Ale Cry 116

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BLACK HORSE HERITAGE PUB Page 16

issue 116, AUTUMN 2017 03 04 06 09

Pub of the Season – Hoppy Days Preston Parade My Pint of View Brewery News

10 11 18 20

Whittle Springs Brewery Riley’s Rambles 2018 Good Beer Guide South Ribble Scene

22 24 27 28

Hart Re-started Chorley Chatter The Price of Your Pint Ale Cry Visits …

CENTRAL LANCASHIRE BRANCH

EE FR

Ale

FIGHTING FOR DRINKERS’ RIGHTS IN THE HEART OF LANCASHIRE SINCE 1973

Branch Contacts Chairman DAVE BELL t: 07900 565281 e: chairman@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Membership Secretary JOHN SINGLETON t: 07456 914048 e: membership@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Treasurer DAVE WOOLCOCK e: treasurer@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Secretary & Webmaster GORDON SMALL t: 01772 746118 e: secretary@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Pubs Officer DAVE WOOLCOCK e: pubsofficer@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Pub Protection Officer DAVE LINLEY t: 01772 735628 e: pubprotection@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Chairman’s Welcome

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elcome to our Autumn 2017 edition of Ale Cry. I hope you enjoy reading the variety of articles which our contributors submit.

Certainly the feedback we have received since we changed the look and style of the magazine a couple of issues ago continues to be very positive so we must be doing something right.

I was pleased (and somewhat relieved) to read in What’s Brewing recently that evidence suggests that teetotallers die younger than moderate drinkers. This is a subject that I have touched on before so you may be aware that last year, the Chief Medical Officer for England announced lower drinking guidelines for men of just 14 units per week. Now of course, if we choose, we can all ignore these guidelines as we stand in the pub ordering our twentieth pint that week but we are still potentially affected by them. The reduction in the male drinking guidelines led to a massive increase in “hazardous drinkers” overnight, triggering anti-alcohol groups to campaign for higher taxes on alcohol, minimum prices and advertising bans.

None of us wants to pay more for our ale so this was not good news.

A new study, recently published in the British Medical Journal shows that the Chief Medical Officer’s new guidelines do not stand up. The study found a 24% lower rate of mortality and a 31% lower rate of coronary heart disease among moderate drinkers when compared to

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people who had never drunk alcohol. The challenge for each of us is to decide what is moderate consumption. I suppose we will all have different views as to how much alcohol can be drunk whilst remaining a moderate drinker. There is no evidence for a threshold of 14 units and most studies suggest that people who drink twice that much live longer than teetotallers.

All things in moderation, as the saying goes, but I will leave you to think about how much that can be.

As ever, if you have any thoughts, comments or feedback, please get in touch with us via email, you will find a contact list in this magazine, or better still, come along to one of our forthcoming meetings or events. You can also visit our website www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk for all the latest information and local news and if you are on Facebook, please search for CAMRA Central Lancs and like our page.

You can now also follow us on Twitter, search for CAMRA Central Lancs.

We have also started a monthly newsletter which is emailed to Branch members on the 1st of each month. If you are not receiving this, it will be because we do not have an up to date email address for you. Please get in touch and let us have your email address and we will add you to our list of recipients.

Happy Autumn!

Kind Regards DAV E B E L L

Branch Chairman

Cider Officer LUKE HARRISON e: cider@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Social Media Officer MIKE WOOLCOCK e: socialmedia@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Communications Officer MICK CLARK t: 07984 840486 e: communications@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Ale Cry Editor ADRIAN SMITH t: 07495 448555 e: editor@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Social Secretary POST VACANT www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk @CAMRA_CentLancs CAMRA Central Lancashire Branch All material copyright © Central Lancs CAMRA No part of this magazine may be reproduced without permission.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this magazine are those of the individual authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the Editor, Branch Committee or CAMRA nationally. Central Lancs CAMRA accepts no liability in relation to any advertisement or article and recommends the reader make their own enquiries. It should also be noted that inclusion of an advertisement in this magazine should not be deemed an endorsement of quality by Central Lancs CAMRA. Design & Layout: Stewart Grieve Design Ltd e: stew@stewartgrieve.co.uk www.stewartgrieve.co.uk Printed by: Printplus, Cocker Avenue, Poulton-le-Fylde, FY6 8JU t: 01253 299620 www.printplusgroup.com

of MY PINT OF VIEW Pub AUTUMN 2017 the season

Hoppy Days Longridge

Photo: © Sam Dakin

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e are delighted to announce that our Pub of the Season for Autumn 2017, is micropub, HOPPY DAYS on Derby Road in Longridge.

Hoppy Days opened in October 2016 and in the short time since then, has become a great asset to the real ale scene in the town.

Run by Peace and Adam Townsend, the pub has 5 hand pulls which deliver 5 ever changing cask ales, with a dark beer always available. In addition, a choice of 3 real ciders is available. Peace is passionate about real ale, learning her trade in Skipton: firstly at the Narrow Boat before moving on to the Beer Engine, the town’s first micropub.

Skipton’s loss proved to be Longridge’s gain when in October last year, Hoppy Days threw open it’s doors with the objective of bringing the fine folk of Longridge and beyond a new micropub – real ale, wine and bottled beers in a convivial atmosphere.

The cask beers are always in perfect condition and it is a pleasure to drink great ale in such a friendly, welcoming atmosphere. Fantastic real ale from ever changing breweries, there is something different for everyone at Hoppy Days, but

Owner Peace Townsend with her husband Adam, Head Brewer Stuart Neilson and Colin Povey from North Riding Brewery at their Meet the Brewer event in July.

Friday and Saturday and 1pm - 7pm Sunday. the pub is about more than that. In the Our presentation to Peace and Adam will short time it has been open, Hoppy Days has take place on Thursday 19th October around become the heart of the local community, 8.30pm. Why not come along and see what with events such as Tap Takeovers, Home Brewers Forums and the recently introduced Hoppy Days is about for yourself. If you can’t make it on the night, pay a visit soon, it’s Spanish lessons all taking place at the pub.

In addition, Peace and Adam are giving back an easy bus ride from Preston on the No. 1 Stagecoach bus. You will find great real ale, by sponsoring a prize at the recent Create a friendly welcome and Peace and Adam are Longridge Art event. two of the nicest people you will ever meet.

The opening hours are 3pm – 9pm Project2_Layout 1 18/01/2017 11:09 Page 1 Wednesday and Thursday, 1pm – 10pm DAV E B E L L

THE RED HERRING STE & MARY WELCOME YOU TO COPPULL’S TOP FREEHOUSE. Guest ales include

AT COWLING 9-11 Cowling Brow Chorley - PR6 0QE Tel: 01257 260815

Bank Top, Reedley Hallows, Prospect, Wily Fox and many more

Live entertainment last Saturday of the month.

Sunday night quiz.

Ring Mill function room for hire.

OPEN

Monday–Thursday from 3pm Friday–Sunday from 12 noon

MILL LANE, COPPULL, CHORLEY, LANCS 01257 470130

THE PRINCE OF WALES

PR7 5AN

8 REAL ALES - 4 CHANGING WEEKLY - 10% DISCOUNT FOR CAMRA MEMBERS - BEER FESTIVALS THREE TIMES A YEAR - LIVE MUSIC EVERY WEEKEND - DOG FRIENDLY AND BEER GARDEN

Proud to sponsor Chorley Football Club

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

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PRESTON PARADE

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couple of pubs have reopened after having extensive refurbishments which involved them closing whilst all the work was done. The STANLEY ARMS on Lancaster Road reopened at the end of July after being closed for a month with £240,000 having been spent on creating ‘a top quality traditional country style heritage pub’ in the heart of the city centre. No horse brasses though, but a clean and bright decor both in the ground floor bar and the upstairs function room, which is available for hire, giving it an informal atmosphere. A couple of seating booths have been added, but the general layout remains the same, with four handpumps prominent in the centre of the bar.

The new licensee is Paul Butcher and he says he is passionate about beer. On opening night the four cask beers were Lees Manchester Pale Ale (3.7%), Theakstons Best Bitter (3.8%) at £3.40 a pint, Robinsons Dizzy Blonde (3.8%) and Wychwood Hobgoblin (4.5%). These last two would become permanent beers, as he told me that he intends to have two changing local beers on the other two pumps once he settles in.

Some things won’t change though. Live music will still feature, with the ever popular Northern Soul night continuing to be a big draw on Saturdays and Karaoke on Sundays. Opening hours are 11.30 am – 11.30 pm and in addition, home cooked traditional pub

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food with vegan options will be available noon – 8pm (5pm Sun). We wish him success in this Heineken/Star owned pub and look forward to hopefully seeing some more unusual beers on the bar.

