Splitting makes a difference

I’ve written before about just how much I enjoy train travel, so the trip I made to Burton-on-Trent the other Friday, was the perfect excuse to put this enjoyment into practice. I’d taken the train once before to Burton, but that was 22 years ago, and things have changed a lot since then.

Back in 1998, it was a simple case of getting myself to London St Pancras, and then taking the Midland Railway train to Derby. From Derby, a Cross-Country service took me to Burton. From memory, that journey was undertaken using

an Advanced Ticket, which brought the price of the return trip down to a reasonable amount, but today there are a lot more options and different routes available. I discovered this when I began looking at what was available for my recent trip.

Being the wrong side of 60 entitles me to a Senior Railcard, otherwise known as an "Old-Git’s Railcard." The card gives me a one third discount on the price of off-peak rail travel, and what’s more you can use it when purchasing a range of different rail tickets.

This time around, I decided to give “Split ticketing” a go, particularly as it claims to knock a significant amount off the price of even an Advanced Return. “Split Ticket” train travel is where instead of having one train ticket to take you from your departure point to your destination, the journey is broken down into two or more parts, with a separate rail ticket for each section.

Because of the over-complicated pricing structure on Britain’s railways, it is often cheaper to split the journey like this, as the sum of the different parts, is often considerably less than the price of a single ticket for the whole route. If you’re a train buff, you can do this for yourself, but it is far easier to take advantage of one of the on-line companies offering “Split ticketing.”

The software these companies use compares prices across several different routes, and then splits the journey into smaller legs, whilst working out the cheapest price for each stage. There are several companies who offer this service; the one I chose was un-surprisingly called “Split Ticketing.”

As is usual now for tickets purchased on-line, I collected mine from my local station. Rather than use one of the machines (you insert the card used to pay for your booking, and then punch in a unique booking reference), I went to the window and asked the booking clerk to print them off for me. With eight tickets – covering each “split section” of the journey, I wanted to make certain that they all printed correctly.

My journey took me from Tonbridge to London Charing Cross, using Southeastern Trains - the usual route into from where I live. My ticket then covered the cost of travel by London Underground, to London Marylebone. From there, I took a Chiltern Line service to Birmingham Moor Street.

I then alighted at Moor Street (don’t you just love the term alight?), and walked the short distance along to Birmingham New Street. From there I boarded a Cross Country train to Burton. I had two tickets for this section of the journey; one covering me as far as Tamworth, whilst the second taking me on to Burton. The split ticketing rules stipulate that the service you catch just has to stop at the intermediate station, and there is no need to leave, or re-board the train.

The return journey was much simpler, involving a Cross Country service to Tamworth, a West Midlands service to London Euston, Underground to Charing Cross and then a Southeastern train home to Tonbridge.

The conditions attached to these types of  booking are quite strict, as the discount rate is based on passengers using specific timed trains. For some reason this covers even the normal commuter services between Tonbridge and London; trains which run quite frequently and where it is not possible to book a seat.

I could have come unstuck here as both the outward 07.42 and the homebound 21.40 services were cancelled. According to the terms & conditions, if your train is cancelled, you are allowed to take the next available train. I thought this over nd decided that it risked me missing my onward connections, particularly on the outward journey so, as I’d arrived at the station in plenty of time, I caught an earlier service.

Technically this broke the rules, but my argument was that as the train operator had cancelled my booked train, why should I have to rush, or even risk missing my connections, by taking a later one; especially when the option of an earlier service was available. Fortunately, no member of staff checked my tickets on these Kentish stages of the journey.

Apart from these two hiccups, both outward and return journeys ran smoothly, and I was able to sit back and enjoy the journeys. Travelling on unfamiliar sections of the network was also a bonus and a real pleasure, as it afforded the opportunity of seeing different parts of the countryside from a new perspective.

For example, the section to Birmingham represented my first trip along the Chiltern Line, and only my second journey ever out of London Marylebone. Marylebone, by the way was the last of London's main line termini to be built and is one of the smallest, opening with just half of the platforms originally planned. The station opened in 1899 as the London terminus of the Great Central Main Line, the last major railway to open in Britain, linking the capital to the cities of Leicester, Sheffield and Manchester.

