mines a pint issue 23

The magazine for the Reading and Mid Berkshire branch of CAMRA

• ISSUE TWENTY THREE • AUTUMN 2012 • FREE - PLEASE TAKE A COPY

IN THIS ISSUE

Pub & Brewery News

Cider Month

Supermarkets & Pubs

National Cask Ale Week

Admiral TavernsCAMPAIGN for REAL ALE

Time toRetreatAs hinted at in the previous issue, JaneMarsden and Bernie Whiten are to leave theRetreat in Reading's St. John's Street at theend of their tenancy in November.

Jane and Bernie have presided over thisunique pub for 10 years and have made it atrue part of the community. Over the yearsthe Retreat has had possibly the widest andweirdest selection of things going on of anyReading pub … beer festivals, blues nights,ukulele lessons, eggs for sale, poetry recitals,battery recycling and pickled onion competitions, to mention just a few.

With the publication of the 2013 Good Beer Guide, the Retreat has become the

most-honoured pub in the area, with 25 entries out of a possible 38. Will it make it to 26?

Unfortunately the pubco that owns it,Admiral Taverns, doesn't seem to thinkthat's very important and has refused tomake a feasible offer that would allow Janeand Bernie to carry on running the business.Find out more about Admiral inside.

To contact us, send an e-mail [email protected] – I look forward to hearing what you think! Cheers,

Phil GillEditor

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Thu 15: Branch AGM. 20.00 at EldonArms, 19 Eldon Terrace, Reading, RG14DX (right hand bar). CAMRA members only.Sat 17: Regional business meeting. 13.00 atthe Old Manor, The Ring, Bracknell, RG121BP. CAMRA members only.

DECEMBERThu 6: First Thursday of the Month social.20.00, venue TBC.

UPCOMING BEER FESTIVALS22-23 September: Beer Stampede at The Elephant, High Street, Pangbourne,RG8 7AR.5-6 October: Ascot Racecourse Beer Festivalhttp://ascotbeerfest.seberkscamra.org.uk

See www.readingcamra.org.uk for updates.

For details of an event with no contact listed, or to suggest an event or receive regular e-mail updates of the branch diary, contact Dan Cane-Honeysett: [email protected] 07811 403701.

SEPTEMBERTue 25: New Members’ Social. 20.00 at The Hope Tap, 99-105 Friar Street,Reading, RG1 1EP.Sat 29: Beer Census. How many real ales are on sale in Reading today? More details elsewhere in this issue.

OCTOBERThu 4: First Thursday of the Month social.20.00 at Wargrave Snooker Club, ChurchStreet, Wargrave, RG10 8EP.Mon 8: Branch meeting. 20.00, CurzonClub, 362 Oxford Road, Reading, RG301AQ. CAMRA members only.Sun 21: Walking Social in Twyford. Meet atReading station at 11.45. 1st pub is Waggon& Horses, 61 High Street, Twyford, RG109AJ at 12.00.Fri 26: Curry Night. Meet 19.30 onwardsfor drinks at the Conservative Club, HighStreet, Southall, UB1 3HB, then restaurantat 21.00. Event contact: John Robinson0118 940 2787 / 0790 434 3187.

NOVEMBERThu 1: First Thursday of the Month social.20.00, venue TBC.

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Branch DiaryEvents are open to all unless specified.

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Pub News

CalcotReal ale has returned to the HORNCASTLE, with Doom Bar availableat £3 a pint. We visited MURDOCHS onthe same evening and found a tidy lookingbar with an inviting conservatory. The beerswere Marstons EPA and BrakspearOrdinary, although there’s usually only one on at a time.

CavershamA chance visit to the RED COW showed adistinct improvement over the previousexperience. Real ale was on (Doom Bar) ingood condition, and the welcome was muchimproved. Both pub and garden are huge,with lots of potential.

Coley ParkThere's only one pub left around here, theROUNDHEAD, and its freehold is for sale.A recent drive-by saw lights on in half thebuilding but little in the way of customers.

Emmer GreenA visitor to the GARDENERS ARMS inSurley Row reported that it had the usualthree Greene King beers but at most unusualprices: all only £2.55 - £2.65.