The other pub to have reopened in mid July after being closed for, in this case, £270,000 of ‘floor to ceiling’ alterations and refurbishments is the STAGS HEAD at Goosnargh, also owned by Heineken/Star. The exterior has been renovated and repainted with a new entrance. The garden has also received a complete makeover adding a large patio for alfresco eating and drinking and a children’s play area. Inside, the pub has been tastefully decorated making it lighter and brighter and split between various dining areas such as family, quiet, etc. around the central bar area. The new licensee is Preston born Martin Sanderson who was previously manager at the Grapes at Wrea Green, but he has always wanted to run a pub of

Photo: The Guild © Helen Woodward

his own. He is currently tied to Heineken for his real ales, but when he gains Cask Marque approval, he will be able join the SIBA list and get a guest beer from there. On my visit there, the cask beers were Theakstons Best Bitter, and two from the Caledonian Brewery, Deuchars IPA and Edinburgh Castle 80/-. Eventually the guest beer will replace one of the Caledonian beers. There will be occasional live music and family fun days, and functions are catered for. Open from noon till 11pm all days, Martin, who is a chef by training, aims to also provide excellent food at reasonable prices with it available between noon and 9pm (8.30 Sun). Bus No 4 provides a service weekdays, but there is no Sunday or evening service.

More good news is that Karen at the GUILD on Fylde Road (ex Hogshead), and not to be confused with The Guild Ale House, has finally been given the go-ahead by owners Greene King to introduce

guest beers. She has a changing list of over 250 beers to choose from and has said that she will make this available so that knowledgeable people can give her their advice on which beers to get in. Even better, there will be a CAMRA discount of 25p on the cask beers.

Having been at the Guild for over 10 years, Karen has been urging Greene King to let her have a changing range of interesting guest beers, like The Taps in Lytham, for a very long time. Now they have seen the light, she deserves the backing of all real ale drinkers in making a success of her newly gained freedom.

Now some disappointing news regarding The OLD BLACK BULL on Friargate. The pub is owned by Greene King, but lately has been leased out to Midland Taverns, who installed their own people to run it. Midland have now decided not to renew their lease and managers Sam and Callum are likely to have left by the middle of September. Our understanding is that Greene King will put in a manager while the lease situation is being resolved, and contrary to certain local rumours, the pub will not close. It is not that long ago that this pub was the premier real ale outlet in Preston, winning the George Lee Memorial Trophy in 2012. Greene King have shown that they can have excellent real ale pubs in

their stable – you have only to look at the TAPS at Lytham or the FRESHFIELD at Formby to see what can be done with the right people at the helm. Hopefully, the next people in charge will get things back on track and the drinkers of Preston will continue to support them.

More bad news. The UNICORN at the bottom of North Rd. has closed. It has been bought by the developers of the old Canterbury Hall site which is currently being transformed into yet more student accommodation. Their plan is that they will use it for a year as site offices and then reopen it as a ‘student’ pub, whatever that is. Do you think it will have real ale? I am not so sure.

Meanwhile, the concentration of pub ownership into smaller numbers of larger groups continues apace. Heineken/Star Inns and Bars are taking over some three thousand Punch Group pubs, making them the largest pub owning group in the country. From what I have seen lately, Heineken/Star’s idea of guest beers is not a patch on Punch’s, so what that will mean to our choice does not bear thinking about. Two pubs in our area which should escape their clutches are THE PLUNGINGTON HOTEL on Lytham Rd and the GRAPES at Goosnargh. They are to be sold off (along with many others across the country) so that Heineken will not be impeded by a monopoly enquiry into the takeover. Thank goodness for pubs free of tie.

PAU L R I L E Y www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

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MY PINT OF VIEW

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here have been many new breweries opened in our area in the last couple of years. Beer Brothers are one of those, and they are in the process of moving to larger premises on Walton Summit. In this issue we catch up with Phill Leyland (Co owner and brewery manager), to find out what they are currently up to, and what he thinks about the current brewing and beer scene.

AC Why not start by telling us a bit about your history?

PL There’s two of us – myself and David Reese. We met at high school and have been best friends ever since. Not quite brothers, but we might as well be! David started home brewing while at university and it has gone on from there. We brewed an Altbier (a ruby German style beer) and it was so successful that we started to brew commercially. Our first kit was cobbled together in the corner of a workshop – really a large home brew kit, but it was quickly apparent that we did

not have enough capacity for the demand – especially if we wanted to supply both cask and bottled beer.

AC You’ve taken the plunge and gone straight to a 10 barrel plant.

PL Yes, most people would probably have gone to 5 barrel and seen how it went.

However the returns wouldn’t have been enough to enable me to stop work and concentrate on the brewing side full time.

It’s really hard work doing a full time job, then trying to fit in the brewing side at weekends. We were fortunate to get some outside investment and the Lancashire Business Growth grant as well; we couldn’t have managed without it. We should have the new kit installed and back in production by August. The new plant will enable us to produce 2 brews a week, which is 80 x 9 gallon barrels. Once we have built up stock, we will be doing 15 x 9 gallon barrels and 1000ltr for bottles on all 9 varieties.

New Brewing plant (old plant in pictures, Left)

Dave Reece, Phill Leyland, Dave Moore (CAMRA Brewery Liaison Officer) & Alan Reece at Walmer Bridge Beer & Banger Festival, June 2016

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AC It’s one thing brewing the beer, but getting it into pubs must represent a considerable challenge.

PL It is – more than the average drinker might expect. There are really two options, either dealing direct or going through a middleman. Whichever route you go down, there are drawbacks. If you can brew enough and guarantee supply, then using a middleman (pubco, distribution company, SIBA listing) is the ‘easy option’ in terms of workload. Unfortunately there are often limits on what the pubco will pay – which may be less than it costs to brew the beer in the first place. Also some of the mark-ups before it gets to the pub make it very difficult for the pubs to actually charge a reasonable price for the product.

We will explore this route but our main focus will be going direct, which has it’s own problems. It takes a long time to work out which pubs are able to deal direct with us, who we need to speak to and then get round to meet them.

AC How do you feel about CAMRA? PL You have been great for real ale – without you we wouldn’t have the variety of ales available today and the number of brewers. We probably wouldn’t be here, that’s for sure. You’re good at promoting brewers and their products, you’ve encouraged people to hold beer festivals – which is great for us to get our product to the public attention. It’s a free publicity service, and that of course is great. But our perception is that you’re possibly taking a rather narrow view with some things. The argument over cask v craft for example. We can brew some great and unusual beers, but they won’t be to everybody’s taste and it will be very difficult to get them into a pub, (even using pins – 4.5 gallon barrels) as they don’t believe they will be able to sell them in time. If we put them in a key keg, they can still be as real as a cask beer, and they will last for 8 weeks rather than 3 or 4 days. Perhaps it’s the word keg that causes the problem. Yes, there is confusion at point of sale, with the customer not having a clue whether the product is cask conditioned or keg, but that could be overcome with skilled and educated bar staff and better point of sale information.

AC Finally, what are your plans for here?

PL Once we get the brewery up and running, we will be opening a bar on site, we have enough room to give brewery tours and we’ll have events at night. It will enable us to do so much more – and of course you and your members will always be welcome to come along.

Derian House

In Support of

Supporting Heart Patients

Providing Palliative Care for Children

Royal British Legion

Lifelong support for the Armed Forces

Heartbeat

Rotary Charities

St Catherine’s Hospice

Incl. Eradication of Polio

Adult Hospice serving our Community

OCTOBER 2017

Thursday 19th

Friday 20th

Saturday 21st

(Food served 8pm - 10pm)

(Food served 4pm - 10pm)

7pm - 11pm

7pm - 11pm

(Live Music & Food served 8pm - 10pm)

For information contact

07802 797490 (Peter) 07800 937840 (Robert)

50 Real Ales

2pm - 11pm

To be opened by

The Mayor of Chorley Councillor Mark Perks

plus

Cider, Lager, Wine & Prosecco Bars Entry Fee £5 *

* Includes Commemorative Pint Glass and Programme.

FREE entry for CAMRA members on production of Membership Card. FREE entry for ladies on Saturday before 4pm.

The Army Reserve Drill Hall, Devonshire Rd, Chorley, PR7 2DJ For more information visit our website at

www.chorleybeerfestival.org.uk www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

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TEL: 01282 616192

Lancashire Beer are pleased to announce the new ownership of Hart Brewery Preston We will be brewing regular favourites and also seasonal brews. Please see our website for more information www.lancashirebeer.co.uk

Summer Sovereign ABV 3.7% Ice Maiden ABV 4.0% Lord of the Glen ABV 4.2% Motueka ABV 3.8% All 4 of this month’s brews are on SPECIAL OFFER !

Please phone 01282 616192 for more information

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BREWERY NEWS Our regular feature keeping you updated with information about our local breweries, their plans, their beers and where to buy them. Links to the brewery websites and Facebook pages can be found on the Local Breweries tab on the branch website: www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Beer Brothers Beer Brothers have found the premises they were looking for on Ranglet Road, Walton Summit. They have made a license application for an off-license, tap room and for brewery tours but it is understood that this may be a few months before it comes to fruition, assuming the license is granted. (see My Pint of View article on Page 9 for additional information about this brewery).

Bishop’s Crook Earlier this year the Bishop’s Crook brewery was temporarily out of action while the brewing equipment was reorganised in order to create more storage space.

Since brewing re-commenced in April, the Emporium in Chorley has been added to their list of regular outlets, while three of their beers (Galaxy, Initiate, and Winding Staircase) were available at the recent Walmer Bridge Beer & Banger Festival.

Crankshaft After taking ownership of new premises to enable them to substantially increase production with a new 2.5 barrel plant, their beers have recently been available on draught at some local micropubs. Look out for their bottles on sale at some offlicences, wine bars, restaurants, garden centres, markets and farmers markets.