The train passed through some rather pleasant and attractive countryside, including the Chiltern Hills, before arriving at Birmingham Moor Street, just over an hour and 40 minutes later. Moor Street was a new station for me It is one of three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, and is a combination of the original station, opened in 1909, and a newer facility with through platforms, which opened in 1987, a short distance from the original.

The two stations were combined into one in 2002, when the original was reopened and restored, and the newer station rebuilt in matching style. Moor Street has become more important in recent years, and the station is now the terminus of many Chiltern Railways services from London Marylebone.  It is now the second busiest railway station in Birmingham.

I certainly found the station attractive, but I couldn’t hang about for too long, as I only had a short time to make my way on foot to Birmingham New Street, the city’s principal train station, in order to catch my connecting train to Burton.

The walk didn’t take as long as I first anticipated, and after passing through a wide and lengthy underpass I found the mirrored exterior of Birmingham’s Bull Ring & Grand Central Shopping Centre gleaming at me from the opposite side of the road.

More railway facts and figures now, New Street is the fifth busiest railway station in the UK and the busiest interchange station outside London, with just over 7 million passengers changing trains at the station annually. In the 1960s, the station was completely rebuilt, with buildings constructed over most of its span.

With passenger numbers more than twice those it was designed for, the replacement was not popular with its users. I have vivid memories of  how restricted it was, and how I once nearly missed my train, just trying to get across and down to the correct platform.  Between 2010 and 2015 a £550m redevelopment of the station took place, and today the concourse shares space with a number of retail outlets, including some well known department stores.

It is certainly has a bright and airy feel to it, compared to the cramped and dingy 1960’s station it replaced. The other Friday was the first time I had seen the station from above track level. I had to change trains at New Street back in November, when I was en route to Shifnal, and my first “Proper Day Out” with the Beer & Pubs Forum group, but the change was literally a short hop across the platform, so I never got to view the re-vamped upstairs concourse.

Whilst on the subject of railway stations Tamworth, where I had to change trains on my way home, is also worthy of a mention. It is an interchange between two main lines; the Cross Country Route and the Trent Valley section of the West Coast Main Line (WCML), and is subsequently constructed on two levels. Two low-level platforms (1 and 2) are on the WCML, and two high level platforms (3 and 4) serve  the Cross Country Route.

I didn’t notice this on my journey into Burton, and it was only when I alighted there that evening, to connect with the West Midlands service to Euston, that I discovered this. I thought it strange having to descend a series of concrete steps, and it wasn’t until a member of staff explained that WCML and the Cross Country Route actually cross over each other here, that I realised Tamworth was a much larger station than I originally envisaged. It is possible, of course that the beer I’d consumed that day may well have played a role in my confusion!

That’s probably more than enough railway talk, but for me the history and practicalities of the lines and the stations I have covered, all added to the interest of the day’s travel. Split ticketing though, certainly worked, but I might try another site next time, as I thought the £8.90 fee (share of saving), charged by Split-Ticketing, was on the dear side

I’m not at all certain when the next Proper Day Out will take place, given the evolving situation regarding Covid-19. Unlike most of Western Europe, the UK government has stopped short of an outright closure of pubs, bars and restaurant, but all non-essential social interaction is to be discouraged, as is all non-essential travel.

Another day out and another long- distance train journey may therefore  be sometime off.

"Proper Day Out" No. 2 - Burton-on-Trent

Last Friday’s “Proper Day Out” couldn’t have come at a better time. It is no exaggeration to say that that the trip to Burton really cheered me up, coming as it did after weeks of incessant rain, which saw journeys to and from work turned into something of an endurance test.

So the fact that the sun shone virtually all day was, for me, another huge plus on a day where everything went to plan, and everyone had a good time. It started with my rather convoluted “Split-Ticket” train journey, from Tonbridge to Birmingham, via the scenic, Chiltern Line, and ended with a speedy and problem free return journey via Tamworth.

In between, there were some excellent pubs, including a few real classics. There was also some equally good Draught Bass; a beer which quite rightly was widely available in its home town. It’s people that make such outings though, and when everyone clicks, as we all did last Friday, then it makes for a really special day out.

