BREWING ON!
The list of Independent Family
Brewers of Britain (IFFB) that
have recently given up on
brewing and pub ownership
makes depressing reading.
Notable names such as Gales
of Horndean, Jennings of
Cockermouth, Ridley s of
Chelmsford and the latest,
Hardy and Hanson s of Nottingham, have seen no future
in brewing independently and have sold up to larger
competitors. In the case of Gales (taken over by Fullers
and Ridley s, taken over by the avaricious and expansionist Greene King), the breweries have been closed and it
is likely that Hardy and Hanson s, also taken over by GK,
will follow suit. In an equally depressing development,
Youngs of Wandsworth, one of London s two remaining
brewers and until now fiercely independent, has formed
a joint venture to have their beers brewed by Charles
Wells, sixty miles away in Bedford. As the trade paper “The Publican” put it, “Young’s can take the beer out of
London, but sadly, in doing so, it has also taken London
out of the beer.” Exactly so.
But all is not yet lost. Independent Family Brewers still
thrive and produce nearly a million barrels of cask beer a
year. Here in Rochdale, Oldham and Bury Branch we are
fortunate to have JW Lees, who have no intention
whatever of quitting brewing. William Lees-Jones,
Managing Director (pictured) told ‘More Beer’: “We have
an extremely modern and versatile brewery and will
continue to brew our own beer and retain
ownership of our pubs. In fact we are
expanding both our pub and brewing operations by investing in both our pubs and our
brewery and are very optimistic for the
future.”
Good for them and shame on the others
who see a quick exit as a fitting tribute to
heritage and customer loyalty that goes back
for many generations. Next time you are out,
raise a pint (of IFFB brewed beer) to those
cherished Independent Brewers that continue
supply us with much needed choice and
diversity in an increasingly bland brewing
world.
The Campaign for the Sustainable Communities Bill
The Local Works will be (if it’s passed in the house of Commons) a new initiative to help protect pubs and promote small brewers. Also in the bill is protection for small local businesses, Post Offices, Chemists and other small local retailers (corner shops, newsagents).
This is supported by CAMRA, (Campaign for Real Ale) SIBA, (Small Independent Brewers Association), Pub is the Hub and a whole host of other organisations as diverse as Help the Aged to Small Family Farms Association, so there is a lot of wide support for this motion but it’s only the MPs who get to vote on this Early Day Motion number 641.
The Sustainable Communities Bill is a proposed
Bill that, if became law could help save pubs
and promote small brewers by;
• Giving Communities a legal right of 1st option
to take over pubs in danger of closure.
• Give councils new powers to stop developers
demolishing pubs to make way for
`developments’.
• Requiring supermarkets to stock locally
brewed beers.
• Boosting local shops and jobs, so increasing
the viability of `locals’.
• Allowing pub landlords to stock a guest beer.
But to get this through parliament it needs your support! Because its local people – Constituents – who can influence their local MPs. To find out more details and how you can get your MP to support this Bill visit the website www.localworks.org
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Copyright © 2006. The Campaign for Real Ale
Ltd., Rochdale, Oldham & Bury Branch.
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SHORT MEASURE PINTS
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Or Email www. Either To Bury, Oldham
Or Rochdale.gov.uk
THE NEXT ISSUE OF MORE BEER WILL BE
OUT MID - JANUARY
WE MUST HAVE ANY CONTRIBUTIONS BY
THE 15TH DECEMBER AT THE LATEST
Welcome to this our 5th edition of “More
Beer” the newsletter of the Rochdale,
Oldham & Bury CAMRA Branch
(Campaign For Real Ale).
Our Cover story concerns the loss of Independent Family Breweries that have given up on brewing and pub ownership and yes, it does make depressing reading, but not all clouds on the horizon are dark and gloomy. Many other Family Brewers are still fiercely independent, still shining through the darkness like a beacon and not turning their backs on tradition, heritage and generations of loyal customers. So next time you are out, raise your glass and toast to the good health and fortune of our remaining Independent Family Brewers.
