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Pub Guide

Opening Times

Issue 135 Summer 2008

Download a copy of Opening Times 135 as a PDF file - 1.1 MB

A LOOK BACK IN TIME
25 YEARS AGO

James Paine brewery of St Neots announced a doubling of beer production to 100 barrels a week in the year since March 1982, during which time the company had been given a boost by its purchase from Paine and Company by four successful members of the travel business. James Paine was also boosting production by entering into trading agreements with Charrington, part of the Bass brewing group, and Blackburn brewer Matthew Brown. XXX Bitter was the biggest selling James Paine beer, making up 60% of total production, with EG at 15%. Four of the 20 Paines pubs had recently been sold, three with a licence, but one, the Royal Oak in St Neots, to a property company for redevelopment.

Three more cask milds were lost as brewers found mild brewing to be uneconomic in the face of a slump in demand. Following the loss of Elgoods mild earlier in the year, Greene King in Biggleswade discontinued their dark mild XX. Other losses were Youngs Malt Ale and national brewers Whitbread and Watney announced losses of Wethereds and Manns Milds respectively, the latter only two years after its introduction. Meanwhile, another branch of the Watney group, Websters Yorkshire brewery, launched a new mild, Websters Dark Mild, in both cask and keg forms.

CAMRA's St Neots branch held its 'Booze by the Ouse' beer festival in St Neots from June 3-5 1983. That summer the branch met at the White Hart at Alconbury Weston and there were socials at the Oliver Cromwell in St Ives and the Prince of Wales, Hilton.

Ipswich brewers Tolly Cobbold faced an uncertain future as their owner Ellerman Lines was put up for sale, following the decision of charitable trusts to look for a better return on their investment, worth 80% of the Ellerman group. Ellerman had bought Tolly Cobbold six years earlier. Camerons Hartlepool brewery, which the group had bought in 1975, was also part of the proposed sale.

CAMRA's group of eight pubs was renamed Midsummer Inns and there were plans to concentrate on owning pubs within 60 miles of its Cambridge headquarters, and to increase its stock of pubs to 25.

CAMRA's Norwich Branch reported a renewed East Anglia pubs purge by national brewers Watney. Following an earlier campaign of pub closures in the 1970's after Watney had taken over the estates of three Norwich breweries, CAMRA had catalogued over 40 closures in 1982 and 1983.

Hereward Brewery was launched at Market Deeping in May 1983. The first pint was drawn by Cambridge resident Tony Millns, chairman of CAMRA and was drunk by the mayor of Peterborough, who was so impressed with the cask Hereward Bitter that he ordered a firkin for the mayor's parlour at Peterborough Town Hall.
10 YEARS AGO

Potton brewery was set up in the Bedfordshire town by Bob Hearson and Clive Towner after they were made redundant on the closure of Greene King’s Biggleswade brewery. Potton was home to the original Potton Brewery which closed in 1921.

Wetherspoons backed CAMRA’s May Mild promotion in 1998 by serving a choice of cut price cask milds in all of its 200 plus outlets.

More good news for real mild was provided by Lancaster brewer Mitchells’ reintroduction of its cask Dark Mild, after having discontinued production the previous year.

In summer 1998 St Neots CAMRA branch held meetings at the White Hart in St Ives and the Prince of Wales, Hilton and there was a curry night in Eaton Socon. There were trips to pubs in Gamlingay and Little Gransden in June and Keyston and Leighton Bromswold in July.

CAMRA launched its ‘Pub Viability Test’ to help government and local council officials assess the viability of pubs threatened with closure by owners claiming that pubs are no longer viable when applying to change use to private houses. The test was aimed at helping campaigners and providing protection for pubs. The test uses a tick list of objective criteria such as location and condition of buildings.

In summer 1998, Marstons Pedigree overtook Draught Bass as Britain’s biggest selling cask beer, following a radio and poster advertising campaign with the slogan ‘Barrels are meant for brewing’, a reference to the use of the traditional Burton Union method of fermentation in large wooden casks (still used by Marstons in 2008), retained by Marstons but phased out by its then Burton neighbour Bass.

Former Bedfordshire CAMRA stalwarts John and Christine Cryne were given an emotional send off at CAMRA’s 1998 annual conference in Edinburgh after they both stood down from the campaign’s National Executive after 14 and 9 years respectively. Later that summer John was named Beer Drinker of the Year by the Parliamentary Beer Club, a group of MPs who enjoy their ale.

Oxford brewer Morrells appeared to face closure after the sudden departure of chief executive Charles Eld and his replacement by Ken Hodgson, who declared’ Only a fool would give a commitment to stay in brewing’.

CAMRA was outraged as Suffolk brewer Greene King used a loophole in new government legislation to de-licence the historic George and Dragon in Baldock. The beer orders had banned the sale of pubs with restrictive covenants preventing them from continuing as pubs. But Greene King was offering the George and Dragon on a 99 year lease, after their lawyers found that the new rule did not apply to leasehold transfers.