Here we go again!

[ROBCamra]

Earlier this year The Baum won CAMRA's Rochdale Pub Of The Year 2013.

It was then voted Rochdale, Oldham & Bury's POTY 2013.

And today I'm allowed to announce something I've known for 3 weeks.

It's also been named Greater Manchester POTY 2013 which means it's in the last 16 for the national AGAIN!!

Head to head with Quinno's local the Nags Head in Reading as well!

Bu**er, I've only just got my local back from the lager / white wine drinking tourists after last years POTY award. :moremad:

The Nags can have it this year as far as I'm concerned. :cheers:

[hondo]

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/General-News/Good-Beer-Guide-2014-16-finalists-announced-for-CAMRA-Pub-of-the-Year
not visited any of them :rolleyes:

[trainman]

A poor 3 for me.
I still haven't even made it to Newdigate!
I thought East Anglia must be a typo and they meant Dove, Ipswich, but I see our Ray has found 6 non-gk beers at this Bury-St E. hostelry!

[Quinno]

And today I'm allowed to announce something I've known for 3 weeks.


Hee hee, me too. I was going to post it earlier but been manic at work!

Looking at the list, I've only done two and one of them's the Nags!

[Strongers]

I’ve been to the Hope and Nags. I’m hoping to do an all-dayer in Deal at some point in the next year so I’ll be sure to have a look at the Berry.
I pass a sign for Newdigate when driving up to London and usually chuckle to myself when I see it, but the Surrey Oaks is a bit out of the way for me to get to for a few beers.
It’s a shame there are no Sussex pubs on the list.

[Maldenman]

Been to The Surrey Oaks, Albion Ale House and The Hope. The Soaks is very hard to get to without a car, had my birthday lunch there this year, Albion is a belter, unusually rescued by a consortium of Welsh breweries, The Hope is well, the Hope, another risen from obscurity pub well looked after and deservedly popular.

How I'm yet to visit The Nags is a personal mystery.

[gillhalfpint]

Freshfield Hotel in Formby was one of my first pub visits after joining CAMRA in 2002. Got a Cains bar towel from there.
Cobbles in Kelso, Quakerhouse Darlington - could be back there tomorrow - Seven Stars Rugby and Old Spot Dursley make it 5 for us.

[bcfczuluarmy]

Just the Old Spot for me.

[Real Ale Ray]

3 for me. The Dove (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/34787/) This is a fab pub and as Trainman rightly says, no GK ales! I visited again in June and it's still as good as ever.
Freshfield Hotel (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/26637/) Closest to home for me and an excellent pub - always a brilliant range of ales.
Not forgetting Quinno's Nag's Head. An interesting list!

[Wittenden]

Just the Surrey Oaks for me: a damn fine pub, but somewhat isolated. Haven't reached The Berry yet, but has good reputation.

[sheffield hatter]

There is no way that Old No 7 (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/33676/) is the best pub in Yorkshire. I could name 20 better pubs off the top of my head.

[Quinno]

There is no way that Old No 7 (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/33676/) is the best pub in Yorkshire. I could name 20 better pubs off the top of my head.

one less for the Nags to beat then! :whistle:

[Strongers]

one less for the Nags to beat then! :whistle:

The Nags is the best pub I've been into in the last couple of years. Loads of well kept beer, pies that beat pubs that specialise in pies, darts, Sky, friendly staff that know their stuff and locals that are humble in victory over arrow chucking northern invaders. :notworthy::cheers::notworthy:

[hondo]

" their consistently good beer and friendly atmosphere"
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/baum-rochdale-running-named-britains-5918965

[Bucking Fastard]

Just two ticks from me,The Hope and Nags Head,both visited on PuG crawls.:)

I may well have been in The Seven Stars (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/37232/) many moons ago on one of several extensive pub crawls in Rugby but never in it's previous incarnation as a Charles Wells failing pub.Another great Project William turnaround.

[Thuck Phat]

The Seven Stars (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/37232/) is another great Project William pub but I'm not convinced that it's the best pub in Rugby never mind the West Midlands.

[Soup Dragon]

The West Midlands must be one massive area, according to CAMRA.

[oldboots]

The West Midlands must be one massive area, according to CAMRA.

