Mine's a Pint 34

CAMPAIGN for REAL ALE

FREE

THE CAMRA MAGAZINE FOR READING AND MID BERKSHIRE ISSUE THIRTY FOUR • SUMMER 2015 • FREE - PLEASE TAKE A COPY

IN THIS ISSUEPub & Brewery News Small BeerBeer Festival RoundupGuide to ACVsJoin CAMRABehind the Bar: The Castle Tap

See page 28 for the full story

RUSS WOOD 1956 - 2015

Contact UsUseful contact details for this magazine, CAMRA and other important things…Mine's a Pint Circulation: 3,000.Outlets: Over 70 across the region.

Editor: Phil [email protected] 455 029381 Addison Road, Reading, RG1 8EG

Magazine published on behalf of Readingand Mid Berkshire CAMRA by:

Orchard House Media [email protected]

For advertising enquiries please contact Jane Michelson:01778 [email protected]

Reading & Mid Berkshire CAMRAwww.readingcamra.org.uk

Social Secretary: Quinten Taylor [email protected] 424232

Contact for all other branch matters:Katrina [email protected] 401 9437

Local Trading StandardsReading Borough Council:www.reading.gov.uk 0118 937 3737

West Berkshire Council:www.westberks.gov.uk 01635 519930

Royal Borough of Windsor &Maidenhead:www.rbwm.gov.uk 01628 683800

Wokingham Borough Council:www.wokingham.gov.uk 0118 974 6400

The next issue of Mine’s a Pint will be published in September. Please feel free to submit copy or ideas by 9 August

The opinions expressed in Mine’s a Pint arenot necessarily those of the editor or theCampaign for Real Ale. © Campaign forReal Ale 2015.

JUNESat 13: Twyford Beer Festival. King George V Playing Field,Loddon Hall Road, Twyford, RG10 9JA. Gates open 12.00.

Sat 20: Presentation of branch Pub of the Year award. Foxand Hounds, 51 Gosbrook Road, Caversham, RG4 8BN.

Fri 26: Southall Curry Night. Meet 19.30 onwards for drinksat the Conservative Club, High Street, Southall, UB1 3HB,then Nagina Karahi restaurant at 20.45. Contact JohnRobinson on [email protected] / 0118 940 2787.

Sun 28: Spoons Sunday – a crawl to help use up your left over50p vouchers. Meet 12.00 at Baron Cadogan, 22-24 ProspectStreet, Caversham, RG4 8JG. Then Fox and Hounds (not aWetherspoons!) and Back of Beyond.

JULYThu 2: First Thursday of the Month Social. Crown, 2 ChurchStreet, Theale, RG7 5BT then visit other pubs in Theale.

Wed 8: Branch meeting. Castle Tap, 120 Castle Street,Reading, RG1 7RJ. CAMRA members only, please.

Sat 11: Rebellion Brewery Open Weekend. Bencombe Farm,Marlow Bottom, SL7 3LT. 11.18 train from Reading (change atMaidenhead) arrives Marlow 12.01. 1.5 mile walk to brewery,so meet there approx 12.30. Contact Chris Hinton on [email protected] / 0118 987 3203.

Fri 24 – Sun 26: Maidenhead Beer Festival. DesboroughCollege, Shoppenhangers Road, Maidenhead, SL6 2QB. Doors open 12.00 each day.

AUGUSTThu 6: First Thursday of the Month Social. Goring andStreatley. Start at the Bull, Reading Road, Streatley, RG8 9JJat 19.00. Contact Paul Dabrowski on 07747 644342.

Sat 8: Pub crawl of Newbury with West Berks CAMRA. 11.48train from Reading, meet at Cow and Cask, 1 Inch's Yard,Newbury, RG14 5DP. Contact Quinno (details below) or Tim Thomas 07941 582762.

Wed 19: Branch meeting. Fox and Hounds, 51 GosbrookRoad, Caversham, RG4 8BN. CAMRA members only, please.

SEPTEMBERThu 3: First Thursday of the Month Social. Woodley. GoodCompanions, 149 Loddon Bridge Road, Woodley, RG5 4AG.

See www.readingcamra.org.uk for details of these events asthey come available. For details of an event with no contactlisted, to suggest an event or to receive regular e-mail updatesof the branch diary, contact Quinten Taylor (Quinno):[email protected] / 07887 424232.

Branch DiaryAll events start at 20.00 and are open to everybody unless specified.

It’s been a busy few months for us here atReading CAMRA, and a time of mixedemotions.

The highlight of our year is always theReading Beer and Cider Festival. This year’sevent in early May was a great success, andyou can read about some of the best bits inthis issue. As we explained last time, it'sprobably the last festival to be held at King’sMeadow, so watch this space for moredetails of the plans for 2016 as they emerge.

Sadly, we heard shortly before the festival ofthe death of one of our longest-servingmembers, Russ Wood. Russ had been activein CAMRA since the 1970s – in fact hismembership number was 413 (compare thatwith the fact that CAMRA now has over170,000 members). A pioneer of outdoorbeer festivals, Russ developed many of thebasic principles that are still in use todayand underpin our own event as well asmany others. He was a knowledgeable manand passionate about his many interests, aswell as being a genuinely nice person. We will miss you, Russ.