So with Stafford Paul (SP), Pub Curmudgeon (PC), Sheffield Hatter (SH), Pete’s Quizz (PQ), the Wickingman (WM) and his friend Chris as guides for the day, along with Britain Beer Mat (BBM), who joined us for last knockings, I was in the company of some real beer and pub legends, as we made our way around a hand-picked selection of Burton’s finest pubs. The only person missing was GBG-ticker extraordinaire, Retired Martin, who was looking after wife whilst she convalesced from the effects of a bug picked up in Kent of all places!

Despite having been to Burton by train before, it still took me a little while to get my bearings when I exited the station. A friendly local pointed me in the right direction, and as I headed towards the town centre, I soon noticed on my right, the first and last of the pubs on our itinerary. These were the Devonshire Arms and the Roebuck Inn..

I walked passed them both as I wanted first to find the local branch of my building society, which I discovered right in the heart of Burton. Re-tracing my foot steps gave me time to photograph the aforementioned pubs, along with a third hostelry. This was the Coopers Tavern, a real Burton classic and a pub with an interior of national importance, according to CAMRA’s Pub Heritage Index. The midday timing meant I was able to capture all three pubs in their best light.

I arrived at the Devonshire a few minutes after SP, SH and WM had departed for the Derby Inn; a pub reputed to sell the best pint of Bass in Burton, but an establishment that was a fair distance away on foot. Pub Curmudgeon and Pete were still present though, so I joined them after ordering a quick half of Bass, mindful of the fact they were keen to move on.

The Devonshire is an attractive and solid looking two-bar pub, set back from the road. It apparently belonged to Burton Bridge Brewery for a while. It was very pleasant inside, with a wide range of beer, beside the Bass. It would have been nice to have lingered a little longer, but having arrived 20 minutes behind schedule, I was hardly in a position to dictate the pace to the rest of the group.

We set off towards the National Brewery Centre and its Brewery Tap. This had been our planned lunchtime stop although, as mentioned above, some of the group were set on enjoying a liquid lunch instead at the Derby Inn. I covered the Brewery Tap in my previous post, so I won’t repeat myself here, but it’s worth mentioning that this was my second visit to what had once been the Bass Museum; the first having been back in 1998. Then, as now, the Tap offered a range of beers brewed at the adjoining Heritage Brewery which, as its name suggests, was set up to replicate old Bass and other former group company recipes.

The next two pubs – the Bridge Inn and the Elms Inn, were also described in the previous article. Both were excellent, but quite different establishments in their own right. What I didn’t mention was that four of us took a taxi from the Elms, back into the town centre, in order to save ourselves a substantial walk.

The taxi dropped us outside the Dog Inn; an attractive half-timbered, two-storey, 19^th Century terrace pub with something of a chequered history. The Dog is owned by Black Country Ales, who bought the pub in 2015. BCA were established in 1992, and were originally a pub company, but ten years later, after buying the Old Bulls Head in Dudley, branched out into brewing, following the discovery of a moth-balled brewery at the rear of the pub.

A substantial amount of work was necessary to restore the old Victorian brewery to its original condition, coupled with a considerable amount of investment. This involved the installation of new, state of the art equipment, to complement the original plant. Brewing recommenced in 2004, and the company went on to build up a small chain  pubs, largely within the confines of the West Midlands and the Black Country.

Today, the Dog Inn is one of 35 pubs belonging to Black Country Ales, and as well as offering the full range of  their beers, serves a revolving range of other cask ales. There were eleven on tap last Friday, rather too many in my view and, had he been with us, far too many for Retired Martin!

Despite the wide range I was pleased to see the legendary Worthington White Shield on tap. Originally a bottle-conditioned beer, White Shield is brewed by the Heritage Brewery (see NBC above), and is rarely available on draught. After seeing the pump there on bar, I just had to try a pint, and was pleased that I did. Certainly that instantly recognisable Burton taste was there, including that hard to define “nuttiness” that is so characteristic of White Shield.

After the delights of the Dog Inn, it was time to move on to the penultimate pub of the day, and this was somewhere I had been looking forward to visiting all day. The Coopers Tavern is a pub that all visitors to Burton should experience; especially anyone setting foot in the town for the first time.

