci-der poses severalproblems – not the least ofwhich is the concern thatthey won’t sell enough, itwill go off and they willhave to throw it away –which is clearly not whatthey are in business to do!

However, with a basic un-derstanding of a few sali-ent elements, the sellingof cider becomes, not arisky sideline, but an easyway to engage with therapidly emerging demandfor high quality, often lo-cally-sourced productsfrom small scale produc-ers who care passionatelyabout what they make.This is a market I haveseen that brings a custom-er base into pubs whowouldn’t otherwise gothere.

All that is needed is anunderstanding of a fewbasic points – points inci-dentally that are very wellunderstood by the kegged‘cider’ producers.Firstly, real cider is pro-duced once a year –around September. Manycider makers keep ciderback from previous yearsproduction to blend with‘new’ cider in order tokeep consistency and tohelp give depth androundness to their prod-uct. I know of one cidermaker who has got cider

Cider – Landlord’s Nightmareor Untapped Business opportunity?



he made 15 years ago. Itis in exceptional condition.Cider therefore does notneed to go off. It simplyneeds to be kept properly– and that is not at theend of the bar counterPlease also note that ciderdoes not need to be‘fizzed’ or pumped full ofpreservatives in order tobe kept in good condition.If looked after properly itwill quite happily keep formonths, if not years.Secondly, real cider issusceptible to the sameelements that will makebeer ‘go off’, namely air,heat and humidity. Youwouldn’t (I hope!) leave atub of beer balanced onthe end of the bar and ex-pect it to remain drinkablefor weeks, the same istrue with cider.

So, with these two pointsin mind, we need to trans-fer theory into practice.In my pub, we don’t usepumps – all ciders andales are gravity fed fromthe Tap Room – which isair-conditioned (as aremost pub cellars, therebydealing with the heat andhumidity problems). Thisworks well for us, but Irealise it would pose aproblem for many to begoing backwards and for-wards to the cellar everytime someone wanted apint. There are methodsout there to connect ‘bag-in-a-box’ to a pump –thereby providing an easymethod to dispense realcider in good condition ona consistent basis.Finally, real cider and per-ry in a ‘bag-in-a-box’

should be readily availablefrom almost any whole-sale beer supplier – withone or two ‘brands’ beingavailable nationwide.However, with not morethan a few minutes spenton the internet, you shouldbe able to track down alocal real cider producer,many of whom will be de-lighted to supply the localpub trade.

This article was written forCAMRA by:Ian PinchesThe Railway Arms,Downham Market –CAMRA National CiderPub of the Year 2013and one of the 4 final-ists in the 2014 competi-tion.

Just a minute! Isn’t that Melbourne Rail-way Station in the picture to the right, andisn’t that Ken Paul’s cobber Les and isn’tthat a copy of CAMRA-Angle 40 he ispointing out? Too right, mate!

And isn’t this Ken Paulhimself, standing outsidethe Glasgow Beer Festi-val, with a very similarcopy of CAMRA-Angle?Strewth Bruce, this mag-azine gets around morethan a wombat riding awallaby! We are unableto confirm or refute therumour that the reason that the Aussie

cricket team capitulated in the Ashes isthat they wanted to get back to the dress-ing-room to read their copies of Angle 40.

CAMRA-Angle in focus



The North East Regionallaunch of the 2016 editionof the CAMRA publication“Good Beer Guide” is be-ing held on September10th. This year Sunder-land & South Tynesidebranch of CAMRA taketheir turn to host the eventat The Dun Cow in Sun-derland.The event, lead by DaveBrazier, the North EastRegional Director of

CAMRA starts at 14:00.Representatives will bepresent from all CAMRAbranches in the NorthEast Region & an openinvitation is made to allregional Brewers & Publi-cans, plus any represent-atives of local media &press, beer bloggers etc.

The event is also open toCAMRA members.

Starting on Wednesdayevening, 26th August, the35th Durham Beer Festi-val runs through to Satur-day evening at DunelmHouse. There will be 150ales (some from thewood), ciders, perries anda bottle bar. There will belive music on Saturday,between 4.00 pm and8.00 pm.