Reading CAMRA has a Pub ProtectionGroup within it – Russ was a member – andin this magazine we have a special featureon Assets of Community Value. This is agreat way to afford much-needed extra protection to community pubs, and you canfind out about the process, how to nominateyour local, and why it's important to takeaction. There's also a handy nominationform that you can cut out and use.

Have a lovely summer, and here's to theGreat British Pub!

Cheers.

Phil Gill - [email protected]

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From the Editor

ContentsBranch Diary 3

From the Editor 4

Pub & Brewery News 5-9

Behind the Bar 11

List your Local 12-13

Great British Beer Festival 2015 14

Asset of Community Value form 15-18

Small Beer 20-23

Reading Beer Festival Roundup 24-25

Russ Wood 28-29

Join CAMRA 30

Serving London Pride permanentlywith weekly changing guest ales

Friday Fish Supperonly £7.50

Bar Food Served Monday - Friday noon until 2pm

Hog Roast SpecialistsRing for details

Regular Jazz NightsJune 18th, July 9th

and July 30thMarquee available for events

Arborfield Road,Shinfield,Reading,Berkshire,RG2 9EA

Tel: 0118 9884130

A UNIQUE, TRADITIONAL BAR

Pub News

CAVERSHAMThe CROWN ON THE BRIDGE now hasfour handpumps and regularly features atleast one local ale from Loddon or WestBerkshire, alongside two other regional ornational choices. The beer garden is hiddenaway – many people don’t know it’s there –and is a good spot for a summer drink.

At the TRAVELLERS REST on HenleyRoad they are asking real ale drinkers tonominate future guest ales. The range ismainstream, with Doom Bar, 6X, ReverendJames, Brakspears and Landlord some of thechoices, but it’s good to see them taking aninterest in their beer range.

PLAYHATCHThere’s a Real Ale and Cider Festival at theFLOWING SPRING running from Friday12 to Sunday 14 June. Ten ales (six at atime) and five ciders and perries are onoffer. The Saturday is a Jazz Day with awhole range of jazz acts performing out-doors and in the bar, starting at 1pm with abig band and ending with jazz funk.

READINGReal ales are going well at the FISHER-MAN’S COTTAGE on Kennetside and weunderstand they are considering installing afourth handpump. Three local beers were onoffer on a recent visit – Cavalier from TwoCocks, Maggs’ Mild from West Berkshireand Brickworks from Binghams.

The ALEHOUSE on Broad Street is makinguse of the former perry handpump for realale, meaning that there are now ninedraught ale choices (three from WestBerkshire and six guests). The wide range ofcider and perry is now all served from boxesbehind the bar – see the whiteboard fordetails of what’s available.

The HORNCASTLE on Bath Road hasserved its last pint and is reopening as a petshop. A sad end to this pub which firstopened in 1851. At least it's not anotherconvenience store, though.

We hear that the PURPLE TURTLE in GunStreet plan to buy the building next doorand put a microbrewery in it.

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Pub & Brewery News

CONTINUED OVERLEAF

Crown on the Bridge, Caversham

Alehouse, Broad Street, Reading

The RED COW on Southampton Street hadclosed at the time of writing and was forsale freehold. We had heard that another towncentre licensee was to take the pub on andmake it into a real ale showcase but, for nowat least, that doesn't appear to have happened.

Very close by and also on SouthamptonStreet, the RED LION closed briefly but hadreopened at the time of writing.

As we went to press there were major refur-bishment works going on at the LYND-HURST on the corner of Watlington Street.

A new roof, better toilets and a thoroughrepaint of the bar area were in progress.Judging by the three storey high banner, thepub seemed keen to get the message out thatthey were still trading! Six real ales wereavailable when we visited including twofrom the local Binghams Brewery. They havealso recently secured the services of a newHead Chef, with Tom Evans joining fromthe London Street Brasserie.

Welcome to Paul Reidy and PeggyStockham, the new licensees of theFORESTERS ARMS in Brunswick Street.They plan to have one monthly ale, a guestale and a “landlord's special” at a lowerprice. They would love to see some CAMRAmembers visit the pub, try the beer and givethem some feedback.

Graham (ex- Three Guineas) is now in resi-dence at the BUTLER on Chatham Street.He tells us that there will be some excitingchanges to the pub, possibly including morehandpumps. Music will continue to feature.

The GRUMPY GOAT has won“Independent Business of the Year” in theAlt Reading Awards. This ale and cheeseshop in the Harris Arcade has become estab-lished as a firm local favourite and theaward is fully deserved – well done toCharlie and Anne-Marie.

THEALEThe planning application to convert theRED LION on Church Street into housingwas refused by West Berkshire Council.

TIDMARSHAn old coaching inn on the Pangbourne toTheale road, the GREYHOUND is underthe Fullers banner. It’s due to relaunch undernew management as a Steak, Chop &Alehouse with a new menu featuring foodfrom local suppliers. The ales are kept ingood condition and include HSB, ESB,Oliver's Island and guest beers. The pub’s

PUB & BREWERY NEWS CONTINUED

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Red Lion, Reading

Lyndhurst, Reading

new website gives more information on foodand drink and up and coming events. At weekends it opens at 10.00 for brunch –worth a visit if you're passing that way.