It is an unspoilt, traditional-looking, red-brick, 19^th Century, ale house, with five linked rooms. It started life as a store for speciality malts and then as a repository for Bass Imperial Stout. It then became a sampling room and unofficial “brewery tap” before acquiring a license in 1858. It remained as the Bass Brewery tap until sold to Nottingham brewers, Hardys & Hansons in 1991.

Today it belongs to Joule's Brewery, who are the successors of the original John Joule’s Brewery of Stone, Staffordshire. The new company were established in 2010, and are based in the Shropshire town of Market Drayton, and today run 40 pubs, along highly traditional lines. You can read more about the history of the original company, and how the new one came into being, here on the Joules website. Whilst some might not agree, for me it makes fascinating reading, especially as the march in 1974 through Stone town centre, in protest against the closure of Joules Brewery, was one of the first high-profile campaigns organised by the fledgling Campaign  for Real Ale.

The front entrance of the Coopers leads into the main lounge, beyond which a short corridor leads to the intimate Tap Room at the rear. This is where the beer is served from a small counter, next to the cask stillage, using a mixture of gravity and hand-pumps. There are two smaller rooms leading off from the lounge; one of which is a meeting room, whist the other is a small snug bar. The walls are adorned with lots of brewery and beer related memorabilia, but much of it is repro – especially the Joules’ related posters and mirrors.

I noticed two Joule’s beers on sale, and had I not been tempted by the gravity-drawn Bass, I would have given these a try. I perhaps should have opted for the Joules, as I found the Bass rather flat and lacking in condition. I was certainly pleased to have at last visited the Coopers, as with its maze of small rooms, open fireplaces, memorabilia and locally brewed and gravity-served beer, the pub has a real intimacy about it. Next time though, I would like to spend a much longer session there.

Onwards and upwards, and after a brief walk in the direction of the station, we reached the Roebuck Inn, the last pub on our itinerary. This three-storey, corner terrace, pub was once the Ind Coope Brewery tap, being situated opposite the former brewery. The proximity to the brewery meant the Roebuck was chosen for the launch of the classic Ind Coope Draught Burton Ale, back in 1976.

The interior comprises a fairly smart, long narrow single room with the bar counter down one side. It was very much a locals pub, but they seemed a friendly bunch, and one woman we got talking to informed us that she once worked at the Ind Coope brewery across the road.

A varied selection of beers were available, but for some reason I opted for a half of  Hop Back Summer Lightning to round off the day. We were joined by Midlands-based blogger, Britain Beer Mat (BBM), who had arrived more or less straight from work. As with the other bloggers I met for the first time that Friday, it was good to put a face to the name, but unfortunately I couldn’t stay long. My train departed at 18:51, and I wanted to ensure I was at the station in plenty of time.

I had a good journey back, but that’s a story for another day. As far as Friday was concerned it was an excellent and very enjoyable day out. There’s another excursion penned in for the third week in April, this time to Chester, but given the current health concerns, it might be a little premature to book tickets. We shall see!!

For a broadly similar, two-part account of our "Proper Day Out," interspersed with some interesting observations on pub and local history, fellow blogger and Burton pub-stagger participant Pub Curmudgeon, has written about the day here and here.

 

Burton-on-Trent - some personal reflections and thoughts

I enjoyed an excellent “Proper Day Out” in Burton, on Friday, in the company of some fine fellows – most of whom either write blogs, or contribute to various online, beer-related discussion groups. In addition, all have many years experience of drinking in pubs and bars up and down this fair land of ours.

I shall be writing more about the pubs we visited, and the beers we enjoyed, in a later post, as for now I want to put down a few thoughts, and some personal reflections concerning Burton-Upon-Trent after what was my first proper visit to the town.

I say “proper visit” as previous trips to Burton were either work-related or single purpose events for brewery or museum visits. Friday was different, as it afforded my first opportunity to explore the town and get to know a few of its best pubs.