Goosnargh Following the original sale listing of Ye Horn’s Inn, the asking price has been reduced and the brewery is now included in sale price. We understand the brewer wishes to move down south nearer to his family but it is not known if there has been any interest at the reduced price. Brewing continues typically 3 times a fortnight and the 100th brew has recently been produced.

Grill & Grain at the Boatyard Following the disastrous fire Thwaites have stated that they are committed to rebuilding everything and that it will take at least a year to complete the work.

Hart Re-started brewing again in early May and built up stocks of Ice Maiden 4%, Lord of the Glen 4.2%, Citra 3.8%, Spring Gold 3.8% and Lancashire Best Bitter 3.9% which have started to appear around the area. Works completed for an improved cold store, pipework and installation of an extra fermenter.

2 new seasonal beers: Motueka ABV 3.8% - ‘a light blonde single hopped session beer’ and Summer Sovereign ABV 3.7% - ‘a light easy drinking summer special beer’ should soon appear. (see the article about the rebirth of this brewery on page 22)

Hubsters This has been a busy period for the brewery with the introduction of two new beers and rebranding /new artwork.

The new beers are Hop Session - described as an English pale ale @ 3.6% and Hop Tail - A pale ale with tropical fruits, mango, watermelon, passion fruit and peach @ 3.6%. Along with this they have also started bottling again and have the following bottle conditioned beers available from the brewery and selected outlets around Chorley. Hop Scotch, Hop on the Good Foot, Tribute, Hop Session and Hop Tail. The beers are to be found from time to time in various Chorley pubs, notably Shepherds’ Hall Ale House, Malt’n’Hops and the Emporium.

Stout, Livesey’s Lager, Addison’s Ale, PR2 IPA and Zingari.

Providence Is a new brewery operating from the Old Mill Industrial Estate, Bamber Bridge, just down the way from Withnell’s.

It is owned by Graham Driver who has been brewing for a couple of years but started commercial brewing in June 2017. It is a 3.25 barrel plant brewing Providence Gold Standard a 4.1% golden ale and all their beer will be cask conditioned. It has already been sold at Emporium in Chorley at their Beer Aid weekend and is likely to be found in the branch micropubs and free houses, with whom they will deal direct.

Ribble This is the brewery which is still planned to be opened at the Withy Arms, Leyland. The last word was that owner Lee Forshaw had offered shares in the future project to attempt to raise £200,000 to build the brewery.

Withnell’s Three further cask ales have been released, these being: Blonde Summit (a 4% blonde ale using Maris Otter Malts and Summit Hops), Single Hop (a 4.3% IPA style beer using for the first batch, Chinook Hops – future brews will feature different hop varieties) and Pikestone IPA (a 5.5% IPA style using a plethora of new world hops).

S T E V E JAC K S O N – with thanks for the contributions of the brewery liaison officers (BLO)

BREWERS If you read this and you think we have missed something, please let us know. It’s virtually a free advert!

Hoppy Days M I C R O P U B

L O N G R I D G E

Priest Town Priest Town have been brewing since January 2017.

They currently have a range of 6 beers which are bottled conditioned only. There are rumours that they will start to produce cask ale soon. The 6 beers are: Ribbleton Red, Harris www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

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CAMRA CENTRAL LANCASHIRE BRANCH AND …

WHITTLE SPRINGS

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n this article I am going back into CAMRA’s pre-history to write about Whittle Springs, a brewery that existed in the branch area 100 years ago.

The story of Whittle Springs is quite fascinating. In 1836, whilst boring for coal, landowner John Heyes had uncovered an alkaline spring, this being close to the canal and what is now Dark Lane in Whittle-le-Woods. It would be another 10 years before the spring’s potential was exploited, but subsequently a health spa was established at the site and opened to the public. Very quickly the spa became popular with day trippers, with claims being made that the waters were comparable to those at Baden Baden and better than those at Harrogate and Cheltenham. For about 50 years Whittle Springs maintained its popularity as a destination for Lancashire’s holidaymakers. The facilities were expanded to include a hotel (later the Howard Arms) and extensive pleasure gardens were developed.

As well as separate plunge baths for ladies and gentlemen, the facilities included a gymnasium, a croquet lawn, and a bowling green. There were also musical entertainments, while boating on the nearby canal was an added attraction.

The quality of the water was also significant for its potential in the brewing of beer. A Whittle Springs Brewery was established in 1846, but over the next 50 years there were a number of different owners and name changes. With the hotel and pleasure gardens attracting more and more visitors, and with a growing number of local pubs taking their beers, it was decided that a new larger brewery be built alongside the hotel. For a time the business was known as Gardner, Thompson & Cardwell, but in 1897 the name Whittle Springs Brewery was formally adopted.

From this time, with the popularity of the baths and pleasure gardens now on the decline, the Whittle Springs Brewery became a thriving business, perhaps benefiting from the belief that better quality water meant better quality beer. More and more public houses were added to the tied estate, with ‘Whittle Springs Noted Ales & Stout’ being found at outlets throughout the Preston-Chorley area and beyond. Adverts from the time indicate that they were producing eight different draught beers, of which there were four different strengths of mild ale.

Unfortunately the depression years of the 1920s were not so good, with brewery takeovers becoming quite commonplace. The demise of Whittle Springs Brewery was to be rather swift, the end coming in December 1928, when the Whittle Springs Brewery together with a tied estate of 54 pubs was acquired by Nuttalls Brewery of Blackburn. However as Nuttalls itself had already come under the control of Matthew Brown, it was really the former Preston-based company that was pulling the strings. The Whittle Springs pubs were no doubt soon sporting Lion Brewery signs, and typically, with Matthew Brown having acquired a good number of new outlets,

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the Whittle Springs Brewery estate itself was deemed surplus to requirements and was sold off by auction in July 1929.

Effectively this was the end of the Whittle Springs Brewery, although for many years the brand name Whittle Springs was used by Matthew Brown for its soft drinks business. The brewery buildings were to be demolished in the 1930s, later the land being used as a builder’s yard. In the 1990s the Spring Mews housing estate was created on the site, an interesting feature being the retention of a well head to mark the location of the original health spa. Nearby the present MALTHOUSE FARM pub was opened in 2000 where the brewery maltings had once been located, to provide another reminder of the area’s brewing past.

Looking at former Whittle Springs Brewery outlets, when the popularity of the baths and pleasure gardens was at its peak, the brewery’s premier asset would have been the HOWARD ARMS (originally known as the Heyes Arms). Although now closed, this establishment was to have a chequered history as a pub, and for a time became a conference centre. It had been acquired by Burtonwood Brewery and interestingly in a 1983 promotion they described it as ‘a happy pub popular with young people’. Not too far away, on the main Preston to Chorley road, other prominent Whittle Springs outlets included the HALFWAY HOUSE at Clayton-leWoods and the SEA VIEW at Whittle-le-Woods. Also in Whittle-leWoods was the strangely named PALETOT INN on Bridge Street (now a private residence).

As you would expect there were many Whittle Springs outlets in both Chorley and Adlington, as well as in the surrounding villages.

Their Chorley pubs included the MASONS ARMS on Harpers Lane (apparently ‘always a house to find a jovial company’), plus pubs now demolished, the COMMERCIAL on Fazackerley Street, the SWAN HOTEL on Water Street, and the SWAN TAP on Hollinshead Street (a separate pub not to be confused with the more recent Swan With Two Necks). In Euxton there was the BAY HORSE on Wigan Road, the since rebuilt and re-located TALBOT ARMS on Balshaw Lane, and the GREY HORSE on School Lane (now a private residence). In Croston there was the GRAPES on Town Road, plus its smaller neighbour the HORSESHOE, demolished many years ago when there was a road widening.

Pubs in Preston selling Whittle Springs beers included the SOUTH MEADOW TAVERN on South Meadow Lane which closed in 1976 and the more recently closed FOX & GRAPES on Ribbleton Lane. Another of their former pubs is the UNICORN on North Road

(but formerly known as Garstang Road), which in the years before the First World War had connections with Preston North End and was described as the ‘Old Football House’.

On the road from Preston to Leyland, the SUMPTER HORSE in Penwortham and the TARDY GATE (now the Wishing Well At Tardy Gate) in Lostock Hall were both pubs to have their beers supplied by Whittle Springs, while another of their pubs in what is now South Ribble was the BLACK BULL in Bamber Bridge which closed in 2011.

There were quite a few Whittle Springs pubs in the Leyland area.

In particular the CROFTERS ARMS and the SEVEN STARS both on Leyland Lane, the QUEENS on Golden Hill Lane, and the ROEBUCK (now the Withy Arms) on Worden Lane. Out of town the recently demolished BLACK BULL at Moss Side was a Whittle Springs pub, as was the RAILWAY (now the Midge Hall) at Midge Hall.

Looking to the north of Preston, Whittle Springs had a number of pubs in Kirkham, while the CHURCH INN at Garstang was also one of their pubs. Surprisingly in 2017 the Whittle Springs name survives in Blackpool, with the VICTORIA on Talbot Road having a dual identity, also being known as the WHITTLE SPRINGS. The pub sign is especially interesting as it portrays a view of the original Whittle Springs well in a rural setting.

