Leeds CAMRA Full measure 128

Newsletter of the Leeds Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale

Welcome!

Welcome to issue 128 of New Full Measure. We hope you’ll find some items of interest amongst our pages. In lieu of my usual meandering preamble on all things beer I’d like to introduce our new Chairman, Mike Hampshire.

First of all, I’d just like to say a huge thank you to Editor Chef Tony for letting me sneak this article in several days over deadline for this edition of New Full Measure. As I type this, it’s less than 24 hours after I’ve been elected as Leeds CAMRA Branch Chairman and I am so proud to be in this position. I’d like to say thank you to everyone who cast their vote in the election.

Following in the footsteps of John Rowe will be a tough task; he’s been a superb Chairman and it was a shame when he said he was stepping down last year. On behalf of everyone who knows you John, Thank You and good luck for the future!

As a Branch, we must continue to look forward and that’s what I intend to help drive. Despite the national membership being over 160,000, as with many branches we are in need of more active mem-

New Full Measure is produced by the Leeds Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the editor, CAMRA Ltd or its branches.

Copyright © Leeds CAMRA 2014.

bers. By “active” I mean people who come to our socials and Branch meetings, volunteer at our beer festivals and become Branch commitNFM Towers Address: tee members.

CAMRA is a lot of fun to be part of and, as a member who was “inactive” just two years ago, I can tell you it’s even more fun to become a volunteer.

In this issue, on our website and our social media, you’ll be able to find details of our socials and branch meetings; it would be fantastic to see you there.

All the best and cheers!

Mike Hampshire Branch Chairman, Leeds CAMRA

STOP PRESS! Leeds CAMRA were saddened to hear the news of the passing of Simon Bolderson on May 17th, peacefully after a long illness. Simon was the owner and founder of Ridgeside brewery and will be sadly missed. We hope to pay a fuller tribute to him in the next edition. Our deepest sympathies go to Sally, his wife, and all his family. R.I.P. Simon.

Leeds CAMRA c/o 46 West Grange Green, Leeds LS10 3BB. Email: NFM.Editor@gmail.com Web: www.leeds-camra.com www.newfullmeasure.org.uk Twitter @LeedsCAMRA Subscriptions may be had at a cost of £3 for six issues by sending a cheque payable to “Leeds CAMRA” to the above address. Back issues are available for £1 an issue by sending a cheque to the same address. Currently all previous issues are available.

Contributions are welcome from any CAMRA member, and may be sent to the above email address or by post.

Contributions may be edited for reasons of space, and may be held over for future issues. 4,000 copies are distributed quarterly to pubs in Leeds and beyond.

Publication Dates: The next issue of NFM (#129) will be published on September 11th 2014.

NFM #129 copy deadline is 5th August 2014.

Advertising: For advertising enquiries contact: Jane Michelson Tel: 01733 211410 Mobile: 07732 393621 Email: jane@orchardhousemedia.co.uk Rates:

Leeds CAMRA Commitee Chairman, Membership Secretary: Mike Hampshire Tel: 07763 274454

Locale Coordinator: Steve Staindale Public Affairs Officer: John Rowe

Vice Chairman: Sam Parker

Public Transport Officer: Philip Mullen

Treasurer: Keith Sunderland

NBSS Coordinator and Pub

Festival Organiser: David Dixon

Database Holder: Dave Ansley

Social Secretary: ‘Charlie’ Cavaye

Newsletter Editor: Anthony Coltman

Webmaster: Christine Jopling

Colour Rates per insertion (exclusive of VAT) are: Quarter page £70 Half page £130 Full Page £240 Cover Rates Inside Front / Inside Back £275 Outside Back Cover £300 Discounts available for series bookings.

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News

Pub & Brewery News Boost for Wharfedale Businesses as Brewery Launches Ale Trail Wharfedale Brewery, housed at the back of the Flying Duck Brewpub in Ilkley, is to launch a new tourist attraction this weekend which it is hoped will benefit businesses in the Yorkshire Dales.

Inn at Kettlewell, the Buck Inn at Buckden and finishes at the George Inn at Hubberholme.

Leaflets and stamp cards can be picked up from any of the participating pubs and local tourist information centres. For further information visit www.thealesway.com

In Brief The Owl in Rodley has re-opened under the new name Owl Inn and is being run by the “Urban City Pub Co”. The interior has been refurbished, several real ales are on the bar and food is available all day.

The Ales Way – Wharfedale’s Ale Trail, takes real ale lovers on a journey from Ben Rhydding to Hubberholme, encompassing 15 of Yorkshire’s most iconic pubs, the vast majority of which can be reached via the Pride Of The Dales bus services which the brewery sponsors.

Visitors to each pub will receive a stamp when they order a pint of Wharfedale Blonde, Best or Black. When they have collected 10 stamps they will be given a free Ales Way t-shirt whilst also being invited to be entered into a “Hall Of Fame”.

Should they manage to visit all 15 pubs on the ale trail they will also receive a souvenir box set containing two bottles of beer and a Wharfedale Brewery branded pint glass.

The list of pubs signing up to the initiative reads like a who’s who of country inns. The Trail starts with the Wheatley Arms in Ben Rhydding, the Flying Duck in Ilkley and the Crown in Addingham, before moving up river to the New Inn and the Craven Arms at Appletreewick, the Red Lion at Bursall, the Clarendon Hotel at Hebden, the Grassington House Hotel, the Foresters Arms and Devonshire Hotel in Grassington, before moving across to the Fountaine Inn at Linton, then onto the Gamekeeper’s Inn at Threshfield, the Blue Bell

Rolands is a new bar recently opened on Call Lane in the city centre selling 2 to 3 real ales on handpump and a selection of craft beers from America and Europe by draught or bottle.

