Ale of Thanet Spring 2015

The FREE Magazine of the Thanet Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale

Quarterly Spring 2015 Circulation 2500

Wetherspoon’s Coming To Ramsgate See Bar None Page 4

Brewery News Page 21

Name the Pub? Page 13

Cider Tour Page 19

Kent Micropubs Pt2 Page 15

Green Hop Open Days Page 8

name suggested by Ben Jones and Maria Thompson after the pub company asked local residents to come up with a suitable title for the pub.

It should be open in time for Easter.

TOBY CRAVERY THANET New Haine WELCOME to this issue’s Bar None.

Road Westwood This popular pub/Restaur ant has had a make-over which has seen the bar area reduced allowing the restaurant area to be extended.

ROYAL VICTORIA PAVILION Harbour LORD NELSON Nelson Place BroadParade, Ramsgate stairs Pub chain J D Wetherspoon has applied for planning consent to alter existing floor This pub closed and sold by owners space to create a new public house along Greene King, had a planning application for conversion into one dwelling and four with a series of separate spaces for flats refused by the planning department. various other uses, to this grade II-listed GOOD INTENT Bath Road Cliftonville building. The project to rejuvenate the derelict building is estimated to be in the This Shepherd Neame pub is for sale.

DERBY ARMS Margate Road Ramsgate region of £3 million and will include This Shepherd Neame restoring parts of the exterior fascia that pub is closed and for sale. have been lost over the years.

HUNGRY HORSE Haine Road Westwood A planning application This new Greene King pub & restaurant is has been submitted to the local council for convergoing to be called the Hooden Horse, a

Bar None

Local Pub News

BRANCH EVENTS

CONTENTS

Below is a selection of branch activities BRANCH SOCIALS Wednesday 13 May 2015 WESTWOOD WANDER Meet Star Inn - 7.45pm then onto Hooden Horse 8.15pm Toby Cravery - 9.00pm Canterbury Bell 9.40pm BUSINESS MEETING Monday 27 April 2015 Brown Jug CT10 2EW - 8pm Wednesday 8 May 2015 Wheel Alehouse CT7 9RA - 8pm

3 - Bar None - Pub News 4 - Pubs Selling Local Beer 5 - Bar None Continued 6 - Drinking Without Driving 8 - Green Hop Brewery Open Day Pics 9 - CAMRA Press Release 10 - Then & Now 11 - The Great War Comrades 13 - Name That Pub? 14 - Ghent Beer Festival 15 - Kent Micropubs Part 2 17 - Memories of a Margate Landlord 18 - Cider Recipes 19 - Cider Tour of Thanet 21 - News from Thanet Breweries 22 - CAMRA Press Releases 23 - Membership Application Form

Our meetings and events are sometimes subject to change so keep up to date by visiting our website at www.thanet-camra.org.uk or our facebook page where full details of these and other up and coming events are listed.

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THANET PUBS SELLING LOCALLY BREWED BEERS Listed below are pubs and bars that are known to regularly sell real ales from breweries within 20 miles of Thanet.

Birchington Wheel Alehouse, Minnis Broadstairs Bradstow Mill, Chapel, Charles Dickens, Dolphin, Little Albion, Pavilion, Tartar Frigate, Thirty-Nine Steps Dumpton Brown Jug Margate Ales of the Unexpected, Harbour Arms, Hoy, Lifeboat, Mechanical Elephant, Wig and Pen Minster Hair of the Dog, New Inn, Minster & Monkton Royal British Legion Club

Pegwell Sir Stanley Gray Ramsgate Artillery Arms, Churchill Tavern, Comfort Inn, Conqueror Alehouse, Elephant & Castle, Great Tree, Hotel De Ville, Hovelling Boat, Mariners, Montefiore Arms, Oak Hotel, Queen Charlotte, Queen Head, Red Lion, Rose of England St. Peters Four Candles, Yard of Ale Westgate Bake & Ale House, Knot Reading Street (St. Peters) White Swan

Thanet CAMRA cannot guarantee the availability of a local ale or the quality of the ale served in any establishments listed and cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions to this list.

TRADING STANDARDS If you feel that you have been treated unfairly in a pub, club or bar you should contact Trading Standards by either speaking to an advisor at Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 or visiting the Consumer Direct website at www.comsumerdirect.gov.uk

ALE OF THANET Spring 2015 — Published quarterly by Thanet CAMRA - the Thanet Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale. © Thanet CAMRA 2015 - Circulation 2500 - Printed by printcarrier www.printcarrier.com Any views or comments expressed in Ale of Thanet may not necessarily be those of the Editor, Thanet CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale or their officials. The taking of advertising does not imply that Thanet CAMRA or the Campaign for Real Ale endorse the pub, product or service on offer.

Campaign for Real Ale Limited 230 Hatfield Road, St Albans AL1 4LW Tel: 01727 867201 www.camra.org.uk Picture contributions this issue are from Beery Steve, Tony Skirving, Martin Baldwin Ruth Pearshouse & Suzanne Foad (MLFH) while articles were contributed by CAMRA, Jeff Tucker, Tony Skirving, Austin Freeman, Martin Baldwin, Mike Austen, Beery Steve & Mick Minter.

Articles, letters, pub reports & news, photos and suggestions are always welcome. Please email them to: steve@e-ale.org.uk or send to Ale of Thanet c/o 31 Nash Court Gardens Margate CT9 4DG Maps used in this publication are downloaded or are based on data from Open Street Map © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC BY-SA www.openstreetmap.org BRANCH EVENTS

Visit our website at www.thanet-camra.org.uk or contact Graham on 01843 835793 for further details.