It's coz Warwickshire is a funny shape http://www.camra.org.uk/camraregions

[Bucking Fastard]

It's coz Warwickshire is a funny shape http://www.camra.org.uk/camraregions

That just makes the choice of the Seven Stars even more remarkable.

It seems very unfair that Kent is described as a region,when the West Midlands region is virtually Mercia.

[Soup Dragon]

That just makes the choice of the Seven Stars even more remarkable.

It seems very unfair that Kent is described as a region,when the West Midlands region is virtually Mercia.

I completely agree, Captain

[rpadam]

It seems very unfair that Kent is described as a region,when the West Midlands region is virtually Mercia.
Invicta!

[Quinno]

"Quinten Taylor, vice chairman of the Reading & Mid Berkshire CAMRA branch, said: “Congratulations to the team at the Nags for being voted as one of the best 16 pubs in Britain – a massive achievement.”" :D

http://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/roundup/articles/2013/09/27/93523-russell-street-pub-nominated-for-prestigious-award/

[ROBCamra]

Well the final 4 have been announced and The Baum didn't make it this time. :cheers::bemerry::drinkup:

Now perhaps we can have our pub back from the lager drinking tossers and the pino grigio drinking airheads that they bring with them that the award attracted. :mad:

The Nags didn't make it either, so at least Quinno can keep his local. :cheers:

[oldboots]

For those interested the four finalists are:

The Swan With Two Necks (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/59260/) Pendleton Lancs (unreviewed!)

Horse & Jockey (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/69848/) Stapleford, Notts

The Hope (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/35464/) Carshalton, Surrey

The Old Spot Inn (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/12578/) Dursley, Gloucestershire (a previous winner)


I shall now retire while everyone tells us "that's not even the best pub in X Y or Z" etc.

[Aqualung]

For those interested the four finalists are:

The Swan With Two Necks (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/59260/) Pendleton Lancs (unreviewed!)

Horse & Jockey (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/69848/) Stapleford, Notts

The Hope (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/35464/) Carshalton, Surrey

The Old Spot Inn (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/12578/) Dursley, Gloucestershire (a previous winner)


I shall now retire while everyone tells us "that's not even the best pub in X Y or Z" etc.

The Hope is one on my To Do list, it looks like I'm going to have to go there sooner rather than later.

[NickDavies]

The Hope is one on my To Do list, it looks like I'm going to have to go there sooner rather than later.

We go past it most days and call in once a week or so. It's destination pub for London's beardies as at is, and is dreadful for pub annoyances #74 and #95 (http://forums.pubsgalore.co.uk/showthread.php?949-Pub-annoyances-834/page35). But it's still a bloody good pub so get there when you can.

[Quinno]

Given ROB's comments re the Baum I think the Nags not getting to the final four may well be a blessing in disguise. The place was rammed last night for the Siren Craft/Wild Weather tap takeover anyway...

[Al 10000]

For those interested the four finalists are:

The Swan With Two Necks (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/59260/) Pendleton Lancs (unreviewed!)

Horse & Jockey (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/69848/) Stapleford, Notts

The Hope (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/35464/) Carshalton, Surrey

The Old Spot Inn (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/12578/) Dursley, Gloucestershire (a previous winner)


I shall now retire while everyone tells us "that's not even the best pub in X Y or Z" etc.

Two out of four correct countys,i it should be Lancashire and Nottinghamshire,if one thing bugs me and the wife it is people calling Nottinghamshire, Notts.

The Horse and Jockey is quite close to my house and work place,it is a pub i have been in too many times to remember,it is a shame that it got this far through to the finals of the best pub in Britain,after reading previous posts :confused:

[Aqualung]

Two out of four correct countys,i it should be Lancashire and Nottinghamshire,if one thing bugs me and the wife it is people calling Nottinghamshire, Notts.

The Horse and Jockey is quite close to my house and work place,it is a pub i have been in too many times to remember,it is a shame that it got this far through to the finals of the best pub in Britain,after reading previous posts :confused:

Make it one out of four! In my book Carshalton is in the London Borough of Sutton so is part of Greater London not Surrey.

[sheffield hatter]

I shall now retire while everyone tells us "that's not even the best pub in X Y or Z" etc.


Two out of four correct countys,i it should be Lancashire and Nottinghamshire,if one thing bugs me and the wife it is people calling Nottinghamshire, Notts.


Make it one out of four! In my book Carshalton is in the London Borough of Sutton so is part of Greater London not Surrey.