Rodhams brewery has ceased operations and the equipment is for sale. Former Leeds CAMRA Chairman, John Rowe said “It is sad to report the closure in our area of Rodhams in Otley and I am sure all here and Leeds Branch thank Michael Rodham for his tasty/quality beers (especially the Old Albion) and wish him all the best for the future.”

The Market Town Tavern pub chain is likely to be expanding later this year. Owners Heron & Brearley have stated they are looking for at least a couple of sites locally or nationally.

Golden Owl brewer is a new small batch brewery based near Leeds and is producing beers with “bold flavours”. Their beer is available at North Bar amongst others.

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Beer Festival Diary CAMRA Branches hold beer festivals across the country, throughout the year. They are organised and run by volunteers, who give up their own time to promote Real Ale and Real Cider to the public. The majority of the beer festivals admit card carrying CAMRA members free of charge or offer discounts.

Remember to do your homework and check details before you travel!

8th Skipton Beer Festival Rendezvous Hotel Thurs 29/05/2014 to Sat 31/05/2014

10th Chorlton Beer and Cider Fest St Clement's Church Manchester Thurs 03/07/2014 to Sat 05/07/2014

28th Stockport Beer and Cider Festival Edgeley Park Football Ground Thurs 29/05/2014 to Saturday 31/05/2014

Morecambe Beer Festival Winter Gardens Thurs 14/08/2014 to Sat 16/08/2014

Darlington Beer Festival Forum Music Centre Thurs 26/06/2014 to Sat 28/06/2014

24th Beer Festival at the National Cycling Centre Fri 22/08/2014 to Sun 24/08/2014

4th Greater Manchester CAMRA Cider & Perry Festival Copper Face Jacks Manchester Fri 27/06/2014 to Sat 28/06/2014

7th Lytham Beer & Cider Festival Lowther Pavilion Thurs 04/09/2014 to Sat 06/09/2014 The 3rd CornShed Charity Beer Festival Sexhow Park Farm Sat 06/09/2014

Roll up, roll up, to Britain’s Biggest Pub The Great British Beer Festival, Olympia, London, 12-16 August 2014 www.gbbf.org.uk/tickets CAMRA’s Great British Beer Festival will be bringing a carnival atmosphere to London’s Olympia exhibition centre this summer with an extravagant circus theme complete with live-action circus performers.

But fantastic beer will of course remain the star of the show, with over 350 different breweries offering 900 different real ales, ciders, perries and international beers to over 50,000 thirsty beer lovers throughout the week-long event.

The festival will feature 29 bars including 11 brewery bars run by the Nation’s biggest and best brewers of real ale, plus food and merchandise stalls as well as a full schedule of entertainment on the GBBF music stage.

The event is set to be one the biggest and best Great British Beer Festival’s ever, so don’t miss out on your place at the festival and buy a ticket now via www.gbbf.org.uk/tickets

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is on the up!

The ancient trade of making traditional casks from wooden staves for beer, wine, cider and spirits took on a new lease of life last year when Master Cooper Alastair Simms returned to God’s Own County to establish the White Rose Cooperage Ltd on the Thorp Arch Estate near Wetherby. Alastair is the last remaining Master Cooper and, together with three Journeyman Coopers, preserves the ancient craft of making wooden casks bound by metal hoops for the brewing industry.

Born in Masham, North Yorkshire, Alastair became an apprentice cooper at Theakston’s Brewery in his home town in May 1979.

Following a six month trial period he signed his indentures and went on to undertake his four year apprenticeship under the supervision of Master Cooper Clive Hollis. He successfully completed his training in 1983 with the “trussing in” ceremony and became a Journeyman Cooper. In

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1994 he became a Master Cooper following the completion of his training of Peter Coates as a Journeyman Cooper. A year later, after sixteen years at Theakston’s Alastair moved to Wadworth Brewery at Devizes where he took over from Eddy Hodder, who was retiring from work. Meanwhile, at Theakston’s Clive Hollis passed away and his apprentice Jonathan Manby completed his appren-

Alastair at work

Beer in the wood ticeship under the guidance of Alastair in 1999.

Eleven years later in 2010 he was admitted as a Liveryman to the Worshipful Company of Coopers which dates back over five hundred years.

After eighteen years at Wadworth, Alastair returned to his native Yorkshire to establish White Rose Cooperage at Thorp Arch on his 50th birthday in May 2013 as the country’s only independent commercial cooper. When he began back in the 1970s, there were still around one hundred coopers in the UK but the advent of metal casks in the 1960s saw numbers decline resulting in the craft almost fading away but for the handful of skilled craftsmen existing today.

However, the amazing growth in numbers of real ale microbreweries in Britain as a whole and Yorkshire in particular has meant that there is hope and the revival of demand for wooden casks is already taking place. Leading the way are Maureen Shaw and Neil Midgley at the Junction pub in Castleford, West Yorkshire where only wooden casks are now used for real ale.

After purchasing the run down, empty, failed, pubco, pub, not only have they transformed it into a wonderful traditional local with many unique features but have backed it up with the gradual introduction of wooden casks. Now “wood only” is their mantra and people are taking notice of this revolution. Neil and Maureen have invested in over 100 casks from Alastair and have around 10 local breweries supplying beers in the wood on a regular basis. The first and most regular supplier was Simon Bolderson and his Ridgeside brewery located in Leeds.

note of this great revival and have purchased casks from or placed orders with White Rose Cooperage. Alastair has fulfilled orders from other pubs (e.g. Engineers Arms at Henlow), and traditional cider-makers. He also produces bespoke furniture. From the beer and cider perspective, perhaps the most interesting creations are the glass head casks which enable the viewing of the activity and changes that occur when traditional real ales are clarified in wooden casks.

Alastair is hoping to take on an apprentice and wife Julie also plans to join the business. The long-term aim is to buy a few acres of land to build a cooperage and visitor centre so people can learn about this historic trade and watch coopers at work. Back to the future - long may it continue.