BRANCH DETAILS

Chairperson: Julian Dungey - julian@thanet-camra.org.uk; Secretary: Dennis Brandrick - dennis@thanetcamra.org.uk; Treasurer: Debbie Aris - debbie@thanet-camra.org.uk; Membership Secretary: Jez Lamming jez@thanet-camra.org.uk; Pubs Officer and Aot Editor: Steve Saunders - steve@thanet-camra.org.uk Branch Contact: Graham Rickett - branch@thanet-camra.org.uk All correspondence should be addressed to: Thanet CAMRA c/o 11 Sea View Road, Broadstairs, CT10 1BX Tel: 01843 835793 or emailed to: branch@thanet-camra.org.uk.

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Various beams and sion to a house in multiple occupation. structural supports VICTORIA Ramsgate had been removed by Road Margate amateur enthusiasts This pub is being conover the years that verted into a Indian resthe building was very taurant. unsafe. These spirNORTHDOWN Summerfield Road ited mistakes were Margate made so long ago, Somebody is looking into the possibility of they were in fact reopening the part of hidden under the old the building not being fashioned "lathe and plaster". It is surused as a chemist as prising no one questioned why the ground floor of the pub was moving and a micropub. was at least 200mm lower in the middle FEZ MICROPUB, 40 than the edges.

High Street, Dave has therefore stripped the walls Margate back to bricks throughout the entire four The former Margate storey building and replaced the missing Card Centre next or broken timber beams and brickwork. door to Sands Hotel The basement and venue for the new could be converted into a micropub if a micro brewery is now looking massive soon to be submitted planning applicaand much larger than at first thought, as tion is successful.

MAGUIRES / HAM- curious openings and mysterious voids were discovered in the walls.

ILTON TAVERN This basement now has a spanking new King Street Ramfloor above it, consisting of new joists sgate and floor boarding while substantial This former keg only free house has beams have added to address modern been taken over by Late Knights Brewery building requirements. and renamed the Ravensgate Arms. The The next phase will be to restore the Old interior layout has been altered with the Cottage roof timbers and tiling itself bar repositioned and the former off sales incorporating a "warm roof" structure in a careful plan to return its looks to as area re-established as the Cap & Cork original as possible. Following this the Bottle Shop. The pub sells both its own frontage and side passageway of the cask & craft keg building will be replaced with glass/ bibeers along side folding windows along with new beers from other entrances and staircases giving the pub a interdependent brewfew contemporary modern adaptations to eries. combine with its traditional history - in BAR ONE Marine close liaison with the listed building and Gardens Margate heritage authorities.

This bar is due to open shortly as Meze That’s it for this issue, Bar & restaurant Cheers OLD COTTAGE High Street Margate Owner Dave Gorman has told AOT that stunning progress has been made on the Steve Saunders pub, but unfortunately, the building has If you have any pub news or views please suffered over the years, with countless email me at: steve@thanet-camra.org.uk alterations, add on’s and its neglect.

Keep to date with what the branch is up to by visiting the branch website at www.thanet-camra.org.uk

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DRINKING WITHOUT DRIVING I bet there are loads of pubs in Kent which you've never been to. You probably think they are too far away or difficult to get to without somebody driving.

In a handful of cases, you may be right,

but most are more accessible than you think, using Kent's comprehensive network of trains and buses. Why not make a day of it, and visit a selection of lovely pubs in an area which you wouldn't normally go to.

In this internet age, it is so easy to find all the information you need, about the pubs, train and bus times, ticket information and fares.

Starting with the pubs, the obvious place to start is to use CAMRA's excellent Whatpub website whatpub.com.

Just put in the name of a town or village, and it will show all pubs in the area, including, in most cases, details of the real ales that you will find, and the all-important opening hours.

In most cases, the entry for a pub shows the proximity of a train station

and/or bus route. If you are visiting a village with only one pub and an hourly bus or train service, it may be worth a

phone call to the pub to make sure they're going to be open!

Train times and fares can be found on nationalrail.co.uk . Rail trips are a bit restrictive in that you buy a return from A to B, but can break your journey at stations along the route. Southeastern offer

a three-day rover, but no daily ticket.

Bus travel is more flexible than trains, and the information is just as easy to find if you know where to look. You don't need to buy separate tickets on each bus, as there is a handy day ticket, called an Explorer, which can be bought on any

Stagecoach or Arriva bus, and is valid at any time of day on 99% of buses in Kent (and part of East Sussex). It costs, at the time of writing, ÂŁ6.30 from Stagecoach or ÂŁ7.20 from Arriva. Considering the extent of its validity, it's great value for money.

Any other day ticket isn't valid on other operators' services, so beware!

Where do the buses go? The best place to start is to put 'Kent bus map' into a

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search engine. Go to the kent.gov.uk website, click on 'Find a bus route', and there are links to the comprehensive county map and individual town/area maps.

Some routes have a limited service, either a few journeys per day, or only on certain days of the week. Evening and Sunday services can be limited, but most trunk routes run at least hourly during the daytime. The 'bus information' pages for each area on the KCC website will give you this detail.