WALTHAM ST LAWRENCEPlanning permission was refused by theRoyal Borough of Windsor and Maidenheadto convert the STAR on Broadmoor Roadinto a dwelling. It remains closed at the timeof writing.

Brewery News

ASCOT ALESThe brewery websitewww.ascot-ales.co.ukhas had a much-neededrevamp.

LODDONReading Dark (4.2% ABV) madean appearance for May and could still beavailable at the time of publication. This isan interesting dark mild / porter hybriddescribed as “smooth yet roasty, mellow yethoppy, guaranteed to delight your tastebuds.”

The next of the popular open days at thebrewery is on 17 July from 7-11pm. Ticketscost £22.50 per person and include as manybeers as you like and some great food (mostlikely a barbecue). The brewery will be open

to explore and members of staff will be onhand to answer any questions. There will begames and a raffle, with all proceeds goingto the Chiltern and Thames Valley AirAmbulance Service. As an extra incentive,the Kennet Morris Men will also be dancinginbetween pints.

SIREN CRAFTGet down to the Nags Head on RussellStreet on Monday 22 June for the latest TapTakeover. Hosted by Siren Craft, it’s beingheld to mark the return of Head BrewerRyan Witter-Merithew to theUSA. At least ten brewswill be on offer includingrare specials, agedbeers and collaborationbrews. Best book thefollowing day offwork.

WEST BERKSHIREJune's special beer is Yaffle (4.1% ABV) -

pale in colour with a full hop flavour.This beer was first brewed in 2005 and isnamed after the Yaffle or green wood-pecker, which can be seen and frequent-ly heard in the Berkshire woodlands.For July and August Double Decadence(4.5%) is a double-hopped golden alewith a herbal and caramel nose and ahoppy, citrus taste, on offer in cask and

bottles. September and October seeBlindside Flanker (4.3%) available. This

is brewed for the forthcoming Rugby WorldCup and is a robust brown ale with bitter-ness and a full-bodied flavour.

The brewery were overjoyed to be appointedthe official ale supplier to this year's BWMPGA Golf Championship at Wentworth.Held in late May, the event was expected toattract over 100,000 visitors, and WestBerkshire's Saazbrucker Pilsner and GoodOld Boy were both available in the bars. It’sexcellent to see real ale available at an inter-

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The Star in happier times

CONTINUED OVERLEAF

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establishments nationwide

Call: 01628 826622 / 2781 Email: [email protected] Visit: www.birdinhand.co.uk

The Bird in Hand, Bath Road,Knowl Hill, Twyford,

Berks RG10 9UP

A charming 14th Century Country Inn betweenMaidenhead and Reading. The Inn serves a host

of regularly changing Real Ales.

The beautifully refurbished Restaurant overlooksthe garden and the Inglenook fire provides a

warm and cosy setting.

The Inn has 22 en-suite bedrooms - standard,superior and suites. One room is adapted forthe disabled. Free wifi available throughout.

Quiz Nights21st June, 12th July, 2nd & 23rd August

Free entry. Winning team get around of drinks.

national sporting event for once, and for alocal brewery this is a marvellous showcase.

Another new outlet for the brewery's beerhas been the House of Commons. NewburyMP Richard Benyon chose Mister Chubb's(3.7%) to go into the Strangers' Bar for aguest slot for a week in early May. Perfecttiming for either celebration or commisera-tion, being right after the election.

Finally, some advance notice for September.In their own words: “Keep your eyes openand ears pealed for news about ourOktoberWest Festival – organised to cele-brate our 20th anniversary. 19th & 20thSeptember, held at the brewery – ourbeers – guest beers – music – greatfood – camping (TBC). It’s going tobe great! Discount for CAMRA mem-bers.”

WINDSOR AND ETONSo far this year Windsor and Etonhave celebrated their 5th birthday andtheir 1,000th brew – not bad going! A new outlet is Windsor Racecourse,where the new Duke Street Bar wasopened in time for the first race meet-ing on 13 April. It stocks four of thebrewery's beers and started withGuardsman, Knight of the Garter, WindsorKnot and Uprising.

Windsor Knot (4.0% ABV) briefly became“Windsor Tot” to celebrate the birth ofPrincess Charlotte. It follows a similarrenaming as “Windsor Cot” for PrinceGeorge.

XTOut of area for us but worth reporting – theplanning permission for XT’s brewery exten-sion in Long Crendon, Bucks has beengranted. XT are looking to double the sizeof their brewery in the summer, which will

provide more space for brewing, storing thebeers and also a new tasting room. XT havebeen growing steadily year on year sincetheir first pint in November 2011 and spacehas been getting more and more tight.Follow their Facebook page for more infoand pictures when the work begins.

NEW BREWERY:DICKENSIt’s a warm welcome to ourlatest local microbrewery.Anyone visiting GreatExpectations in LondonStreet recently can't havefailed to notice the newbrewkit where the pool

table used to be, along with other refurbish-ment works to the pub. The brewery is nowoperational and the first few beers from thenewly-christened Dickens Brewery havebeen on the bar. The one in the picture wasArtful Dodger (4.0% ABV), with “a strongmalty taste from the roasted barley but stillholding a citrusy character.”