Further information for Alastair can be found at: www.whiterosecooperage.co.uk and the Junction at: www.thejunctionpubcastleford.com David Litten

Together, the pub and the breweries have proved that great beer can have that extra dimension if stored in wood. They have experimented with spirit casks and have also had great success with ageing in wood. Not only do wooden casks add a depth of taste, which metal casks cannot provide, to the stronger, darker beers but successful recent trials with lighter beers show also that they certainly add that something extra to them.

Several progressive brewers in Yorkshire and a few from around the country have also taken

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Recipe Corner

Pizza I have quite strong views on pizza and have avoided writing this recipe so far because it’s such a personal thing - thin, thick, soft, crispy, masses of toppings or just one featured star- it’s rare that two people can completely agree on what makes a great pizza. I’ve been inspired to set down in words my vision of the perfect pizza after enjoying the great pizza being produced by “Big” Dan at relative newcomer to the Leeds beer scene, Tapped on Boar Lane.

650g extra strong flour Sea Salt Sugar 75g olive oil 7g (I packet) fast acting Dried Yeast 200ml Beer 150ml Warm Water To start, sift together the flour, salt and sugar into a bowl, then add the yeast. Add the beer

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and half the water and start to bring the dough together. At this stage add your oil and continue to bring your dough together. The consistency should be soft but not too sticky but if it’s too dry add a little more water. Once your dough has formed into a nice ball in your bowl, transfer it to a lightly floured work-surface and knead it for ten minutes. Kneading is a simple but vital skill in the art of bread and dough making. One technique I favour is to anchor the dough in front of you with

Pizza With the exception of the seasoning and tomato juice, take all the ingredients and blend them together till smooth. Correct to your desired consistency with the tomato juice and then season to your personal taste. This may make more than you require but will freeze well, for next time.

one hand and stretch the dough out in front of you with the other, as far as you can reach.

Bring the dough back to a ball in front of you and repeat. Continue like this till you have arms like Popeye, ten minutes at least. Lightly flour your bowl and return the dough to it in order to rest and prove. During proving the yeast will have its own little party with the sugars in the flour and, if you have kneaded the dough well, the resulting carbon dioxide will be trapped within the dough causing it to swell and rise. This can take between thirty minutes to an hour depending on the room temperature and how patient you are.

While that’s doing, let’s look at sauce. A well flavoured tomato sauce is what we are looking for, not too thick and smooth enough to spread over our base.

1 tin of chopped tomatoes; drained with the juice reserved.

1 teaspoon pureed garlic 1 teaspoon dried basil 1 teaspoon dried oregano Half teaspoon sugar Half teaspoon vinegar 25ml olive oil Salt and black pepper to taste

Once the dough is proved it requires knocking back. This involves giving the dough a quick knead to knock some of the air out of it. Cut the dough into 2 equal sized balls of and place one ball into the fridge, in a small container, covered with a tight fitting lid. Take the remaining dough and, using a rolling pin or large bottle, roll it out into a rough circular shape. This bit is really a matter of personal taste, for me it has to be the thinner the better. You may like deep pan, either way roll until you have the thickness you desire.

Transfer this to your choice of cooking tray and add a layer of your tomato sauce.

Top this with a thin layer of cheese; I like to use a mix of mozzarella for stringiness and sharp cheddar for flavour. Add your chosen headline toppings and another layer of the cheese mixture. On the subject of toppings, my number one tip is- less is more. In an ideal world all pizza would cost the same because no matter how many toppings you chose the amount of topping on the pizza would be the same. A couple of bits of something nice cooks far better than a mound of toppings. Ideally your pizza will be evenly spaced and flat, allowing the heat to penetrate evenly. Try it and compare it to the last meat feast or vegetable special you had.

Finally we come to the cooking. Commercial pizza ovens cook at up to 500°c, and, simply put, the hotter the better. Turn you oven up and give it plenty of time to come to heat. Place your prepared pizza on the middle shelf of your oven and give it a couple of minutes. Take a peek; we’re looking for the cheese to start to brown, the base to set without burning. In a good oven this can take as little as 5 minutes, but as every oven is different you’re going to have to keep an eye on it. Once cooked serve straight away, with a refreshing beverage of your choice. Enjoy!

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John Rowe Cosy Traditional Pub Under New Management 4 Real Ales always on Food Served Daily from 12pm Quiz Night on Tuesday Live BT Sport

Leeds CAMRA recently held our annual AGM, and it was here that at the ripe old age of 72 (not out), our Chairman of the last eight years, Mr John Rowe, stood down. But before he did, he had a few things to say…

The British drinking scene and the British drinker have a lot to thank CAMRA for with now draught Real Ale available nationally in a tremendous variety of forms with independent brewers and breweries offering an innovative ever changing variety of tastes to intrigue, tantalise and satisfy the most discerning of taste buds as the number of independent breweries continue to increase and through our monthly meeting more being reported in the pipeline… Whilst many think that the fight for Real Ale as undertaken by CAMRA has been won by now. We come to the fact that as I speak we now have nationally 50,000 or so remaining public houses all offering a rich variety of drinking and social environments mostly good, some tremendous… The only place to consume Real Ale is the great British pub but, as widely reported, some 28 Public Houses are closing weekly, the two main reasons given for this are cheap supermarket alcohol deals (which must be rectified by a minimum pricing policy as Scotland have introduced) and CAMRA promoting the Public House as a community asset (Remember use it or lose it) and the fact that a public house has the unique draught dispense system, for real ale that cannot be recreated through real ale in a bottle.

To help this preservation of real ale all CAMRA members must press their elected representative to back a free of tie hand pump for all establishments. Free of tie means no rental charge no threshold on barrelage and no interference from the premises owners/landlord.