For a copy of the actual timetable for a route, go to travelinesoutheast.org.uk. I normally click on 'Find a timetable', then put in a town or village name to get a list of all routes for that location. Some will be school routes, which are not a lot of use, but the main

routes can be selected to show the full timetable and, if you need it, a detailed map of the route, including the stops.

With an Explorer ticket, you can just jump on and off buses as you wish, showing your ticket to the driver - Stagecoach accept Arriva tickets, and vice versa. Most bus routes which are operated by smaller companies are KCC contract services, which are obliged to accept Explorer tickets according to their contract. The KCC bus information pages indicate which services are KCC-tendered.

Remember, not all pubs have a bus stop or train station right outside, so you may have a bit of gentle walking to do to get to some truly great pubs.

There are around 1500 pubs in Kent – go and find them!

Jeff Tucker

GREEN HOP BREWERY OPEN DAY’S TRIP

Sunday 12 October saw the branch visit four, of five breweries, operating opens days to coincide with Green Hop fortnight. The pictures chronicle the day which was done all on public transport (bus).

The brewery’s visited were (top row): Goody’s, (2nd row) Foundry Brew Pub (Canterbury Brewers) , (3rd row) Wantsum & (Bottom row) Ramsgate (Gadds). Sadly we couldn’t get to Canterbury Ales.

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ELLAND 1872 PORTER NAMED 'CHAMPION WINTER BEER OF BRITAIN' Elland 1872 Porter has today been crowned CAMRA’s Supreme Champion Winter Beer of Britain 2015 by a panel of judges at the National Winter Ales Festival in Derby.

The winning 6.5% abv beer is described in CAMRA’s 2015 Good Beer Guide as a “creamy, full-flavoured porter with rich liquorice flavours and a hint of chocolate from the roasted malt. A soft but satisfying after taste of bittersweet roast and malt.”

Mike Hiscock, Elland Brewery Manager, had this to say on the win: “It’s absolutely fabulous to win the Champion Winter Beer of Britain, though we certainly weren’t expecting this, it is amazing to get the hat trick and win this award for the third time. We know it is independently judged so for it to keep coming out on top is testament to the depth of flavour and complexity that we get into the beer. This really is fantastic news.”

The Champion Winter Beer of Britain competition judges the best of the best in terms of classic winter warmers from thick, rich, dark porters and stouts, to sweet and strong Barley Wines.

A panel of beer writers, members of the licensed trade and CAMRA members judged the competition. Elland 1872 porter will now go forward to compete in the overall Champion Beer of Britain competition at the Great British Beer Festival this August. Nik Antona, Champion Winter Beer of Britain Director had this to say on the importance of the competition: “Elland 1872 is a fantastic example of what a traditional porter should taste like and has been hugely popular for many years, particularly it seems with competition judges, who have named it Champion Winter Beer of Britain twice and overall Champion Beer of Britain once in the last three years a huge achievement.”

Drinkers at the National Winter Ales Festival will now be able to sample the winning brews, as well as a selection of more than 450 real ales, plus draught ciders, perries and mead.

THEN & NOW Here is a selection of pictures of the Northumberland Bar that was situated on the ground floor of Northumberland Court in Northumberland Avenue in Cliftonville.

At one time Northdown Road was called Northumberland Road, named after Norhumberland House a solid red brick property built in the 18th century by Francis Forster who christened it after the county of his birth - it his gardener who discovered the mysterious Margate Caves in the house’s back garden in 1798.

The name was adopted by the Northumberland Hotel, which was built shortly before WWII. It was conceived as a deluxe Jewish hotel, but this venture never properly materialised, the rooms being converted into private flats, leaving the hotel bar and Palm Court style dining room for use as a private club. It was acquired by Trumans in the 1950s and reopened as a public house, which it preformed until the early 2000s when it closed and was

converted into flats.

Top is a postcard of the hotel, below this is the pub in May 1996, and an interior shot of the bar from 1953. The two pictures below were taken in September 2002 while the one left was taken in July last year.

The postcard & interior picture are courtesy of Suzanne Foad and the Margate Local & Family History Facebook site (MLFH). A short piece on the Nortumberland Hotel can be found on this site.

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THE GREAT WAR COMRADES - 100 YEARS ON A Club in Broadstairs lives on in their memory As the nation commemorates the passing of 100 years since the advent of the First World War it is poignant to remember our local lads who took up arms against a serious threat to our freedom.

From the Western Front to Mesopotamia, men from the United Kingdom answered the call to arms and courageously fought and died for their country.

Thankfully many returned and it is timely to reflect on the camaraderie of the servicemen returning from conflict and finding it difficult to communicate their harrowing experiences to a community who had no idea of the tortuous events in the theatre of war. In Thanet these servicemen came from all the armed services, but it is appropriate to focus on the local Royal East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) which was raised in Canterbury in September 1914 as part of Kitchener’s Second New Army and immediately saw action on The Somme at the Battle of Albert, capturing all their objectives near Montauban but insodoing taking very heavy losses. The Buffs were present throughout the campaign at the battle of Ypres; on 22 April 1915 the 2nd Battalion were supporting the Canadians, they encountered chlorine gas attacks, an extract from the 3rd Canadian Brigade war diaries reads - “No retirement could have been more orderly or harder fought, but the enemy was using his field gun fire direct, and the men of the 48th (48th Highlanders of Canada = 15th Battalion), the Canadian Royal Highlanders (13th Battalion), The Buffs and the 7th were literally blown out of

position”. We can only speculate what conditions were like but this small reference to a horrific battle conjures up a scene no one would want to experience.