Knowl HillThere’s a planning application in to convertthe closed SEVEN STARS into three houses.This was a regular entry in the Good BeerGuide, featuring in 20 editions, most recently in 2008 and 2009. Only five pubsin the area have been in the Guide moreoften. This isn’t how a proud grade 2 listedpub should end its days and we are strongly objecting.

ReadingThe BLAGRAVE ARMS in Blagrave Streethas closed again. The ongoing sewer worksoutside by Thames Water can’t have helped,but this seems to have been a pub that’sstruggled to work out what its market is inrecent months. Hopefully a new tenant canbe found who will restore it to its previousglory. There's an application for extendedlicensing hours so let's see what happens.

As we went to press we were eagerly looking forward to a special Ascot AlesNight at the NAGS HEAD in Russell Street.Planned for just before publication date, all12 pumps were due to be dedicated to Ascotbeers, with several unique dry-hopped versions available. This was to celebrateAscot's success in the LocAle of the Festivalawards at Reading this year – winner of thespeciality category and silver overall.

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Pub and Brewery News

Seven Stars

Red Cow

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A real ale gain in the town centre is theGEORGE HOTEL, which now servesYoungs Bitter through a solitary handpump.We visited on a quiet evening when nobodyelse seemed to be drinking it, and had thebizarre experience of the first half out of thepipes being much better than the second. Itdoesn’t look like becoming a rival to theAlehouse across the road.

There's a planning application in to convertthe QUEEN ELIZABETH on George Streetinto four flats. Some of the smashed windows have been repaired in a rudimentary way but there's no great signsof the place being taken care of.

The QUEENS HEAD on Christchurch Roadclosed for a while but has reopened withnew licencees – beers on offer on a recentvisit were Wadworth 6X and a Brains seasonal, in fair condition.

In the same part of town, the UniversitySenior Common Room now seems to have a Fullers tie-in. Two of their ales, Chiswickand Wild River were on sale recently ingood nick and at £2.40 per pint.

The former Polish pub GOSPODA onOxford Road, once known as the Battle Inn,should now have reopened as THE ROYAL.Cask ale was advertised but, as far as weknow, there's no equipment to serve it sothat might take a while to appear. Why notcall in and send us your review?

Gospoda was one of a whole bunch ofReading pubs that Admiral Taverns recentlyput up for sale. The others, which shouldstill be open and deserve our support, arethe PHEASANT, RED LION, FORESTERSARMS and the RETREAT. There's more onAdmiral Taverns elsewhere in this issue.Meanwhile, we’ve just heard that TrishDurkan plans to leave the Foresters andmove to Portugal.

RiseleyAt the BULL, the new manager Amanda isdoing a good job. On a recent visit wefound a very friendly atmosphere and threeShepherd Neame ales on in good condition.

Shurlock RowThere are plans to build a house next doorto the SHURLOCK INN. This pub isowned by a group of local people whobought and reopened it a few years agoafter the other village pub closed. The intention is that the house would help raisemoney to improve the viability of the pub.It’s well worth a visit and the food and beer have been excellent whenever we’vepopped in.

Mine’s a Pint5 Continued.....

Queen Elizabeth

Gospoda

Shurlock

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Spencers WoodA change of hands at the FARRIERS ARMShas seen the return of a former landlord,Pete. He plans to stay for at least five yearsand the exterior of the pub has seen amakeover. Three ales were on from theMarstons range – Pedigree, Ringwood Best and a Ringwood seasonal, all in good condition.

StreatleyOver the summer we wandered past theSWAN HOTEL, had a brief look, concludedit was unlikely to serve real ale and movedon. A few weeks later we read this entry onthe Pubs Galore website by Will Larter:“Although it doesn't put itself forward as apub, there is a public bar down some stepsto the right of reception and along a corridor lined with spectacular pictures ofsailing ships. There is a small bar with justone hand pump … Outside there's an outdoor seating area by the river, which isvery pleasant. The solitary ale is Old FatherThames from West Berkshire brewery, verysimilar to Brakspears Bitter, having the same

strength of 3.4%. This was my very first £4pint – strictly speaking it was priced at£3.95 a pint, but my half was £2”. Thanksfor your info, Will, and we obviously needto look harder next time!