Initially often only one beer has been avail-able at a time, but we understand that theyhope to build up the range over time.Others seen to date include Mr Bumble(3.8%), with a light, fruity aroma, and OldCuriosity (4.8%), described as being like adry Irish stout.

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THE CASTLE TAP

The Castle Tap (formerlyThe Horse and Jockey) onCastle Street opened undernew management onThursday 26 February to a sea of real aleand craft beer enthusiasts. There werequeues trailing out the door all evening.

The pub is owned by a group of four: Anne-Marie and Charlie Beatty (of TheGrumpy Goat, Reading), Cara Sheldrake(formerly of the Alehouse) and Chris Wells,who have fully refurbished the grade twolisted building giving it a classic warm feel.Real ale and craft beer are at the core of the

new business with four rotating hand pumpsand four rotating keg lines. There is also a largerotating bottle menu including local, Belgian,German and Dutch beers plus many more.

Since opening, The Castle Tap has made abig impression on local residents as well asothers from further afield. It’s quicklybecome a destination to get a top qualitypint as well as a great tasting cheeseboardwhich is something that has been recentlyintroduced. Further food plans are on thehorizon such as meat platters, olives, scotcheggs, pies and roast dinners on Sundays. So watch this space!

We still have further ambitions toimprove the garden space at the rear ofthe pub to make it into an ideal summerdrinking spot. Works are currently tak-ing place, so pop by and check out thenew improvements.

In addition, The Castle Tap will behosting many forthcoming eventsthroughout the year such as musicnights and pop-up kitchen nights.There's also a grand plan to have anAutumn beer festival with a few sur-

prises thrown in.

Charlie Beatty

Mine’s a Pint11

Behind the BarCharlie Beatty, one of the team behind the Castle Tap, tells us about their newventure and plans for the future.

If you're a local landlord with big plansfor your pub and want to tell us all aboutthem, get in touch and you could featurein a future issue of Mine’s a Pint.

If you love your local pub and think it adds alot of value to your community you canapply to give it extra protection from devel-opers by registering it with the Council as anAsset of Community Value (ACV).

Normally a pub can be demolished or changeits use to a shop, restaurant or several otheruses without the need for planning permis-sion. But for pubs registered as ACVs, thoserules don’t apply. That means that full plan-ning permission is required to demolish anACV pub or change its use, and it putspower back where it belongs – in the handsof the local community. A listing doesn’t evenneed to be fully confirmed to be effective –the protection kicks in as soon as a pub isnominated as an ACV.

So there’s an exciting opportunity to protectpubs in our local area by listing them asACVs. CAMRA has already successfully gotfive pubs in Reading listed: The Eldon Arms,Foresters Arms, Jolly Anglers, Retreat andThree Tuns. But we can’t do it all on ourown and we need your help.

WHY SHOULD I WORRY?Pubs can come under threat at any time, forall sorts of reasons. Sometimes a pub will

genuinely becomeunviable, of course,if changing popula-tion levels andspending habitsreduce its trade toan uneconomicallevel. But thesecases are few andfar between. Far more common is thatthe owner (usually a pub company) thinks itcan make more money by selling the site foran alternative use.

In some cases the owner may demolish a puband leave the site vacant and uncared for,often for years. This both extinguishes thelawful use and means that people are eventu-ally more likely to accept a redevelopment.But if the pub is listed as an ACV, demolitionwould need planning permission – so thelawful use would remain and the tactic isunlikely to work.

The most extreme example lately comes fromLondon. In Maida Vale, the Carlton Tavernhad stood proudly since the 1920s andserved its community well. It was the onlybuilding in the street to survive destruction inthe Blitz, but on 8 April it fell victim to cynicaldevelopers. It was owned by a propertydeveloper, who had recently applied toreplace the pub with a block of flats, but permission had been refused.

What happened next shocked everybody. The licensee was told that she had to leavethe pub for a day for a stocktake. When shereturned, the Carlton Tavern was in ruins.With no regard for history, the local commu-nity or even anybody’s health and safety, theowners had had it demolished. ThankfullyWestminster City Council has served a planning enforcement notice, ordering that

Mine’s a Pint12

List your Local

Three Tuns, protected by an ACV.

the pub has to be rebuilt as a “facsimilecopy” of its previous form.

Most property owners aren’t as callous asthat. But any owner will look to maximisehis return on investment, which puts almostall pubs potentially at risk. You can help protect your local by nominating it as anACV. Then the owner will know that demolitionor change of use needs permission, and itputs the power back in your hands. The besttime to nominate a pub is before it comesunder threat.

HOW DO I NOMINATE A PUB?1. Decide who you are nominating on behalf of.You can either nominate as an unincorporatedgroup of 21 local people, as a Parish Council orin connection with another local group.

2. Go to the website of the council wherethe pub is located, and look up the sectionon Assets of Community Value or Right toBid. There you can download a nominationform. Or you can use the one in this maga-zine if you like.

