Blog Tracker
23-06-2023, 11:31
Visit the Paul Bailey's Beer Blog site (https://baileysbeerblog.blogspot.com/2023/06/15-years-of-writing-about-beer-potted.html)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9LEQbpAJAh8VztH3Kp-0K8cce5vcAEVTb8Y-PHcjNgIzTORwW0sJ9EaYN9gY6yq2dOwMT7k06W9FqhUQa3Ex1t uLp1oxL1lDZgsKAhV6msifMdHcdBEorVrp3GgP2LABy_AMFWP2 q71fFqKX5HTA7VjUMHCsjLBNZSWvilYBuwLSIpkt88XEcuHIOC B0/w400-h198/Screenshot_2021-01-07%20Paul's%20Beer%20Travels.png (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9LEQbpAJAh8VztH3Kp-0K8cce5vcAEVTb8Y-PHcjNgIzTORwW0sJ9EaYN9gY6yq2dOwMT7k06W9FqhUQa3Ex1t uLp1oxL1lDZgsKAhV6msifMdHcdBEorVrp3GgP2LABy_AMFWP2 q71fFqKX5HTA7VjUMHCsjLBNZSWvilYBuwLSIpkt88XEcuHIOC B0/s1081/Screenshot_2021-01-07%20Paul's%20Beer%20Travels.png)
I've been writing this beer blog for the best part of 15years, with the first post appearing on the 23rd of November 2008. (https://baileysbeerblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/first-posting.html)Apart from alull during 2011 when, due to illness not much appeared online, I've managed tokeep up a steady output, and for the past decade or so I've striven, and mainlysucceeded to write a minimum of 10 posts per month.https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsqnDSmAVCDY92E6LVVxkiWy2J8GN2LGZmUjtrgWRcWl-t9skYcx0H7wut_Q8eKEUDc4RaOHn9A31seCTbU8LJLtDZCK2Ii WQ0Dkejt8r8jhyvSMnn0pseRkiXuDIgRGnLDkMKBS0Ba92CcxM 7SEYEnfJ2PvJ0gdrtDa9yPMfx0MI_F4o-agnFxJCd-OE/w400-h108/Screenshot%202023-06-23%20at%2009-21-17%20RealAleBlog.png (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsqnDSmAVCDY92E6LVVxkiWy2J8GN2LGZmUjtrgWRcWl-t9skYcx0H7wut_Q8eKEUDc4RaOHn9A31seCTbU8LJLtDZCK2Ii WQ0Dkejt8r8jhyvSMnn0pseRkiXuDIgRGnLDkMKBS0Ba92CcxM 7SEYEnfJ2PvJ0gdrtDa9yPMfx0MI_F4o-agnFxJCd-OE/s494/Screenshot%202023-06-23%20at%2009-21-17%20RealAleBlog.png)I was tempted to take the plunge and start my own blog, by anexcellent fellow
called Paul Garrard, who at the time lived in Norwich. Paul produced an excellent blog, titled the RealAleBlog (http://www.realaleblog.co.uk/), as well as a couple of otherblogs, including one which reflected his general outlook on life, and hisslightly left-leaning politics. Paul had a similar background to my own, evento the extent of running his own beer shop. I'm not quite sure when thisbusiness ceased trading, and despite talking to him about his shop, I’m notsure what his reasons were for winding it up.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqtZbWkF-Yrt-1R9GuAGlci2svP67NKHr_BUrRkpH080WK66xBH2XSH-kcFD_XzI2hAUbnV5bA7mFDZTbqW3XbIFdOeugyYpQVeQ3FKEvF MpRbM82dO1odUyNdqeK-7cRS-GarbOFZSQmXdncDqR9BvK-m1iDdq9TFcWd4pT8ObGqQ7i0is4wILdw0k8I/w400-h286/Rifle%20Volunteer.JPG (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqtZbWkF-Yrt-1R9GuAGlci2svP67NKHr_BUrRkpH080WK66xBH2XSH-kcFD_XzI2hAUbnV5bA7mFDZTbqW3XbIFdOeugyYpQVeQ3FKEvF MpRbM82dO1odUyNdqeK-7cRS-GarbOFZSQmXdncDqR9BvK-m1iDdq9TFcWd4pT8ObGqQ7i0is4wILdw0k8I/s1980/Rifle%20Volunteer.JPG)