At the wars end many soldiers had a likeminded desire to socialise with their Brothers in Arms and the lads from Broadsta irs establis hed a returning servicem an’s club in 1919; a place where they could meet, have a drink and appreciate the company of attuned compatriots. The club had a sponsor, namely Mr Mason who at that time was Managing Director of the worldrenowned Cherry Blossom Shoe Polish Company. Mr Mason was a public benefactor who donated eight acres of land to the community (this now forms part of the Memorial Recreation Ground in Lawn Road, Broadstairs); he also donated premises for the ‘Old Comrades’ to use as a club house, the club was known then as ‘The Broadstairs Social Club’. It is believed that the club house was a wooden hut situated in the grounds of Mr Mason’s grand residence ‘Castle Gay’ which is at the bottom of Belmont Road and Wardour Close.

As Mr Mason was a confirmed tee-totaller there would have been no alcohol served.

At that time the Armed Services were essentially a completely male environment and the club was established as a Gentleman’s club. As the years passed a new location was found and in 1922 the club moved to new premises, Kelly’s directory lists the club as being based in rooms above 14a The Broadway, this was the location of Jarret the Tailors and Hosiers (later changing their name to Sharp’s

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Tailor’s and Outfitters), today it is a hairdressing salon. The new location allowed the introduction of alcohol and in the ‘History of Shepherd Neame Brewery’ the club is recorded as having been customers since 1921 and it still is today.

Some ten years later in 1931 Kelly’s directory lists the club as being located in Kew Lodge on St Peters Road and today sits opposite the Petrol Station on the junction with The Broadway. Kew Lodge (also known as Laburnum House) was occupied by Dr Ronald Morton Lidell who was the Medical Officer of Health for the then Broadstairs and St Peter’s Urban District Council. The house was purchased by the club from the owner, Emily Mary Huson for the princely sum of £1,175, a loan of £850 was taken out with the Isle of Thanet Building Society and re paid at £43 per year, payment was complete on 16 August 1943. The club is still located in these premises and it is a tribute to the foresight of past members that the club owns its own club premises.

Over the years the name of the club has changed and as time passed lost its connection with the armed forces, today it is called ‘The Broadstairs and St Peter’s Comrades club’. The club still retains its male only status and is a friendly clean environm ent for members to meet and have fun. There are always two guest Real Ales on offer that are keenly priced at £2.60 a pint, there are also two regular Real Ales which are Master Brew and Greene King’s IPA which are just £2.50 a pint, prices are as of December 2014. The club encourages sports and social activities, there are three quality

full size snooker tables, competition standard darts board and board games.

There are regular social events and outings such as mystery tours and ferry trips to the continent, members recently visited the Menin Gate Memorial and Flanders Field Museum at Ypres which was a profoundly moving experience.

The Broadstairs and St Peter’s Comrades Club has a very unusual constitution in that not only is it ‘men only’, but it is owned and run entirely by its members, who are in effect ‘shareholders’, it is not CIU affilia ted.

Today there are fewer and fewer clubs of this type surviv ing nationally, due not only to the current political and social climate regarding single sex clubs, but also the difficulties encountered in maintaining the economic viability of such clubs. The fact that the club has survived since 1919 is due entirely to the loyal membership which has consistently supported the club, not only by using the bar and other amenities but also in devoting time to running it.

As ‘The Comrades’ club approaches its centenary it continues to welcome new members, if you would like to join and you are over 18, male and live in Thanet then please contact the club’s Secretary, Mr David Booth on 01843 862243, David has been a member for over 40 years so he knows all that there is to know about the club, club membership is currently just £50 in the first year and £37 thereafter. As well as a friendly ‘Comrades’ welcome you can be sure of enjoying an excellent pint of Real Ale. Martin Baldwin and Mike Austen.

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GUESS THE PUB? Our photographer has cropped some of his Thanet pub pictures to show just their roofs. Can you guess which pubs?

Answers on page 22.

① w

③④

⑤

⑥

⑦

⑧

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GHENT BEER FESTIVAL The festival is organised by a group called "Gentse Biervereniging" Ghent Beer Society. They were founded 5 years ago by a group of recently graduated students with a mutual interest in beer, as there was no local beer society at the time.

Their numbers are now up to over 100.

Each year, they organise about 7 to 8 activities, ranging from theme based beer tasting's, brewery visits, excursions, foodpairing activities or a brewer visiting them and presenting his/her beers to them in Ghent. They have to hire venues to hold their activities and rely on different locations that the city rents out during weekends. For example community centre, senior citizen clubs, city schools, etc. each member paying around €9 an event. Ever since their first year they've organised a yearly beer festival. Unlike Brussels, Bruges or Zythos beer festivals, where breweries are invited to attend and supply all their own beer and equipment, this one is organised solely by volunteers.

They buy and pour the beers themselves.

This way they can choose which beers make the list, and which ones don't. Most of them are in their early thirties and still discovering the global beer scene so they always reserve a spot for foreign beers, which you will not find at any of the main Brewery lead festivals.

This little known festival is now in its fifth year, is held in VIP School, Martelaarslaan 13 9000 Genta during the college’s summer break. VIP incidentally is not Very Important Person but translates as Sales, Information and People Care. What a great venue, two large halls and a large garden, provided more than enough seating for everybody during the afternoon session that we were there. Ample proper toilet facilities as well, in fact the best of any festival we have attended in UK or abroad, no smelly chemical sheds needed here. On arrival it was free entry but we paid €20 for two glasses, a programme and some tokens.