5 CASK ALESIncluding 2 ever changingguest ales

CASK MARQUE - we achieved 100% gradeacross all categories

137 Commercial Road, South Shields , NE33 1SG

We are open:Mon - Sat 12 noon - 12.30 amSun 12.00 - 12 midnight

WEDNESDAY 8.00 pm: Fortnightly Buskers’ NightSATURDAY 8.00 pm: Regular LiveMusic sessions (monthly)

A fine selection of malt whiskies

CAMRA NORTH EAST: REGIONAL NEWS



ALE OF TWOCITIES – KEN

PAULA few weeks ago I wasfortunate to visit Edin-burgh and Glasgow inthe space of 2 weeks.Edinburgh was a lad’s pubcrawl and Glasgow was afamily visit.EDINBURGHThere are many goodpubs to try in the city, bothin the New Town and theOld Town. The New Town(which we visited) coversan area roughly north ofWaverley Station andPrinces Street, while theOld Town can be foundbetween the Castle andHolyrood palace. A short walk from the sta-tion is The Playfair wherea typical Wetherspoonsbreakfast was enjoyedbefore heading towardswhat is in the opinion ofmany to be the most stun-ning pub in the city, TheCafé Royal. You couldtell walking in that thisplace wouldn’t be cheap.In fact nearly £25 for around of 6 pints! Still therewas a good choice with 6handpulls with ales fromthe Loch Ness and Kel-burn Breweries amongstothers.

Sipping a Dark Nessthere was now time tolook around the splendidinterior, much of whichdates from 1900. Downone entire wall are sixhuge tiled panels depict-

ing 6 famous inventorssuch as George Stephen-son and James Watt.

There is a separate eatingarea called the Oyster Barwith more ornate murals.The food was expensive.Chatting to a guy in thegents (as you do) he men-tioned he had paid £16per head for a fish lunch. Inearly countered by men-tioning our Spoons break-fast costing a little morethan that for the 6 of usbut didn’t want to spoil hisday.Next door to the CaféRoyal is the GuildfordArms. A large pub of Vic-torian design, the highceiling, cornices and friez-es are spectacular, as arethe window arches andscreens. There was a di-verse range of up to 10real ales, many from Scot-tish microbreweries. Onein particular caught myeye was Windswept Ma-

ALE OF TWO CITIES– KEN PAUL



rooned, a blackcurrantwheat beer. A purply redcolour, the first sip tastedquite tarty, causing mycheeks (on my face!) tosuck in and meet in themiddle.West along Rose Street,behind Princes Street, isone of the largest pubs Ihave ever been in; theStanding Order.Originally built in1879 as the Brit-ish Linen Bank,this place is trulyhuge. One ofthe many roomsactually containsa Chubb safe,presumably forlock-ins? Thereare at least 8handpulls of everchanging alesfrom breweriesUK wide. A nicetouch is theCAMRA corner,with beer news includingthe fact that during theweek before our visit inJune 2015 nearly 3000pints of real ale had beensold.There are several otherpubs in this part of townthat feature in CAMRA’sBest Real HeritagePubs. They include theKenilworth, the OxfordBar and the AbbotsfordBar.Now, the latter is interest-ing as it is one of a hand-ful of Edinburgh pubs stillusing the tall fount (pro-nounced font) to dispense

real ales. This uses airpressure to push the beerthrough the fount. In 1977CAMRA decreed that thismethod of dispense was“unreal” and hence pubsusing this method couldnot be included the GoodBeer Guide. ScottishCAMRA went ballistic andafter over a year of argu-

ment in What’s Brewing,the method was finallyapproved. If you look inthe Guide you can seereference to the dispensemethod, signified by theletter A.GLASGOWA planned 3 day familyvisit to Glasgow coincided,remarkably, with the city’sannual CAMRA Beer Fes-tival. It was held in theBriggait Arts Centre justround the back of theClutha, which you mayrecall was the scene ofthe fatal helicopter crashin 2013.

I visited the festival by my-self, leaving the other twoto their own devices in thecity centre. With over 100beers to choose from,there was plenty of choiceof styles and strengths towork through.Sitting chatting to somelocals on my table I no-ticed some guys wearing

kilts, carry-ing cases,come intothe beerhall. Now Idon’t dobagpipes.It’s thenoise goesrightthroughme. Sohalf anhour aftercoming in,the afore-said guysin kilts

marched out of a sideroom accompanied by acacophony of noise. It wasthe Caledonian BreweryPipe Band! Bearing inmind I’m probably the onlyEnglishman in the place, Ijust had to sit and lookinterested and clap in allthe right places. Luckily, Ihad just started a FyneAles Sublime Stout (6.8%)which comforted me dur-ing the performance.After several beers, it wastime to try a couple of citycentre pubs, namely theLaurieston just over thesouth side of the river, and



the Horse Shoe Bar inthe centre. Both feature inthe real heritage pubguide and are worth seek-ing out.The Laurieston is locat-ed in a slightly dodgyarea but is quite afriendly place with animpressive interior.Fyne Ales were promi-nent. At one pointsome student typesappeared ordering la-ger. The drink musthave got the better ofme because I men-tioned they should bedrinking proper beer atthe beer festival. Minehost (jokingly I think)asked why I was en-couraging his custom-ers to leave.Moving swiftly on, timeto meet up with the others,in the Horse Shoe Bar.This pubs claim to fame isthat its island bar is thelongest continuous bar(104 feet) in the UK. Actu-ally the longest is the Fal-con at Clapham Junction(125 feet). Both claim tobe in the Guinness Bookof Records but I can’t findan entry. Needless tosay, the Horse shoe isdeservedly popular with 4ales to choose from.