But is it the best pub in Sutton? :evilgrin:

[Aqualung]

But is it the best pub in Sutton? :evilgrin:

I suspect it is if you mean the London Borough of Sutton, but I hope to confirm that before the year is out. I wouldn't be surprised to find that it also overshadows many of the Croydon GBG pubs. Sutton has two of the better London Spoons and in my opinion the wrong one is in the GBG. It seems such a shame that Young's have completely lost their way and that Fuller's mission statement for their pubs is to totally rip the punters off, despite the fact that they can upload their beers to ASDA and Tesco at a price that allows them to sell their bottles at four for a fiver.

[NickDavies]

Two out of four correct countys,i it should be Lancashire and Nottinghamshire,if one thing bugs me and the wife it is people calling Nottinghamshire, Notts.

:


Even Notts County supporters?

[Al 10000]

Make it one out of four! In my book Carshalton is in the London Borough of Sutton so is part of Greater London not Surrey.

Quite right Aqualung, i dont know how i missed that one i have been in the Hope and done nearly all of Carshaltons pubs.

[Aqualung]

Even Notts County supporters?

While we're all grumping about county name abuse why is the wonderful county of Shropshire sometimes called Salop and why is the county town pronounced "Shrew" or "Shrow" depending how posh you are???

[oldboots]

While we're all grumping about county name abuse why is the wonderful county of Shropshire sometimes called Salop and why is the county town pronounced "Shrew" or "Shrow" depending how posh you are???


Wiki-bloody-pedia says (sez or saez depending on how posh you are) :

"The origin of the name "Shropshire" is the Old English "Scrobbesbyrigscīr" (literally Shrewsbury -shire).

Salop is an old abbreviation for Shropshire, sometimes used on envelopes or telegrams, and comes from the Anglo-French "Salopesberia". It is normally replaced by the more contemporary "Shrops" although Shropshire residents are still referred to as "Salopians".[8] Salop however is also used as an alternative name for the county town, Shrewsbury, which also shares the motto of Floreat Salopia.

When a county council for the county was first established in 1889, it was called Salop County Council.[30] Following the Local Government Act 1972, Salop became the official name of the county, but a campaign led by a local councillor, John Kenyon, succeeded in having both the county and council renamed as Shropshire in 1980.[31] This took effect from 1 April of that year.[32]

8 a b Blandings: English Counties – broken link
31 County's name change colonel dies BBC News
32 The London Gazette: no. 48124. p. 3797. 11 March 1980. Retrieved 17 January 2013.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shropshire "


Seems plausible enough, interesting about the Old English which suggests it might actually be Shrawbs-bury :D


The usual explanation for different pronunciations of place names is so people can identify "foreigners" and treat them accordingly, England being England I expect class enters into it as well sooner rather than later.

Old Boots
Yorks W.R.

[Oggwyn Trench]

While we're all grumping about county name abuse why is the wonderful county of Shropshire sometimes called Salop and why is the county town pronounced "Shrew" or "Shrow" depending how posh you are???

There is still a lot of debate about it , OBs post explains quiet a bit , other explanations are many , Shrewsbury is a corruption of the Saxon Scrobbesbyrigh which roughly means fortified place in the scrubland .
The Saxon name for Shropshire was Sloppeberrie(People from Hereford still call Salopians , Sloppies) which was corrupted by the Normans into Salopberrie because they could not prounounce the Saxon name properly , apparently Nottingham was a similar case originally in Saxon being Snotinghambergh or similar .

As for Shrew/Shrow, Shrewsbury has had a lot of different spellings over the years , Shroughsbury being one of the more common i have seen , southerners tend to say Shrow locals Shrew , upper middle class locals Shrow .

Just south of Shrewsbury is Rattlinghope pronounced Ratchup:confused:

[ROBCamra]

Well, we've only gone and done it again.

The Baum has been awarded the CAMRA Greater Manchester Pub Of The Year for the third time in five years.

This puts us in the last 16 for the National award again.

Yesterday Simon and I went to Craftbrew (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/82726/) to collect the award.

For some reason the CAMRA website doesn't appear to have the last 16 list on it yet.