The Whittle Springs brewery may be long gone, and many of its former pubs may now be just a memory, but the background story is certainly an interesting one. Perhaps someone should write a book about it.

GORDON SMALL

S T E WA RT G R I E V E D E S I G N LT D GRAPHIC DESIGN FOR PRINT With more than 15 years experience I offer friendly graphic design services with a keen eye for detail. Designs ranging from flyers, brochures, catalogues, and books are all assured the same commitment and creativity, guaranteeing projects exceed expectations.

w w w.stewar tgrieve.co.uk stew@stewar tgrieve.co.uk 07761 335 847

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

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RIley’s Rambles: Fairhaven to St. Annes

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ou can treat this as an actual ramble and do the walking, or you can skip the first bit and go directly to St. Annes and use it as a guide to the pubs in the centre. On a warm sunny day, it is a pleasant stroll along the foreshore; if there is a wind and the weather is inclement, either get wrapped up well or go direct to St. Annes. If going by train, alight at Ansdell & Fairhaven station and head to Fairhaven Lake. Alternatively, having caught the No 68 bus, get off at the FAIRHAVEN pub and the lake is but a hundred yards away. The modern pub is a far cry from the original Boddington’s house of happy memory, but it still sells cask ale and those wanting a drink before their walk could find up to five ales on sale inside. At the time of writing however, the pub is shut awaiting a new lessee for the Enterprise Inn owned outlet, so maybe not.

Those doing the walk, proceed through the car park to the left of the lake along the path overlooking the sea until you reach some steps taking you down to the sand dunes. It is then a straight walk along the foreshore until you meet the promenade at St. Annes. Go up to the promenade and walk left, past the track of the miniature railway where you will shortly see, on your right, SALTERS WHARF, a Toby Carvery. With a large outside seating area, it can be a pleasant spot to have a rest before moving on to the town centre. Most of the interior is set aside for the carvery, but it also has a comfortable lounge. Three handpumps, but only two beers on our visit:- Sharp’s Doom Bar and the Marston’s brewed Wainwrights.

a lady’s boudoir, complete with erotic pictures. Back at the bar, you will find a wide range of five changing guest beers alongside the two permanent beers, the Moorhouse’s brewed No 15s Ale (3.7%) and Hawkshead No 15s Stout (4.5%). On this occasion the five guests were OSB Hopscotch (3.7%) and Headmaster (4.5%), Bank Top Rumworth (3.8%) and Flat Cap (4.0%) plus Brentwood Best (4.2%) from Essex.

Once outside, further up on the other side of the main road, is another modern Greene King pub, the TOWN HOUSE. This one is a ‘Meet and Eat’ styled pub, large and open plan. Four handpumps, all dispensing GK produced beers:IPA, Abbot Ale, Old Speckled Hen and a special summer ale, Radio X Amplified Pale Ale (4%). 20p of every pint of this special will be donated to Global’s Make Some Noise Charity. The lower ground floor houses the CAMRA National Inventory and Grade II listed Burlington’s Bar, with the longest free standing tiled and marbled bar in the whole UK, but I could not find it, so I do not know what it looks like. I will have to have another go next time I am in St. Annes.

Our next pub is the No.10 ALE HOUSE which can be found over the street on Park Road. The Fylde coast’s first micropub, it opened on 28th November 2015. I remember going in a few days after its opening and meeting its owner, George Wright, whose brainchild it was. Whenever I go in he always gives me a warm welcome, which

Continuing forward, you will come to the pier, where you should turn right down St. Annes Rd West and find the LORD DERBY on the left. A modern pub, run by Greene King as a Flaming Grill, it is comfortable and roomy inside with several TV screens showing sports. Four handpulls, but only two beers on our visit, GK IPA and North Yorkshire Brewery’s Temptation, quite tasty at 3.8%. The other two pumps are often in use dispensing changing guest beers.

On leaving, go straight over the road, up the main shopping street, looking on your right for the elegant frontage of NUMBER FIFTEEN, a real gem of a pub. A former Lloyd’s bank, it has a unique feel to it, with a high ceiling at the front, yet a narrow bar area leading to section at the rear which includes the former bank’s vault, which could be described as being decked out like www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

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I am sure he extends to all his customers. The decor is smart yet simple, but does include pieces picked up from the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool. Of course its main feature is an ever changing range of four real ales sourced from near and far served in good condition.

At this particular time the beers were a 3.9% beer from Big Clock, Naylor’s Dusk at 4.2%, the 4.3% Wily Fox Karma Citra and finally Bowness Bay Swan Black at 4.6%. So successful is it that it now opens 7 days from 12 noon. It is a pub not to be missed on any visit to St. Annes.

Finally, round the corner on Wood St. is the local Wetherspoon pub, the TRAWL BOAT. Entering between its outside drinking area, with its mock Tudor frontage, you will find everything that you have come to expect from this welcome addition to most towns where they appear; comfortable and airy, well priced beer, competitive priced food, no nonsense atmosphere, ample facilities, and usually a wide range of real ales. At the Trawl Boat they have

three permanent beers in Greene King Ruddles Best Bitter and Abbot Ale plus Doom Bar. There can be up to seven changing beers, but on our visit it was restricted to three, namely Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold (4.2%), Adnam’s Ghost Ship (4.5%) and Bank Top Port O’ Call (5%). A bit of a disappointment after what had gone before, but we must have caught it on a bad day.

You now have three choices. You can retrace your steps and walk back along the sands to Fairhaven. If on the train, you can catch it at St Annes station near the Town House pub. If on the bus, you can catch the 68 on the main street at stand No1. This latter option would give you the chance to alight after half a mile at Church Road and visit the renowned VICTORIA pub which was famously saved from being converted to sheltered accommodation by a local campaign before the days of assets of community value. It serves two permanent beers in Draught Bass and Greene King IPA plus up to four changing guest beers. It is an enthusiastic supporter of real ale. You could then catch the next No 68 bus back to Preston. Consult your timetable as the services in the evening (like all bus services in Lancashire County Council areas) have suffered from ‘Austerity’ I hope you have found many reasons to visit St. Annes again and again, (even if you did not like the ramble bit).

PAU L R I L E Y

Masons Arms 98 HARPERS LANE, CHORLEY PR6 0HU

· · · ·

4 rooms 2 bars 6 rotating cask ales Gin and wine bar

· · · ·

Ciders, lagers and spirits Fresh snacks daily Open everyday Free wifi

ENTERTAINMENT COMING SOON

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· · · ·

Horse racing Dog friendly Family friendly Monday night quiz

IT’S A DOG’S LIFE

A

lthough this magazine is primarily about pubs and beer, I thought it worth spending a few minutes considering our four legged friends. For many pub goers, the opportunity to take their dogs into pubs is important; either for a well earned drink and rest during a long walk, or perhaps a reason to take the dog out in the first place!

Although many pubs say they welcome dogs, relatively few of them provide any facilities for the dogs. All too often, the only concession seems to be an old (not very clean) ice cream tub

or something similar filled with rainwater. In the last issue we mentioned the Hair of the Dog bar at the TOP LOCK and on my travels over the last month or so, I’ve noticed several other pubs who have been quite enterprising when it comes to welcoming man’s best friend.

So if you are looking for somewhere to take your dog, here are some pubs that go a bit further than the norm. We know there are plenty of others – and if you know of one, why not tell us and send a picture which we can use in a later feature?

ADRIAN SMITH

Alston Arms, Longridge – Dog Barrel

Fieldfare, Chorley – Dog barrel & treats

Green Man, inglewhite – dog facilities

11–15 October 2017

Tinker anxiously awaiting first pint at Top Lock

THE POTTERS ARMS BROOK STREET, CHORLEY

Wheelton Beer Festival The Red Lion 50 real ales Real cider Live music

Thee Bs Doff Cocker Black Sheep Best Bitter + Guest ales from local breweries

Don’t miss Tuesday: All cask ales £1.99 A real pub with darts, dominoes, pool, and a real fire

food available

all sessions Prosecco bar Opens 12 noon

every day

Return of the Balti Pie 196 Blackburn Road, Wheelton pr6 8eu 01254 659890

www.theredlionatwheelton.co.uk

Stephen and Denise have been glad to welcome good beer lovers for over 25 years at the POTTERS.

FREE

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Advert – PottersArms (Autumn) (Quarter).indd 1

Ale

Cry 01/08/2017

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11:21

BLACK HORSE – HERITAGE PUB

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nless it has won a major award, we wouldn’t normally devote an entire article to one pub for fear of upsetting all the others. However, this is no ordinary pub; with magnificent architectural features and an unusual layout, this is one of only four pubs in Lancashire to be featured in CAMRA’s recently revised Britain’s Best Real Heritage Pubs book. If you go in there when the pub is busy, many of the outstanding features tend to get overlooked, but visit when it is quiet and the true beauty of the design is clear for all to see.

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The Black Horse on Friargate in Preston is an ornate three storey building with an external balcony.

It dates from 1898 and was built for Kay’s Atlas Brewery of Manchester (acquired By Robinson’s of Stockport in 1929) to the designs of local architect, J A Seward. The pub is built of stone and red-brick and is typical of it’s time. Right in the heart of Preston, it originally served as a small hotel which explains the fact that the drinking areas are very well-appointed and thus a far cry from basic street corner locals which would have proliferated in the inner suburbs.