The glasses were refundable for €3 each and tokens were €1.50 each. A token got you a 15ml tasting sample, effectively half

a bottle on all beers except at the foreign bar where beers were two or three tokens.

Although a great fan of Danish and US beers, we could not bring ourselves to pay €3 or €4.50 for 15ml not when there were plenty of Belgian and Dutch beers to choose from. As we entered the cosier of the two halls we spotted fellow Belgian Beer Board Member Lee Barass and his wife Gemma so we joined them at their table. We grabbed a beer each that we knew we liked and studied the programme. There were six bars, four Belgian, one Dutch and a Rest of the World one. There were only four draught beers and the rest were all bottles. These were kept in fridges, like most beers of

this style are in Belgium. The programme gave a list of which beers could be obtained at which bar and an alphabetical list of all the beers explaining what type of beer it was. There were tasting notes but these were only in Dutch. This is a great festival to go to for beers from small breweries and latest releases from mainstream breweries.

Ideal for tickers, yes Belgium has them too. There was food available; a selection of barbequed meats, three different quiches or a bowl of Chimay cheese. It was overpriced and the portions weren’t great, but we had some, as when you’ve had a few beers who can resist. If we go again we will take our own food.

See the beer list on http://www.gentsbierfestival.be/bierlijst Many thanks to Ghent Beer Festival Organiser, Tim De Roeck, for the background information about Gentse Biervereniging.

Tony Skirving

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KENT MICROPUBS PART 2 When we visited in February we planned to visit all 12 Micropubs in northern Kent, from Whitstable to Ramsgate but only managed seven. So we returned in November on a Sunday and Monday to check out the rest. Unfortunately, we didn’t apply the seven P’s (Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance) and hadn’t realised many shut on Mondays. Luckily Editor Steve warned us about this when we emailed him our plans. Too late to alter hotel dates though, so we decided to make Whitstable our first call on the way down.

We found a car park around the corner from our first port of call, the Black Pig. It hadn’t opened yet as it was only 11:45 but the café over the road from the car park was, so we had a The Black Dog sausage sandwich in there to put a lining on our stomachs while we waited. The Black Pig was dimly lit with a very eclectic range of paintings, photos and artefacts behind the bar and on the walls. It was more like a pub than many micros and we were the only customers yet it had a great choice of beers, Dark Star Hophead, Kent Brewery Hop Dog, Gadds’ Rye Pale Ale, Wansum Golgotha and Windsor and Eaton Knight of the Garter. Only having 2 hours before closing time we had to move on. The barman had told us another new micro The Handsome Sam had just opened but we couldn’t manage another one in the time available so pressed on to the Tankerton Arms.

Tony outside Tankerton This was much Arms brighter premises

with quite a few customers. The beers on were Goody’s, Hop Fuzz, Westerhams and Pig & Porter. The young man and woman serving were very pleasant and we not only enjoyed their beer but tried their local scratchings. We live in the Black Country which is home to numerous scratching makers who supply pubs all over the country, so we consider ourselves somewhat experts. They were up to scratch. (Pardon the pun.) The Black Country in case you are not familiar is or was a heavy industrial area near Birmingham comprising of parts of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton. It is so called because it was dark in the day because of all the factory smoke but lit up at night from all the furnaces. It’s a Bouncing Barrel lot greener now but all the jobs have gone.

Bouncing Barrel in Herne Bay next, which was packed out. We managed to squeeze in and enjoy our second sausage of the day and it was free!

There was a bowl on each table of Inside the Bouncing Barrel mixed sausages and mine proved to be a very spicy chorizo, which was fine for me but caught out one or two other customers who found them too powerful.

Bridget was happy with her leek and onion in this a sort of sausage Russian roulette. We both had a Jorvik fff beer but we didn’t make a note of the other beers available. We had time to go to the Frog & Firkin as that didn’t close until 3pm according to “What Pub” but although we were there for 2pm it was shut so we were Tony & Bridget in Harbour disappointed.

Arms Time to check-in to Margate Premier Inn

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next to the Station, £29 a night with a sea view – a bargain. We had a rest and set out to the Harbour Arms as we enjoyed it there on our last visit. Lively banter with a few locals and then with Andrew, Michael, Vicky and Michelle, who were a group from Southampton also “doing” the local micros. We enjoyed Old School Blackboard, Whitstable Dana and Gadds Rye Pale Ale until it was time for our meal at the fabulous Ambrette. We stuck to water with our meal to keep the bill down; many a time the alcohol bill has exceeded the food bill! We rounded off the night with a Gadds’ Best Dark and a Ripple Stream in the Lifeboat and Cider House and couldn’t resist a Bengali Tiger in the Mechanical Elephant on the walk back to the Racing at Hornby Visitor hotel.

Centre On Monday we had a late breakfast at the excellent Station Café and drove to Hornby Hobbies so I could play with the train sets and Scalextric. I challenged Bridget to a race and she took the blue car which didn’t come off the track at top speed at all! “No skill in that!”

By now it was approaching opening time so we headed to Minster to go to the Hair of the Dog. We parked in the village Hair of the Dog car park and made our way to the pub.

As we approached a voice shouted “Tony,” it was the editor Steve Saunders.