Secondly just a few words about the hugely successful Great British Beer Festival held this August at Earls Court - and in the words of Mr Bruce Forsyth “Didn’t We Do Well”!
Rochdale, Oldham & Bury
Contacts/Committee 2006-2007
Chairman: Peter Alexander
Email – peter@peteralexander.plus.com
Secretary: Pam Ellis
Email – pam@pamellis.fsnet.co.uk
Membership: Mike Robinson
Email - jmikerobby@aol.com
Social Sec: Ken Holt
Email – kenjan.holt@btopenworld.com
Treasurer: Clive Taylor
Email – camraclive@uk2.net
Pubs officer: Bernie Jackson
Email – acksionman@ntlworld.com
Campaigns: Alan Ainsworth
Email- alan.ainsworth99@ntlworld.com
More Beer Editor: Allan Whitehead
Email – ed-morebeer@tiscali.co.uk
Harry and Sandra Booth retired on 3rd September after 17 great years at the Willow Tavern, Failsworth. Enthusiastic new licensees, Neil and Sarah have now taken over and Neil plans to re-instate Cask Ale soon, starting with his favourite St. Austell beer, then a rotating Guest beer.
It will come as no surprise that Greater Manchester has now 21 Independent Breweries according to the new edition of the Good Beer Guide 2007. Also listed are 84 brand new breweries that have set up in the last twelve months. That figure is now already out of date, there has been another brewery opened up in the Wigan area. The Allgates Brewery opened its doors for business on the 3rd August 2006 and has commenced brewing.
As one brewery opens another one closes or in this case two! The Ramsbottom Brewery in Ramsbottom has now ceased trading which is a great loss as I was a great admirer of their Old Ground Mild. The other brewery is Thomas McGuinness Brewery, Rochdale (featured in the Winter edition of More Beer) which has suffered a serious fire affecting both the brewery and the pub in which it is based, the Cask and Feather on Drake Street. The fire, in early August, has caused extensive smoke damage but the repair work is well underway and it’s hoped to be trading again soon.
One bar that has recently opened in the most unlikely setting is, I think, to be applauded. On the 7th September the Food Market at Manchester Arndale re-opened for business with access gained from the newly created entrance on High St. (what’s this got to do with a bar?). Well, inside is the Paradise Brewery Bar, a Real Ale bar with three hand pulls dispensing Cask Ale. Bottle beers are also available. On a recent shopping trip, whilst lookingaround the various market stalls I was quite easily able to buy a pint, sit and relax whilst my other half carried on shopping, no guilty thoughts for me about sneaking off to the nearest pub for a couple of swift ones. The bar opening hours are 11-6 and `late night’ opening till 8pm on Thursdays. The weekly shopping trip has just got better!
New tenants at the GBG listed Tandle Hill Tavern are Michelle and Dave Fenton. Dave is new to the trade, but Michelle has run pubs before for Everards of Leicester. Both are committed to cask ale, so that’s good news, with possible appearances of Lees Seasonals as they build up the cask trade. Cask mild will be retained.
There are also new tenants at the nearby Ship Inn and Blue Pitts. No details are know as yet. The Puckersley in Royton has gone from management to tenancy and as we went to press, there is news of a fire which has shut the Black Swan at Mumps. There will be a full update from Lees, filling in all missing pieces of news in our next edition.
Away from the Jennings Brewery heartland in the Lake District the Swan Inn (Top House) in Dobcross is a Jennings tied house and offers it’s full range of beers from Dark Mild to Sneck Lifter (5.1%) as well as their seasonal offerings. In the last few months, seasonal Golden Host (4.3%), Tom Fool (4.0%) and Fish King (4.3%) have been available, the last (Light Coloured) beer celebrating the popular and successful Osprey Project near Bassenthwaite Lake. Recent guest beers have included Hook Norton’s Old Hooky (4.6%) and Marston’s Pure Blonde (4.2%).