Now the programme thatcame with the beer festi-val entry had a useful pubcrawl guide. So it wastime to take the Glasgow

Underground to HillheadStation. This is to the westof the city centre near tothe University.Byres Road runs roughlynorth – south from the Bo-tanical Gardens past Hill-head Station and downtowards the Clyde. At thenorth end is the OranMor. This used to be achurch (complete withspire). Now serving 4 realales, 2 from Caledonianand 2 house beers (Oran

dark and Oran light)brewed by Houston Brew-ery which is west of Glas-gow. Further down, nextto the station is Curlers

Rest with 5 handpulls.Just round the corner isthe Ubiquitous Chip,where we had a pleas-ant meal in very pleas-ant surroundings (ohand a pint of Fyne AlesChip 71). The next 2mentioned in the guidewe didn’t make (toomuch food and beer).Just across from theChip is Tennants. Nowthe name may suggestlager, but it does have12 handpulls with agood selection. Finallyat the foot of ByresRoad is the ThreeJudges, featuring up to

8 ales nationwide.So a great time was hadby all. I have to say that ofthe 2 cities Glasgow wasmy favourite. More friendlyand less touristy. Willhave to take my matesthere the next time.Full details of all pubs,including addresses canbe found at Whatpub.com

.

ALE OF TWO CITIES– KEN PAUL



Twice a year, there is anexcellent promotion avail-able in the SunderlandEcho: collect two couponsand buy up to four North-ern Rail network day tick-ets for £12.50 each.So, we bought the re-quired copies of the paperand registered with North-ern. Where shall we go?

The Hadrian's Wall coun-try line from Newcastle toCarlisle offers a day outvisiting some excellentpubs so we decided to goto the western extreme ofCarlisle.There have been someinteresting developmentsbeer wise in the BorderCity which makes it anexcellent day out. Armedwith our bargain tickets,we decided to go one outfavourite beer destina-tions, Dumfries, the princi-pal town in south westScotland. The add on fareis only £5.70.

Soon a bright Saturdaymorning in. June, we setoff on the hour and a halfjourney to Carlisle.On arrival in Carlisle, firstport of call was the biggerof the city's two Wether-spoon outlets theWoodrow Wilson, justround the corner from thestation on Botchergate.

The other Spoons, theWilliam Rufus is also onBotchergate.There was an excellentarray of Cumbrian beersavailable but the reasonfor the visit was the largebreakfast which would setus up for the day(£5.79 forthe large breakfast andunlimited coffee)

Suitably fed, we returnedto Citadel station for the12:20 ScotRail train forthe thirty five minute jour-ney to Dumfries. On a fineday, the train affords stun-ning views across the Sol-way Firth along theCumbrian coast.

The Burgh of Dumfrieshas 10 real ale pubs listedon WhatPub and for ourshort visit, we decided to

concentrate on three ofthe finestFirst, located in White-sands on the bank of theriver Nith is the Coachand Horses, a wee howffstone floored and verycool even in the summerheat. Only one cask ale isavailable in the form ofDraught Bass at £3 a pint.The beer is always excep-tional here and provesthat Bass can still be anexcellent beer. Leave thepub, turn right along theNith and then right at thebridge over the river on toBuccleuch Street to thenext stop, the CavensArms. Don't be put off byrestaurant like appear-ance, the is a separatebar area for those notwishing to eat. the food isexcellent by the way so

Rail Ale Tour Michael Wynne



this is the best place toeat.The pub is a former Scot-tish pub of the year andlocal Dumfries and Stew-artry winner for manyyears. There are fourregular and four guestbeers available fromScotland and furtherafield. We settled for theexcellent Phoenix Arizo-na again at £3 a pint. Asusual, service was excel-lent and the staff werevery knowledgeable. Sogood we had to havemore than one.

Then right outside theCavens then left, pass theBurns Monument intoQueensferry Street for ourfinal stop.