We had sent him our mobile number so we could arrange to meet up and he had been texting us but I’d made a typo and the number was one digit out, so I never received the messages. It was pure chance that we were at the same pub at the same time. A most Enjoying a beer in the Hair enjoyable couple of of the Dog

pints of Hogs Back Hops while we chatted with Steve and Landlady Julie, in very pleasant modern, clean premises. Definitely winner of the Best Micropub Toilets Award. Still thirsty Hair of the Dog Landlady Julie but needing to dump the car we headed back, parked, and Steve lead us on foot to Ales of the Unexpected. Tongues loosening by now, we passed a most enjoyable hour with Carl and a few locals while consuming Welton’s Persian Princess, Lymestone Stone Cutter and Cottage Ale Storm.

We grabbed some sandwiches and had a short rest at the Premier Inn before setting out at 5pm to catch the Loop bus to St. Peters and the Yard of Ale. We sat next to a couple and started chatting as you always do in micros and they proved to be co-owners. We drank a couple of Weltons Persian Princess 6% and a Cottage Ale Storm 4.2% and passed an interesting hour with them and the barman who also was co-owner until we had to get back to Margate for our booked meal.

Tony outside Yard of Ale We made it in plenty of time to Mullins Restaurant who produce delicious, Caribbean fusion food which we accompanied with 3 bottles each of Chapel Down Curious IPA 5.6%, forgetting our low bill non-drinking policy. Tired and drunk I managed to prevent Bridget Yard of Ale Interior dragging me into another pub and we were in bed for 10:30pm, to end a most enjoyable thirst quenching two days around Margate.

Tony & Bridget Skirving All pictures by author

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MEMORIES OF A MARGATE LANDLORD Here is another selection of Mick Minter’s Landlord’s Memoirs.

Having moved to Margate from the Isle of Sheppy in 1976 (we all have to live somewhere!), I have a wealth of stories from local customers at the Orb, Chapel Hill, Garlinge - yes Garlinge!! Many relate to people still around Thanet today.

One story is of when some of the boys were in the pub garden on a hot summer’s day, all sitting around a slightly unstable bar-b-q bench. A bunch of them sitting at one end of the bench, secretly decided to all get up at once, sending the whole of the table of beer from one end to the other to deposit everything in the lap of the unfortunate person at that end of the table - who wasn’t in on the secret; that person needlessly to say got rather wet. It seemed a waste of good beer, but the results were most effective - the people involved are all still friends however.

On another occasion, when my mother worked behind the bar, we had a regular,

a retired boxer, who owned a shop in Margate High Street selling cheese & bread pudding and who was also an actor who had played Frankenstein in Hammer films and a hard man in 70s TV series ‘Budgie’ which starred Adam Faith.

One evening about 11pm, when pubs used to traditionally call time, the said regular had declared that he had not finished his pint and would rather have it tipped over his head than waste it. At this point my dear mother went round the other side of the bar, picked his jug up and tipped it over his head.

The whole bar went quiet, but the patron started to laugh and said that it was the best prank ever played on him for years.

Again everybody remained the best of friends.

More next time!

Mick Minter Although Mick said I could use the real names’ of the people involved in these stories, I have decided to emit them, so as to save their blushes, Editor.

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CIDER TOUR OF THANET After talking to the editor of this esteemed publication about the growth in the availability of real traditional cider (and perry) in this corner of Kent, what with the opening of numerous alehouses and micropubs, he suggested that maybe I could write an article about Bake & Alehouse which pubs sold what cider across the isle. I thought this a good idea, so I decided that I’ll visit some of the pubs that I knew sold real cider and put together a short tour of them - picking out the different ciders available on the way.

So one Thursday lunchtime I brought a Stagecoach Dayrider ticket (£3.10 at time of going to press) and headed for Westgate and Thanet branch’s current Pub of the Ales of the Unexpected Year, the Bake & Alehouse - arriving just on opening time at noon.

This micropub is found down an alleyway next to the Carlton Cinema. Biddendens’ Bushels cider is the staple seller here though occasionally other ciders are available.

Leaving, I headed to Margate (the bus stop is conveniently Harbour Arms at the top of the alley). My next port of call was the Harbour Arms found on Margate’s stone pier. I could have alighted at old Sea Bathing Hospital and visited the Ales of the Unexpected, a micro pub conversion of a former antiques shop opened in August 2013 which along with a selection of real ales, serves one or two real ciders from Westons of Lifeboat Herefordshire, but time was pressing so I alighted the bus at the clock tower. Opposite is Wetherspoon’s

Mechanical Elephant which sells two or three real ciders mainly from the Weston’s range, so I also gave it amiss and headed via the coast road to the stone pier where the Harbour Arms is found. This tiny pub Yard of Ale - most probably the smallest on the island - was converted from two fisherman’s lock-ups, knocked into one, in 2013. As well as three real ales the pub sells a selection of ciders from Weston’s including Old Rosie along with cider from Kentish Pip which can be drunk on the outside seating with great views across the harbour.

Returning back towards the town, I headed into the old Four Candles town area and popped into the Lifeboat Ale and Cider House. This little pub I always think started the real cider revolution in Thanet, because before it opened it was very rare to see real cider in the area, and perry was unheard of. A selection of Kentish ciders and perries from various producers are available.