A Busy pub on most days, the Swan pub was packed during the August Rushcart Festival on Bank Holiday Saturday and the waterways- based Mikron Theatre Company were due to perform “A life with Isambard Kingdom Brunel” in October. Energetic chef Keith Dickinson was planning a sponsored walk up Ben Nevis on 6th October in aid of Kidney Research UK. - Why not call in to the Top House for a couple of pints of Jennings and make a contribution to this deserving cause. Over in Greenfield, the Railway has recently added local Millstone Brewery’s True Grit (5.0%) to their range of five cask ales. Rightly described as Saddleworth’s Premier Music Venue, the Railway is one of the few local pubs to offer genuine traditional cider. Apart from the Weston’s Old Rosie (7.3%), recent guest ciders have included Thatcher’s Draught Somerset Cider (6.0%) and their Cheddar Valley cider (also 6.0%), the latter having a distinctive eye catching bright orange colour. They have also started to sell Old Rosie on hand pump down the road at the King William IV (“King Bill”), which must make Greenfeild the Scrumpy Capital of Saddleworth! The King Bill now does food at midday and early evenings in addition to their five cask beers, Deuchars IPA, John Willie’s and Tetley’s Bitter plus two changing guests. Landlord/chef Wayne is particularly proud of his homemade pies and beef pudding special (as well as new Sky HD Kit!), all served with peas and home made chips for less than a fiver. Although only half a mile from Greenfield Brewery it is a great pity that the restrictive policy of Punch Taverns does not allow the King Bill to take beer from there.
In August Greenfield Brewery’s Seasonal
special was “Longwood Thump” (4.5%) which
celebrates the annual Rushcart Festival. This
traditional event takes place over two days at
the end of the month with the rushcart being
pulled around many of the area’s best pubs by
dozens of Morris dancers from far and wide.
The summer months have seen Taylors
Golden Best become a favourite with locals and visitors alike at the White Hart in Lydgate.
Black Sheep bitter is a new arrival and looks
set to become a regular. Over the years the
White Hart has steadily moved away from the
`Big Boys’ and focused on regional brews such
as J.W.Lees, Timothy Taylors and now Black
Sheep. The hand pump dispensing the `Guest
Beer’ has recently seen brews from
Moorhouses, Pictish, George Wright and the
increasingly popular Millstone of Mossley. A
total of six real ales are usually available for
your delight and delectation.
The recent return of Iain Dredge (albeit in a
part time capacity) has resulted in an excellent
level of consistency even through the hot
summer. Readers are reminded of the White
Hart’s forthcoming Beer and Food gourmet
night on Friday 17th November.
The 15th Saddleworth Museum Beer
Festival went well at the beginning of
September, with ten beers from local micros
and other breweries available over the weekend. Best sellers were Greenfield Brewery’s
Delph Donkey (4.1%), Millstone’s Tiger Rut
(4.1%) and Square Peg (4.3%) and Phoenix
Brewers Gold (5.0%)
We begin with yet another pub opening this quarter. The Waterfold Farm has sprung up in (wait for it), Waterfold Business Park, just off Rochdale Road. Very much in the style of a Brewers Fayre, it has a cavernous interior, outdoor seating and provides a full menu all day. These places do tend to lack character and one’s first instinct might be to pass blithely by. However, the Waterfold does possess at least one (or should that be two), redeeming features. Yes, it boasts real ale. This comes in the form of Courage Directors and, the much improved, Theakstons. Neither the best, nor most inspired choice it has to be said. Yes, a local beer, or even one with a proven pedigree, would have been a better choice, I agree. However, just the fact that it does offer real ale is to be celebrated and perhaps, with a little nudging, it can be persuaded to cater more for the local palate. Even more promising is the development of the Major on Bolton Road, Ramsbottom. This pub really has been transformed by the present incumbents. It now boasts two well kept real ales-currently Taylors Landlord and Moorhouses Pride of Pendle. These along with the friendly atmosphere and Wednesday jam nights have definitely made an impression on local drinkers. Good value food is also available. And it’s not too far from Ramsbottom’s mecca of real ale-the Good Samaritan. This recently held its second beer festival which was a rousing success. Kudos to Roger and everyone else concerned.