The Tam O'Shanter isanother wee howff thistime owned by nearbyBroughton Brewery. Sixreal ales were availableincluding Tempest Cas-cade again at £3. Againbeer quality was verygoodTime for the short walkback to the station pass-ing Drambusters in Eng-lish Street, an excellentwhisky merchant.On arrival in Carlisle, gostraight out of the station,along English Street last

the old town hall ontoFisher Street to the King'sHead. “The Napper”claims to be the oldestpub in Carlisle and hasalways been a bastion ofreal ale. Until recently, itsold only the local YatesBitter but now has threeguest ales and a real ci-der. We stuck with theYates at £2.70 and werenot disappointed as thequality was again verygood. Leaving the Napper,head back towards thestation, turn left on to Dev-onshire Street to our finalstop of he day, the MooBar.The Moo opened in De-cember last year in aformer shop and is very

simply furnished with oldchurch pews. The Moohas eighteen, yes eight-een handpumps offeringbeer from just about everyCumbrian Brewery and asimilar number of craft kegtaps, no mainstreambeers are available. I set-tled for Hardknott Azimuthat £3.40. The beer was sogood we let the train goand went for a later one!There is a train every hourbetween Newcastle andCarlisle Monday to Satur-day and the normal dayreturn is £17.40 but twopeople travelling togethercan buy a Duo ticket andget 50% off the secondticket.

The Moo Bar

Come and enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and real ales and ciders at the CAMRA Sunderland Octoberfest, 8th - 10th October 2015 at The Bonded Warehouse



Ken Paul’s Pub QuizSCOTTISH THEMED PUB QUIZ

1. In which city was Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler born?

2. How many times has Scotland hosted the Commonwealth Games?

3. Which golf gourse hosted the 40th Ryder Cup in 2014, Muirfield, St Andrews orGleneagles ?

4. For which film has Sean Connery won his only Oscar?

5. A Munro is the name for a Scottish mountain above which height?

6. Where do smoked haddock called Smokies come from?

7. At 119 miles, name the longest river in Scotland.

8. What are curling’s stones traditionally name from?

9. Which Scottish Brewery claims to have been brewing since 1719?

10. Identical twins Charlie and Craig Reid are better known as?

11. MP Alex Salmond's constituency shares its name with one of the engines in Tho-mas the Tank Engine. Which one?

12. Which transport system is known locally as The Clockwork Orange?

13. There are currently 7 cities in Scotland. Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow,Inverness, Perth and which other?

14. Which one of the above cities has a football team called St Johnstone?

15. Name the brewery, founded in 2001, that brews Avalanche, Jarl and Maverick,amongst others?

16. What was the name of James Bonds estate and family home in Scotland?

17. Name the Aviemore based brewery that won the CAMRA Champion Beer of Scot-land 2015 with its Black Gold milk stout ?

18. In the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, Scotland have been drawn in the same group asMalta , Slovakia, Slovenia , Lithuania and which other team ?

19. Which Scottish landmark became a World Heritage Site in 2015

20. In which Scottish city would you find Captain Scotts ship, The Discovery ?



With all the recent furore onsocial media about poor Cecilthe lion, and trophy-hunting ingeneral, I shall very quicklysay that the remains of thenoble creature pictured on theright is to be found in ….. TheRed Lion, West Boldon.

Moving on swiftly, this issue’s puzzle pic-ture might also cause some concern.Even if you spot it, or know where it is,are you going to admit to it?It might be possible that there are otherexamples of locations like this in several,or even many pubs in our branch area,but I guess that few are so well indicated.

If you recognise the pub in ques-tion, and the precise spot wherethis sign is to be found, rejoice inyour skills of observation, but nottoo loudly on this occasion!

I wonder how many people would havebeen able to identify the river shown onthe front cover of our last issue?Wear? No.Tyne? No. Nile? No.Rhine? No.Give up?Hint: the two Englishlanguage studentsshown reading CAM-RA-Angle 39 in Issue40 would have rec-ognised it.Give up?It was in fact the Tom, which flowsthrough Tomsk, in Siberia. If any one gotthat at home, very well done!

1. Glasgow

2. Three (Edinburgh1970 and 1986,Glasgow 2014).

3. Gleneagles

4. The Untouchables

5. 3000 feet.

6. Arbroath

7. River Tay

8. Granite

9. Belhaven

10. The Proclaimers

11. Gordon

12. Glasgow Under-ground ( trains areOrange and goround in a circle)

13. Stirling.

14. Perth

15. Fyne Ales

16. Skyfall

17. Cairngorm

18. England

19. Forth RailwayBridge

Quiz answers (in Australian)

Where am I?

A Friendly Welcome Guaranteed - Campaign for Real Alecamraangle.sst.camra.org.uk/documents/Issue41.pdf · A Friendly Welcome Guaranteed CAMRA BRANCH PUB OF THE YEAR 2015 EIGHT ever-changing

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