Although we missed the beer at the Swan,we did enjoy a visit to the BULL up theroad. It's been nicely refurbished and weenjoyed three decent beers from theMarstons range. It looks as though a lot ofmoney has been spent on the place, particularly the garden.

SwallowfieldBottled Tutts Clump cider is now availableat the CROWN.

Brewery News

AscotSeptember's Single Hop beer will be Pilot,which uses a hedgerow variety that hasearthy, herbal aromas and good bitterness.Bullion is the Single Hop offering forOctober. Aureole Ale (3.3%) is now a

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The garden at the Bull

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regular beer, and has acitrussy, grapefruitaroma and taste. Thebrewery should havea stand at the AscotFarmers’ Marketfrom Septemberonwards. Also, thebrewer's brother has juststarted up a handmade chocolate businesscalled Gill's Chocolates (www.gillschocolates.co.uk), which shouldgo well with the ales. By the way, the editorof Mine's a Pint is no relation to these guysbut does like beer and chocolate!

BinghamsThis brewery has started a transatlanticcollaboration withThe Library in WinterPark, Colorado. Eachwill be brewing theother's beers and thefirst US recipe available over here isRattlesnake Rye PaleAle (5.0%). It uses a blend of Americanhops and rye malt, producing an excellentbeer that's full of flavour. Hopefully theBrickworks Bitter that's been brewed in thestates will go down equally well. This collaboration is all the result of a chance meeting back in February, when ChrisBingham was enjoying a beer on holidayafter a hard day's snowboarding andbumped into the brewer from The Library.

LoddonLoddon have been chosen for the officialReading FC Madejski Stadium Pie. Thesteak and ale pie, made by Peters Foodsusing Hullabaloo ale, is available on matchdays. Unfortunately you still can’t buy aLocAle in the Mad Stad, but hopefully thismight be a stepping stone.

Two CocksThings must be going well at this new

brewery, as we hear they plan to double production.

Windsor and EtonA new summer ale is Eton Boatman (4.3%),a citrussy, fruity beer that uses Citra andGalaxy hops. As previously planned there isto be a third Jubilee beer, to follow theexcellent Treetops and Kohinoor, but wedon't yet know the details.

Outside of our immediate area but stillwithin easy striking distance, are Vale andAylesbury breweries. They got in touchrecently to tell us their news, so here it is:

“We sell in the Reading area and I thoughtthat some info and updates on the ValeBrewery and Aylesbury Brewhouse may beof interest. If you are not familiar, whenVale expanded to a 20 bbl* plant we locatedthe old 8 bbl plant behind our pub, the HopPole in Aylesbury. All beers there are brewedby the same team as at Vale but each is aunique and different brew. They have beenexceptionally well received. A 6.8% IPA wasbrewed with Roger Protz and that will beavailable in bottles later this year.”

The September special from Vale is “OldChainey”, a 4.1% tawny coloured bitterthat's named after the firstlocomotives used on theBrill Tramway.

Meanwhile, the IPA mentioned abovefrom Aylesbury is“Sink or Swim”,brewed to a Victorianrecipe and conditionedfor 5 months. A very limited release in cask is to befollowed by the remainder in bottles ready for the brewery's first birthday on 1 December.

* 1 bbl = 1 brewer's barrel = 288 pints

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Contact UsUseful contact details for this magazine,CAMRA and other important things…

Mine's a Pint Circulation: 2,500.Outlets: Over 70 across the region.

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

For advertising enquiries please contactJane Michelson or Chris Shilling:01778 420888 / [email protected]

Reading & Mid Berkshire CAMRAwww.readingcamra.org.uk

Branch contact: Katrina [email protected] 401 9437

Social Secretary: Dan [email protected] 403701

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 December. Please feel free tosubmit copy or ideas by the end of November.

The opinions expressed in Mine's a Pint arenot necessarily those of the editor or theCampaign for Real Ale. © Campaign forReal Ale 2012.

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Small BeerA roundup of news and information.......

Continued overleaf...