3. Fill in the form with as much detail asyou can on why the pub should be classifiedas a community asset.

4. If nominating as an UnincorporatedGroup, demonstrate that at least 21 peoplefrom the local community support the list-ing of the pub.

5. Check the council’s website to see wherethe nomination needs to be submitted. Manycouncils have produced guidance explaininghow they are accepting nominations.

6. Request a receipt from the local authorityto acknowledge they have received the form,as planning protection will be granted at thepoint of nomination.

Once a pub is listed as an ACV, the listingstays in place for five years. It can berenewed though, so make a note to re-applyin 4½ years time, to ensure the protection isnot lost by accident.

If you’re interested in nominating a localpub then please contact us first to make surethat we can work together and don’t dupli-cate each other’s efforts. You can e-mail uson [email protected]

Let’s work together and help save our pubs!

Phil Gill

GUIDE TO ACVs

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The Carlton Tavern being illegally demolished,April 2015. Picture by John Carnaby, whosegrandfather was the licensee of a previous pub onthe site. Taken with permission from www.pubshistory.com © John Carnaby

COMMUNITY RIGHT TO BID NOMINATION FORM

Section 1 ABOUT YOUR COMMUNITY ORGANISATION

Q1 Name and address of your organisation

Organisation name:

Address and postcode:

Registration number: (if you are a charity, company, CIC or social enterprise)

Q2 Please specify what type of organisation you are

Category Tick

Parish/Town Council

Unconstituted / unincorporated Community Group whose members include at least 21 individuals who appear on the electoral roll

Neighbourhood Forum designated as pursuant to section 61F of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990

Industrial & Provident Society which does not distribute any surplus it makes to its members

Company Limited by Guarantee which does not distribute any surplus it makes to its members

Community Interest Company Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004

Charity

Q3 Who should we contact to discuss this nomination?

Name:


Telephone number

Email address

CONTINUED OVERLEAF

Section 2 ABOUT THE PROPERTY TO BE NOMINATED

Q4 Which asset do you wish to nominate?

Name of property:


Name of property owner


Telephone number

Email address (if known)

Current occupier’s name (if different from property owner)

Details of occupier’s interest in property

Section 3 DEMONSTRATING THE COMMUNITY VALUE OF THE ASSET

Q5 Why do you feel the property is an asset of community value?

Please give as much information as possible about the current use of the asset i.e. what activities take place, what groups use the

can be found in the guidance document.

Note: Any information entered into this section only may be copied and passed onto the owner of the property you are nominating.

Q6 What do you consider to be the boundary of the property?

Please give as much detail as you can and include a plan if possible.

Attachment checklist

Copy of group constitution (if applicable)

Names and home addresses of 21 members registered to vote in nomination area (if group is not constituted)

Site boundary plan (if possible)

Evidence of current community use e.g. activity programmes, website links etc

Declaration

Signed: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Print Name: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Position in Organisation: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Date: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CONTINUED OVERLEAF

Section 1ABOUT YOUR COMMUNITY ORGANISATION

Q1 Your organisation

Enter the name and address of your organisation in this section.

Q2 Type of organisation

It is important you state which organisation type you are as only those shown here are currently eligible to nominate and all but unconstituted community groups are able to bid. Unfortunately any nomination received from any other body will not be accepted.

Parish/Town CouncilNeighbourhood Forum – designated as pursuant to section 61F of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990Industrial & Provident Society which does not distribute any surplus it makes to its members Company Limited by Guarantee which does not distribute any surplus it makes to its membersUnconstituted/unincorporated Community Group whose members include at least 21 local people who appear on the electoral roll within the local authority, or a neighbouring authority.

2 of the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004Charity

If you are a charitable organisation or company you must provide your charity number.

Q3 Who to contact about the nomination

Contact detailsThe contact name must be the same as the person signing the declaration overleaf. Ideally, this will be a member of the management team (chairperson, secretary or treasurer).

Section 2ABOUT THE PROPERTY TO BE NOMINATED

Q4 Which asset do you wish to nominate?

Enter the full name and postal and address of the property you wish to nominate.

Owner It is very important that you include the details of the owner of the freehold interest in the property as the Council will need to contact the owner to inform them of the nomination and allow them to comment.

Current occupier The current occupier may not be the same as the property owner so it is important we advise all affected should the property be registered. You should therefore provide details of all tenants/occupants at the property.

accurately as possible as this could delay the assessment of your nomination.

Section 3DEMONSTRATING THE COMMUNITY VALUE OF THE ASSET

Q5 Why do you feel the property is an asset of community value?

In here you need to put why you feel the property currently boosts the social interest and social wellbeing of the local community or if it had in the past why it is realistic to think that it could in the future.

A building or land is deemed to be of community value if, in the opinion of the council:

its actual current use furthers the social wellbeing and interests of the local community, or a use in the recent past has done so; and

that use is not an ancillary one; andfor land in current community use it is realistic to think that there will continue to be a use which furthers social wellbeing and interests, or for land in community use in the recent past it is realistic to think that there will be community use within the next 5 years (in either case, whether or not that use is exactly the same as the present or past); andit does not fall within one of the exemptions e.g. residential premises and land held with them.