The Friargate façade has a central elliptical-headed doorway with moulded stone surround and very large brackets featuring stone carvings of male and female figures carrying a balustraded balcony above. The Black Horse Hotel mosaic floor in the Friargate entrance and ‘Black Horse’ deep etched glass in the inner door is a taste of what’s inside. A mosaic floored passage leads to the heart of the pub which is centred round the bar area. There are two small smoke rooms, one each side of the corridor, and to the right is the public bar originally accessed solely via the Orchard Street entrance.

The public bar has a wonderful ceramic semi-circular bar counter, possibly by Pilkingtons, in graceful cream and light green with bulging pilasters, decorative brackets and a wooden top and is one of only 14 ceramic bar counters left in the country. Most of these are to be found in the north (one being Burlington’s Bar at the Town house in St Anne’s – which coincidentally gets a mention in Riley’s Rambles on page 13).

Within the serving area is a modest U-shaped bar back fitting which was installed in c.1995 and has modern additions such as fridges. The walls of the public bar have a tiled dado of light brown plain tiles, red and light blue decorative tiled panels and a brown, cream and blue ceramic row above.

There is a splendid ceramic fireplace in mainly brown with Fleur de Lys symbols in relief and a mirror in a wood surround above. This small room has a mosaic floor and good segmented plaster ceiling. There is a vestibule entrance from Orchard Street with mosaic floor, a tiled dado as elsewhere, and the inner door & side panels have colourful stained and leaded glass panels.

In c.1995 an archway was cut between the corridor and the public bar accessing it to the rest of the pub. There is a further door in Lothian Street, off the side of Orchard Street which has ‘Hotel Entrance’ in the top panel. This was originally used by customers of the public bar to access the toilets at the rear by going outside the Orchard Street door and back into the pub by the Lothian Street / Hotel Entrance door. The unusual door arrangement meant that the pub had three external doors, each leading on to a different street.

There was a ‘Market Room’ at the rear of the pub when built in 1898 and in 1929 this was replaced by the present U-shaped seating area and indoor ladies and gents toilets accessed via corridors situated to the left and right side of it respectively.

The U shaped seating area is referred to locally as the ‘hall of mirrors’.

The Black Horse is a Grade II Listed

Building, with a listing date of 1987.

Much credit must go to Robinson’s Brewery and a succession of licencees down the years for not making major changes to the building. The present landlord is Dan Taylor who has been here about 10 months. His previous pub was the Olde Man & Scythe in Bolton, so Dan is no stranger to running an old pub with a significant heritage interior (the Olde Man is reputedly the fourth oldest pub in the country and the building dates from 1636). To use his words “the pub is so full of character, why would you change it?”

So what about the Black Horse today? Still owned by Robinson’s Brewery, trade is almost exclusively wet sales, with beer and lager making up 75% of the total. There are 8 hand pumps devoted to cask ale; four serving Robinson’s beers – Dizzy Blonde (the pub’s biggest seller), Unicorn and Old Tom plus a changing guest. They are one of only a handful of pubs that have Old Tom on permanently (mainly down to the fact that it’s the landlord’s tipple of choice). The other four real ales are permanently changing and are sourced via Titanic brewery, with beers from them often being available. There are a further two hand pumps devoted to cider – with Weston’s Old Rosie and another changing Weston’s brew usually available.

Upstairs is a function room with a separate bar. There are a further 3 hand pumps in here – 2 for beer and the other for cider. Hirers are able to chose which beers are put on, which is an unusual and welcome bonus (especially as we are holding our Christmas social there this year!).

Taken altogether, the Black Horse manages to combine being a heritage pub and a city centre boozer, and do it with style. If you are in Preston, why not pop in and see just what is so special here – the pub opens at 10.30 daily and is often quiet until noon, so a great time to explore.

ADRIAN SMITH AC K N OW L E D G E M E N T S :

The description of the architectural features has been taken from the article on CAMRA’s Historic Pub Interiors website (www.pubheritage. camra.org.uk).

The magnificent photographs in this article and on the cover of the magazine were taken by David Toase, and we are indebted to him for allowing us to use them.

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

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2018 Good Beer Guide

T

he coming of Autumn is always a special time in CAMRA, as we await the issue of a new Good Beer Guide. This year sees us up to issue 45, and with around 4,500 of the best pubs in the country nestled within it’s pages, this is a must have book for the discerning real ale drinker.

The pubs in the guide have been chosen after a rigorous selection process, visits by branch members to check the quality of the beer and much arguing at meetings. The names of the successful pubs are a closely guarded secret, and not to be divulged until the book is actually published. What I can say is that our area will have the usual mix - with old favourites extending their stay in the guide, pubs appearing for the very first time and some making a welcome return.

As always of course, there are casualties.

Pubs drop out of the guide for a variety of reasons; sometimes due to quality issues at the pub, but often due to changes of licensee. Sometimes there is uncertainty over the pubs future and rather than include a pub that may well see a change of landlord, we will tend to leave it out and replace with a pub where the future seems more certain.

For many years, we have witnessed the closure of traditional

pubs, so the selection process became slightly easier each year with less candidates to chose from. However, in the last few years we have seen the rise of the micropub, and while they will not be everybody’s venue of choice, they almost always serve excellent cask ale, with the owner being passionate about this side of things. This puts pressure on the branch to balance things out, we need a good geographical spread of entries and types of pub. A few years back, Preston was a difficult area to deal with, and there were sometimes too many good pubs that somebody had to miss out. The problem area now is Chorley, with a number of new micropubs and revitalised traditional drinking houses.

To give you a taster of what to expect in the new guide from our area, some statistics. 25 of the entries are the same as last year. Of the 9 new entries, 4 of them make a return, one of them after a 23 year absence! The other 5 are appearing in the GBG for the very first time.

Looking back to the 2008 guide, only 11 of the pubs in the new guide were there in the 2008 one – a measure of how things change in a relatively short time.

The 2018 Good Beer Guide is scheduled for launch on the 14th September and is available from all good booksellers and direct from CAMRA. ADRIAN SMITH

THE

As featured in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2017

BOB INN CHORLEY

Voted Central Lancashire’s Pub of the Season Spring 2017

A family friendly micro-pub

serving real ales, ciders and Belgian beers

Opening Times: Monday to Saturday 10am until 6pm (excluding Wednesday) Chorley Market, Market Place, Chorley, PR7 1DA thebobinn

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Broughton Club

Beer & Pie Festival lll • Fri 13th • Sat 14th • Sun 15th • October 2017

• 3 Day festival featuring the Best Lancashire & Lakeland Beers Over 30 Beers & Ciders plus a great selection of locally crafted Pies.

• Live Entertainment Daily

FESTIVAL OPEN Friday 16.00pm - 23.00pm Saturday 14.00pm - 23.00pm Sunday 12.00pm - 18.00pm For more information visit our Facebook page:www.facebook.com/broughtonanddistrictclub.co.uk or our website:- www.broughtonanddistrictclub.co.uk Admission - £3.00 (including take home pint glass) All Real Ales - £1.50 (half pint) .... £3.00 ... (pint) EARLY BIRD OFFER £1 ADMISSION BEFORE 18.30 FRIDAY 13TH www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

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SOUTH RIBBLE SCENE

T

he future of the OLD ORIGINAL SEVEN STARS in Leyland has been the subject of much debate in recent months.

Early this year the pub was closed and put up for sale by owners Unique Pub Properties, who it is understood were wanting the building to be demolished or be converted for use other than a pub. It was reported that the Withy Arms Group were interested in adding the pub to their growing estate, while there were also rumours that the premises may be converted for use as a nursery or care home. However, as you will have read in the last Ale Cry, the pub was listed as an Asset of Community Value by South Ribble Borough Council, which at least gave it a stay of execution. Subsequently against all expectations the pub reopened in July, being run by licensees Michael and Jane who also have the Pear Tree at Bamber Bridge. Previously a keg only pub for a great many years, information received was that it was once again selling real ale (although on his first visit our Leyland correspondent had a failure with the one handpump having a Thwaites Wainwright clip turned round). No doubt there will be more to report on the Old Original Seven Stars before the end of the year.

The owners of the MARKET ALE HOUSE in Leyland have announced plans that they are wanting to open a micropub at Leyland Railway Station. Recent improvements at the station site have meant that the former ticket office building (which faces on to Station Brow), is now disused and is surplus to requirements. As things stand the building, which is on two floors, is being prepared for handover, with the Market Ale House people hoping to be able to take possession with the intention that they will be opening their second micropub there before the end of the year. The Market Ale House was the first micropub to open in the CAMRA Central Lancashire branch area in December 2013. Although it has since changed ownership, the present owners have indicated that they are definitely on the lookout for suitable premises to open further micropubs in the local area.

BARRISTERS on Towngate in Leyland is currently up for sale, being advertised by both Christie & Co and Jeremy Rubin & Co. Formerly known as the George IV, the pub was relaunched as

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Barristers in 2009, placing an emphasis on real ale and at one time boasting eight handpumps. Part of a small pub chain with other outlets in Bolton and Blackrod, it was the CAMRA Central Lancashire ‘Pub of the Season’ for Spring 2010. In the intervening years the Leyland pub scene has become much more competitive, with Barristers cutting back on its beer range, now selling just three real ales, typically Robinson’s Dizzy Blond, Sharp’s Doom Bar, and Thwaites Wainwright.