Secondly we come to the real enemy to the British drinker, the large Pubcos who with their

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John Rowe

takes the floor... above market, highly inflated barrelage prices and upwards only rent reviews fleece not only their tenants/leaseholders but the great British public which now includes, as reported at the Scarborough AGM in April 2014, 166,000 CAMRA members. They find it far too easy to dispose of what they call the bottom of the market public houses for other uses such as supermarkets, betting shops or, as we saw in Leeds Branch some years ago, The Belle Isle into a care home.

Some progress has been made nationally with the introduction of listing public houses as assets of community value, which according to the critics delays the process by six months only.

Assets of Community Value listing appears patchy throughout the country as it is administered by the local council/authority. It has been reported at our monthly committee that Leeds City Council have not been a shining light in the exercise of their duty.

To establish a national feedback to the large Pubcos the National AGM at Scarborough 2014 passed a motion to the effect that by 2016 each and every CAMRA branch will have appointed a committee member as liaison officer to the Pubco Tenants/Leasholders within their respective area and hopefully they will be aware of malpractices and equally good benefits (if any) that can be reported back to HQ at the earliest opportunity…

On a personal note the most asked question to me this year was what is Craft Beer and how does it differ to real ale. Now this is only my personal opinion but as Chairman I have the stage and I know that a lot of you will differ from my views, but here we go trying to be concise: “Real Ale is beer that has had yeast added to it, so that the fermentation process continues after

delivery to the pub. This demands real skill on the landlord/cellar man’s part, since they have to monitor and choose just the right moment to serve the beer, whose character is changing from day to day.

The drinker (experience does count) can therefore discern differences in the taste of a beer as between one pub and another, and even between different casks. Real cask-conditioned beer (ale) is virtually impossible to standardise.

Craft ales are “keg ales” which have been kept in cool conditions and had the yeast filtered out.

A craft keg ale is therefore similar in character every time (and one could go as far as to say that of each and every brewer). The watchword is convenience, the process of craft keg ales enables brewers to offer a standardised product regardless of time and place, even if it is not what the beer (ale) drinkers are looking for.

But remember CAMRA are a campaign for choice and are not out to dictate what consumers should drink.

This AGM gives me the opportunity to congratulate our local award winners and pass on the thanks of the branch to the hostelries who have hosted/accommodated our branch meetings during the past year and finally to the committee members without whom nothing would happen and to the retiring members of the committee.

Many thanks and while not wishing to single out individuals the retiring Secretary, Mark Shaw and our Pubs Preservation Officer, John Thornton who stood down during the course of the year due to health problems but we have not noticed his retirement as he has worked harder than ever.

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Leeds Beer and Cider Festival 2014

Leeds CAMRA Beer, Cider and Perry Festival 2014 Stats This year we had a film theme as the oldest surviving moving pictures were filmed in Leeds and it is the 100th anniversary of Hyde Park Picture House in the city. Over 75% of beers/ breweries were linked to films, some more tenuous than others. Sponsors included Leeds Brewery, Ridgeside Brewery, Pudsey Legal, Kirkstall Brewery, Wharfe Bank Brewery and Market Town Taverns.

Ken at the festival

Award winners From votes received by the festival-goers.

Beer of the Festival 1st Fernandes Black Voodoo 2nd North Riding Death Wish 3rd Ridgeside Eldorado Mild of the Festival 1st Five Towns Monster Mash 2nd Goldmark Ebony Mild 3rd Wharfe Bank Printers Ink Cider of the Festival (Joint winners) Pure North Valley Gold & Gwynt-y-Ddraig Pyder.

Attendance Thursday AM Thursday PM Friday AM Friday PM Saturday Total

252 (121members) 515 (213 members) 407 (182 members) 753 (136 members) 951 (305 members) 2,878 (957 - 33.25% members)

Over 100 new members were signed up - the number of members recruited exceeded the number of kilderkins at the festival! Over 350 members took advantage of the 15 minutes advance opening. Over 60 students took up the offer of free entry on Thursday evening.

The attendance this year was 185 above last year, the total number of customers over the years is 69,079.

Other facts Just under 180 different cask conditioned beers were on offer from the United Kingdom with approximately one third LocAle beers. The mild trail was proved popular again with a noticeable increase in the number of people following it. Golden ales once more were a hit with virtually all of this style disappearing before the close of the festival.

Tasting panels sat to decide the Yorkshire and North East representatives in the Champion Beer of Britain in the porter and bitter categories.

The popularity of cider continues with the bar running out early on Saturday evening.

The global beer bar’s range of beers included 10 Walk of Fame beers where customers had the chance to win a bottle of beer.

Dates for the next festival are probably going to be 12th to 14th March 2015.

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Skipton Beer Festival

Skipton Beer Festival British wines Bottled foreign beers including German, Belgian and North American Food at all sessions Spot prizes for best pirate fancy dress on Saturday Tombola Opening Times: Thursday 29th May: 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Friday 30th May: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Saturday 31st May: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Entry is free to all on Thursday and free to card carrying CAMRA members at all sessions. We are also offering free entry to groups of 10 or more who tell us in advance they are coming. Normal entry fee to non-CAMRA members will be £2.50 on Friday and Saturday.

We have a new bigger venue and a new date.

Thanks to Rendezvous Hotel for stepping into the breach at short notice. The festival will be a week later than originally planned and so will be from Thursday 29th to Saturday 31st May. Our new venue allows us to address one of the perennial complaints at the Town Hall: lack of seating. We will keep you up to date here as plans develop.

Venue: Rendezvous Hotel, Keighley Road, Skipton BD23 2TA. Free shuttle bus from Skipton!

80 real ales both local and from far and wide.

Ciders and perries Mild Trail

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South craven stroll

A South Craven Stroll Transport: Transdev Keighley & District 66 Keighley - Skipton half hourly Monday - Saturday daytime.