Hoping on a Loop bus, from the main stops in Cecil Thirty-Nine Steps Square, I headed towards Broadstairs, sadly as this was a weekday lunchtime tour, I had to miss the two St. Peter’s micropubs - the Yard of Ale in the village serves various ciders from Westons, Kentish Pip and Abrahalls and the Four Candles between the village & Broadstairs which serves Biddendens - as they are both closed on weekday lunchtimes, .Getting off at the Queen’s Road stop in the The Chapel centre of town, I headed down the High Street towards the sea, and my first call the Thirty-nine Steps Alehouse, another micropub which serves up to four ciders form the Weston’s range. Taking my leave I then ven-

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tured to the Chapel, which like its sister outlet, Margate’s Lifeboat. sells a selection of real ale and Kentish ciders. Heading back to the bus stops, I caught another Loop and head towards Ramsgate.

Taking my leave of the bus at Boundary Road Traffic Lights, I ventured back to Hereson Road and the Elephant & Castle which you should have just passed, where a range of ciders from Duddas Tun, Kent Cider and Westons are available. If you walk further Elephant & Castle up Herson Road and turn right up the first side street you will find the Montefiore Arms which serves Biddendens cider.

I headed back towards the bus stop but continued to walk along King Street passing the Earl St Vincent free house and the closed Braces until I arrived at the Ravensgate Arms.

This pub formerly Maguire's had only just Montefiore Arms been taken over by Late Knights Brewery and was selling two ciders from the London Cider Company (who’s products seem to be the pub’s permanent fare, Ed). Continuing along King Street I headed to my next destination, the Hovelling Boat Inn in York Street; a road on your left after passing Barclays bank. This sensitive shop conversion micropub features exposed brickwork, a display of breweriana, and local artists paintings and serves up Yard of Ale to four real ales along with a Ravensgate Arms selection of ciders including locally sourced Broomfield. Leaving here I continued along York Street to the harbour bus stops

and caught a Loop towards Westwood, passing the closed Conqueror Alehouse in Grange Road, which when open sells a cider from Broomfield, Weston’s perry and occasionally another cider, on Hovelling Boat Inn my way, before alighting at the bottom of Station Approach Road. Just ahead on the corner of Ramsgate Road & Hollicandane Road is the Great Tree, currently Kent CAMRA’s Cider Pub of the Year. This pub has been transformed into a superb free house and arts & culture centre since its Conqueror Alehouse owner, opera singer Scheherezade Pesante and her husband brought the place a few years ago. The pub is split into two halves, one half where 20 or so CAMRA approved ciders, along side 3 or 4 real ales are sold has cafe bar feel, while the other is where the regular clubs and events including poetry readings and live music are held. After a final half here I headed home, feeling that The Great Tree Thanet had a good offering of cider and the occasionally perry to be found.

Cheers, Austin Freeman.

The Wheel Alehouse in Birchington along with the New Inn and the Hair of the Dog in Minster also sell real cider.

PUB OPENING TIMES BAKE & ALEHOUSE CT8 8RE Closed Mon, 12-2, 5.30-10 Tue-Sat 12-2 Sun; ALES OF THE UNEXPECTED CT9 5AX 123, 5-10 Mon-Sat 12-3 Sun; MECHANICAL ELEPHANT CT9 1XJ 9-Midnight SunThu, 9-1 Fri-Sat; HARBOUR ARMS CT9 1AP 12-10 Mon-Thu 12-11 Fri/Sat 129.30 Sun; LIFEBOAT CT9 1ER 12-Mid-

night; YARD OF ALE CT10 2TU 5-11 Mon-Fri 12-11 Sat/Sun FOUR CANDLES CT10 2AT 5-10 Mon-Fri 12-3, 5-11 Sat 12-3, 5-10 Sun; THIRTY-NINE STEPS CT10 1LR 12-11; THE CHAPEL CT10 1NE 12-Midnight; ELEPHANT & CASTLE CT11 7DP 12-11; MONTEFIORE ARMS CT11 7HJ 12-2.30 Mon-Fri (expt Wed), 5.30-

11 Mon-Fri 12-11 Sat 12-3, 7-10.30 Sun; RAVENSGATE ARMS CT11 8NY 12-11; HOVELLING BOAT CT11 9DS 11.30-9.30 Mon-Thu 11.30-11 Fri/Sat 12-4 Sun; CONQUEROR CT11 9LR Closed Mon 11.30 2.30, 5.30-9.30 Tue-Sat 12-3 Sun; GREAT TREE CT11 7SP 7-10 Mon/Tue Closed Wed 3-10 Thu/Fri 12-4, 6-10 Sat/Sun

The pubs listed sold the real cider stated at the time of author’s visit. We hope therefore any information shown is now not out of date.

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NEWS FROM THANET BREWERIES After the exciting news in the last issue about new breweries in Thanet we hear of yet another one.

ATWELLS, ST. NICHOLAS Attwell’s Brewery is a new locally run family business that has been set up by Gavin Attwell and his partner Chanelle Stevens. Gavin worked for over 20 years in local special schools but decided to follow his dream and set up a brewery after many years brewing all grain brews at home.

The Brewery is based at an industrial unit in St Nicholas at Wade. It has been set up to start as a 1 barrel system (bbl) with additional fermentors giving a maximum output of 3 bbls per week. Although the brewery have firm plans to expand if they are selling enough. Beers that they are currently working on are: Oli’z IPA (4.9%), Scruffy Ale (5.6%) & Hoodeners Ale (4.3%). The brewery are working hard to secure local ingredients although this is a problem as many bigger breweries already have contracts and buy up huge amounts for the coming year. Having now been approved by the HMRC, Gavin hopes to start proper production by Easter.

