"Pub of the Year" is a special annual award presented to the landlord or manager of a public house in the Leicester Branch area in honour of the quality of their beer, service and general attitude towards real ale. The winning pubs are those nominated and voted for by a majority of local CAMRA members, since 2005 by postal ballot (formerly, voting for nominated pubs took place at a Branch Meeting).

Members vote for their three favourite pubs in the Leicester Branch area. The highest scoring pub becomes “Pub of the Year” with the highest scoring City and County pubs then becoming the area category winners.

The Criterion, “City Pub of the Year 2006” and “Pub of the Year 2007” has become “Pub of the Year 2008”. Well done to Russell Hunt and his team for winning this award for the second year running as voted for by members of the Leicester Branch of CAMRA. 

Over 800 members are entitled to vote and The Criterion came out with the most number of votes after a postal ballot was held. Clearly a continuing sign of the high regard held for the pub and team by those members who returned their votes. As recently as 2002, The Criterion was called The Nags Head when purchased from Hardys & Hansons. A change of name and the stocking of some quality British real ales as well as a selection of other beers from all over the world completely changed the profile of this pub.

Now owned by the Pig Pub Co, the tradition of stocking real ales from micro-breweries and not from the nationals has continued. The pub is friendly and has knowledgeable staff. Regular quizzes, beer festivals and music sessions are held. Food is served too, really wonderful, authentic Italian pizzas heading the menu, but other items are also available. This all goes to show why The Criterion has retained “Pub of the Year 2008”. Well done.

The Cow & Plough, Oadby having been our “Pub of the Year” 2005 and 2006 comes second in the judging but still takes “Country Pub of the Year 2008” as it did last year. This fantastic pub situated within the former Stoughton Farm Park stocks a range of excellent quality real ales under the watchful eye of Barry Lount and family. It is also home of Steamin Billy ales (brewed at Tower).

Third comes Out of the Vaults, this pub now in its fourth year under the ownership of Paul Summers and Daksha Patel serves up to 12 real ales and has regular beer festivals attracting a following of beer enthusiasts from all over the UK. 

Leicester CAMRA congratulates all the winners and hopes that this level of quality can continue in the Leicester area.

To give us a change of scenery, we held our June Committee Meeting at The Cow and Plough, Oadby on June 18^th 2008. With the meeting finishing in a record 40 minutes, this was the ideal opportunity to present Liz and Barry Lount with their Country Pub of the Year 2008 award.  

As Chairman Keith Williams made the presentation, he reminisced on the humble beginning of The Cow and Plough back in 1989 when free houses were far and few between. Since the beginning, Barry has supported the small independent and microbreweries that depend on Licensees like Barry to sell their beers to survive. At the time, this was a real change as the majority of pubs belonged to the National Brewers, giving little or no choice at the bar. Barry has always supported small breweries and has never sold beer from the big breweries, except Draught Bass for a short time, a beer that itself is now a dying brew. Keith said  “Barry has won many awards for The Cow and Plough” and presented him with his next one. 

Barry was really pleased to be recognised again for his hard work. He said “I was a CAMRA Member when I started the pub and still am. Keith and I go back some 25 years. Both CAMRA and myself have similar aims albeit I am on the other side of the bar. I know I say it every time but it means a lot to me and is a real honour to receive such an award” He mentioned how the introduction of Lager in to the pub was a difficult thing for him to do, but it has widened the customer base in the pub. Barry is keen for the younger generation to get involved in Real Ale. He has 2 or 3 staff at The Cow and Plough who are learning how to keep Real Ale on the map. Ben Sawyer looks after the beer at The Cow and Plough and Alex Awan serves the beer and hopes to take over one day. 

The pub regulars applauded Barry shouting “Free Beer” but Barry didn’t seem to hear. We ended the evening with four large plates of sandwiches, making it a better Committee meeting than the norm.

Picture-Left to Right  Ben Sawyer, Alex Awan, Barry  and Liz Lount.