The first thing that struck me, as I exited the station and began my walk into the town centre, was the extent to which brewing dominates the town, from both an historic point of view as well as an up to date one. Across from the station, and on both sides of the rail tracks, are buildings with obvious past connections to brewing, whilst just off the town centre is the very modern and contemporary face of brewing exemplified by the massive Burton Brewery itself.

This sprawling complex of brewery buildings, silos and tall forests of

huge conical fermentation vessels and conditioning tanks brings into sharp focus just how important the brewing of beer is to the local economy. In addition, whilst such an obvious assembly of industrial plant and equipment might seem incongruous in another town, in Burton this all seems perfectly in keeping with what the place is all about.

The last time I’d walked past the entrance to that brewery, it had belonged to Bass who were then Britain’s largest brewing company. They had recently signed a deal to acquire the neighbouring Allied Breweries site and associated plant, which was formerly the premises of Messrs Ind Coope & Allsop.

Today, the whole complex is owned and operated by multi-national conglomerate, Molson Coors. I mention this because having worked for Bass during the late 1970’s, I now have a small pension maturing with Molson Coors. I won’t go into the convoluted deals which transferred ownership of the site, and some of the Bass brands to Molson Coors, but I have to say the whole complex still looks pretty impressive.

Later in the day, whilst walking past the rear of the site, we were assailed by the unmistakable smell of mashing; the abiding sweetish odour resulting from the extraction of fermentable sugars from malted barley, that is so characteristic of any brewing town.


Whilst much of this vast site is dominated by modern and functional-looking units, it is encouraging to see a significant number of older, Victorian buildings still standing and being used for a variety of different purposes. The best known example is the National Brewery Centre & Museum, which is housed in a former joinery workshop operated by Bass. Other  former brewery buildings have been converted into apartments or even offices.

We stopped off at the Brewery Tap, attached to the National Brewery Centre, for a spot of lunch. A rather tasty and well-presented fish-finger sandwich was my lunchtime choice; satisfying and without being too filling. We also tried a couple of beers brewed at the NBC’s Heritage Brewery which, as its name suggests, was set up to replicate old Bass and other former group company recipes.

My pint of Charrington IPA seemed a pretty good replica of the beer once brewed at the old Charrington Brewery in London’s Mile End Road. It was certainly far hoppier than the beer turned out at the Mitchell & Butler’s Cape Hill plant in Birmingham, which was where brewing was transferred to when Mile End closed. I also tried a swift half of Charrington Oatmeal Stout, which I found a little on the thin side.

Before leaving, I purchased a bottle of “Czar’s P2 Imperial Stout,” a recreation of a beer once brewed for export to Czarist Russia. At 8.0%, and bottle-conditioned as well, it should last quite a while, so no need for me to open it any time soon.

The Bridge Inn was our next port of call, and was a pub I had been in a couple of times before. Checking back through some old reports, my first visit was in 1987 and the second in 1998. The purpose of that last trip had been to visit the Bass Museum,and must have been shortly before the takeovers and sell-offs that led to Bass exiting brewing, and the transfer of their Burton Brewery to Molson Coors.  
I am pleased to report that little has changed at the Bridge Inn, apart from the opening up of a second room behind the bar. The chatty barmaid seemed quite keen to point this out, so I took a quick peep on the way to the Gents. The Bridge Inn is home to the Burton Bridge Brewery, which is housed in a group of buildings at the rear of the pub.

As expected there were several Burton Bridge beers on tap, including the company’s version of the classic Draught Burton Ale. The latter was originally brewed in Burton by Ind Coope, and when it first appeared, during the late 1970’s, it marked a turning point in what CAMRA had described as the “Real Ale Revolution.” It was certainly the moment in time when the large brewing conglomerates began to take “Real Ale” seriously.

A couple of us plumped for this legendary beer, now resurrected and returned to being brewed in Burton once again, but unfortunately that particular cask was not at its best – still perfectly drinkable, but not quite the beer either of us were anticipating.

As its name suggests, the Bridge Inn is situated at the foot of the lengthy, and rather impressive bridge over the River Trent, so with our next pub situated on the quite rural looking opposite bank, we crossed the river and headed out of town. The Trent divides into a couple of parallel channels, one with a semi-circular weir, but there is ample room to accommodate any flood waters. It all looked rather picturesque, particularly in the early Spring sunshine, and I found it quite uplifting after the gloomy wet and windy weather we’ve had in Kent, these past few weeks.