Alight at Ings Lane where it is signposted for Low Bradley. Walk up Ings Lane, crossing the canal and turn right onto Matthew Lane by the cricket field. 200 yards will lead you to the Slaters Arms. fields which skirt the river Aire. Re-join the road and turn right onto Cononley Lane at Aireside Cottages. Cross the railway and the Railway Hotel is on the right, (opens 4.00pm.) Being too early for a drink we carried on for another 100 yards to the New Inn.

This is a stone built, tworoomed inn with beamed ceiling and a comfortable lounge to the front. The centerpiece of this room is a huge open hearth and fire with iron flue and adjusting chains and bedecked with brass and copperware. There is an interesting collection of old telephones in one corner with maps and swords adorning the walls. A cabinet filled with sporting trophies fills another corner. The colour scheme is gentle cream washed walls, with comfortable padded bench seating and wooden furniture. The smaller rear room is stone flagged, with numerous cricketing pictures, and set out for dining. There is a large beer garden to the rear with an unusual illuminated brewery sign for this neck of the woods - Oakwell Barnsley Brewery. Beers on offer were: Banks Tetley Bitter, Taylors Landlord and Golden Best with another guest pump unoccupied.

Back to the canal and turn left on the towpath as far as a swing bridge. Down the path, cross the road and go through a gap in the wall. Turn left and follow the path and arrows across the

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This is another two-roomed stone built pub with low beamed ceiling. Part is set out for dining, but there is plenty of space for the casual imbiber.

Old, cosy traditional style includes a stone, open fireplace, wood furniture and wall paneling, a solid, unadorned wooden bar with brass rails and a number of whisky containers decorating the surrounds. A small games room leads off to the right. Beers here were: Taylors Bitter, Landlord and Golden Best and Piddle Jimmy Best Bitter.

From here it is something of a slog. Take the Crosshills Road, then Cononley Road until you reach the top of a very long and hard pull uphill.

Cross diagonally right onto Green Lane and follow this to the main Colne Road. Turn right for mile until you reach the large, detached roadside inn the Dog and Gun. This is a pub that very much majors in food.

Again Taylors beers are prominent, with Landlord, Bitter, Golden Best and Dark Mild on sale, with Leeds Best as the guest. This threeroomed inn has a varied mix of solid wood chairs, armchairs and sofas. The colour scheme on the walls is wine and cream and subtle lighting is the order of the day. One room houses a wood-surrounded brick fireplace and there

South craven stroll seems to be a fine collection of old sideboards.

(The whole effect is one my drinking companion on this occasion, Tall Paul, classifies as ‘shabby chic.’) In addition there is a great array of farmhouse produce on sale; jams and chutneys, cheeses and smoked meats et al.

The next leg proved to be somewhat disastrous.

We made our way back down the Colne Road, the way we had come, and turned right through a small gate before we followed the Eastburn Beck on the right hand side of the road. On reaching Sutton-in-Craven there are three pubs to be investigated, the Black Bull, Kings Arms and Bay Horse. We had done our homework, using www.whatpub.com and one was supposed to open at 1.30pm, with another opening at 2.00pm. It was 3.00pm and neither was open, nor was the third pub. Seriously disgruntled we headed back to the main Colne Road and turned right to the Old White Bear in Crosshills. This was more like it!

A three-roomed, stone-built pub which stands by the main road and has, on the right, a large open room used for dining, in the main. At the rear is a games room with darts and the now very rare Ring the Bull. The lounge at the front has an open brick fireplace with copper flue.

Good, solid, old furniture of a permanent nature and solid iron-framed tables. Brass plates and salvers, along with old photographs, adorn the cream walls. The ceiling is low beamed and the lighting subdued. The whole experience was enhanced with the aromas of burning wood.

A range of five Naylors beers to try: Roaring Ruby, Blonde, Velvet, Cravenbrau and Bitter.

cover the floors. Walls are decorated with animal pictures and local photographs. The room on the right seems exclusively for dining, though the left lounge is divided between drinkers and diners. Four beers to choose from; Theakstons Bitter, Dark Horse Hetton Pale Ale, Old Bear Yorkshire Ale and Goose Eye Nightingale. Buses back to Keighley go from opposite the pub and the service is frequent Monday - Saturday daytime. * Although www.whatpub.com is a great new resource for pub and beer lovers, it is kept up to date by a small number of local volunteers. This means it is a challenge to keep up to date with details such as opening hours especially for rural pubs. If travelling a long way to a remote location it is a good idea to phone the pub to double check. If you see any information on whatpub that is incorrect please use the links on the site to notify the local branch and help us keep it accurate.

Rick Lamb

It was right from here to the Skipton Road, across the Eastburn Beck and back over the border into West Yorkshire and to the village of Eastburn. Here we found the Nightingale, another stone built roadside pub. This is a tworoomed pub, divided by a central bar. This old inn (c1680) has recently been refurbished to a high standard. It has a light, airy feel with cream wood-panelled walls. Benches are upholstered in leather to accompany the padded church pews. There is exposed stonework and burgundy wallpaper over the open fire and wine carpets

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Otley Run

The Otley Run This piece was submitted by Warren Yabsley, last year, before he headed for foreign climes.

Usually associated with students, the Otley Run starts in Headingley and takes in bars and clubs between there and the city centre. But how did it get its name? According to some branch stalwarts (thanks for the information Steve) in their day it was in the opposite direction and went all the way to Otley - was the ‘Run’ to the bus stop as you saw a bus approaching.

Before I get to the ale part there are two bits of background that I’d like to share. Firstly, back in 2009 Oz Clarke ‘did’ the Otley Run as part of the ‘Oz and James Drink to Britain’ TV series.

A well-intentioned theme of Oz’s programme was the scarcity of local products; he reckoned there would be a lack of places providing at least two.