Social interests include (a) cultural interests; (b) recreational interests; (c) sporting interests.Social well-being relates to social interaction and engagement. It is a sense of involvement with other people and their communities

Q6 What do you consider to be the boundary of the property?

We need to know the extent of the property you are nominating; this may include the car park area as an example. However, it should be noted that any area which is in the ownership of a statutory undertaker (i.e. electricity substation) cannot be registered.

If possible please include a plan with the boundary marked on it.

COMMUNITY RIGHT TO BID NOMINATION FORMGUIDANCE NOTES

These guidance notes are provided to help you complete your Community Right to Bid nomination form.

Mine’s a Pint19

2 Broad Street Reading, RG1 2BH

01189 508119the-alehouse-reading.co.ukenquiries@thealehousereading.co.uk

A Community pub in theheart of Reading

Follow us on twitter @AlehouseReading

3 West Berkshire Ales6 Guest Ales

German & Belgian BeersReal Cider, Perry and MeadLocal CAMRA Pub of theYear 2014 Runner UpLocal CAMRA Cider

Pub of the Year 2013 & 2014

Pub quiz first Monday of the month

e e

BEER DUTY CUT AGAINIn the March budgetthe Chancellorannounced an unprece-dented third cut in beer

duty, in addition to a 2% cut in cider duty.

Jackie Parker, one of CAMRA’s NationalDirectors, said: “This is another monumentalsuccess and testament to the thousands ofCAMRA members who have supported thisCampaign. Working together, CAMRA campaigners like you secured the support of114 MPs, which mounted huge pressure onthe Chancellor to deliver another Budget forbeer drinkers. As CAMRA members weshould be incredibly proud that our effortsare having such a positive effect on theindustry as a whole.

Independent research by the Centre forEconomic and Business Research estimatesthat the price of a pint will now be morethan 20p cheaper than it would have beenhad the Beer Duty Escalator remained inplace. We will now be urging brewers andpub companies to pass on these savings toconsumers.”

Huge thanks to everyone who supported thecampaign by lobbying their MP in the run-up to the budget. Could we make itfour in a row next year?

PUB OF THE YEARReading and Mid Berkshire CAMRA areproud to announce that their Pub of theYear for 2015 is the Fox and Hounds inGosbrook Road, Caversham. The winner

for several years previously, the Nags Head,was a close second. On hearing of his win,Fox and Hounds landlord Kevin Durkansaid:

“It’s a great night for our customers andstaff. Thank you to all of you who havesupported us over the last 3 and a halfyears. We are so proud … we couldn’t havedone it without you!”

The Fox’s win reflects a steady stream ofsmall improvements over the years that havecombined to make a great pub experiencewith, of course, top quality real ale andcider. To celebrate their win, Kevin andKerri are putting on a Hop Fest between 18-21 June with 30 of the hoppiest real alesand 10 real ciders. Featuring a quiz onThursday evening and DJ night on Friday.Saturday sees live music and an all-day barbecue, plus a bouncy castle and facepainting, with the award presentation at8pm. Sunday is recovery day with a specialroast at lunchtime.

Small BeerA roundup of news and information...

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LOCALE 2015Three more pubs have received LocAleaccreditation since the list in the last issue:Caversham: Crown on the BridgeReading: LyndhurstWoodley: Good Companions

This brings the total number of outlets inour branch area to 30. Appropriately, thecriterion for accreditation is “Real alebrewed within 30 miles of Kings Meadow isordinarily on sale at all times”. Althoughaccreditation is done afresh each year, wecan add and remove outlets at any time so,if you know of somewhere that meets thecriterion above and isn't on the list, or eventhe other way round, please let us know.

ASSETS OF COMMUNITY VALUEWith five local pubs listed as Assets ofCommunity Value, it's time to make anotherpush to offer more places the protectionafforded by ACV status. Currently we havethe Eldon Arms, Foresters Arms, JollyAnglers, Retreat and Three Tuns listed,which means the normal rules that allow apub to be demolished or to be turned into ashop, restaurant or various other uses with-out needing planning permission, don'tapply.

You can read more about ACVs and how toapply to list your local in a special feature inthis issue. Included is a handy template thatyou can fill in and send to the council. Ifyou're interested in nominating your localthen please let us know, so that we canwork together and avoid any duplication ofeffort. Let's work together and help to saveour pubs!

SUPERMARKETSTo illustrate why it's important to list ourlocals, new CAMRA research shows that 85UK pubs were converted to conveniencestores last year, with a further 24 underimmediate threat. The worst offender forthis used to be Tesco, but now Co-op is thesurprising new leader in the league table ofshame. 29 community pubs were lost tobecome Co-op stores in 2014 with a further12 under threat, and the position is certainto get worse because of the pubs which NewRiver Retail bought last year from Marstons– 63 of these are being leased to the Co-opeither for conversion to stores or for shopsto be built on their car parks and gardens.

The Co-op has a supposed commitment (inits “Group Values and Principles”) to SocialResponsibility and Caring for Others. It'shard to see how a strategy of actively target-ing and closing community pubs fits withthis rhetoric, and CAMRA has asked thegroup to reconsider its business practices inthe light of this anomaly.