Ramsbottom is not the only place where things are looking on the up, though. In the backwaters of Whitefield, there has been an interesting twist on Park Lane. The Parkfield Inn is well known as a tapas restaurant, but it harbours a real ale secret. Due to a diligent CAMRA member of staff, it now offers an interesting guest ale for the discerning drinker amongst its clientele.
And talking of food, the Pack Horse at Affetside recently unveiled its new, commodious, restaurant. This is an impressive addition to the pub, with lots of natural light and a great improvement on the previous dining room. But what about the food, I hear you ask? Well, I can certainly recommend Maureen’s Famous Cheese & Onion Pie. This is certainly a crust above the usual pub pie. And the Sweets aren’t too bad either.
(Tuesday Meetings all 8.30pm Unless
Otherwise Stated)
CAN’T ALWAYS GET TO OUR BRANCH MEETINGS?
BUT WANT TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THE ACTION !
Make sure we have your up-to-date E-mail Address
on our Secretary’s data-base. Information and Social
Events can be E-mailed out to you.
Please Note: These Are Proposed Venues
Which May Change – Consult The Web Site or
What s Brewing to Check
OCTOBER
Tues 3rd Branch Meeting - Red Lion, Halifax
Road, Littleborough
Sat 7th Coach Social - Pennine Pubs, Lancs& Yorks
Sun 29th Social Meeting - Annual 10k Fun
Run, Tandle Hill Tavern, Middleton
NOVEMBER
Tues 7th Branch Meeting - White Hart,
Stockport Road, Lydgate
Fri-Sat 17th-18th Bury Beer Festival -
The Met, Bury
Volunteers needed for setting up, come along,
all help is valued
Wed 22nd Evening Coach Social - Visit
Hydes Brewery
DECEMBER
Tues 5th Branch Meeting - Woodthorpe Hotel,
Bury Old Road, Prestwich
Tues 12th Christmas Social - Hare & Hounds,
Bolton Road West, Holcombe Brook
JANUARY
Tues 2nd Branch Meeting - Flying Horse,
Town Hall SQ. Rochdale
Further Details on social events are available from
the Branch contact or Social Secretary
Of course there is a general shortage of good
pies in Bury. Most takeaways seem content to fob
you off with the rubber-crusted Hollands pie.
These are the keg of the pie world and to be
avoided at all costs. An honourable exception is
the Hornby Street chippy which now offers such
delights as Steak and Peppercorn, Chicken Tikha
and of course Cheese & Onion pies which won’t
break your teeth. All courtesy of Clayton Park
Pies, who are to be commended on trying to
break this grotesque monopoly.
But let’s get back to pub news. The Waterside in
Summerseat is back to its best selling several of
Moorhouses finest. And talking of Moorhouses,
the Dusty Miller on Crostons Road has had some
interesting guest beers on recently. As has the
Brown Cow at Burrs which is also continuing to
develop its food side. A shock development has
been the refurbishment of legendary Bury watering hole, Elton Fold Working Men’s Club, aka the
Klondike. The nostalgic rich interior has gone all
modern light wood and soft furnishings. Very nice
it is too, and most importantly they are still serving a good pint of both Lees Mild and Bitter.
Finally, a word about the controversy surrounding the Robin Hood. The owners, Greene King, enraged Tottington denizens by imposing ridiculous car park charges on what is considered a community asset. After some inveighing, they duly expiated and a compromise was reached. However, there are plenty of people who think they are still acting unreasonably. To them, I say make Greene King sit up and take notice. They own several slop shops in Bury, and if custom was withdrawn, they would soon see the errors of their way. Of course, what these people are doing giving them custom in the first place, is a mystery for another time…Contact me with any Bury Pub News At –
A move from London’s much loved Olympia
to the more modern and bigger Earl’s
Court allowed attendance at CAMRA’s
annual beer bash to soar. By the end of
Saturday evening more than 66,000 people had
come through the doors of what has become
known as “The largest pub in the world”.