Sure enough, this is what he found, using different rules to CAMRA’s LocAle initiative whereby the venue only has to source at least one ale from the local vicinity. There were a few pubs that had signed up to the LocAle scheme but were not featured by the programme and because Oz only visited a few places he missed some that would have satisfied his criterion.

Another issue close to my heart was the portrayal of students as concerned with getting drunk and nothing else. Being on the Leeds University Union Real Ale Society’s (LUURAS) committee and a member for many years I can say that this was, and still is, wrong. It is the aim of some but those interested in ale are more concerned with the taste and source of the products. The BBC’s letter in response to my letter on the matter was apologetic but somewhat vague.

The second bit of background relates to why I joined CAMRA. The LUURAS’s CAMRA Liaison Officer (an abbreviation mouthful that could be even further extended!) wrote an article about the Otley run for this magazine in 2010. This convinced me to go along to the branch’s activi-

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ties as I figured they were receptive to younger members. A few years later and I’ve been on both the branch and beer festival committees as well as also having filled many blank pages with my wafflings! Since then a lot more pubs on the Otley Run stock ale and the choice and, more importantly, the quality have improved. It is time for an update.

The Otley Run starts nowadays in Woodies Ale House (Greene King), with the 1, 6 and 97 bus stops opposite (also the 28 stops on Weetwood Lane just round the corner from Woodie's- ed).

Recently refurbished as a real and craft ale house, Woodies now boasts 12 hand-pulls behind the bar with regular guests from the Leeds area joining regulars from the Greene King line up. On my visit three were available from Greene King (GK) IPA, GK Morland Old Speckled Hen, Woodies Landlord’s Choice, which I assume to be from the GK stable, Ilkley Mary Jane, Leeds Pale and another non-GK ale with the pump clips of the others turned around (see later in the article for my take on not doing this).

The Three Horseshoes is a few metres down the road. “The bar area is furnished with stools and sells Marston’s Banks’s Tetley’s Bitter, Leeds Pale and Marston’s Wychwood Hobgoblin.

Otley Run Conversation was lively and inclusive when I called in. A cosier seating area is to the rear with old cricket pictures above. If you turn sharp left from the main door, after 50m you’ll come to Beer Ritz, an excellent bottled real ale and foreign beer shop, with a good chippy opposite if you’re feeling peckish.

50m down Otley Road is The New Inn (GK), which was serving GK IPA, Westgate (GK in another guise) Ghastly Ghoul, Black Sheep Bitter and a fourth ale. On my visit there was a good-sized group of locals playing cards, a rare sight nowadays, and in the rear room there’s a darts board.

Arcadia (Market Town Taverns) in the Arndale Centre does not allow fancy dress so is not on the modern Otley Run. As in the group’s other pubs, there was a good choice of ale, with eight here including two from the Isle of Man's Orkell Brewery which recently bought this expanding local business. A real cider was also available alongside draught foreign beers.

Being just off Otley Road the next two venues aren’t stop-offs for all Otley Runs. A new addition to the real ale scene is Arc. This bar has a bright and modern exterior and interior but the place is not pretentious. It is owned by the local Arc Inspirations group, which has now added an ale or two at a few of its pubs. Wharfe Bank Tether Blonde and Black Sheep Bitter are available but unfortunately are not part of the meal and drink deals at present - a suggestion for the future perhaps?

Opposite is The Headingley Taps (Mitchells and Butlers [M&B]), one of the pubs to offer a few ales for a good number of years. 5 handpump are now installed (GK IPA, Wells and Young’s Bombardier, Copper Dragon Golden Pippin and Mole Brewery Mole Catcher available) with the prices clearly displayed at the pump base. Any ales soon to be available (Leeds Pale when I popped in) have a clear ‘settling in the cellar’

notice over the pump clip. A big gripe of mine is when places do not turn around the pump clip when the beer is not available. I can see the marketing reason, but a 'sorry, not available' notice can be quickly attached to get round it when there's no time to find the pump clip for the next ale; credit to Headingley Taps and Woodie's for doing this.

Back on Otley Road, The Box (Arc Inspirations), scene of Oz stumbling outside dressed as a banana, now stands out given that it has no ale available. The Skyrack (GK) was improved by an extensive makeover in 2012, and ales have been introduced. GK IPA, GK Morland Old Speckled Hen and Westgate (aka GK) Ghastly Ghoul were available. There’s an eclectic mix of pictures on the wall including one of dogs wearing 3D glasses in a cinema.

Opposite is the two-roomed traditionally-furnished Original Oak (M & B), home to the branch’s AGM for the last few years. A wordy chalkboard outside promotes its beer credentials and alludes to its Summer 2009 Most Improved Pub award. Daleside Old Leg Over and Copper Dragon Golden Pippin were available. Glasses reside above the bar on the old-style shelving hung from the ceiling. The beer garden (it was once a bowling green so has grass rather than being a yard) with its three-figure number of tables gets packed during the summer.

Now comes the longest walk between pubs, but only 10 minutes, or a short hop on the plentiful buses. This brings you to The Hyde Park which, along with The Original Oak and Woodies, has colourful hanging baskets of flowers in season.

In my opinion The Hyde Park is the most changed in the last few years, now with 6 ales available including 2 house beers, one from Moorhouse’s (Brown) and the other from Naylor’s (Blonde), the others being Naylor’s Autumn Ale, Moorhouse’s Blonde Witch, Great Newsome Frothingham and Marston’s Wychwood Hobgoblin. Brewery information, beer strength Continued overleaf >

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Thank you to everyone who attended the woodfest and the brewers who supplied the beers.

The Junction and its customers will sadly miss Simon from Ridgeside, a fine brewer and friend.