I’m tempted to break with the narrative at this point, but  will just mention the Elms Inn, which was where we were heading for. I didn’t manage to get a decent camera angle on the Elms, as it looks out over a busy road which was swollen by traffic from the “school run,” making it very difficult for us to cross. When a number of cars did eventually stop, to let a woman and her dog cross, we rushed across as well, missing out on the perfect photo opportunity.

This was shame as the Elms has an attractive brick frontage, and a painted sign advertising “Best Bass.” A number of inter-linked rooms, including a corridor with a serving hatch, added to its attraction, and the pub certainly seemed very busy for a Friday afternoon. This, and its semi- rural setting overlooking the Trent, some distance below the road, might explain its popularity.

The Bass provoked mixed feelings, with the advanced party, who had arrived some time ahead of us, finding it disappointing, whilst the group of four I was with, agreed it was in fine form. We surmised that a fresh cask had been pressed into service, shortly before our arrival.

Well, that’s it for now folks; more to follow next time.

Going for a Burton

I’m off tomorrow (Friday), to enjoy a Proper Day Out with the Real Pub Men of the Beer & Pubs Forum. The Staffordshire town of Burton-on-Trent is our destination for the day, and our visit will afford the opportunity to sample a number of traditional (“proper”) pubs.

Burton is known the world over for its pale ales; a style that was originally developed in the town.  At its height, during the second half of the 19^th Century, one quarter of all beer sold in Britain was produced in the town and today, despite takeovers and mergers, Burton is still a major centre of brewing within the UK. 

The most famous of the numerous breweries that developed in the town, is that of Bass & Co, founded by William Bass in 1777. The company’s main brand, Bass Pale Ale, was once the highest-selling beer in Britain, and by 1877, exactly 100 years after its foundation, Bass had become the largest brewery in the world, with an annual output of one million barrels. Bass Pale Ale was exported throughout the British Empire, and the company's distinctive red triangle became the UK's first registered trade mark.

During the 20^th Century, a convoluted series of mergers and takeovers saw Bass emerge as the UK’s largest brewing company, only to eventually sell off its brewing arm to Interbrew of Belgium, and move into the hotel business. This followed the purchase of the Holiday Inn hotel chain.

Today, Draught Bass, which is the traditional cask-conditioned version of Bass Pale Ale, is brewed by at the Marston's Brewery in Burton. It is described as "a classic ale with a malty, fruity, nutty aroma and a complex, satisfying flavour," and it is this beer that our group will be particularly keen on sampling this Friday.

My first job in quality control, following graduation, was with the wine and spirits division of Bass, and during my time there I was fortunate to visit the company headquarters, in Burton, and enjoy a tour round the brewery, followed a sampling of its most famous product afterwards.

Draught Bass, served direct from the cask, in the sampling room, was definitely the highlight of that trip, although the now sadly-defunct "Union Room", where the beer was fermented and conditioned, came a close second. The Union Room has long since been razed to the ground, along with the historic Victorian No. 2 Brewery, but Marston’s have made a pretty good job of the beer, since they took over the brewing – see above.

Since that brief tour in the late 1970’s, I have made two further trips to Burton, but with the most recent of these a trip to the Bass Brewery Museum during the mid 1990’s, a return to the town itself is long overdue.

First day of spring

The first Sunday in March proved rather different to those in the preceding month, in so much that the south east wasn’t battered by yet another named storm, or drowned by a deluge of rain!

Instead the day dawned bright and sunny, much to my surprise when I finally surfaced following a rare lie-in. After a substantial cooked breakfast, which doubled up as lunch, and the completion of a few domestic chores, I decided to venture outside and attempt a much needed tidy up of our garden.

We’d lost a couple of fence panels in one of the first of the winter storms, followed by our garden arbour seat. The latter had vanished through the gap in the fence, and ended up in the next door garden. The lad and I had dragged it back a couple of weeks previously, but after another battering from Storm Dennis, the structure was looking rather sorry for itself.

Mrs PBT’s was of the opinion that it was beyond repair, and until I’d looked at it more closely I was inclined to believe her, but after shifting what was left to a less expose position, it does look salvageable.

I’d sweated buckets over that arbour seat, after it was gifted to me by my parents. They’d bought the thing on a whim, but with old age and infirmity rapidly catching up with them, had left it as a collection of different sections and connecting parts, rather than erecting it.

It must have been six or seven years ago when, on a regular visit to their Norfolk bungalow, my mother had pressed me to take it back to Kent with me. I reluctantly agreed, only just managing to fit the various pieces into the back of my car. I then had the fun part of working out how it all fitted together – my parents having lost the instructions.

Once assembled and painted it looked pretty good, particularly after I’d relocated it to fit between a gap in the hedge, overlooking the patio, and there it stayed until the beginning of November, when the first of the winter’s storms struck. So having invested a considerable amount of time and effort in this structure, you can perhaps  understand why I am so keen to save it.

It was rather pleasant being outdoors and with the sun shining and the wind having dropped, it was quite warm in the garden. It was certainly warmer than it had been for a long time, but still far to wet to do much in the way of serious gardening. The lawn was very soft underfoot, and walking across it you could hear, and feel, the squelch of the ground underneath.

So after tidying up the remains of my arbour, re-potting a few plants ad sweeping the patio, I decided to take a walk down into Tonbridge – “Sunny Tunny,” as it’s sometimes referred to, for a look round and to pick up a few items ahead of this Friday’s trip to Burton.

It was a while since I’d last had a wander around Tonbridge, and as with many towns up and down the UK, things aren’t looking too good on the High Street. The saddest news is the loss of Beales, our only department store, which is due to close at the end of the month. A combination of high rents, even higher business rates and changing consumer tastes and demands, has forced the parent company into receivership.

Beales share a site with Sainsbury’s, and the rumour is that the supermarket will expand into at least part of  the soon to be vacated site, but once the store finally closes, there will be nowhere left in Tonbridge for us gents to buy our clothes. The ladies, of course, are still catered for, although one independently-owned  fashion emporium will soon also be shutting, but I will miss Beales next time I want to buy a winter coat, a new fleece or a light-weight jacket for summer.

To make matters worse, our local branch of Millets is also due to close, its demise probably hastened by the opening a couple of years ago of a branch of Go Outdoors, on a newly created retail park on the edge of town. Fortunately, son Matthew’s shop is still open and trading well, so I was able to buy the “C-type” charging cable I was after.

No venture into Tonbridge should be undertaken without calling in somewhere for a pint. I decided to head towards Fuggles, diverting along the perimeter of the "Sports Ground."  Parts of the latter are still impassable, due to floodwater, so I made my way back towards the High Street and eventually arrived at Fuggles.

This laid back café-bar was fairly full, but fortunately there were still a few seats and tables going spare. It was sometime since my last visit, but there was still that pleasant buzz about the place that comes from discerning people, chatting and socialising, whilst enjoying a choice of beers that is the widest in Tonbridge.

I made my way to the bar, and was presented with the difficult choice of Burning Sky Plateau or Thornbridge Jaipur.  Although tempted by the latter, I decided to go with something slightly more sensible, and opted for the Plateau. I was glad I did, as that as the beer was pale, hoppy and crystal clear with just the right amount of condition. It was worthy of a 3.5 NBSS.

I was tempted to stay for a second beer and possibly go for the Jaipur, but I received a text from Matthew, offering me a lift home. He had just finished his shift, so with the prospect of a nice pot-roast in waiting in the oven at home, I took him up on his offer. I walked back down towards where he was parked, and we headed off for home.

Tonbridge didn't seem to have changed much, and despite the aforementioned closures, there are encouraging signs of a few independent shops springing up amongst the  hairdressers, charity shops and estate agents that seem to dominate the town. The latter are a sign that the town is still desirable place to live, and with some decent places to drink in at last, and a new one due to open at Easter,  Tonbridge continues on its upward journey as a very desirable place to live.

Supping with the devil?

CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale has landed itself in a real pickle after rejecting a motion put forward for debate at its forthcoming Annual General Meeting in York. The motion, proposed by Scarborough Branch, would have prevented CAMRA providing or promoting discount schemes, such as the sixty vouchers, sent each year, to all CAMRA members, for use at a selection of large pub and bar chains.

The chains include JD Wetherspoon – the original sponsors of the voucher scheme, Stonegate Inns, Brains, Castle Rock plus Amber Taverns managed pubs.  A total of 1,550 pubs are included in the scheme, and with each voucher worth 50p off a pint of real ale, cider or perry, this amounts to an annual benefit of £30.

Scarborough Branch member Phil Saltonstall, who owns Brass Castle Brewery in Malton, proposed the motion, and is critical of CAMRA’s refusal to debate the issue, but all motions put forward at the Campaign’s AGM  have to be vetted by the Conference Procedures Committee.

So rather than allow this important motion to be scrutinised and debated by the membership, CAMRA have removed it from the order paper.  An appeal has been lodged, but will not be heard until the night before the AGM, a move which many will view as an attempt to stifle debate.

Unfortunately for CAMRA, the issue is not going away, and the Procedures Committee's heavy-handed action has only inflamed passions over what is already an emotive subject. 110 breweries, from all over the UK, have now signed an open letter in support of the motion, and are calling on CAMRA to end its use of discount vouchers and tacit support of large pub chains.  

They say CAMRA’s current policy undermines real ale and pushes drinkers towards corporate chains, to the detriment of smaller pubs and independent free-houses. The brewers argue that the practice sets unrealistic expectations among new real ale drinkers, damages small breweries who cannot produce to the scales the big chains require, and disrespects the craft that goes into producing real ale.

The signatories are from a wide and diverse range of  respected independent breweries, and include many brewers of CAMRA-judged award-winning beers. Several of these companies are past winners of CAMRA’s prestigious National Champion Beer of Britain. More breweries are coming forward in support, making the Campaign’s attempt to shut down the debate on this important issue, before it even started, look all the more foolish.

In the letter, they say: “…it is dangerously inconsistent for CAMRA to promote real ale as the pinnacle of the brewer’s art while simultaneously making it the cheapest beer on the bar. Inevitably, new drinkers will be led to have little regard for the quality of real ale. The policy also undermines CAMRA’s public image, as it promotes that which it was established to overhaul: a limited range of beers from large breweries, served-up cheaply by pub chains.”

The brewers go on to say: “CAMRA will win more support from the wider brewing and pub industries when it stops driving people to chain pubs for cheap beer, and when it instead respects real ale, respect the pubs that showcase it, and respects the brewers who produce it.”

There is much in the motion, and the support letter that I agree with, and I have argued in the past for CAMRA to distance itself from such discount schemes. The predictable response was that Spoons vouchers help people on low incomes, pensioners or the unemployed, but CAMRA should be something more than an organisation that facilitates cheap beer for its members.

Writing on the Brass Castle Brewery website, motion proposer, Phil Saltonstall said, “I know not everyone will agree with our motion, but many do and there was an excellent opportunity to have the debate in April at the AGM. It is infuriating that CAMRA has sought to stifle this debate, and in doing so it shows a blindness to the huge impact this has on real ale, breweries and publicans, and CAMRA’s public image.” 

“CAMRA itself cannot be both the champion of good-quality, great tasting cask beer and the promoter of bargain-basement cheap pints; as to accommodate price discounting, some pub companies insist that brewers provide real ale at a crazily low price.”

You can read Phil’s statement in full here, along with the open letter and the current list of signatories, but in the meantime, what are the odds of CAMRA backing down and at lease allowing the issue to be debated in an open and honest manner? The group haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory over this matter, and their incoherent policy on discounting undermines its credibility in virtually all other campaigning areas.

CAMRA may fear that, if the motion was approved, they would see a reduction in membership levels, but the organisation cannot exist solely to boost its own numbers, while the fate of real ale is left to its own devices. All indicators suggest that cask is in serious decline, so now more than ever the genre needs a self-respecting and energetic Campaign for Real Ale. 

An organisation that jumps into bed with groups such as Wetherspoon’s and Stonegate cannot claim to be acting in an impartial and independent manner, and lays itself open to the criticism already put forward.