The LEYLAND LION was easily the biggest pub in Leyland. Now it’s even bigger, with the pub having been extended to take over the long-closed shop premises to the right of the main entrance.

Also being brought into play is an upstairs room which will be suitable for private meetings. It is good news that Wetherspoons are enhancing their Leyland pub, when in other parts of the country they have been disposing of pubs. With CAMRA Central Lancashire branch due to hold a committee meeting at the pub in October we look forward to trying the new facilities.

In the last Ale Cry I wrote about the SIR TOM FINNEY in Penwortham, reporting that on my most recent visit there was only one real ale available despite the pub having six handpumps. As I suspected the Central Drive pub was once again in trouble, and shortly after my visit in May it closed, this being the fourth time that it had been closed in the last 15 months. At the end of July the Lancashire Post reported that a new landlord had been appointed, and that the pub would be re-opening for the August Bank Holiday weekend. Hopefully the new landlord Antony Anderson will have some success where his predecessors have failed – I certainly look forward to my next visit when I will be delivering copies of this Ale Cry. Another pub that has reopened after being closed for refurbishment is the VICTORIA at Lostock Hall. For the real ale drinker this is a pub that has had its ups and downs, at times selling five different real ales, but at other times selling just keg beers. For a couple of months the pub has been surrounded by metal railings, but it reopened in early August with a smart external décor and a

new name – now simply called THE VIC. Press releases make much of the changes, but mention of real ale is conspicuously absent, and so indeed are the handpumps.

LOSTOCK HALL CONSERVATIVE CLUB was the venue for a Beer Festival over the June 23rd-25th weekend. This was the first ever Beer Festival held at the club, and as they go it was understandably a comparatively modest affair with just eight cask ales and four real ciders being available. The beers were all sourced from Marstons Brewery, but hopefully the event was sufficiently successful that they can be a little more adventurous next time. Throughout the

year the club usually has two real ales permanently on sale, with Thwaites Wainwright the beer being most often available.

The OLD OAK at Hoghton was closed as a pub early in 2017, and in July re-opened as an Italian restaurant, the San Lorenzo Pizzeria Italiano. Reading the early reviews, I see that this new establishment does apparently still have a small bar area, but at this time we are still awaiting reports on what this is selling.

The ROSE OF FARINGTON on Stanifield Road in Farington has four handpumps, and usually has two or three cask ales available. Unfortunately during the Summer months they do not sell as much real ale as in the rest of the year, and as such usually only have one handpump in use. The beer available on a recent visit was the Theakston seasonal beer Tour De Wot?.

The PETERS BAR has recently celebrated being open 10 years under that name.

Previously known as the School Lane and Tommy Tuckers, the pub had a 10th anniversary celebration night on July 1st.

Finally, the WITHY ARMS usually gets a mention in Ale Cry, and this issue is no exception, with the announcement that they are selling a beer for dogs at their Leyland branch, which is close to Worden Park and is popular with dog walkers.

Spotted by pub owner Lee Forshaw when on a visit to York, they now stock a Belgian bottled beer Snuffle Dog Beer which comes in chicken and beef flavours and is nonalcoholic. I suppose it could have been worse – searching the internet I notice that there is also a beer for dogs called Bottom Sniffer!

GORDON SMALL

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

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Hart re-started

P

restonians amongst you will remember Hart Brewery that was for some time the only brewery based in the town and producing favourites such as ‘Dishy Debbie’ and ‘Ice Maiden’ beers. Production ceased in October 2016 and the brewery was put up for sale due to the owner, John Smith, intending to emigrate to the Philippines.

The good news for those who enjoyed the beers is that the new owners are keeping John on to continue brewing and you may start seeing them around the area very soon.

John started Hart in 1995 behind the Cartford Inn at Little Eccleston, after retiring from BNFL at Salwick and decided to pursue his dream of brewing his own beer. John’s brews became quite popular and soon in demand around the Fylde area and the business grew until he decided to leave the Cartford.

John had always wanted to open a brewery in his home town Preston and a couple of potential sites were identified to site the brewery in an existing pub. Two notable ones were the Golden Cross on Lancaster Road and The Globe (latterly Nonno’s and currently a Chinese restaurant/Karaoke bar) on Corporation St/Heatley St. For various reasons, including not having a big enough access for the brewery equipment, it was decided that it was far easier to relocate to an industrial unit than to try and run a ‘brewpub’ so that direction was taken.

John’s wife hails from the Philippines and problems arose over the amount of money John was making not being sufficient to make the threshold needed to support a foreign national. To meet it John says he would have to massively increase turnover and the dream of brewing would spill over into running a company – a thing a lot of brewers would not want. After a 5 year

battle John decided to put up the brewery for sale and to emigrate.

One of the companies John supplied was Lancashire Beer Co. in Nelson, a company supplying all things to the pub trade throughout the northwest. When owner Glen Wildman heard of the sale he put a proposal to John, to buy the brewery but keep John on to brew the beer and to teach Glen’s son, Scott all the art of brewing.

John is now happy that, for the time being at least, he can satisfy the earnings criteria required and, most importantly, carry on brewing the beers he loves knowing that all the skills and recipes are being passed onto the next generation of brewing backed by a company that can distribute all that can be brewed.

Look out for Hart beers again in a pub or club near you.

S T E V E JAC K S O N

TRADES HALL CLUB Bamber Bridge 3 Handpumps for real ale Other drinks at bargain prices inc. San Miguel and Warsteiner.

CAMRA members welcome.

(Discounted prices on production of valid membership card)

Membership available all year round.

154c Station Road, Bamber Bridge, Preston, Lancs. PR5 6TP http://www.trades-hall.co.uk

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Acts on every Saturday.

Bingo every Wednesday and Saturday.

Photo Competition

Blue Anchor, Bretherton

The rules are very simple. The competition is open to everybody, whether a CAMRA member or not.

Photos must be pub/beer/brewery related and be taken in our branch area (if you’re not sure what this is, please refer to the map on our website).

Standard pub shots are fine (and will certainly be useful for illustrative purposes), but be as creative as you like. Submission of photos authorises Central Lancs CAMRA to use the photos as they choose, either in print or online.

Although this is intended as a bit of fun, there will be a prize for the sender of the winning entry – tokens for 10 pints of real ale at a pub – venue to be mutually agreed.

Please email your entries to editor@centrallancs.camra.org.uk.

The closing date for entries is 15th January 2018. The top three entries, as judged by the editorial panel will be printed in our Spring 2018 magazine (issue 118).

Although not part of the competition, how do you fancy seeing your photo on the cover of Ale Cry. It’s always a challenge to get something a bit different

The bridge, Adlington

for this, so why not give it a go.

Although the picture must be something to do with beer, we’re looking for something other than just a straight pub image.

We had hoped to run seasonally themed covers – a beer garden in the sunshine, autumn colours, Christmas tree by the fire are all ideas we’ve considered. There’s no deadline or closing date on this – just send submissions to the editor and we’ll see if we can use them. Images must be portrait format and we suggest a minimum file size of 5mb to be of sufficient quality.

ADRIAN SMITH

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Ale Cry

Photos: © Helen Woodward

S

omebody once claimed that a picture paints a thousand words. While not strictly true, I think most of us would agree that good pictures bring life to the written word – whether it’s printed or on-line.

We’re always on the look out for great pictures – whether it’s to improve the look of the pubs in our area on WhatPub or to illustrate an article in Ale Cry. So we’ve decided to run a competition for our readers – so they can show off their photographic skills and have a chance to win some free beer and even get themselves in print.

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CHORLEY CHATTER

L

et us start our round up in Chorley, with an apology. In the article A (Central Lancashire) Ale Train in Ale Cry 115, the author stated that the nearest pub to the station on the east side was the MALT‘N’HOPS. Lyndsey Hook, who has just taken over the RAILWAY on Steeley Lane contacted me to ‘protest’. Having paced it out, I can confirm that the Railway is 14 paces closer to the station than the Malt, although the Malt is the only one in sight from the platform. If you’re planning on trying our Ale Train, both pubs are well worth a visit.

The MASONS ARMS on Harpers Lane has reopened after a period of closure and is now selling real ale. A tasteful renovation has kept the multi room layout, but with a bright modern feel. Free of tie, there are up to six real ales on offer including a dark beer – probably a mild, and an emphasis on LocAles. There is another room yet to be finished and plans are in place to turn the ‘sun trap’ rear yard into a beer garden. This is a great addition to the growing Chorley scene and is already becoming a firm favourite.

The DERBY ARMS on Eaves Lane is closed with a refurbishment program ongoing and opening scheduled for 19 Aug. This pub is now run by Bailey Leisure, the team that has the WHITE BULL, FLAT IRON and MINSTREL. We understand that real ale is going to be introduced with up to four beers being available. Despite the thriving real ale scene in Chorley, the pubs in this part of town have historically struggled to attract real ale drinkers, but hopefully that will change now all the pubs are selling it. Staying with the Bailey Leisure ‘empire’, the WHITE BULL on Market Street closed at the end of July for a major refurbishment and should have reopened by the time you read this. The plans we have seen indicated a smarter interior without losing the character of the pub and an improved beer garden.

Ivan Lynas left the IMPERIAL in early August and has taken over at the FLAT IRON. Meanwhile Henry Linn has moved from there to take over at THE LOST

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BAR which is opening on Fazackerley Street in what until recently was Georgie Mac’s diner. This is planned as a quality bar, with an emphasis on cocktails, quality lagers and craft and cask ales.

2 local cask ales are expected to be available and opening was planned for August Bank Holiday weekend.

Just before issue 115 went to press we learned that the MALT‘N’HOPS had become the Lancashire Branches Pub of the Year.

In early June the branch hosted a social with visitors from the other Lancashire branches visiting Chorley to check out the pubs. We met at the Malt and Area Organiser, John Webster and Branch Chair, Dave Bell, presented landlord John Grainger with the Tony Buller Shield and winners certificate. The pub now goes forward into the regional round of the national pub of the year competition, against the winners from the Isle of Man and Cumbria. Bearing in mind that the Cumbria branches candidate got to the last four of this competition last year, it’s a tough ask to get any further, but we wish them well.

One final piece of news from Chorley town centre relates to the long closed SWAN WITH TWO NECKS. Rumours continue to surface that something is going to happen here, with the latest one being that it will become a bistro style bar with it’s own micro brewery or possibly an Italian Restaurant.

Moving out of Chorley into the villages, some welcome news from the DRESSERS ARMS in Wheelton. Despite an often impressive line up of ales, consistent quality has sometimes been an issue

here, which is a shame as it is a really pleasant pub. There has been investment in new cooling equipment and even more surprising is the reduction in price to £2.50 a pint at all times. This makes it one of the cheapest pubs in the area, and a couple of recent visits would suggest that the quality issue has been resolved. Some additional seating has also been provided on the pavement beyond the existing patio.

Those of us living in Chorley have got rather used to the first weekend in October being the Top Lock Beer Festival, which ran for 16 years. However, Phil’s move to the nearby RED LION sees a couple of changes, to both the date and the name. The 1st Wheelton Beer Festival at the Red Lion will be held on the second weekend in October, so that it doesn’t clash with Chorley Live.

Plans are in place to launch a Chorley Ale Trail, and we hope to do this during the autumn. With so many excellent pubs, a small guide with a map and brief details seems a great idea to publicise them and to encourage people to visit Chorley.

However, with all the changes going on, we are delaying the issue until everything settles down a bit.

ADRIAN SMITH

Presentation photos: © Daniel Derbyshire

Masons Arms

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Ale Cry

25

THE

OLD VIC

SUNDAY NIGHT QUIZ WITH CASH JACKPOT

Serving breakfasts, lunchtime specials and all traditional pub food. Also sandwiches, salads and delicious home made pies.

Parties catered for.

7 Handpumps revolving up to 20 cask ales each week 50p Wetherspoons vouchers now redeemed Sky/BT showing all major sporting events New enlarged outdoor area with large screen TV Fishergate, Preston Opposite Preston Railway Station 01772 828519 26

Ale Cry

ISSUE 116 AUTUMN 2017

THE PRICE OF YOUR PINT

I

n the last Ale Cry we looked at the costs involved in brewing beer and the relatively small profit there was for the brewery This was a relatively simple task, as, broadly speaking, one brewery is very much like another. In part 2 of this study, we are going to look at the costs to the pub, which is much more complicated. Licensees are naturally quite reticent about discussing the exact details of their agreements, so providing figures for a lot of this is not possible. Much of what we are talking about is purely anecdotal – but repeated often enough across the country, we can safely take what is reported here as factual.

There are various different types of pub; put simply either managed, tenanted or owned outright.

It would take far too long to go into the detailed differences between these different types, so let’s look at the various factors that contribute to the price of your pint. Rent, rates, utilities, wages, stock purchase, sundry overheads and profit are all part of the equation, and when you start digging down that gets interesting.

Rent (or mortgage payments) – the cost of actually getting the pub building. If you want to rent an office in a given area, there is normally a standard rate for the property depending on quality and facilities, but you would know where you stand. There seems to be no set rent figure for a pub, with breweries and pubcos charging whatever they can get away with. Generally speaking a low entry rent will be charged to encourage someone to take over an empty pub, and once they are in and starting to make a success of things, the rent will increase. This sometimes results in longstanding and successful tenants having to walk away when the cost of renting the building becomes excessive. The rent is then dropped to encourage a new tenant in and the process repeats.

How anybody can call this good business practice is beyond me, but it happens regularly. The dispute between the Walne family and Punch Taverns over the Derby Arms at Thornley was well documented in this magazine in 2014, when the family who had been tenants for 29 years at the pub were squeezed out by punitive rent increases. Punch refused to sell them the pub, although they subsequently sold it to someone else! A more recent example is a brewery tied house, where the initial rent of £24,000 was increased to £46,000 when the three year lease came up for renewal. The reason for the increase was of course that the licensee had improved trade significantly. This must be the only business where success is penalised!

Renting from a private individual or property company may well be a much better deal. A relatively small number of pubs in our area are ‘private rentals’ and not only do costs tend to be a bit lower than a pubco would charge, they do not tend to be jacked up when the business is doing well! Anyone who is actually buying the building is much better off (if they can raise the finance in the first place) as interest rates are low and do not fluctuate with how well the business is doing.

Rates – it has been well documented that rates on pubs are high.

This has been highlighted by the advent of the micro pub, whose premises are rated as shops, and pay a lower amount – if they pay anything at all. Ivan Lynas (outgoing licencee of the Imperial in Chorley) was quoted in the local press as saying that it was becoming increasingly difficult for conventional pubs to trade with the onset of the micropub, due to their pricing advantages. This is perhaps being over simplistic, as the micropub is targeting a specialist market, often have restricted hours and is unable to offer food or entertainment in the same way a larger pub can.

Utilites /wages – these costs will tend to vary directly with the size of the business, and so can be conveniently ignored.

Sundries – this can cover anything else, and sometimes

“

part 2 the PUB

The dispute between the Walne family and Punch Taverns over the Derby Arms at Thornley was well documented in this magazine in 2014, when the family who had been tenants for 29 years at the pub were squeezed out by punitive rent increases.

”

surprising information comes to light. Only recently we heard from a licensee with a ‘sport orientated’ pub and a significant number of TV screens. The pub had been re-rated by the council and because of this, the Sky bill was going to increase from £6,000 per annum to £16,500!

Stock – a key component in the equation is the cost of stock and how this varies from pub to pub. Brewery tied outlets clearly have to buy from the brewery, range of products (real ales in particular) is restricted and they must accept whatever is being charged.

Pubco tenants have to buy from the pubco, and while there is some freedom within the range available, this freedom comes with a cost implication. Finally, there is the free house, who can buy what they want from who they chose.

This is where it gets interesting. If this part of the story is a bit ‘dry’ then I can only apologise. We need to set the scene for part 3, which will quote plenty of facts and figures, explain who can get what from where and why we often don’t get the choice we think we should!

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Ale Cry

27

Ale Cry visits …

Inglewhite, Goosnargh and Haighton

O

ur latest trip out included a visit to a pub very few of our members had visited before, more of which later, so was well subscribed. Before that, we visited a couple of other pubs that we have visited before, but not for some time.

We set off from our usual starting point at Old Vicarage and our minibus drove first to the GREEN MAN at Inglewhite.

This pub featured in Preston Parade last issue, where my stand in, Steve Jackson, gave a good report on all the features of this Punch Tavern owned pub. I will not repeat all the details as his report was pretty comprehensive and I could not improve on his wording. I will just inform you of the beers that we found (after all, that’s why we came) and our general feeling of the place.

There are three handpumps on the bar, one of which always dispenses Moorhouses Pride of Pendle (4.1%),which proved to be the most popular on the night, at £3.25 a pint. The other two offer a changing range of beers. Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold (4.2%) at £3.50 came from the second pump, whilst the third one had St. Austell Liquid Sunshine at 3.9% attached to it. A classic English Golden Ale, this would have been my first

in our area, which include the Towneley Arms at Longridge and the Anchor at Hutton. Warmly welcomed by the staff at the Grapes, on our visit we had a choice of (once again) Moorhouses Pride of Pendle, Adnams Broadside (4.7%) and Titanic Plum Porter (4.9%). Unfortunately for me, the beer I would have chosen, Bombardier Pale Ale at 3.6%, had just run out and was no longer

choice, but as our luck would have it, the pump had seized up and they were waiting for a service engineer to come and fix it, so we missed out on that one. Friendly and comfortable, it was a good start to our trip.

From there, we headed to the GRAPES INN at Goosnargh, next to the church.