Around 1,500 new members signed up including well known Radio 2 personality and beer
aficionado, Chris Evans.
CAMRA Festival Organiser Marc Holmes (also
known to staff as “Goliath” - he is a very tall
man indeed) hailed it as an overwhelming success and paid tribute to the volunteer staff saying “I thank all those CAMRA volunteers who
have given up their free time to work at the
festival - we had the highest number of volunteer staff ever with over 1000 people working
over a ten day period.” Rochdale, Oldham and
Bury Branch supplied a number of these volunteers who can certainly attest to the hard work
(and fun) involved. We provided staff in such
varied areas as glasses, beer judging, sign language, cleaning, beer dispense and much more
besides. Chairman Peter Alexander worked, as
he has done for a number of years on the
German beer section of the Biere Sans
Frontieres bar (foreign beer) which was one of
the few areas with any beer left on Saturday
night, as almost everywhere else had been
drunk dry! Membership Secretary Mike “Perry
Mason” Robinson ably assisted our ex Chairman
John Lewis on the very successful cider bar,
even volunteering to make a dawn raid on Kent
to top up diminishing supplies. This was not he
insisted, solely for his own enjoyment, but was
purely dedication to the cause!
Our own “More Beer” editor, Allan Whitehead,
along with branch members Sue Barker, Eva
Stewart and Ian Dearn, was also hard at work,
cleaning, washing casks, dispensing and
washing glasses and doing many of the “behind the scenes” tasks which are so
essential to running a successful festival.
Innovations this year included the very successful use of third of a pint glasses. To my
mind some more thought needs to be given to
the design of the glass, but the idea proved
very popular indeed with all stocks being sold
out. Perhaps this is something we need to look
at for our own local festivals at Oldham and
Bury? It certainly seemed to encourage much
more experimenting with the beers on offer.
One thing that does not change at GBBF is the
competition to find the Champion Beer of
Britain. Our own ex Chairman Graham Chinn
was again involved in this as chairman of the
Judging Panel for the Champion Bitter. Not to
be outdone, serving the great and the good
their samples for judging was branch member
Ruth Andrew, who also provided sign language translation for the hard of hearing at every
major event in the festival. This gave Ruth the
opportunity to translate as Chairman of the
Panel of Judges, Roger Protz announcement
that the Champion Beer Of Britain had been
won for the second time in a row by Crouch
Vale of Essex with their delightfully pale and
hoppy “Brewer’s Gold.
Of course it was not all hard work. Apart from the opportunity to meet fellow CAMRA members and talk to the public about beer, we were able to sup a few well deserved pints during work breaks in CAMRA’s own on site `pub’, the Volunteers Arms. Additionally a small but dedicated team were able to enjoy a night off in the rarefied atmosphere of London’s Belgravia, where we attempted not to lower the tone! Good (expensive) beer was supped, some excellent pubs were visited and above all a chance was taken to relax a little after the hectic and tiring week and reflect on a job well done. We also took the opportunity to renew our vows to do it all again next year! Well, after a few pints it seemed like a good idea. So why not join us? You’ll have a good time.
by P Alexander
Starting at the Mare and Foal, close to the
mini-roundabout on Ashton Road West, we
can sample the Marston's Burton Bitter in
this very traditional pub, with its long, curved
bar and historically sympathetic 1930's décor.
Exiting the pub and turning right, 150 metres
up the road, we come to the:
Millgate, where the cask beers are Lees Bitter
and the lesser-spotted GB Mild, a rare find in
our area since it won Best Mild Award. Close to
Failsworth Carnival ground, this year's parade
will be on Saturday July 15th - St. Swithin's Day
! Again, exiting the front door and turning right,
700 metres further on, bearing right at the second mini-roundabout, we arrive at the:
Cotton Tree
Cotton
Tree, where we
have a
choice of
Marston's
Burton
Bitter and
Banks' Original
cask ales. Mike and sandra, the licensees have
worked wonders here, to create, in my opinion,
one of the best traditional Community Locals in
Failsworth. They bought the lease to save their
Local pub when the last licensee retired !