CIDER TASTINGPaul Scrivens has arrangedto run a tutored cider tast-ing at the Alehouse onSunday 5 July from 3-5pm.

SMALL BEER

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The Star in Caversham – a pub no longer

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It will be free of charge and cover a varietyof different cider styles along with someexplanation of the process of cider making.All welcome - you don't have to know any-thing about cider to join in! For enquiriesplease contact [email protected]

BEER FESTIVALSLoved the Reading Beer and Cider Festival?Want to know where else to visit? Here aresome ideas for other great days out in thelocal area.

Twyford: 13 JuneA one-day festival, now in its sixth year,raising money as ever for the Orchid Men’sCancer Charity. This is the first year that thefestival has moved outdoors and, as theysay, it's “held in a dry marquee so you canget wet inside”. 30 real ales, cider, wine,food and eight live bands. Open 12.00 – 21.00.www.twyfordbeerfest.co.uk

Woodcote: 11-12 JulyA beer festival with a difference, this one isheld as part of a steam rally and countryfair. Woodcote is one of the oldest steam ral-lies in the world and the beer tent is anessential part of the show. Real ale, ciderand wine.www.woodcoterally.org.uk

Maidenhead: 24-26 JulyA new venue for this festival – after beingbased for a few years at Maidenhead foot-ball ground, its new home is DesboroughCollege on Shoppenhangers Road, just southof the station. 100+ beers, 20+ ciders, foodand music available over the three days.Open 12.00 – 22.00 Friday / Saturday and12.00 – 19.00 Sunday.www.maidenheadbeerfest.org.uk

SMALL BEER - CONTINUED

HAS YOUR LOCAL RECENTLY HAD A CHANGE OF LICENSEE?If so, let us know, so we can call in and introduce ourselves.

We in CAMRA want pubs to succeed and so have formed a local “New Licensees Group”with the aim of engaging with those new to the area or to the licensed trade. We havemany useful contacts in the beer, cider and brewing world we can share, are able to supplypublicity material, promote events and even loan out equipment for pub beer festivals.Helping new licensees to provide good quality real ale and cider mutually benefits them asa business and us as customers.

You can make contact with us via the Branch Contact on [email protected]

Well, what a successful event that was!The 21st Reading Beer and Cider Festivalwas the 20th and probably last to be held inKing's Meadow, and certainly one of thebest yet. 12,987 people came through thegates, which was marginally down on lastyear but then 2014 had the advantage ofmuch better weather on the Sunday. Thecrowds enjoyed face painting, Morris dancing,some great live bands and, of course, a fantasticarray of over 550 real ales and some 200 realciders and perries, not forgetting a great rangeof foreign beers and English wines.

The LocAle of the Festival competition waskeenly fought with over 70 beers entered.The overall champion was named asGravitas from Vale Brewery, a 4.8 per centsingle hopped premium pale ale with citrusflavours. Bellinger’s Gallipoli came anincredibly close second.

Rahul Rashisht of getreading joined a groupof publicans and CAMRA members on thejudging panel and explained, “We judgedeach beer on four categories: appearance,aroma, taste and aftertaste. Each categoryscored a mark out of 10, except taste which

was out of 20.” Rahul was part of a paneljudging milds and he continued, “Thoughwe were tasting it blind, Triple fff's PressedRat & Warthog was by far the most popularbeer on the table. A very rich, dark colourand a strong, almost sweet aroma with ahint of bitterness. Taste-wise it was anabsolute treat.”

The festival can't exist without many, manyvolunteer CAMRA members who help toorganise and run the event. Everybody yousee working at the festival, from stewards togate staff, from bartenders to rubbish collec-tors, has given up their free time to helpmake the event a success.

Every year the Alan Tunnicliffe award ismade for “newcomer of the year”, and thistime the winner was James Moore, who wasworking at his first festival and managed theCAMRA Products stall. James said,“Everyone was awesome, definitely volun-teering again next year. We recruited 68 newCAMRA members, sold all 2015 BeerFestival t-shirts and hoodies, sold all of lastyear's stock and even sold some of the surplus Ale Trail t-shirts!”

Reading Beer and Cider Fes

As for what's happening next year, watchthis space. We're confident there will be afestival but it's almost certain to have tomove to a new site, and a group of peopleare looking at the various options. As andwhen things are confirmed then we'll letpeople know on www.readingcamra.org.ukas well as our Facebook groups and, ofcourse, in Mine's a Pint.

Here’s to next year, whatever it may hold!

Phil Gill

stival - Roundup

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A charming country pub. The friendly & relaxed atmosphere welcomes locals, families, walkers, dogs & cyclists alike

• Cosy seating area with wood burner

• Ideal for walks & to hack to, very near the Knowl Hill bridle path

• Home-made food served Mon - Fri 12-3pm & 6 - 9pm, Sat - Sun 12-9pm

• Sunday Roast from 12 noon to 3pm

• Beer garden overlooking fields

01628 822 010Knowl Hill Common, Berkshire, RG10 9YE

Three Real Ales~

Large Car Park~

Food served Mon - Fri 12-2pm

~Beer Garden

with covered decking area ~

Families Welcome~

Live Music & EventsCheck Facebook for details

31 High Street, Theale,Reading RG7 5AHTel: 01189 302523

Falcon at Theale

falcon.theale

So many people knewRuss Wood and shockhardly expresses thereaction when theylearned that he hadpassed away on Fridaythe 17th April. Feelingunwell, he went into hospital on Easter

Monday; after tests they discovered he hadadvanced cancer and it was all over ineleven days. I suppose one can at least takesome comfort from the fact that it didn’tprolong the agony unnecessarily. He wouldhave been only 59 in July.