I met up with him, in 2009, for a few pints of Goacher’s, atthe unspoiled Rifle Volunteers pub in Maidstone – a town which Paul and his wife werevisiting at the time. We enjoyed a good session on the Goacher’s, and you canread about it here. (https://baileysbeerblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/bloggers-meet-up.html) Paul encouraged other writers, or in my case aspiringbloggers, to write a guest post on his blog, and I can remember writing atleast one such piece. From memory, my post was generally well receive and thisencouraged me to take the plunge and start my own blog, using Google’s Bloggeras the platform to host it.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizS-IG9dnbszJbQJbFjZ7Y1O5bf67XVLGwTB5lwak92J1E5hHO8RZ1 sVMZDZL3gqk1p_-TNsJ5Rp9pW34ChktquObpBgfy3cMYgMuB-u8dotsMhWiOnOKZOtysKPTfYPEAYoqKbxId5Lm5UMVUUJTBaGa QSk79vDysJ_tAEO1fGeBUwLH_1S6uD0kEbac/w300-h400/DSCN1728%20cut%20&%20paste.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizS-IG9dnbszJbQJbFjZ7Y1O5bf67XVLGwTB5lwak92J1E5hHO8RZ1 sVMZDZL3gqk1p_-TNsJ5Rp9pW34ChktquObpBgfy3cMYgMuB-u8dotsMhWiOnOKZOtysKPTfYPEAYoqKbxId5Lm5UMVUUJTBaGa QSk79vDysJ_tAEO1fGeBUwLH_1S6uD0kEbac/s1600/DSCN1728%20cut%20&%20paste.jpg)
Looking back, my initial choice of Paul Bailey’s Beer Blogfor the title wasn't very imaginative, especially as there are some far wittier,and less personal titles floating around, than my own. I'm stuck with the name now,and despite my early reservations, the name I chose has, generally speaking, servedme well over the years. I took a look back at those early years, and it seems thatthe last entry on Paul’s RealAleBlog (http://www.realaleblog.co.uk/) was made in 2014. As with the beer shop,I'm not quite sure what happened, whether Paul just lost interest, or whether somethingmore profound took place, but the beauty of Blogger, as opposed to self-hosted blogsand websites, is that the information is still out there. So today, 9 years onfrom the last entry, the pages of Paul’s RealAleBlog are there, and with alittle bit of searching, they can still be accessed.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt-EVLENTTfT2yaKMwCb2wIneI7GSxVyiEnDoGYgHRcV1K60FADgF B-3toYDxRjGdy_bAEXXok2tm9GQGDI7zPtwa9K7EqQ1dNdukX2Dv L3X5cZytq4hRQ6nHh4MoYoql5zb_1Q00hK7W8Cnk1ipVY8ixnq c45VlrAmoaAZLZoLoEO4carIK5LYpnglN4/w400-h127/Draught%20Copy.png (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt-EVLENTTfT2yaKMwCb2wIneI7GSxVyiEnDoGYgHRcV1K60FADgF B-3toYDxRjGdy_bAEXXok2tm9GQGDI7zPtwa9K7EqQ1dNdukX2Dv L3X5cZytq4hRQ6nHh4MoYoql5zb_1Q00hK7W8Cnk1ipVY8ixnq c45VlrAmoaAZLZoLoEO4carIK5LYpnglN4/s398/Draught%20Copy.png)
What people may not know is I have been writing about beerand pubs for much longer than the past 15 years, although strangely enough itwas a complete accident as to how and why I became a writer in the firstplace. I described the reasons here (https://baileysbeerblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/how-i-got-into-beer-writing-part-one.html), in this post written in November 2016, soI won’t repeat them again, but for several years, back in the mid-1980’s, I waseditor, and chief copy-writer of Draught Copy – the newsletter of the Maidstone & Mid-Kent Branch of CAMRA (http://www.mmk.camra.org.uk/).