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ABBEY INN 99 Pollard Lane, Newlay, Leeds, LS13 1EQ DUCK & DRAKE Kirkgate, Leeds, LS2 7DR HUNTERS INN Harrogate Road, Pool in Wharfedale, LS21 2PS NEW HEADINGLEY CLUB St Micheals Road, Headingley, LS6 3BG

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All served from a bank of old Melbourne pumps that have never seen a pint of Tetleys or John Smiths.

Open Fires • Friendly Atmosphere Dog friendly • Quiz Night on Wednesday • Only 2 mins from the bus and train station NEW OPENING TIMES Monday & Tuesday 3pm to 8.30pm.

Wednesday & Thursday 3pm to 11pm.

Friday to Sunday 12noon to 11pm.

Tel: 01977 278867 The Junction, Castleford WF10 1EE www.thejunctionpubcastleford.com

OTLEY TAVERN Newmarket, Otley, LS21 3A QUEEN High Street, Tadcaster, LS24 9SA STICK OR TWIST Merrion Way, Leeds, LS2 8PD THE WRENS HOTEL, 59-61 New Briggate, Leeds, LS2 8JD THREE HULATS

13 Harrogate Road, Leeds, LS7 3NB TROYDALE CLUB Troydale Lane, Pudsey, Leeds, LS28 9LD WHITE SWAN High Street, Yeadon, LS19 7TA WOOLPACK 18 New Road, Yeadon, LS19 7SE

OTLEY RUN - continued (%) and simple tasting notes are shown on chalk slates, a great step towards encouraging those less familiar with ales to give them a go.

The Library (Stonegate Group) has recently installed handpump but, unfortunately, on my visit the GK IPA was not available though the pump clip was not turned round. The pub used to be a bastion of ale a good number of years ago when it was The Feast and Firkin complete with its own micro-brewery.

The Packhorse (Most Improved Pub Autumn 2010) is next, serving around half a dozen ales with a couple badged as being from Burley Street Brewhouse, which is housed at its sister pub, The Fox and Newt on Burley Road. It’s referred to as a ‘corridor’ pub with small rooms leading off from the entrance corridor and bar. It is mentioned in CAMRA’s Yorkshire’s Real Heritage Pubs book.

A few metres along the road is The Eldon (Spirit Group) where at the time of writing a 10% discount on ale was available to CAMRA members.

Two or three usually well-known ales (Leeds Pale and Wells and Young’s Courage Directors on my visit) appeal to a nice mix of regulars and the university clubs and societies that make the pub their regular venue for socials. It wouldn’t be right for the University Hiking Club to be based somewhere without ale.

The Old Bar and The Terrace in the University Union are included on my Otley Run list but not on everyone’s. The former has upped its game since I was on the LUURAS committee, with Meet the Brewer sessions and mini cider and beer festivals including one held in November for LUURAS’s 10th anniversary.

The Dry Dock The Fenton, also in CAMRA’s Yorkshire’s Real Heritage Pubs book is next. 4 ales are available with Fenton Bitter from Marston’s available at a competitive price; Marston’s Wychwood Hobgoblin and Marston’s EPA also regularly available.

The final venue is The Dry Dock (Stonegate Group), a large part of which is an old boat although there’s not as strong a nautical feel as you might expect. A convert to offering ale in the last couple of years, things have improved since my last visit. A notice on the bar end near the entrance encourages people to ask for a taster of the 3 ales available (Ilkley Mary Jane, Leeds Pale and Marston’s Wychwood Hobgoblin was the choice that day). This helps reduce the uncertainty many people feel over whether they will like ale.

It's sometimes felt that the ale in student pubs will be too cold, but on my visits this was not the case at all. Most were spot on with a couple just a tad cold; I’ve had much colder in venues held in high esteem for their ales. During the afternoon and early evening all but two places had more non-students than students, which surprised even me, so please don’t feel intimidated about going in. At times large Otley Run groups can swamp the pubs in the evenings, detracting from the pleasure of going for a pint, but choose your time wisely and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Warren Yabsley

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Out and About

Getting Getting around around Greenwich Greenwich This time, for the very first time, I attended an NFL game at Wembley Stadium and thought it would be a good opportunity to spend a couple of days in our capital city. On one of the days, inspired by the CAMRA book ‘101 Beer Days Out’, we decided to head out to Greenwich and sample both the sights and the tastes around zero degrees longitude.

Although not mentioned in the CAMRA book, our first port of call was the Kings Arms. Painted in a familiar green colour, it didn’t take a genius to figure out this was a Greene King pub. The only two ales available were (I bet you’ve guessed already!) Greene King IPA and Old Speckled Hen. I tend to stay well clear of the IPA, so Old Speckled Hen it was, in pretty decent condition and served in very pleasant surroundings.

From there we headed to the Old Brewery, a short walk away. Meantime Brewing now own this modern, renovated bar and brewery. The walls were covered with beer bottles and memorabilia.

The bar was full of Meantime goodness, although much was keg rather than cask. I settled on Fest Bier, a German-styled beer.

As well as its geographical location, Greenwich is also famous for the tea clipper, the “Cutty Sark”. Sadly, the ship is no longer seaworthy and, unfortunately, a less-than-attractive entry fee meant we skipped that bit of historical culture. Instead, we went to the nearby Gypsy Moth

pub, where we found a decent number of ales and I opted for Junction by Sambrook's. This felt very much a food-orientated venue.

Up next was the Spanish Galleon. This is a Shepherd Neame pub and the ale choice was very brewery-orientated; Spitfire, Bishop’s Finger and Whitstable Pale. I enjoyed a nice pint of the last in quite cosy surroundings.

The penultimate Greenwich pub we visited was the Mitre Hotel. Claiming it had a good selection of world beers, it also had a decent choice of cask ales. The bar is a very large area and if you find one of the big chairs by the fireplace, you could easily lose an afternoon in there. My choice of beer this time was Battersea Rye by Sambrook’s.

