The Classic Basic Unspoilt Pubs of Great Britain

Back in June a letter appeared in  CAMRA's "What's Brewing" newspaper, written by one Rodney Wolfe-Coe. Mr Coe informed the readership that after 36 years membership. he was resigning from CAMRA  His principle reason for doing this was the campaign's "dash for obedience to the gods of electronic communication,"  a subject in which he had no knowledge and even less interest. He claimed that the heritage and tradition which CAMRA used to stand for had been swept away in the rush to embrace modern technology, and that even the Branch Events page in "What's Brewing" was guilty of this, as often there were no addresses to which members could write to and few proper phone numbers – "just more electronic wizardry" 

Whilst accepting he may have a point, it is particularly sad to see such a long serving and distinguished member leave in this fashion. I say distinguished because Rodney Wolfe Coe was probably instrumental in establishing CAMRA's National Inventory of Unspoilt Pubs, albeit in his own somewhat maverick fashion. It is obviously an area close to his heart, as he ended his letter by stating that for the past 19 years his principle interest had been the National Inventory. 

To elaborate further, back in the late 90's, reports began circulating amongst some of my friends about a list of unspoilt, classic pubs. Entitled “The Classic Basic Unspoilt Pubs of Great Britain” the document purported to be the UK’s definitive list of such pubs. Ir was was even mentioned in the newsletter of the Brewery History Society,  an organisation of which I was a member at the time. The person responsible for compiling this list was none other than the aforementioned Mr Coe, someone who's name was not totally unfamiliar to me. This is because it had been mentioned in the  acknowledgements to the 1984 edition of Real Ale Pubs in Kent, where special thanks had been given to Rodney Coe "whose unstinting devotion to the promotion of Real Ale had led him to visit every licensed premises in the  County of Kent.".  This had  proved invaluable to the compilers of the guide, particularly in those areas of the county where CAMRA activists were thin on the ground.

I had never met Mr Coe, and still haven't, but it was evident that the list was compiled with the help of a number of people whom I refer to as the "CAMRA Railway Fraternity". A good friend of mine is a member of this group, and several colleagues of his assisted Rodney Coe with his researches.  I was perhaps a little envious of them. Being railwaymen, of some years standing, they all qualified for free or reduced rate rail travel; something that enabled them to visit pubs in the far-flung corners of the kingdom at minimal cost. It would cost me a small fortune to visit such places myself, hence my envy. However, it was through the aforementioned friend that I eventually obtained a copy of Rodney Coe's list, and for that I am grateful. 

I came across my copy of this list last week, whilst sorting through some old papers. It is in the form of a simple folded A5 sheet  and its full title is "The Classic Basic Unspoilt Pubs of Great Britain - 5th Edition",  published in 1998. There are just 21 pubs listed; an earlier edition, published in 1994,  that I managed to track down online totalled 32. It is worth reproducing part of the introductory text to this noteworthy publication:

"This is not just another list of the Classic British Pubs. Many existing lists rely totally on other people's findings. This list is different in that the compiler has personally visited over 140 pubs that possibly warranted inclusion in a definitive list.

Apart from the obvious criteria of being Classic, Basic and Unspoilt, all the pubs in this list normally sell Real Ale (there are an estimated half-dozen others which do not sell Real Ale and for which, regrettably, no place can be found in this publication). Many of the 140+ visited have been "Improved" or found to be just not worthy of the description -  Classic, Basic and Unspoilt. Sadly, many others considered for listing have closed since "inspections" began in May 1993.

The compiler therefore feels that this could be regarded as the definitive list of  "The  Classic, Basic and Unspoilt Pubs of Great Britain". Others may disagree - especially with the star ratings."

So what of the pubs themselves: 
(apologies for the wonkey columns; Blogger wouldn't allow me to align them properly)

                                                *

Derbyshire                    ELTON                                   Duke of York

East Riding of               SKERNE                                 Eagle

            Yorkshire        

East Sussex                  HERSTMONCEUX                Welcome Stranger

Gloucestershire             CHELTENHAM                     Bath Tavern

Gwynedd                     BETHESDA                            Douglas Arms

Kent                             SNARGATE                            Red Lion

Oxfordshire                  STEVENTON                         North Star

                                    STOKE TALMAGE                Red Lion

Powys                          HAY-ON-WYE                      Three Tuns

Walsall                          BLOXWICH                          Turf Tavern

                                                **

Herefordshire               KINGTON                              Olde Tavern

Leicestershire               MEDBOURNE                        Horse & Trumpet

Oxfordshire                  STOKE LYNE                        Peyton Arms

                                                ***

Camarthenshire             LLANDOVERY                      Red Lion

Gloucestershire             AMPNEY ST PETER              Red Lion

Northumberland           NETHERTON                         Star

Pembrokeshire             PONTFAEN                            Dyffryn Arms

                                                ****

Devon                          LUPPIT                                   Luppit

Kent                             COWDEN POUND                Queens Arms

Shropshire                    HALFWAY HOUSE               Seven Stars

                                                *****

Herefordshire               LEINTWARDINE                   Sun

                        and, thus, probably still the best pub in Great Britain.
 

Fourteen years on and I wonder how many of these pubs are still trading? I regret to sat I have only visited two of them - the Queen's Arms at Cowden Pound and the Red Lion at Snargate. Both of these pubs are in Kent, with the Queen's Arms probably only a dozen miles from where I live. Unfortunately it only has limited opening hours, given the advanced years and recent bout of poor health Elsie, is long serving licensee. One doubts for is survival, especially in its present form, when Elsie finally decides to cal it a day.

The Red Lion, on the other hand, probably has a more assured future as Kate, the daughter of long serving landlady Doris, has taken over the day to day running of the pub, together with her partner.. Furthermore, unlike the Queen's Arms, which is owned by Admiral Taverns, the Red Lion is a free house.

News of the other pubs on the list would of course be most welcome, as would thoughts on how classic, basic or unspoilt these pubs still are.


Footnote:

In 1997 CAMRA published, for the first time, its own list of Classic Pubs. The list appeared in that year's Good Beer Guide, and was a complete listing of all the pubs on the campaign's inventory of national treasures. Titled "Pubs to Save - CAMRA's National Inventory of starred pubs, historic gems which must be preserved."