There are no additions to or deletions fromour list of LocAle accredited pubs since thelast issue, but we're still keen to hear aboutany new pubs that serve a local beer. As areminder, this means a beer brewed within30 miles of Kings Meadow, Reading, whichincludes the following breweries:

Save Your PintAt the time of writing, thenumber of signatures on the e-petition to scrap the beerduty tax escalator had passedthe 90,000 mark. It needs100,000 signatures in orderto trigger a high profileParliamentary debate which will put

pressure on the Government to abandon thebeer duty escalator in the 2013 Budget.

Mike Benner, CAMRA's Chief Executive,said: “The fact Britons are forced to payover 40% of the EU beer tax bill, but consume only 13% of the beer sold inEurope, is remarkable. British beer in a pubis so heavily hit with duty and VAT, the taxman’s whirlwind hikes translate to him guzzling a third of every pint served, a shadow cast over the beer drinker depriving people of an affordable nightdown their local."

If you haven't signed the petition yet, pleasemake a special effort to do so. To sign, visitsaveyourpint.co.uk

Recently some CAMRA branch membersmet with Alok Sharma, the Reading WestMP, at the Foresters Arms. Alok, aMinisterial aide, discussed a wide range ofissues and was pressed on CAMRA's localcampaigns. Pictured here are Dan Cane-Honeysett from CAMRA, AlokSharma and Trish from the Foresters.

m Adkinm Andwellm Applefordm Ascot Alesm Aylesburym Bellinger’s m Binghamsm Botanistm Buttsm Chilternm Complete Pigm Crondallm Farnhamm Flowerpotsm Hogs Backm Itchen Valleym Loddonm Longdogm Loose Cannon

m Old Bogm Ramsburym Rebellionm Sherfield Villagem Shotoverm Tillingbournem Thamem Tringm Triple fffm Twickenhamm Two Bridgesm Two Cocksm Valem West Berkshirem White Horsem Windsor and Etonm XTm Zerodegrees

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PublicityFollowing the mention in the last issue,we're pleased to announce that Carl Mellorshas agreed to take on the role of branchpublicity officer. You may have seen Carlbehind the bar at Reading's Alehouse.Thanks to Carl for taking on the job, and welcome on board.

If you'd like to take on a role within thebranch, or just find out a bit more aboutwhat we do, why not come along to ourAGM on 15 November? It's in the EldonArms and it starts at 8pm.

Champion Beer of BritainConiston Brewery's“No. 9 BarleyWine” is thisyear's ChampionBeer of Britain.It's been 14 yearssince Conistonentered the contest,and they won it then aswell with Bluebird. Don't expect to see No 9 Barley Wine too widely available, as it's usually only brewed once a year.

Your Daley PintAccording to CAMRA research, DaleyThompson is the British sporting hero the

nation's pub-goers would most like toshare a pint with. The gold

medallist in the decathlon atthe 1980 and 1984Olympics beat Sir SteveRedgrave and DameKelly Holmes to thetitle. Linford Christie,Sir Chris Hoy andRebecca Adlingtonrounded out the topsix. CAMRA's Headof Marketing, TonyJerome, said “I doubt he everneeds to pick up the

tab at his local.”

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Beer Census

“Only in Britain, only in pubs!”

That's the theme of National Cask AleWeek, which celebrates our national drinkand encourages people to get back into pubsand drink real ale. Between 28 Septemberand 7 October, pubs across the country willbe taking part with the central theme of “trybefore you buy”.

The success of British pubs and real ale isinextricably linked. Colin Valentine,CAMRA's chairman, said “No other Britishfood or drink has the support of such alarge group of organised customers. Let'suse Cask Ale Week to do what we're best at– introducing new people to real ale and celebrating it ourselves.”

Beer CensusSo just how widely is cask ale available inReading? We're planning a “beer census” tofind out, and you can take part. The idea isto survey as many as possible of the pubs intown to see how many different real ales areon sale on one day. That day is Saturday 29September, and you can help us to make thecensus as comprehensive as possible.

The idea comes from a recent competitionbetween Norwich and York, both of whichthought they had the greatest beer range andwanted to prove it. Norwich won by 254beers to 247 and, while we know we'llnever get to numbers like that in Reading, itwould be great to break into three figures.