Exiting and turning right again, 600 metres further on we arrive at the:
Willow Tavern, another thriving Community pub, where new licensees Neil and Sarah plan to reinstate Cask Ale soon, starting with Neil’s Favourite Doom Bar from Sharps Brewery on Friday 13th! This is now the only pub in the area serving Guest Ales. Please help Neil to make this a success. Look out for the superb, central etched glass window, depicting an idyllic scene featuring a Willow tree. Notice also the collection of Willow Pattern pottery. We again exit and turn right and walk for around 12 minutes / one Kilometre, turning right at the bizarre figure-of-eight mini-roundabout. Take the pavement on the left-hand side of Failsworth Road, continue to the end and turn right at yet another mini-roundabout onto Medlock Road. Continue on till you reach the:
Woodhouse Gardens which has recently
undergone a two-week closure for a major
refit. The cask ale here is Lees Bitter. New tenants Barry and Christina are now providing a
more varied Restaurant Menu than was available when this was a managed house. There is
(as the name suggests) a large Beer Garden at
the rear, where children can play. Again we exit
to the right, walking through this pretty village
a further 300 metres, past the horse-riders
leisurely clip-clopping past us until we reach
the:
Dog and Partridge. Here we can slake our thirst with Marston Burton Ale. There's outdoor seating at the rear, overlooking the bowling green, matches take place on Tuesday afternoons. Much food is served in this pub throughout the whole week and into the evenings.
Cricket-lovers may want to carry on down the road another 200 metres to the left to the keg-only Woodhouses Cricket Club, where Mike Atherton cut his cricketing teeth, some years ago. There are matches most Saturdays and Sundays from 15/04/06 to 17/09/06.
Woodhouses Working Men's Club sadly no longer sells cask beer but does feature live Jazz most Monday evenings and generally has Cabaret on a Saturday night. See the Manchester Evening News for details of the jazz.
Bluebird buses call hourly at Woodhouses the timetables are now displayed on the bus-stops. The 78 runs in the evenings and all day Sunday. The 159 runs Monday to Saturday daytime (not evenings) and there are NO buses on Bank Holidays. The Mare and Foal is a short walk from the Brown Cow pub on the A62 (Oldham Road) which is served by regular buses, 82, 83 etc.
The 34th edition of the Good Beer Guide
details 4,500 of Britain’s best pubs. And is
the number one guide to pubs selling fine
quality real ale. These pubs are regularly surveyed by the CAMRA members, who visit them
and you can therefore rely on this being the
most up to date and well vetted of all pubs
guides. There are no fees charged for selection
of pubs, just honest opinion from the people
who know….Your fellow beer drinkers! Find out the best pubs to visit from sophisticated city bars to cosy country inns, tiny
off-beat locals to grand architectural gems, with
the Good Beer Guide 2007 you are never far
from a decent pint of real ale.
The guide contains an expanded breweries section (inc 84 new microbreweries opened since the 2006 edition),and now has descriptions of more than 600 real-ale breweries across Britain. The majority of beers have tasting notes provided by trained CAMRA tasting panels. Keep up to date on the brewing scene and find out who is in and who is out this year.
Plus:
• Top features on beer, pubs and campaigning
• Roger Protz on saving threatened breweries
through social ownership.
• Sue Nowak interviewing TV chefs who are
buying pubs but want to keep serving natural,
locally-produced real ales alongside restaurant
quality food.
• Ted Bruning on the rise of the pubcos, the
increasing diversity of ales they stock – and
CAMRA’s campaign to reintroduce guest ales.
Plus Much More!