If you find yourself in London sometime, Greenwich is definitely worth a visit. Even if you don’t, why not pick up a copy of CAMRA’s ‘101 Beer Days Out’ as without its feature on Greenwich, we’d probably have missed the experience.

Mike Hampshire

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Real Ales from: Brown Cow, Theakston, Timothy Taylor, John Smiths and now Leeds Brewery

The Leeds Branch of CAMRA regularly recognises achievements by breweries and licensed premises in the district which are worthy of special mention and, once again, the NFM photographers have been busy.

In the last edition of our magazine, we just missed out on telling our readers about a presentation down at the Kirkstall Bridge, a recently reopened pub which didn't take long to clinch a Pub of the Season award, this one for Winter 2013. Owned by Steve Holt, we're sure that regular readers will be aware of the beery goings-on, but if you're new to the Leeds district, why not pop down and take a look?

Next on the agenda was a trip to the Fleece at Farsley. The team at the Fleece are not unused to receiving awards from our branch, having already picked up a couple when they were running the Owl at Rodley. The change of venue has suited them and they picked up the award for Most Improved Pub Autumn 2013 in seemingly no time from their move. Indeed, the pub is so good that we visited twice to present the award, after some crossed wires on the first attempt. We hope Gina will forgive us.

We have two more awards to tell you about, and they both took place on one night. The Palace on Kirkgate was our destination and the first thing we had to do was recognise the services of Terry and Christine Grayson, stepping down as licensees after sixteen

years! We also had a surprise for them as they were unaware they had picked up the Pub of the Season award for Spring 2014. Great work.

Congratulations to all these winners. We hope to bring you more news in the next edition.

Coming up we will have the new awards for Pub of the Year which will be presented to Kirkstall Bridge Inn, Community Pub of the Year to The Myrtle Tavern, Meanwood, Club of the Year to Guiseley Factory Workers Club and Rural Pub of the Year to the Chequers Inn, Ledsham (dates to be arranged). Also we hope to have photos of presentations from our recent, hugelysuccessful beer festival at Pudsey where the Beer of the Festival was won by Fernandes and Mild of the Festival by Five Towns, both breweries from Wakefield, and to Pure North of Holmfirth who jointly won Cider of the Festival along with Gwynty-Ddraig from Gwent.

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O

12 minnlyu

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by train es fro Leeds Sta m tion!!

Based in the heritage village of Saltaire, the pub has won numerous awards: Bradford Pub of the Season Autumn 1997, Summer 2000, 2003, 2008, and this year...

Bradford CAMRA Pub of the Year 2010!

Regular beers are Taylors Landlord, Golden Best and Old Peculier 8 ever changing guest beers always on • Now selling Sierra Navada on Draught 3 draught ciders and 3 bottled ciders • An array of specialist bottled beers Fanny’s Ale and Cider House

63 Saltaire Road, Shipley, BD18 3JN Tel No. 01274 591419 www.fannysalehouse.com

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The Regent Two permanent ales: Leeds Pale, Tetley Bitter plus FIVE rotating guest ales.

The Reliance

Sky Sports and BT Sports on Four Screens

Bar & Dining Room

Beer garden with Plasma Screen and Car Park to the rear

Fine Food & Fine Ales

Main meals - Two for £9.00 We are open Mon-Wed 12noon-11pm Thurs-Sat 12noon-midnight, Sun 11am -11.30pm Quiz nights: Monday – General Knowledge Tuesday – Music Thursday – Entertainment 15/17 Regent Street, Chapel Allerton, Leeds LS7 4PE Tel: 0113 2939395 Email: 6233unit@spiritpubcompany.com

12 draught pumps including 4 regularly changing Real Ales & 1 Real Cider

Over 20 other craft bottled ales & ciders from Britain, America & Europe Open for lunch & supper 7 days a week

76-78 North Street, Leeds LS2 7PN 0113 2956060 www.the-reliance.co.uk

diary dates

Appointment with Beer Leeds CAMRA holds a formal business-style meeting in a closed room (one with a door, not an area of a bar) on the first Tuesday of every month. The meeting starts at 7:30pm and has an approximate finishing time of 9:30pm. CAMRA members are advised to check “What’s Brewing” for confirmation of meeting locations and for details of other events; alternatively call 07981 297962. A full listing of events is also published at www.leedscamra.com where it is regularly updated. Leeds CAMRA is organised and run entirely by unpaid volunteers. All members are always welcome at meetings and socials.

Thank You for Having Us! Thanks to the Grove, Holbeck and the Wrens, New Briggate for hosting meetings.

Thanks to the Stick or Twist by the Merrion Centre for staging our beer festival social and to Kirkstall Brewery for holding our new members social. It's much appreciated.

Don’t be a Wazzock!

Don’t Drink and Drive.

Public transport information for the Leeds area is available from Metro offices and at wymetro.com There really is no excuse.

West Yorkshire Trading Standards Service Tel: 0113 253 0241 Po Box 5, Nepshaw Lane South, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS27 0QP

June 2014 Tue 3rd Jun Open branch committee meeting, Whitelocks, Briggate, Leeds 7.30pm.

Tue 10th Jun City Centre Social, White Swan 8.00pm, Pack Horse 9.00pm, Whitelocks 10.00pm – All venues off Briggate, Leeds.

Sat 21st Jun Otley Social, White Swan, Boroughgate 2.00pm, Junction, Bondgate 3.30pm, Old Cock, Crossgate 5.00pm.

July 2014 Tue 1st Jul Open branch committee meeting, venue to be arranged

Leeds CAMRA

Members' Noticeboard Follow @LeedsCAMRA on Twitter or “like” our Leeds-CAMRA Facebook page for up-to-date information about socials, meetings and pubs info in and around Leeds.

Leeds-CAMRA @LeedsCAMRA

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