To take part in the beer census, e-mailQuinno on [email protected] toregister your interest. We need people tosign up to survey pubs and note some basicinformation like the range of beers and theprices. It'll work best if we can split thingsup so that each person only has to survey afew pubs, so the more people that take part,the better.

HQ for the day will be the Retreat in StJohn's Street. CAMRA will be based inthere and collect together the informationfrom all the surveyors. Hopefully we canannounce on the night the grand total ofreal ales available in Reading.

And what's the purpose of all this? It's toshowcase the huge variety in the local realale scene and give people an extra reason tovisit their local. Let's make it a good day.

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National Cask Ale Week

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Many people, when theyjoin CAMRA, are surprised tofind that the campaign supports not onlyreal ale, but also real cider and perry.Although this support is given year-round,October is specially selected as CiderMonth. CAMRA has a sub-group called“APPLE” that campaigns tirelessly for thesehistoric and traditional drinks, and CiderMonth is the highlight of the cider-campaigning year.

CAMRA has about 200 Branches across theUK and they show varying degrees of interest and support for real cider and perry.Some have cider activists within their ranksand take great interest in promoting andsupporting cider and perry. For others, toquote from a recent branch meeting,“APPLE is an appendage”. Gill Williams,one of the foremost cider supporters withinCAMRA, points out that “To some branches cider appears once or twice a yearfrom the back of a distributor's van, to besold at a local Beer Festival. In otherBranches it is debated and disputed so muchit takes up disproportionate amounts oftime at branch meetings as its supportersand detractors debate and argue its merits.There has to be a middle way that puts real cider and perry in its rightful place inthe Campaign.”

Following a Conference decision many yearsago, support for real cider and perry isCAMRA policy. That support can takemany forms, and at a local level you can’thave failed to miss the more than 200 cidersand perries available at this year’s ReadingBeer and Cider Festival, including a wholebay from local producers.

Every October CAMRA runs a cider campaigning trip, and this year it will bebased in the Reading area. All the places areunfortunately booked up now, but it showshow much the cider scene has taken off herein recent years.

Our branch also awards a “Cider Pub of theYear” certificate, and this year the winner isthe Alehouse in Reading, with the Retreat inrunner-up spot. Such visible support for realcider and perry can encourage fresh newrecruits to join the campaign, who mightnot otherwise have done so. Marc Holmes,who was eleven times the Organiser of theGreat British Beer Festival, is one of them –he only drank cider until he was appointedorganiser, but then he felt obliged to drinksome ale, and found out that he liked it!

So what if CAMRA hadn’t taken thatConference decision all those years ago?Well, perry, one of Britain's most ancientand traditional drinks, would almost certainly have ceased to exist, and ciderwould probably be fast following on itsheels. Gill Williams concludes, “ComeOctober, get the cider and perry bunting out and celebrate the variety and choicewhich CAMRA has always fought todefend, and which has made it the greatconsumer campaign it is.”

Phil Gill

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Cider Month

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?As CAMRA’s Public Affairs Officer my jobis to help the branch lobby local electedpoliticians to support the campaign’s aims.At a recent branch meeting the role of thesupermarkets was highlighted, and so I’mwriting this issue to investigate what is happening on that front. In a future issue I'll turn my attention to the thorny issueof the pubcos.

Minimum pricingThe key campaign CAMRA has led on isthe proposal for minimum pricing based onunits of alcohol. It’s controversial among thepolitical classes and within CAMRA. Allmain parties since 2009 have moved fromopposing to supporting it, but with significant numbers still opposed to it. Thesupermarkets hate it, as does the drinksindustry, and it’s an issue on which anunusual alliance with health and crime prevention groups exists. The extra moneywould go to drinks makers and retailers, not the Government.

The way it's supposed to work is that thebasic price per unit of alcohol would be setat 40p. It would not be a flat rate, so wouldnot affect pubs. The effects of the similar50p per unit scheme approved by theScottish Parliament (subject to an EU legalchallenge) fall hardest on:• Supermarket own-brand products;• Super-strength lager and cider;• To a much lesser extent, on cheap wine.

