Leicester City Council Licensing Review

The 2003 Licensing Act made local councils responsible for licensing policy in their areas. Among the reasons for doing this were desires to make policies clearer and more responsive to the wishes of local communities. Councils will regularly review their policies and Leicester City Council is reviewing its policy at present and as part of that review is inviting public comment. 

There are many people in the area who would like to bring in more restrictive licensing policies. They would want to limit pub opening hours and place conditions on the working of pubs that could change their character or threaten their viability. 

These are hard times in the pub trade and ordinary pub users ought to resist those wanting to put further pressure on pubs. Therefore it is important that the council hears the views of those who want the British pub to thrive.

The consultation document focuses on three particular areas of debate and invites comments on other areas of concern. 

The first is to consider whether a requirement is introduced to require premises, either in all or specified parts of the city, selling alcohol to close between 3am and 6am. Whatever is decided on this I doubt if it will affect many people reading this. I would also doubt that it would make much difference to the situation in the streets. Those who want to drink to excess will probably manage it before 3am.

The second section covers a range of restrictions that could be placed on licensed premises in local neighbourhoods or the city centre. These include using door and security staff, requiring personal licence holders to be present, using CCTV and metal detectors, polycarbonate glasses and bottles and measures to limit noise.

The council has differentiated “premises with facilities for dancing” and “premises with high proportion of space for drinking whilst standing up” from “pubs and bars”. It might be that premises in the former categories require these sort of conditions on licences, but pressure to impose them on well-run traditional pubs should be resisted.

The third section is about extending the area covered by the “Cumulative Impact” policy to the Belvoir Street or Braunstone Gate areas. This would introduce a presumption against issuing new premises licences in those areas.

The closing date for submissions is 30^th September and the consultation document is available from www.leicester.gov.uk/licensing or by post from Licensing Section, Leicester City Council, New Walk Centre, Leicester. LE1 6ZG or from 0116 252 8555. Please make the views of the ordinary pub user known.

Leicester CAMRA 19 July 2010

The Rushden Historical Transport Society, Station Approach, Rushden, Northamptonshire.

Clubs from Cheshire, East London and Surrey make top four!

An historic hidden gem situated in a converted railway station room has today been crowned as the best Club in Britain by CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale. Previously a joint CAMRA National Club of the Year winner in 2000, the Rushden Historical Transport Society’s Social Club has taken the title outright in 2010 after a panel of judges were impressed by the Club’s outstanding commitment to quality real ale. The Club is a regular in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide, with a choice of up to 7 real ales on at all times.

Back in 1986, the Society transformed a disused Ladies Waiting Room into a Victorian-themed real ale bar. Having obtained Charitable Status only two years earlier, the Club was opened to raise funds for the renovation of the old Midland Railway Station of 1894 in which it is housed.  The Club soon built up a reputation for the quality and choice of its beer range and in the present day remains a haven for real ale drinkers across the UK.

Ruth Pendlington, Secretary of the Club’s Bar Committee, on hearing the results of the National competition, said: ‘We are delighted and honoured to receive this award. We know how tough the competition is out there, so to win this outright is a huge accolade. We would like to thank our Beer Manager Simon Bishop, our bar staff and the unpaid volunteers who help behind the bar and in the cellar, without whom the bar could not operate.’

In order to find the National Club of the Year for 2010, submissions were put forward by CAMRA’s 200-plus local branches across the UK, with the criteria based around the club’s commitment to real ale.  This year, after some strong competition, the Rushden Historical Transport Society beat three other National finalists, which were:-

-Appleton Thorn Village Hall, Appleton Thorn, Cheshire

-Leyton Orient Supporters Club, Leyton, Greater London

-United Services Club, Egham, Surrey

Julian Tubbs, CAMRA’s Regional Director for the East Midlands, concluded by reiterating the importance of the Club to the local community. He said:

The Club is a real attraction for both the discerning beer drinker and beer novice alike, but despite its special appeal to railway enthusiasts, it’s a valued community outlet, where people of all ages and backgrounds can meet for a drink. The Club truly deserves the title as Best Club in Britain, and I hope its success brings further publicity to this historic site.’

CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, has today crowned the Kelham Island Tavern, Sheffield, as its National Pub of the Year for 2009. 

Last year, the Kelham Island Tavern picked up the same award, making it the first pub in CAMRA's history to win its most coveted accolade in consecutive years. Only two other pubs have ever won the award twice- the Fat Cat, Norwich (1998, 2004), and the Swan, Little Totham, Essex (2002, 2005). 

CAMRA's National Pub of the Year competition analyses all the criteria that make a good pub including the quality of the beer, atmosphere, décor, customer service, and all-round value of the pub visit. The competition is overseen by CAMRA's 110,000-strong membership. 