Two beers, Oli’z IPA and a new beer, Crossways (4.5%) will be available at the Planet Thanet Easter Beer Festival.

FOUR CANDLES BREWERY, ST. PETER’S Brewing has now started at this the smallest brewpub in the country with the first brew, AFT (About Flippin' Time) being launched in December. Since then they have brewed American Pale, RSI, Alex X, RTA, Paul’s Extra Pale. Brews 7 & 8 were in the fermentors when AOT went to press. A two of their beer will be available at the Planet Thanet Easter Beer Festival.

ISLA VALE ALESMITHS, WESTBROOK, MARGATE The beers being brewed regularly are: Golding Delicious (3.8%) - A light copper session ale Befuggled (5.2%) A rich malty ESB style ale.

Cock-A-Snook (4.6%) A dark golden short session ale Natural Blonde (4.7%) A refreshing blonde ale.

Hopping Mad (4.0%) A tradional session bitter.

IPA (5.5%) A modern take on a traditional IPA using a variety of New World hops.

Portly Pig (5.2%) A rich, dark Porter style ale, Big Red Beer (4.6%) A ruddy short session beer, fruity, with plenty of locally grown hops and a hint of honey. brewed in conjunction with Big Red Branding.

Bosun's Best (4.2%) A traditional dark session bitter, brewed for, and only available in the Wheel Alehouse (Birchington) A couple of their beers should available at Planet Thanet Easter Beer Festival.

MARGATE BREWERY, MARGATE As can be seen in the pub report about the Cottage, there is lot to be done before the brewery equipment can be installed in the pub’s cellar. Hopefully more news about when the brewery hope to start production will be in the next issue.

RAMSGATE BREWERY, BROADSTAIRS The Brewery’s Year of Beer Leaflet for 2015 is available now from Gadds stockist’s and on the brewery’s website www.ramsgatebrewery.co.uk.

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Business Analyst Turned Landlord Leads Rural Pub to “National Pub of the Year” Award The Salutation Inn, a rural freehouse in the small village of Ham, Gloucestershire, has walked away with the Campaign for Real Ale’s (CAMRA) National Pub of the Year Award - a feat made even more impressive given that this is the first pub the landlord has ever run.

Former business analyst Peter Tiley had never even pulled a pint when he decided to quit his job in London and follow his love of beer to take over The Salutation Inn with his wife Claire. Eleven months later the pub had won its local branch competition, then the whole region, finally making it through to the final four and today, being named overall National Pub of the Year.

"For the Sally to have won National Pub of the Year is beyond our wildest dreams - we're totally shell-shocked.

Pubs are so important to me that to have our own one recognised in this way is just amazing. We count ourselves so unbelievably lucky to have a brilliant team of staff who are so passionate and dedicated as well as a community of locals who have given so much to support and contribute towards the pub. It is these people that have made the pub what it is today and for that we are incredibly grateful." Peter Tiley, landlord of The Salutation Inn. Pubs are judged by CAMRA on a variety of criteria such as atmosphere, level of service, value for money and community focus, with extra weighting of course given to the quality of their real ale, cider and perry. The Salutation Inn, known by locals as ‘the sally’, was popular with judges due to its fantastic beer selection and welcoming, homely feel with one judge saying “what struck me most was the welcome as if I was being invited into a private house as a friend”.

CAMRA Director Abigail Newton says that being named the overall Pub of the Year is a massive achievement for any landlord, “What Peter and Claire have done in the short time they have been running the pub is nothing short of staggering and goes to show that passion, enthusiasm, and a real love of beer are hugely important when running a pub. They have hit the ground running and taken what was already a great pub and made it truly exceptional beating off over 50,000 other landlords from across the UK.” For those thinking of visiting the pub, it is described in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide 2015 as a “rural gem in the Severn Valley, within walking distance of the Jenner Museum, Berkeley Castle and Deer Park. The enthusiastic landlord keeps an inspired selection of ales and eight real ciders and perries. The pub has two cosy bars with a log fire and a skittles alley. Live folk music and piano singalongs regularly occur. Shoveha’penny and table skittles are played.”

The three other finalists are, in alphabetical order, The Freshfield in Formby (Merseyside), The Harewood Arms in Broadbottom (Greater Manchester) and The Windmill in Sevenoaks Weald (Kent).

CAMRA's Response to British Beer Sales Growing for the First Time in Ten Years "It is fantastic to see overall beer sales back in growth for the first time in ten years, but it is vitally important that beer sales in pubs move back into growth too. The 0.8% drop in pub beer sales is the smallest decline in sales since 1996, but if we want to see less pubs closing it is vital that number is pushed into positive growth. A third beer duty cut in next month's budget will help ensure that 2015 is the year when pub beer sales finally start growing again."

Tim Page, CAMRA Chief Executive

GUESS THE PUB? Did you guess correctly

q Harbour Arms, Margate w Jekyll & Hyde, Ramsgate e Hussar, Garlinge r Lanthorne, Broadstairs t Artillery Arms, Ramsgate y Red Lion, Ramsgate u The Chapel, Broadstairs i Great Tree, Ramsgate 22

THE HARBOUR ARMS ALE AND CIDER HOUSE STONE PIER MARGATE REAL ALE AND CIDER SERVED FROM THE CASK STUNNING BEER, CIDER AND VIEWS the-harbour-arms.co.uk harbourarmsmargate@btinternet.com 07776 183273 Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

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