CAMRA’s support is based on minimumpricing narrowing the gap between supermarket and pub prices. Personally, I don’t think it’s enough without tacklingthe causes of inflation in the pub trade.

The UK Government had originally plannedto ban the sale of alcohol below cost price(duty plus VAT), but this was abandonedwhen the commitment to minimum pricingwas made in March. The minimum £10.71for a bottle of 40% spirits and £6 for a two-litre bottle of meths-grade “cider” stillshouldn’t affect pubs, though CAMRA hasto keep an eye open for the current taxbreaks for small craft cider producers being eroded.

Groceries Adjudication BillOne other change worth noting, which mayhelp some of those small suppliers of bottle-conditioned beer to supermarkets, is aBill currently in Parliament. This would givesuppliers some protection against supermarkets who have been accused ofpricing them out of business.

Power of supermarketsFinally there is the whole issue of themonopoly hold of supermarkets themselves.While in some ways this can be beneficial,principally the promotion of bottle-conditioned ale, it is mostly a huge negativefor the pub.

Since the start of my beer-drinking dayspost-date mass sale of alcohol in supermarkets, all I can point to is that theprice of supermarket booze has stayedremarkably stable and resistant to inflation,whereas the days of the sub-£1 pint havebeen replaced by the mythical search for thesub-£3 ale. The lawyers for the likes ofTesco will likely charge a fortune to keeptheir monopolies just out of reach of thestatutory bodies designed to thwart themthrough UK and EU law.

Gareth EppsMine’s a Pint

14

Are Supermarkets Killing Our Pubs?Is it the supermarkets? The inexorable rise in beer duty? Or is it

the pubcos that are most to blame for killing off community pubs?

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2 Broad Street Reading, RG1 2BH

01189 [email protected]

A Community pub in theheart of Reading

Follow us on twitter @AlehouseReading

3 West Berkshire Ales5 Guest Ales

Real Cider, Perry and Mead

Local CAMRA Cider Pub of the Year 2012

Pub quiz first Monday of the month

e e

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This year CAMRA will host six SuperRegional Conferences around the country.Their purpose is to act as another channelof communication, to enable members tounderstand more about how CAMRAworks and the preparation of campaignplanning. It will be of particular use to anybody that didn’t manage to get to theMembers' Weekend and AGM this year.

The events will contribute to how CAMRAwill deliver its key objectives, discuss whatbranches and members can do and help prioritise the actions. They’re also to getviews as to what else CAMRA should bedoing over the next five years.

Although branches have much in common,there may be differences in priorities basedon local issues and these Conferences willhelp to build in any variation over the next5 years. In addition, the Conferences will,hopefully, open up inter-regional conversations, sharing of best practice andget some great ideas from people who do so much work, as well as encouraging some new faces.

At the end of the Conferences, CAMRA will have a view as to:• What activities might be missing from the

current plans, which branches and members might be asked to lead on.

• What members and branches see as their priority actions.

• What support they might need to deliver the actions.

• What are viewed as the key campaigns for the next five years.

If you’re a CAMRA member then theConferences are open to you. You don’t

have to be actively involved with a branchand you can go to any of the events, not just the one nearest you.

Two of the conferences are within easyreach of our area:• 29 September – Bartons Arms, 144 High Street, Aston, Birmingham, B6 4UP

• 24 November – Armada House, Telephone Avenue, Bristol, BS1 4BQ

We'd like as many people as possible toattend but we would ask you to pre-registerso that we can send you any papers inadvance including the final agenda. All registered members will be sent a confirmation e-mail a week before the conference. Anyone who can’t commit inadvance can still register on the day.

Please register online through the CAMRAwebsite www.camra.org.uk/login. Log intoyour Self Service Section on the top righthand corner and select "Go To MyAccount" followed by "Interests/Clubs".Under the Interests section you will need toselect the "Add" tab and select the SuperRegional Conference that you wish toattend. Once saved, you will be registeredfor the event.

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Have Your SayCAMRA's Super Regional Conferences

Register now!

“Their purpose is to act asanother channel of communication, to enablemembers to understand moreabout how CAMRA works.”