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgteX4KE-TKmb-hqpUKjBH2Fy3I2d5_Wqrm41dQvuT-hxFeo909sEiAJ6ZAh6H5vgZrLKkN0OjCLPYdyeyZYTqpVICyBe ihAPqyN-qTrgNptLxTBJdv9dYX83uG5ce-NcvUc7MN7-S6COmcznuWp-g_Ngp0Jv_Fo5ybaLx7czVYtX4Oh5BSSFhJKuCmRi0/w286-h400/Red%20Lion%20-%20Draught%20Copy.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgteX4KE-TKmb-hqpUKjBH2Fy3I2d5_Wqrm41dQvuT-hxFeo909sEiAJ6ZAh6H5vgZrLKkN0OjCLPYdyeyZYTqpVICyBe ihAPqyN-qTrgNptLxTBJdv9dYX83uG5ce-NcvUc7MN7-S6COmcznuWp-g_Ngp0Jv_Fo5ybaLx7czVYtX4Oh5BSSFhJKuCmRi0/s1447/Red%20Lion%20-%20Draught%20Copy.jpg)
Draught Copy is still going strong today, but instead of a couple offolded A3 sheets, it has evolved into an enlarged and much more professionallooking branch magazine, which is published on a quarterly basis, anddistributed free to local pubs and clubs. As well as covering the Maidstone & Mid-Kent branch area, DraughtCopy now takes in pubs served by the Gravesend & Darent Valley, Bexley, Medway, and West Kent branches of CAMRA, as well.In 1985, for business and personal reasons, I movedto Tonbridge, some 15 miles from Maidstone, but in a different CAMRAbranch area. After a few months, I was approached by the CAMRA areaorganiser for Kent, and asked to help resurrect what was then the TunbridgeWells branch of CAMRA. The branch had become moribund, but with the able assistanceof three other CAMRA enthusiasts, all of whom lived in Tonbridge, we were ableto get the branch going again, hold regular meetings, and start surveying pubsonce again for the Good Beer Guide.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrkh8mYacjE6WgaVl_rAxM9ZiXlqNeGrozjuLW941hjj BY2ZFVpn3-PYfH9qkpoCtLCAhV0zVWbGY_h67xDoX_at20WGOMlUpp1eDTcq W_-_SIhTGdJeFPwrzscDhJc01Xbp3cBFpgt_BTcKOo51AcOaey1Ul ouCUA3emfOrc2CYc1nrrPZ2cAUDU83fM/w400-h374/Screenshot%202023-06-23%20at%2009-52-50%20CAMRA%20West%20KentCampaign%20For%20Real%20Al e%20-%20CAMRA%20-%20West%20Kent%20-%20Tunbridge%20Wells%20-%20Sevenoaks%20-%20Tonbridge%20-%20Edenbridge.png (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrkh8mYacjE6WgaVl_rAxM9ZiXlqNeGrozjuLW941hjj BY2ZFVpn3-PYfH9qkpoCtLCAhV0zVWbGY_h67xDoX_at20WGOMlUpp1eDTcq W_-_SIhTGdJeFPwrzscDhJc01Xbp3cBFpgt_BTcKOo51AcOaey1Ul ouCUA3emfOrc2CYc1nrrPZ2cAUDU83fM/s1028/Screenshot%202023-06-23%20at%2009-52-50%20CAMRA%20West%20KentCampaign%20For%20Real%20Al e%20-%20CAMRA%20-%20West%20Kent%20-%20Tunbridge%20Wells%20-%20Sevenoaks%20-%20Tonbridge%20-%20Edenbridge.png)
Several years later, the revived branch which by this timewas known as West Kent CAMRA, started its own branch magazine, called Inn View,and once again, your truly was editor, chief copy writer and this time aroundadvertising manager as well. Although I was never much of a salesman, I canstill remember hawking Inn View around local pubs, plus the odd brewery aswell, trying to sell advertising space in order to finance the magazine. This wasn’t quite as hard as it sounds, because quite a fewpubs, especially those that made a thing of offering a good selection of caskales, were only too happy to splash out for a half, or sometimes even a fullpage. Some were even business minded enough to supply their own camera-readyartwork.