Leased by Inglenook Inns and Taverns from Punch Taverns, it is one of a few such pubs

THE WHEATSHEAF Spendmore Lane, Coppull, Nr Chorley, Lancashire

FREESE HOU

PR7 4NY

BEER FE 8 – 1 0 S E S T I VA L PTEMB ER

3 ever changing Cask Ales – including Prospect, Bank Top, Blackedge, Martland Mill & Coach House

• Free entertainment: Jukebox (Mon), Pool (Tue), Quiz (Wed) • All major sports shown • Saturday night live music • Sunday – Chase the Ace 12–6pm • Beer garden • Dogs welcome

OPENING TIMES

Monday – Thursday from 3pm

28

Ale Cry

ISSUE 116 AUTUMN 2017

Friday from 2pm

Saturday & Sunday from 12pm

The grapes Inn

available. Just my luck, as it is a beer I have not tried. Everybody else was satisfied with the fare and most of us then proceeded out the back of the pub to the garden terrace and bowling green to soak up the last rays of the sun on a pleasant evening in convivial surroundings. Inside, the pub has flagged floors, oak beams, a ’cosy’ vault and, when the weather is cooler, roaring fires to keep you warm.

The pub is open 12–11pm with food served Tue–Fri 12–2.30, Sat 12–9pm and Sun 12–8pm. They are particularly proud of the fact that all food is sourced from

Haighton manor

local butchers and farmers within a ten mile radius of the pub.

It was soon time to leave to go to our final pub of the night, HAIGHTON MANOR. On our way out we cast an eye over the road and remembered when we could have had another drink in the Bushells, now sadly closed.

However as one door closes, another opens and, once on the bus, as we rode up to Whittingham Lane we kept a look out for the sight of the new micropub that is said to be opening in the future in Goosnargh. Be sure that when it does, a report will appear in these pages. Another pub we might have visited, the Stags Head, was still in the process of having a major refurb at this time, so was not available.

You will find a report on the outcome of its makeover under Preston Parade elsewhere in this issue.

We negotiated some very narrow lanes to arrive at Haighton Manor, on Haighton Green Lane. Only recently taken over in September 2016 by Brunning and Price, this former country house hotel is now a bustling pub and dining venue.

Superbly renovated, which included opening up long forgotten fireplaces and involved work revealing previously hidden features such as flagged and

wooden floors, it has a mixture of rooms from light and airy to snug. Prominent is the big old bar proudly sporting seven handpulls, giving us the best selection of the night. On hand was manager Chris Humphries who explained their beer stocking policy. They have three permanent beers in Brunning & Price Original Bitter, a 3.8% ale brewed for them by Phoenix, Lancaster Blonde at 4% and a Timothy Taylor beer which on the night was Boltmaker but could be any of their beers. Besides this are three ever changing guests, which that night were Prospect Whatever (3.8%), Weetwood Cheshire Cat (4%) and Phoenix Arizona (4.1%). It isn’t cheap, with prices about the £4 a pint mark, but landlord Chris, on seeing a minibus load of real ale drinkers entering, had invoked ‘Happy Hour’ prices which reduced the cost substantially, and everybody enjoyed the quality and range of the beers on sale.

Real cider also features and Luke Harrison, our branch cider representative, was able to organise a tasting session of several ciders of varying styles thanks to the help of landlord Chris. Not much of a cider drinker myself, it was enjoyable to be able to try sips of different types of cider and learn a bit about sweet and dry and other features of this drink. I might try some in the future.

It eventually was time to leave and we piled back in the minibus for our relatively short journey to the bus station.

Unfortunately there is no public transport to Haighton Manor, so automobile will be most people’s way of getting there, but it is not far along from Eastway on a bike and you can go on a two mile ramble (each way) across the countryside from say the Anderton Arms to the pub. If you go on the pub’s website you can download a detailed description of the walk, including pictures.

There is a bus service to Goosnargh, the Number 4 Preston to Longridge (via Woodplumpton) that operates MondaySaturday during the day, but there is no evening or Sunday service.

PAU L R I L E Y

Haighton manor

www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Ale Cry

29

Branch Diary Monday 11th September Committee meeting at Black Bull, Penwortham Thursday 21st September Ale Cry Distribution trip to Whittle-le-Woods/ Buckshaw area. Minibus from Preston (7.15), Royal Oak, Whittle-le-Woods (7.35). Return for 10.45 Thursday 28th September Branch Social at Ale Emporium, Preston (including talk on Pub Signs by Arthur Chappell) Monday 9th October Committee Meeting at Leyland Lion, Leyland (7.30) Thursday 19th October Branch Social and Pub of the Season Presentation at Hoppy Days, Longridge Monday 6 November Committee Meeting at Malt ‘n’Hops, Chorley (7.30) th

Thursday 23rd November Branch Social /Crawl starting at Guild Ale House, Preston (7.30)

Discount Pubs All over the country, hundreds of pubs are offering a discount to card carrying CAMRA members. These pubs deserve your support and listed below are the ones in our branch area that we believe are offering a discount.

Adelphi, Preston

10%

Ancient Oak, Cottam

20p per pint, except Mon when discount is for all customers

Anderton Arms, Fulwood

20p per pint, except Mon when discount is for all customers

Bamber Bridge Football Club

20p per pint

Bay Horse, Euxton

10%

Black Bull, Fulwood

20p per pint, except Mon when discount is for all customers

Black Bull, Penwortham

20p per pint

Bob Inn, Chorley

20p per pint

Crown, Croston

20p per pint

Fleece, Penwortham

10%

Monday 4th December Committee Meeting at White Bull, Walton-le-Dale

Grey Friar, Preston

50p per pint using a Wetherspoon’s token

Guild (Fylde Rd), Preston

25p per pint

Thursday 14 December Branch Christmas Social at Black Horse, Preston

Horns, Goosnargh

50p per pint on Goosnargh Brewery beers

Lane Ends, Ashton

10%

Leyland Lion, Leyland

50p per pint using a Wetherspoon’s token

Nabs Head, Samlesbury

20p per pint

Old Black Bull, Preston

20p per pint off guest beers

Old Vic, Preston

50p per pint using a Wetherspoon’s token except Thu when real ale is discounted for all customers

Pear Tree, Penwortham

20p per pint

Plough, Grimsargh

20p per pint Sun-Tues, 10p per pint Wed-Sat

Poachers, Bamber Bridge

10%

Preston Grasshoppers RFC

10%

Prince of Wales, Cowling Brow, Chorley

10%

Prince Of Wales New Market Street, Chorley

10%

Roper Hall, Preston

10%

Sir Henry Tate, Chorley

50p per pint using a Wetherspoon’s token

Smiths Arms, Lea Town

20p per pint, 10p per half pint

Trades Hall Club & Institute, Bamber Bridge

10%

Twelve Tellers, Preston

50p per pint using a Wetherspoon’s token

Walton Fox, Bamber Bridge

20p per pint

Wellington, Ashton

Up to 25p per pint

th

All meetings start at 8pm unless shown.

Trips For further details and to book, contact Dave Linley on 07981 518506 or email dave.linley@tiscali.co.uk

Advertising

With a print run of 6,000 and magazines available in pubs and clubs across the area and beyond, an advert in Ale Cry is probably the best value targeted advertising around.

Advert prices Quarter page: £55 Half page: £95 Full page: £175 Back page: £195 (not currently available) For further details contact: editor@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Publication Dates

The next issue of Ale Cry will be published on 1 December 2017.

Copy deadline is 1st November 2017.

Trading Standards

st

For complaints about issues such as short measures, contact: Lancashire County Council Trading Standards County Hall, Pitt Street Preston, PR1 0LD. T: 0345 404 0506

30

CAMRA

Ale Cry

ISSUE 116 AUTUMN 2017

Wellington (Glovers Ct.), Preston 10% Yates, Preston

10%

If you know of a pub offering a discount that is not listed here, or one is listed that no longer offers a discount, please let us know.

If you are a licensee and are interested in joining the scheme then please contact editor@centrallancs.camra.org.uk

Join up, join in, Join up, joincampaign in, join the £25

Discover why we join camra.org. member

From as little as

*

join the campaign

a year. That’s less than a pint a month!

Join us, and together we can protect the traditions of great British pubs and everything that goes with them.

Become part of the CAMRA community today – enjoy discounted entry to beer festivals and exclusive member offers. Learn about brewing and beer and join like-minded people supporting our campaigns to save pubs, clubs, your pint and more.

Discover why we joined. camra.org.uk/ members

From as little as

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a year. That’s less than a pint a month!

From as little as

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orDiscover fill in the form below. why we joined. *Price for paying by Direct Debit correct at April 2017. Concessionary rates available. Please visit camra.org.uk/membership-rates. camra.org.uk/ members *Price for paying by Direct Debit and correct at April 2017. Concessionary rates available. Please visit camra.org.uk/membership-rates

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Join us, and together we can protect the traditions of great British pubs and everything that goes with them.

a year. That’s less than aCAMRA pintcommunity a today – enjoy discounted Become part of the entry to beer festivals and exclusive member offers. Learn about brewing andmonth! beer and join like-minded people supporting our campaigns to save pubs, clubs, your pint and more.

Join the campaign today at

www.camra.org.uk/joinup *Price for paying by Direct Debit and correct at April 2017. Concessionary rates available. Please visit camra.org.uk/membership-rates

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05/04/2017 12:54

Join us, and together we can protect the traditions of great British pubs and everything that goes with them.

Become part of the CAMRA community today – enjoy discounted entry to beer festivals and exclusive member offers. Learn about brewing and beer and join like-minded people supporting our campaigns to save pubs, clubs, your pint and more.

Join the campaign today at

www.camra.org.uk/joinup *Price for paying by Direct Debit and correct at April 2017. Concessionary rates available. Please visit camra.org.uk/membership-rates

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