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re

”

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

The Bird in Hand, Bath Road, Knowl Hill,

Twyford, Berks RG10 9UP

CAMRA Mid-Berkshire Pub of the Year 2010

A charming 14th Century Country Inn between

Maidenhead and Reading. The Inn serves a host

of regularly changing Real Ales.

The beautifully refurbished Restaurant overlooks

the garden and the Inglenook fire provides a

warm and cosy setting.

The Inn’s 15 en-suite bedrooms have been

completely refurbished. All have the usual

facilities including wifi. One room is adapted

for the disabled.

Forthcoming Events

26th Oct - Best of Broadway.

Songs from popular musicals.

£19.95 inc. buffet supper.

4th Nov - Bonfire Night.

Fantastic firework display. Hog Roast

& BBQ. From 6pm. £16 adult/£8 child.

Christmas Menus now available.

Party Nights, sit down meals, Xmas

Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Eve.

In the top UK Country Pubs forFood 2012. ‘Independent on Sunday’

For information or bookings call Alison or Kier on 01491 671 234The Red Lion, Aldworth Road, Upper Basildon, Berks RG8 8NG

www.theredlionupperbasildon.co.uk

4 real ales & an extensive wine list Home cooked food from platters, sandwiches,pub classics & daily changing specials from the

board • Traditional Sunday Roasts •• 2 course weekly lunch menu £10• Warm & welcoming with log fires

and country cottage garden.

Small & large parties, menus designed to suitfrom buffets to three course menus.

BOOK NOWFOR CHRISTMAS

& CHRISTMAS DAY

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Branch Socials

Over the last twelve months the Reading & Mid-Berkshire CAMRA branch has run a number of socials geared towards promoting CAMRA’s aim of encouragingpeople to visit their local pubs and drinkreal ale or cider.

From November 2011 through to April2012 we organised a series of four talksbeginning with The Science of Beer given by the British Science Association (atZerodegrees); Setting up a Brewery by DeliaAllot and Chris Bingham (at The Bird inHand, Knowl Hill); The Science of Cider byAndrew Lea and ending with The Historyof Reading Pubs by John Dearing (boththese talks were at the Retreat, Reading).

We run frequent pub crawls visiting pubs inand around Reading including some ofthose on the ever-popular Ale Trail. InJanuary we went on a pub crawl in Londonwhich was attended by all of the branchesin the Central South region and in July weorganised a cycle social starting inCaversham and ending in Twyford, goingvia Kennetside, Sonning and Charvil. Theroute was mainly along cycle tracks or quietroads and at an easy pace so was suitablefor even novice cyclists. The weather wasquite kind to us and everyone had a very enjoyable Sunday afternoon!

The social at the Abbot Cook in July wasan opportunity to see the Olympic Torch

relay pass by and was also used for campaigning purposes - we managed to get over 60 people to sign the BeerEscalator e-petition.

In addition to our “one-off” socials we haveour regular “First Thursday of the Month”socials. These give people a chance to meetCAMRA members in an informal settingoutside of Branch Business Meetings. Everymonth a member of the branch picks a pubin their area and we try and give each part of Reading equal coverage so as toallow people to attend without too much travelling.

Future events will see a second series of beer talks, brewery trips and more cyclingsocials. If you have any suggestions forsocials please let me know. All of our socialsare open to anyone, after all you don't needto be a CAMRA member to enjoy going tothe pub, and I hope to see some of you very soon!

Dan Cane-HoneysettSocial Secretary

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Mine’s a Pint19

Autumn / Winter menu now availableWe are in the Good Beer Guide 2012

Award Winning Real Cidermade by hand with apples mainly from

within West Berkshire

Available in 275ml and 500ml bottles, 3, 5, 10and 20 litre bag in box, 5 gallon poly-barreland 9 gallon non-pressurized plastic barrel to

go on bar hand pump.

Fittings to attach a bag in box to a handpump line also available.

Tel: 0118 974 4649or 07836 [email protected]

The Street, Shurlock Row, Berkshire, RG10 0PSTel: 0118 934 9094 www.shurlockinn.com

A beautiful country pub with a relaxed atmos-phere, the interior is decorated in warm, earthytones, with exposed beams and a stunning bar.

