A 100-year-old inn has won the 2008 Pub of the Year award from the Campaign
for Real Ale, despite having no juke box, pool table, fruit machine or
“theme”.
The Old Spot Inn in Dursley,
Gloucestershire, has been successful by refusing to follow fashion.
Steve Herbert, the licensee, said: “Although we do food during the week we
would never call ourselves a gastropub. Our drinkers come first, which is
why the food stops at 8pm during the week. We don’t do chips either.
“Being born and bred in Dursley means a lot to me and to be able to bring this
award to this wonderful pub gives me a great sense of achievement.”
Julian Hough, Camra's pub director and one of the final judges, said: “The Old
Spot Inn is a great example of how successful a well-run community pub can
be.
"Steve and Belinda are dedicated to maintaining the local character of
the pub within the community and realise that quality real ales are an
important factor in offering their local choice at the bar.
"I would like to congratulate everybody at the Old Spot Inn on being
judged Britain’s finest pub."
The Old Spot Inn is described in Camra's Good Beer Guide, 2008, as: “This 100
year old free house, named after the Gloucestershire Old Spot pig, has been
sympathetically restored by its owner, Ric Sainty. The intimate atmosphere
is enhanced by log fires and brewery memorabilia.
"As well as Uley’s Old Ric, named after the owner, it offers five guest
beers, mainly from micro-brewers, served in five separate drinking areas.
The wholesome menu is available 12-8pm on week days and 12-3pm at weekends.
On the Cotswold Way, this convivial local is a popular watering hole for
walkers. The secluded garden has a boules piste.”
Camra's National Pub of the Year competition is judged by its membership. Each
of the 200 branches vote for their favourite pub. The branch winners are
entered into 16 regional competitions and then the 16 winners battle it out
to make the Grand Final which consists of 4 pubs.
The award was presented to the Old Spot this lunchtime, with judges saying the
competition "analyses all the criteria that makes a good pub -
including the quality of the beer, atmosphere, décor, customer service,
clientele mix and value for money."
The award marks the start of Camra's Community
Pubs Week which starts tomorrow
National Pub of the Year Runners-Up:
Blue Peter Hotel, Kirkcolm, Dumfries & Galloway
Land of Liberty, Peace & Plenty, Heronsgate, Hertfordshire
Turks Head, St Helens, Merseyside
CAMRA’S Regional Pubs of the Year
Central Southern – Rose & Crown, Hawridge, Buckinghamshire
Wessex – Plough Inn, Little London, Hampshire
South & Mid Wales – Borough Arms, Neath, Glamorgan
South West – Old Spot Inn, Dursley, Gloucestershire
Surrey & Sussex – White Horse, Maplehurst, West Sussex
London – Bricklayers Arms, Putney, London
Kent – The Ship Centurion, Whitstable, Kent
East Anglia – Land of Liberty, Peace & Plenty, Heronsgate,
Hertfordshire
West Midlands – Bell, Pensax, Worcestershire
East Midlands – Thorold Arms, Harmston, Lincolnshire
Yorkshire – Kelham Island Tavern, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Merseyside, Cheshire & North Wales – Turks Head, St. Helens, Merseyside
Greater Manchester – New Oxford, Salford, Greater Manchester
North East – King’s Arms, Deptford, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear
West Pennines - Bridge Bier Huis, Burnley, Lancashire
Scotland & Northern Ireland – Blue Peter Hotel, Kirkcolm, Dumfries &
Galloway
i fully agree with Laurens, London !! although i will say i quite enjoy going outside for a smoke, away from those people who tend to just sit quietly in the pub wearing Rupert bear trousers and brown leather shoes.
Cris, Swindon, England
Being someone who does drink there I was puzzled by the lack of mention on the peculiarity of its customers. The pub being 100 years old it is generally matched in age by its clientele. I don't know if that's a good thing yet. I'll judge that better when I can interpret the accent. Accurately.
nonentity, Dursley,
To those of you who moan about smoking: get over it. You weren't born smokers; human beings aren't supposed to smoke. So what gives you the right to make a free house uncomfortable for us non-smokers, especially when it affects our health. I rejoice that I can now go into a pub, breathe freely and wake up the next morning not stinking of smoke. Not to mention going out for a meal. It is positively disgusting having to watch people smoke while I am eating. Wake up and realise that it's bad for your health and that of others. Go to any of the other countries that have recently banned smoking in pubs (Canada, Australia) and you don't hear the same level of complaint there. It should have happened long ago.
Adrian, Southampton,
Indeed the smoking ban is, like the fox hunting ban, purely politically driven. There isnt any rational argument to limit one's freedom to smoke in public, other than the current government wishing to impose its control on the general population at the expense of more liberal political parties. Smokers do not increase healthcare cost as they die younger and quicker, often with less psychological problems. There is nobody in the UK being forced to go inside any pub for work or pleasure if they do not want to. The smoking ban simply fullfills a desire by those in power to come up with little rules to enforce, and this mentalilty causes the UK to quickly become just another uninteresting European country without much appeal in a globalised world.
Laurens, London,
How can it be the best pub when you're not able to smoke in it?
Neil Graham, Mula, Murcia, Spain
There'll be no pubs of any worth left if beer prices continue to rise, while pasteurised, but cheap substitute for 'real' ale is to be bought in corner shops and garages, and smokers treated like lepers, instead of making pubs smokers or non-smokers, and leaving it to market forces. This government has and is destroying, albeit unintentionally, our pub culture. One of the finest institutions in this country.
Peter K Day, Doncaster, UK/ Yorkshire
In my mind it's the people who make a pub the place to go more than anything.
I like my nights out around town music blaring, plenty of eye candy odd game of poll but sometimes you want to sit down with a good pint and have a chinwag with your mates. Why the big pubco's don't realise this, I'll never understand...
Rich, Sheffield,
If only other pubs can now follow suit. Amazingly enough, to all you pub chains, some people don't actually want to stand up with their drink in a crowd of people unable to have a conversation because of the music reverberating around the place.
Wilma R, Stafford,
'... despite having no juke box, pool table, fruit machine or “themeâ€.'
Shouldn't that be BECAUSE there is no juke box, pool table, fruit machine or “themeâ€.....?
Wish I had a local like that.
Aine, Leicester,
It is interesting to note that despite the many fine real ale pubs in East Anglia, CAMRA's East Anglia pub of the year is not situated in East Anglia (Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk)..........however, keep up the good work CAMRA!
Smudge, Ipswich, Suffolk