Members price is £11 by phone or £10 online,
plus £1.50 postage
How to order your copy:
By Phone – to order by Credit Card, phone
01727 867201 during office hours
By Website – www.camra.org.uk/shop
Or Direct from -Rochdale, Oldham & Bury
Branch - At the forthcoming Bury Beer festival
or order a copy from our Web site
www.robcamra.org.uk
According to Greek legend, the Phoenix was a fabulous bird which before coming to the end of its life, made a nest of spices, sang a melodious dirge, flapped its wings to set fire to the pile, burns itself to ashes and comes forth with new life. Much the same can be said for the Phoenix Brewery in Heywood. As the tower indicates, the brewery began beer production in 1898. One of three breweries on Green Lane, which included the Victoria and Rowbottom breweries, it’s the only one to have stood the test of time, but only just!
Older readers might well remember the traditional English ales brewed by Phoenix such as Gem Bitter, Imperial Pale Ale and Double Stout. Local folk might also remember the many horse and drays which delivered these fine ales to the likes of the Freemason’s, Merry Monk, Tanners and the last pub to be built by Phoenix, the Halfway House on Cheetham Hill Road. Many of these pubs still display the wonderful ceramic tiling and Phoenix motif.
Despite having well heeled and connected folk such as Lord Howard of Glossop on the board, and building up an estate of over 120 pubs, Phoenix struggled to survive during its initial 39 years in business, going bust several times before eventually going into liquidation in 1937. Cornbrook Brewery then stepped in buying up all the existing assets unfortunately with no intention of keeping the business going.
As beer production ceased, it’s highly likely the brewing vessels, being made of copper and gun metal, were turned over to the war effort. The end of the war saw the brewery turned into a cold store, with several rooms being lined with up to 8” of cork, still in evidence to this day. Indeed it’s thought Heywood owes its very existence as a cold storage centre to the pioneering days at Phoenix.
During the 60’s through to the 80’s, Phoenix became home to a variety of different businesses including roast chicken production, a computer centre, taxi office, centre for local artists, Pendletons Ice cream and last but not least, an egg processing unit for making omelettes for Marks and Sparks.
But all was not lost as a brewery, for in 1991 along came Tony Allen of Oak Brewery, to revive the Phoenix name and to produce the wonderful beers we all know and love. Now well entrenched at Phoenix and having a strong interest in all things historical, Tony has taken to restoring Phoenix to its original form. Despite years of neglect, the many buildings are slowly being renovated, initially concentrating on the building fabric and now on the internal finishes, with the completed Parlour, a fine example of things to come. Today the brewery is still pretty much the same as it was first built, with many of the original features still intact. The well, from which water was drawn up to the top of the original brew tower is still in place, as are the many stables at the top of the court yard, also the original malt store and maltings rooms which are now used for beer brewing. Once renovation is complete, its hoped brewery tours will commence, so watch this space!
PHOENIX BREWERY,
Green Lane, Heywood,
Greater Manchester OL10 – 2EP
Tel 01706 - 627009
On the 24th May 2006 Charles Wells Brewery based in Bedford made a historic announcement to it’s employees and media - the announcement being a merger of breweries between Charles Wells and England’s Oldest Brewery - Young’s & Co’s Brewery Plc based at The Ram Brewery in Wandsworth, London.
From the merger a new company has been formed - Wells & Young’s Brewing Company Ltd.
This new company is based on the Charles Wells site in Bedford and heralds good news for the economy and employment for this region. By merging with Young’s, Charles Wells have secured the future of brewing in Bedford. We have become one of the countries biggest brewers and as the company is fiercely independent to The City we are secure from any threat of takeover or sale. Subsequently, we anticipate to continue to brew beer in Bedford for decades and centuries to follow.
Wells & Young’s is the No. 1 national brewer of speciality beers, our beer portfolio is unrivalled elsewhere as we have a wonderful balance between speciality cask ale and speciality lagers.
Our cask ale range was recently showcased at the popular Bedford Camra Beer festival where stocks of Young’s Bitter and Young’s Special sold out in record time. Since May our brewers have been working hard to ‘match’ the beers. We are using exactly the same ingredients as the brewing team in Wandsworth, the only difference being that we use natural mineral water drawn from our well in the centre of town as opposed to water used in Wandsworth from the local River. Gratifyingly the drinkers at the festival couldn’t notice the difference at all and remarked the beer is tasting the very best it has ever tasted.
Ken Don, Master Brewer from Young’s & Co has been integral to the whole brew matching process. Ken has been a passionate brewer for Young’s for many years and would not let any beer bearing the Young’s name leave the Bedford site unless he himself was personally proud of that brew. To date there have been no negative responses to the Bedford brewed beer. The beers brewed in Bedford have been out in pubs since mid September and are being enjoyed by drinkers across London and the rest of the UK.
It was with great pride that Wells & Young’s announced that only 3 beers would be discontinued and this was for commercial reasons, in that these beers just didn’t sell well. These include Dirty Dick’s which was for the export markets, Young’s Pilsner lager and Golden Zest. Everything else will be brewed with care and passion from Bedford.
Throughout this whole process, we have been at pains to ensure this merger is about expansion of our beer portfolio and not restriction. Our Bedford based brewers are particularly excited at the prospect of learning from the Wandsworth brewers who have joined the new company, all the magic and mystery of bottle conditioned beers. The line that Young’s used to brew and package their famous bottle conditioned range is being instilled into the Bedford brewery during October and from there we hope to further extend the bottle conditioned range.
To cope with the additional brewing and distribution demands, Wells & Young’s are currently developing a £10 million distribution centre on Cambridge Road to ensure greater efficiency with regards to customer service and there will be a ‘sister’ distribution centre in Croydon from the middle of next year to manage the London, south and south west distribution for the new company.
We hope you enjoy a pint or two of Young’s beers in your local very soon. If you have any questions about Wells & Young’s please do contact the PR department at the brewery and we will be delighted to help out. For any beer or company news please log onto www.wellsandyoungs.co.uk
The new Licensing Laws, allowing pubs to
stay open later, came into force at 12.01
am on the 24th of November 2005.
Misreported in the National Press as “24 Hour
Drinking,” nearly one year on, we at “More
Beer” look back and see what has changed in
the last twelve months. First of all very few (if
any) pubs are open 24 hours and we know of
none in our area. Most have merely tacked on
an hour or two in the evening. As reported in
the Winter edition of More Beer, there has been
no apocalypse. Nothing has changed for the
worse. No brawling thugs, no longer queues for
chippies, taxis etc. No behavioural changes for
the worse.
So “More Beer” asks, “What has changed?”
The change that we can detect is a more
relaxed attitude to drinking. As a result of pubs
staying open later, the vast majority of drinkers
just go out later in the evening. Even with the
recent glorious summer, predictions of riots and
brawling drunks in the streets during the hot
summer months didn’t materialise at all. In fact
many drinkers have said there was no difference from the previous summers, except this
year most of us got a nice tan! A nice tan and
drinking cask ales at a time that suits. What a
refreshing change!
New status gives
fast track access
to Government
As of 1 October, CAMRA (Campaign For real
Ale) has joined the super-elite of consumer
groups that have been granted fast-track
access to the Government.
The award of super-complainant status under
the 2000 Enterprise Act means CAMRA can
complain to the Office of Fair Trading about
aspects of the beer market which work
against the interests of consumers.
And the OFT won’t be able to let the
Campaign’s submissions gather dust, for the
Act gives it 90 days to respond to a super-complaint, decide whether there is sufficient
evidence to support it, and say what it plans
to do about it.
Chief Executive Mike Benner said the move
was a huge boost to CAMRA’s standing, a tribute to its competence as a lobbying organisation, and a spur to renewed campaigning
activity.
“CAMRA has a long tradition of responding
to competition enquiries, and the Office of Fair
Trading, the Competition Commission and
Parliamentary select committees actively seek
our views,” he said. “Being granted official
super-complainant status by the DTI recognises the crucial role CAMRA plays in highlighting
where the beer and pub markets are failing to
operate in the consumer interest,” he
said.“We will now step up our commitment to
this activity, as the move gives us the confidence and ability to be far more proactive in
our campaigning”