Real Fire in Winter • Real Ales High quality home cooked food

Fine Wines • Car Park • Childrens PlayArea • Well behaved dogs welcome

Opening HoursMonday to Thursday: 12 - 3pm & 6 - 11pm

Friday to Saturday: 12 - 11pm

Sunday: 12 - 9pm

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Some of you may beaware that AdmiralTaverns are a nationalpub group and arenow apparently thethird biggest in theUK. The company

was founded in 2004 but went intoadministration in 2010 after an aggressiveacquisition strategy left it with more than£1billion of debt, which it was unable toservice. Lloyds Banking Group was forcedto do a debt-for-equity swap and pre-packadministration in which it wrote off about£600million of Admiral’s debt in return for45 per cent of the business.

Locally, Admiral acquired various pubs ascast-offs from the likes of Enterprise and

Greene King, subsequently gaining afoothold in the Reading area. After seeingsome improvements in their Reading estatea few years back I did wonder whether theyhad managed to be a rare beast indeed; a large national pub group that actually had an interest in running a successful and diverse estate in tandem with their landlords.

However, we have had a spate of problemswith Admiral pubs in the last few months; a quick look at:www.admiraltaverns.co.uk/Pubs/Town/Readingfinds five pubs up for lease – the ForestersArms, Pheasant, Red Lion (SouthamptonStreet), Gospoda and the Retreat. Given that the group's ownership of pubs inReading is in single-digit figures this is an

Mine’s a Pint20

Admiral Taverns...Sailing Towards the Rocks?

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astonishing number. The Pheasant, Red Lionand Gospoda have all undergone somedegree of refurbishment over the last coupleof years. And, most gallingly, two of the listed pubs – the Retreat and the Foresters -are regular Good Beer Guide pubs run byexperienced and highly competent licensees.The Retreat has been in the Guide for thelast 10 years.

Complaints from some of the affected licensees are depressinglyfamiliar tales. Lack of flexibility inwet sales, unrealistic forecast salesfigures, BDM's (a RegionalManager to you and me) being,allegedly, rejects from the licensedtrade somehow finding themselvesin a position of telling successfullandlords how to run their pubs. Tomake matters worse, these peoplelast a matter of months so there’s nocontinuity and no trust relationship. Theonly experience a number of these BDM’sseem to have is that of failure.

Depressingly, we know that Bernie and Janeat the Retreat wanted to continue in the puband when negotiating a new lease wanted asimilar deal to the one that Admiral hadstruck with the Nags Head - going free oftie on wet products in return for a higherrental rate (Admiral pubs generally have tobuy their beer through the pubco whichadds a whopping extra % on top of whatthe barrel would cost if purchased directfrom the brewer). Admiral point blankrefused, going as far as to say that the dealwith the Nags was "a mistake" and wouldonly be offered in future to “ethnic restaurants”! Some mistake, I hear you say.The Nags has gone from strength-to-strength since going free-of-tie, as anyonewith a pair of eyes and functioning cerebral cortex can see.

Quite why Admiral are doing an impressionof the three wise monkeys is mysterious.

Despite PubCos trottingout the linethat each'failed tenancy' coststhem time and money,they appear unwilling to

be able to work with licensees in order tomake business work better. Which thenmakes us wonder why this is so.Incompetency on the Pub Co’s behalf? Or abelligerent strategy to squeeze every lastdrop out of hardworking individuals whooften do weekly shift hours the rest of uswould baulk at for a fraction of the monetary reward? In many cases thelicensees are on less than minimum wageand sink a good chunk of their own cashinto the business – for instance, the massiveimprovements in the Foresters rear gardencame out of the licensee's own pocket.Perhaps it's because having a wet tie keepsthe licensee in hock to the Pub Co's whimsand price rises via Brulines. We do knowthat Admiral has financial problems, withthe latest figures I can find showing thecompany to be in debt to the tune of £200 million.

We wish the departing licensees well and wecan only hope that any incoming tenantsaren't given the same run around. We won'tbe holding our breath, mind.

Quinten Taylor

Mine’s a Pint21

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MAP Issue 23:Layout 1 17/09/2012 09:30

mines a pint issue 23

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