But as the press embargo ended yesterday I assume I'm OK to mention it on here. :cheers:

[Pubsignman]

Congratulations!! :cheers:

I'll be interested to see which other pubs make the final 16. I believe The Hope (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/35464/) in Carshalton won the Greater London award for the fourth time in recent years. I wonder if micropubs will make up the majority of the contenders given how many seem to have made it into this year's guide.

[ROBCamra]

I know another previous winner The Swan With Two Necks (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/59260/) is in there again.

They were at the same presentation do as us.

[hondo]

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Running-your-pub/Events-Occasions/CAMRA-names-top-16-regional-winners-in-search-for-Pub-of-the-Year?utm_source=copyright&utm_medium=OnSite&utm_campaign=copyright
1/16 visited

[ROBCamra]

Just the two for me.

Only The Steamboat (http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/65554/) visited apart from The Baum.

[Farway]

http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/Running-your-pub/Events-Occasions/CAMRA-names-top-16-regional-winners-in-search-for-Pub-of-the-Year?utm_source=copyright&utm_medium=OnSite&utm_campaign=copyright
1/16 visited

0/16 for me

[Pubsignman]

4 for me - Hope, Steamboat, Baum & Swan with Two Necks.

I was expecting to see a lot of micropubs on this year's list, but it looks like there are only two of them (compared to three last year). Have to say there are a few there I've never heard of - I'll have to get my map out!

[trainman]

Four for me, presuming I ticked Rifle Volunteer when in Maidstone.
Was gonna say 3, then realised the 'Staggs' was a cracking little visit on a Sunday debrief after a heavy and very wet Saturday in Edinburgh.
Baum and Hope are my others, I popped back to the latter last Saturday.

[Pubsignman]

Just realised that five of these - Lowestoft, Horsley Woodhouse, Musselburgh, Llandrindod Wells and Leek - have no review on PuG, whilst the Yorkshire representative has a one line review from a one-off poster. There's work to be done people! :drinkup:

[Wittenden]

Only the George and Dragon, Huddswell, and that was well before it became community run.(Indeed before this site was running.) I can't really claim it, nor the Rifle Volunteers, as I must have been in when I worked up the road in the 70s.

[AlanH]

0/16 for me! :(
Never even got to The Baum when I lived in Ramsbottom because buses home from CAMRA meetings were too early. :moremad:

[Mobyduck]

A big fat 0.

[Aqualung]

A big fat 0.

Nothing to be ashamed of in this increasingly irrelevant event. Just like CBOB the whole thing is flawed and hopelessly out of date. How can they possibly justify Surrey & Sussex and Kent both having their own areas when we find that the West Midlands pub is on the outskirts of Leek!
It's just a way of justifying the existence of the dwindling few who turn up for local branch meetings. I wonder how many CAMRA members who actually live in the West Midlands have even been to that pub near Leek.
Rant Over! I've been to three, the Hope, the Rifle Volunteers in Maidstone and the Brooksteed Micropub in Worthing. The Hope is my least favourite of the three.

[Bucking Fastard]

Just The Baum and The Hope for me.

[london calling]

Only one for me but I do know the owner of the Brookestead Ale House who is a mad beer ticker.Only one I have been in is the Hope and if that's the best Camra can do in London I worry for pubs.

[Komakino]

1/16 for me too, with the only one being The Cross Keys in Thame as you'd expect given my proximity. And I remember it in its "failing keg-only" days to boot. What a great transformation...

[oldboots]

Just the Baum for me.

[Real Ale Ray]

Just two for me - Cricketers, St Helens, and Steamboat, South Shields. I did try, unsuccessfully, to get into the Swan with Two Necks, despite phoning the pub beforehand to make sure they were open - arrived in a taxi from Clitheroe to find it was closed...:moremad:

[ROBCamra]

Just two for me - Cricketers, St Helens, and Steamboat, South Shields. I did try, unsuccessfully, to get into the Swan with Two Necks, despite phoning the pub beforehand to make sure they were open - arrived in a taxi from Clitheroe to find it was closed...:moremad:

I was chatting to the landlady & landlord of The Cricketers at the presentation do last Thursday.

Seemed like a really nice couple.

[Real Ale Ray]

I was chatting to the landlady & landlord of The Cricketers at the presentation do last Thursday.

Seemed like a really nice couple.

It's a cracking place!

[ROBCamra]

It's a cracking place!

Hopefully they'll win it then and save us all the hassle. :evilgrin: