Best local pub 2011, Will CAMRA get it right this time? Options

[Bofem]

CAMRA are looking for nominations for best local pub 2011.

Although the rules are as transparent as a FIFA World Cup selection panel, it's worth registering your favourite, if only to keep the old greybeards in touch with what pubgoers really appreciate.

It doesn't look like the most popular wins. The Fox and Hounds at Donnington won it last year, even though there's never more than 5 people in there most nights.

http://www.westberkscamra.org.uk/

Quite a tough one this year, but my vote goes to.....The Swan at East Ilsley.

[Rosewinelover]

CAMRA are looking for nominations for best local pub 2011.

Although the rules are as transparent as a FIFA World Cup selection panel, it's worth registering your favourite, if only to keep the old greybeards in touch with what pubgoers really appreciate.

It doesn't look like the most popular wins. The Fox and Hounds at Donnington won it last year, even though there's never more than 5 people in there most nights.

http://www.westberkscamra.org.uk/

Quite a tough one this year, but my vote goes to.....The Swan at East Ilsley.

I love the Red House, Highclere, for the food and people who work there. How did the Fox and Hounds win it? I've popped in there a few times when passing and it's always empty.

[Blake]

The Potkiln at Frilsham wins for me. I have rarely seen such a quality pub with great service and not a TV in sight. I'd give it ten out of ten.

[blackdog]

CAMRA once again selected the Bell at Aldworth as its pub of the year a few months back - last I heard it was up for best pub in SE England.

The vote they are holding at the moment is for community pub of the year. The Fox & Hounds at Donnington won it two or three years ago, not last year. The award is not about fine dining or superior decor, even the beer is not the paramount factor (though decent beer is obviously an important factor in any CAMRA vote). The award is about the pub as part of the local community. A village or town local is, I guess/hope, more likely to win than a pub that attracts diners from tens of miles away or crowds of partying youngsters every Saturday night.

In their words: West Berkshire CAMRA are now inviting nominations for next year's Best Community Pub in the region. We're looking for pubs that form an important part of their community by providing more than refreshment. The next winning pub will certainly have a welcoming atmosphere and may also support charitable causes, have sporting links, organise special events or offer important local services. Other evidence of strong interaction with the community will also count in its favour.

The Fox & Hounds won it for their efforts to create a community based around a pub that is stuck out in the middle of nowhere with only a couple of cottages within half a mile. I have to say I like the pub and use it more than most others in the area.

[Rosewinelover]

The Potkiln at Frilsham wins for me. I have rarely seen such a quality pub with great service and not a TV in sight. I'd give it ten out of ten.

Another one of my favourites too, haven't been there recently, might go before Christmas if they can fit us in.

[Bartholomew]

The Potkiln at Frilsham wins for me. I have rarely seen such a quality pub with great service and not a TV in sight. I'd give it ten out of ten.

If CAMRA is looking for community spirit, the the Potkiln scores 1 out of 10. Their main custom comes from anywhere but the local community. Since taking over, Mike Robinson has made this a restaurant rather than a pub and relied initially on Sky to get profits and customers. It is a very well run establishment but it is not a part of the community around it.

[user23]

My vote goes to the Snooty Fox in Newbury. Open until 5am meaning the community can access it when they want. Plenty of televisions showing a variety of sport which enables more people to watch what they want and a decent sound system so you're not straining to hear whatever music might be playing.

[Bofem]

BTW - I see the White Hart at Hamstead Marshall is up for grabs for £600k (in last week's NWN property section).

Why can't anyone make a decent go of that? 10 rooms to let, free accommodation, massive walled garden. Is it too near Craven arms?

[Blake]

If CAMRA is looking for community spirit, the the Potkiln scores 1 out of 10. Their main custom comes from anywhere but the local community. Since taking over, Mike Robinson has made this a restaurant rather than a pub and relied initially on Sky to get profits and customers. It is a very well run establishment but it is not a part of the community around it.

I must refute your points Bartholomew; The pub sells local beer, locally grown produce and employs local people. It has a restaurant but is still a good local pub, steeped in local tradition. Most pubs in such quiet spots would not have lasted unless they offered such a quality experience. I cannot get enough of it.

[Jayjay]

The **** Inn on Shaw Road. Local pub serving local people. I like the fact that all ages use it, also families. The couple who run it are not local but really friendly and have turned a pub with a bad reputation into something really good.

EDIT stupid system will not let me put the correct name of the pub. It is another name for a male bird.

[Iommi]

Use white spaces: The C o c k Inn, or use a zero. The C0ck Inn.

[Jayjay]

Use white spaces: The C o c k Inn, or use a zero. The C0ck Inn.

Oh, good thinking, thank you.

[Bartholomew]

I must refute your points Bartholomew; The pub sells local beer, locally grown produce and employs local people. It has a restaurant but is still a good local pub, steeped in local tradition. Most pubs in such quiet spots would not have lasted unless they offered such a quality experience. I cannot get enough of it.

I was a local in the village at the time that Mike Robinson took over. The locals boycott the pub whilst expensive cars from distant parts roam the area trying to find the premises. In fact a favourite for locals was to direct these foreigners to anywhere but the pub.
You are right that it is unlikely to have lasted unless they are making money (I think that a lot of the initial money came from Sky TV) and I don't doubt that it has good food.
As for steeped in local tradition, ask the locals who used to use it as a local and now don't bother or the local events that used to take place there and now don't because of the poor reception they received. There is more to supporting the local community than buying locally and raising your prices and selling to non locals.
I'm sure that it is a wonderful experience but its not part of the local community which is the point I was making.

[Brewmaster]

When did we get it wrong?

[Iommi]

When did we get it wrong?

When did we get what wrong?

[Brewmaster]

When did we get what wrong?

Try reading the full title to the thread.

[Iommi]

Try reading the full title to the thread.

If you are going to be like that, perhaps if you had read the OP, you would not have needed to ask the question!!!

[Brewmaster]

If you are going to be like that, perhaps if you had read the OP, you would not have needed to ask the question!!!

I did; did you?

Perhaps I should go back and re-cap in words of one syllable. The full title of this thread is Best local pub 2011, Will CAMRA get it right this time? As a member of the local CAMRA branch, I want to know how, in the opinion of the thread's author, we got it wrong. Feel free to read this sentence again if you don't understand it.

The author, Bofem, is probably unaware that there are two local pub awards, as Blackdog has correctly pointed out. They are as follows:

The Pub of the Year Award. The criteria for this is that the pub has to be in West Berks branch area, do good ale - i.e. be in the Good Beer Guide - and then be a good pub in the eyes of judges.

The most recent winners are:
2010 - Bell, Aldworth (also won regional award)
2009 - Dundas Arms, Kintbury.
2008 - Six Bells, Beenham
2007 - Rising Sun, Stockcross
2006 - Bell, Aldworth (also won regional award)
2005 - Bell, Aldworth (also won regional award)

The Community Pub of the Year Award. The pub has to be in West Berks branch area, but not necessarily in the Good Beer Guide (although it must do good beer). It has to nominated by someone who can present a good, verifiable case as to what the pub does for the community. Blackdog has already mentioned some of these activities.

The winners since the local branch started this award are:
2010 - Castle, Cold Ash
2009 - Ibex, Chaddleworth
2008 - Fox & Hounds, Donnington

I hope this shows that West Berks CAMRA members know what they are doing.

[Iommi]

I did; did you?

Yes I did, only that I appreciate that sometimes what is obvious to some is not to others.

Inserting a phrase "When did we get it wrong?" after a conversation is ambiguous. I sought clarity. You sought to be your usual rude and arrogant self and continue to be so it seems...

[Bofem]

The winners since the local branch started this award are:
2010 - Castle, Cold Ash
2009 - Ibex, Chaddleworth
2008 - Fox & Hounds, Donnington

I hope this shows that West Berks CAMRA members know what they are doing.

I was asking the question because we don't know what the judging criteria are. Why do CAMRA greybeards have to decide and not the public?

On your last point, I don't think you do. Your 2009 winner was hardly a booming viable business was it?

http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article...articleID=12266