Russ was one of those cheerful charactersliked by everybody. Being a Yorkshire lad,he was known for saying what he thought,but at least you always knew where youwere with him. Russ also had a bit of animpish trait as, trading on his Yorkshireroots, he used to enjoy giving the impressionthat he was extremely parsimonious whereas,in reality, he was extremely generous.

Russ was a man of many talents and inter-ests, the main ones (apart from his work asa Chartered Engineer) being CAMRA, RealAle and pubs; football, Reading Royals inparticular; horology (electrical clocks andprecision timekeeping); TVR cars and anyantique electrical or mechanical thing. Oh,and loud music. However real ale wasVERY high up the list and an integral partof his life to the point that, after his wifeCarrie, his family and work, I would say ithas been right at the very top for the wholeof the last 40 years. His CAMRA member-ship number was 000413.

I first met Russ in August 1975, less than ayear after the establishment of CAMRA inthe Reading area, in the middle of a large

sloping field beside the A4 at Knowl Hill.Before CAMRA came on the scene in theearly 70s, beer festivals were virtuallyunknown in the UK and even in 1975 therewere only a handful in places like Ealing,Cambridge and Peterborough, usually heldin Town Halls or similar buildings. Ourbranch was looking to hold some sort ofevent and got to hear that a local pub hadlost money selling Keg Whitbread Trophyfrom a tent at the then popular Knowl Hill

Steam Fair. To cut a long story short, ouroffer to set up an event with a range of caskales was accepted and we were providedwith a canvas marquee.

Russ, it seems, had got a summer job withICL, then a big manufacturer of computers,in Reading. Somehow he had got to hear ofour “Beer Festival”, found his way toKnowl Hill and offered to help. Soon hewas spiling and tapping casks and comingup with suggestions on how to keep the beercool on what that year were very hot sum-mer days. Luckily, John Keeley, the manbehind the steam fair, was a vegetable andpotato merchant with his yard nearby andwas able to lend us lots of used hessian

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Russ Wood: 1956 - 2015

Russ (centre) helping to build the stillage atKnowl Hill Steam Fair, 1979

potato sacks which we soaked and put overthe beer. Equally luckily, nobody noticed thestink of old potatoes!

This was ground breaking stuff. Apart fromthe fact that, as far as I know, any sort ofbeer festival had never been held west ofEaling, Brakspears – then the holy grail ofreal ale – were extremely uneasy about theirlive beers being sold in the middle of a hotdusty field and almost refused to supply us.So concerned was Mike Parsons, the HeadBrewer, that he paid us a visit and wasrather relieved to find all his casks nicelycooled with wet sacks, sitting on nice solidscaffolding. All the same he insisted onsiphoning some out from each one andrefilling with an extra dose of finings! Anyway, the event was a success and we becamea permanent fixture at Knowl Hill.

Next year Russ was back again and gotstuck into looking after the beer. Althoughhe came from far away he sort of becamepart of the Knowl Hill team. I don’t remem-ber the exact details but I understand thatwhen Russ finished his degree sponsored byICL they then announced they didn’t haveany jobs going. Casting around for some-thing else, Computer Analysts &Programmers Ltd (popularly known asCAP) offered him a job in their Readingoffice, which I like to think he acceptedbecause of his involvement with the SteamFair. Thus he became a member of theReading & Mid Berkshire CAMRA branch,having already made a name for himself asan expert in looking after beer in a field.

Over the years he held many posts withinthe branch but from that time in the late 70sit was always Russ who was in charge of thebeer at any event we did right up until thefirst few of the current Reading BeerFestivals. When we first set up at KnowlHill there was no central pool of CAMRAbeer festival expertise – in fact hardly anyexpertise at all. All organisers of such eventswere on their own and, like us, had to make

it up as they were going along. It would befair to say that methods pioneered by Russback then have been handed down and arestill in use at the Reading Beer Festival aswell as having permeated outwards to beused by many other branches.

Having soon discovered that we sharedmany interests (though, I have to admit, notfootball) besides CAMRA, pubs and beer,Russ and I became firm friends and I shallmiss his banter terribly. It goes without say-ing that his wife Carrie and his children Catand Mike will too. Russ’s love of beer andpubs undoubtedly stems from the fact thathis parents ran pubs “up north” when hewas a child and many will know that thistradition lives on: Mike can usually befound behind the bar in the Nags Head, oneof Reading’s leading Real Ale pubs.

My image of Russ will always be of him inan old tee shirt and shorts complementedeither by a blue lab coat or his black apronwith pouches bulging with spiles and bungs,holding a brass beer tap in one hand andbrandishing a mallet in the other.

Laurence Hansford

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RUSS WOOD - BEER FESTIVAL PIONEER

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