On a local level, the pub has held the title of CAMRA Yorkshire Regional Pub of the Year on four occasions. The pub is listed in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2010 accompanied by the following description: 

'Selected as CAMRA's National Pub of the Year in 2008 after previously picking up many local and regional awards, this small gem was rescued from dereliction as recently as 2002. An impressive 10 permanent handpumps include two that always dispense a mild and a stout/porter, so you are sure to find something to suit your mood. In the warmer months you can relax in the pub's multi-award winning beer garden.' 

Praising the pub for its historic achievement, Julian Hough, CAMRA Pubs Director, said: 

'The Kelham Island Tavern holds a remarkable record in CAMRA's pub competitions bearing in mind the pub only opened in 2002. With so many fantastic community pubs in Sheffield, it's difficult enough to be crowned the best in the Steel City, let alone in the whole of the UK! The pub's success is thoroughly deserved due to its high attention to detail, service to the surrounding community, and quality in all areas, not least in the beer. 

'The owners have today written their names in CAMRA's history books, and are continuing to demonstrate how to run a thriving pub business in the current climate.' 

On hearing the news of winning another National accolade, Trevor Wraith, Kelham Island Tavern licensee, said: 'We are once again overwhelmed at the judges' results and delighted to be awarded CAMRA's top prize for the second year running. It's truly a great achievement and something we never dreamt of when we first opened. 

'Winning last year only made us work harder to meet and beat peoples' expectations, with people travelling from all over the UK to visit us. With this award, our aim is that we maintain our high standards and continue to fulfil people's high hopes of our pub.'

CAMRA Press Release 17 Feb

1872 Porter from the Elland Brewery, West Yorkshire, has today been crowned the Supreme Champion Winter Beer of Britain 2010 by a panel of judges at the National Winter Ales Festival in Manchester. 

The 6.5% abv porter is described in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide as a 'creamy, full-flavoured porter, with rich liquorice flavours with a hint of chocolate from roast malt, and a soft but satisfying aftertaste of bittersweet roast and malt.' 

Graham Donning, National Winter Ales Festival organiser, praised the Champion Winter beer for its quality. He said: 'A timeless classic well worthy of this accolade. It has won many awards at CAMRA beer festivals in the past, and it's great to see this small brewer achieving such success. A perfect winter warming remedy to the snowy weather in recent weeks!' 

Winning today is especially sweet for the brewer after finishing in Silver place overall in the 2009 competition. 
Dave Sanders, Head Brewer at Elland, was elated to hear of the brewery's success. He said: 'It absolutely brilliant; we came second last year and I am thrilled to finish on top in 2010. We originally started brewing this beer at the West Yorkshire brewery, so there's quite a history behind this Victorian recipe.' 
 

Old Ales and Strong Milds
Gold- Breconshire, Ramblers Ruin (Brecon, Powys) 
Silver- Leeds, Midnight Bell (Leeds, West Yorkshire) 
Bronze- Beartown, Black Bear (Congleton, Cheshire) 

Porters
Gold- Elland, 1872 Porter (Elland, West Yorkshire) 
Silver- Sulwath, Black Galloway (Castle Douglas, Dumfries & Galloway) 
Bronze- RCH, Old Slug Porter (Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset) 

Stouts 
Gold- Acorn, Gorlovka Imperial Stout (Barnsley, South Yorkshire) 
Silver- Beowulf, Dragon Smoke Stout (Brownhills, Staffordshire) 
Bronze- Wapping, Stout (Liverpool, Merseyside) 

Barley Wines 
Gold- Robinsons, Old Tom (Stockport, Cheshire)
Silver- Kinver, Over the Edge (Kinver, Staffordshire)
Bronze- Otley, O8 (Pontypridd, Mid Glamorgan) 
 

The first Committee meeting for the new term was held at The Globe on Weds 21st October and the following were co-opted onto the Committee.

Treasurer: Phil Wain

Pubs Officer and Locale: Kelvyn Martin

Social Sectretary:  Gary Akiens

Committee Member: Andy Sales

Committee Member: Steve Compton

Committee Member and Young Members: Tracey Webb

Social Secretary Gary Akiens has announced his first trip will be November 28th to the Bristol area with a stop off at Tewksbury on the return. Details can be found on the Leicester CAMRA Website Diary page.

The successful Leicester Beer Festivals will continue in the hands of most of the previous Committee along with input from the new team. The first BF 2010 meeting will be at The Pub, New Walk on Mon 2nd Nov at 8pm. We need members' support and hope to see volunteers new and old coming on board to plan this flagship event in the Leicester area.

Our sincere thanks go to all of the departing Committee Members for their significant input in the past.

Updated Andy Sales 23rd Oct 2009

Bees Brewery of Queniborough has closed with Alec moving to Norfolk. Alec has relocacted to Plot 2, Coast Road, Walcott, Norfolk. NR12 0LS.

Rugby Brewing Co, Rugby and Wild Walker of Derby are both reported to have ceased trading.

Andy Sales Updated 24 Dec 2009

The pub boast 15 handpumps, 10 of which are expected to be in use from the opening day.

Leicester CAMRA wish Paul Summers and his staff all the very best with this new venture.

23 Sept 09.

Pubs in the Castle Rock Brewery group are to accept money off vouchers issued by a national pub chain.  The 50p per pint discount scheme, aimed specifically at members of CAMRA has been introduced to promote pubs run by J D Wetherspoon and sent to members as a series of dated cards worth £20 in total.  

“Castle Rock Brewery beers are not available in Wetherspoons” says Steve Bramley, Castle Rock’s operations director.  “And they are never likely to be as our brewery is producing at capacity with Harvest Pale, champion bitter of Britain in 2007, by far our most popular. 

“So, as you can’t get our ales in Wetherspoons, we invite CAMRA members to join us at all our pubs including Loughborough's Swan in the Rushes and The Crown at Old Dalby, where the 50p vouchers will be honoured on any of our own beers. Non CAMRA members aren't left out as they can still enjoy the benefit of our ‘one over the eight’ scheme which mounts up to an 11% discount of many popular ales,” says Steve. 

Castle Rock Brewery’s rival’s redemption scheme starts on 1 September and will operate in tandem with the national chain’s promotion.

Castle Rock pub list http://www.castlerockbrewery.co.uk/publist.html

Paul is interested to hear any ideas for a name for the pub which is less than 100yds from the current pub. The pub has been called Retro Bar, Pause, The Courthouse, De Montfort and The Wellington in recent years.

Vin IV will close on Sat 29th August with the new venue expected to open Sept 14th.

Andy Sales (updated) 20 Aug 2009

The pub has seen significant growth in real ale sales since Hugh returned a few weeks ago and Hugh firmly believes in rewarding CAMRA members for their loyalty in the pub.

The discount applies until the end of October 2009 - see the advert in Leicester Drinker No 65.

Andy Sales 12 Aug 2009.

Champion Beer of Britain - Rudgate, Ruby Mild (York, North Yorkshire)
 

Second - Oakham, Attila (Peterborough, Cambridgeshire)

Third - West Berkshire, Dr Hexter's Healer (Thatcham, Berkshire)

Mild category
Gold - Rudgate, Ruby Mild (York, North Yorkshire)
Silver - Bank Top, Dark Mild (Bolton, Lancashire)
Bronze - Highland, Dark Munro (Birsay, Orkney)

Bitter category
Gold - Surrey Hills, Ranmore Ale (Guildford, Surrey)
Silver - Butcombe, Bitter (Bristol, Avon)
Joint Bronze - Humpty Dumpty, Little Sharpie (Reedham, Norfolk)
Joint Bronze - Triple fff, Alton's Pride (Alton, Hampshire)

Best Bitter category
Gold - Southport, Golden Sands (Southport, Merseyside)
Silver - Buntingford, Britannia (Royston, Hertfordshire)
Joint Bronze - Evan Evans, Cwrw (Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire)
Joint Bronze - Thornbridge, Lord Marples (Bakewell, Derbyshire)
Joint Bronze - Vale, VPA (Brill, Buckinghamshire)

Golden Ale category
Gold - Dark Star, American Pale Ale (Ansty, West Sussex)
Joint Silver - Adnams, Explorer (Southwold, Suffolk)
Joint Silver - St Austell, Proper Job (St Austell, Cornwall)

Strong Bitter category
Gold - West Berkshire, Dr Hexter's Healer (Thatcham, Berkshire)
Silver - Thornbridge, Kipling (Bakewell, Derbyshire)
Bronze - Grain, Tamarind IPA (Harleston, Norfolk)

Speciality Beer category
Gold - Nethergate, Umbel Magna (Pentlow, Essex)
Silver - Wentworth, Bumble Beer (Wentworth, South Yorkshire)
Bronze - Amber, Chocolate Orange Stout (Ripley, Derbyshire)

Winter Beer of Britain winner (announced in January 2009)
Oakham, Attila (Cambridgshire)

Bottled Beer of Britain winners
Gold - Titanic, Stout (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire)
Silver - Great Gable, Yewbarrow (Gosforth, Cumbria)
Bronze - White Shield Brewery, White Shield (Coors, Burton-on-Trent)