In 1991, I stepped down from my role as magazine editor, andalso from the branch committee, as with the birth of our son, I’d acquired theresponsibility of being a full-time parent. I didn’t stop writing though, asfor many years I wrote articles relating to beer and pubs, with the plan ofeventually publishing my own book. With the working title of “Memories of aBeer Drinking Man,” my magnum opus was going to be a semi-autobiographical lookback at a quarter of a century of enjoying pubs and beer.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixk6GgxZMc10fO_-PxBxMMRmtIpRG1pmUy0nWJHHhXqKbCG5SFtFgkoloAsBy04tf-P8YDutn7RdaZXOLANcF1qisi47pTksOw1_2acOJYDgGqsdgndz igE2yQMibzb16x6cWs_zh_LrINwGPcz476N3G3jvzFo7NphUZQ KHecEU2lv2eDrghdudnq0RA/w281-h400/Country%20Pubs%20kent%20Weald.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixk6GgxZMc10fO_-PxBxMMRmtIpRG1pmUy0nWJHHhXqKbCG5SFtFgkoloAsBy04tf-P8YDutn7RdaZXOLANcF1qisi47pTksOw1_2acOJYDgGqsdgndz igE2yQMibzb16x6cWs_zh_LrINwGPcz476N3G3jvzFo7NphUZQ KHecEU2lv2eDrghdudnq0RA/s2999/Country%20Pubs%20kent%20Weald.jpg)
Before I became a father, I also dipped my toes into theworld of self-publishing, with a book called “Country Pubs of the Kent Weald.” Thebook described 50 unspoilt, rural pubs, scattered across the Weald of Kent, allselling cask ale of course, and most of them with a history dating back severalcenturies. The book was illustrated, either with photos I took myself, or with linedrawings sketched out by a local artist. The book was printed by a neighbour, who had his own smallprinting works. He was the same individual who printed Inn View on behalf of WestKent CAMRA. Copies were supplied, on a sale or return basis, to all featuredpubs that wished to take them. I can’t remember the size of the print run, butwe sold virtually all the copies. Starting a family, and later running our own specialist beershop, largely put paid to my writing activities, and it wasn’t until we soldthe business, and I moved back to a career in healthcare products, that I beganto write again. Writing articles and hosting them on my own blog seemed the logicalway to go, and 15 years on, I am still doing it!
Footnote: I tried, unsuccessfully as it happens, to find any images for either "Inn View", or its successor "Inn View News," the latter being the title of the resurrected magazine, which appeared for several editions, following my departure. I probably have the odd copy, laying around somewhere at home, but none have surfaced so far. The copy of WK CAMRA's former webpage, will have to suffice in their absence.
I do remember someone bringing a few old copies along to a West Kent CAMRA social, about five years ago, and the branch secretary asking to borrow them. I shall have to chase up on that, as it would be nice to have a small reminder of my efforts.
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More... (https://baileysbeerblog.blogspot.com/2023/06/15-years-of-writing-about-beer-potted.html)
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9LEQbpAJAh8VztH3Kp-0K8cce5vcAEVTb8Y-PHcjNgIzTORwW0sJ9EaYN9gY6yq2dOwMT7k06W9FqhUQa3Ex1t uLp1oxL1lDZgsKAhV6msifMdHcdBEorVrp3GgP2LABy_AMFWP2 q71fFqKX5HTA7VjUMHCsjLBNZSWvilYBuwLSIpkt88XEcuHIOC B0/w400-h198/Screenshot_2021-01-07%20Paul's%20Beer%20Travels.png (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9LEQbpAJAh8VztH3Kp-0K8cce5vcAEVTb8Y-PHcjNgIzTORwW0sJ9EaYN9gY6yq2dOwMT7k06W9FqhUQa3Ex1t uLp1oxL1lDZgsKAhV6msifMdHcdBEorVrp3GgP2LABy_AMFWP2 q71fFqKX5HTA7VjUMHCsjLBNZSWvilYBuwLSIpkt88XEcuHIOC B0/s1081/Screenshot_2021-01-07%20Paul's%20Beer%20Travels.png)
I've been writing this beer blog for the best part of 15years, with the first post appearing on the 23rd of November 2008. (https://baileysbeerblog.blogspot.com/2008/11/first-posting.html)Apart from alull during 2011 when, due to illness not much appeared online, I've managed tokeep up a steady output, and for the past decade or so I've striven, and mainlysucceeded to write a minimum of 10 posts per month.https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsqnDSmAVCDY92E6LVVxkiWy2J8GN2LGZmUjtrgWRcWl-t9skYcx0H7wut_Q8eKEUDc4RaOHn9A31seCTbU8LJLtDZCK2Ii WQ0Dkejt8r8jhyvSMnn0pseRkiXuDIgRGnLDkMKBS0Ba92CcxM 7SEYEnfJ2PvJ0gdrtDa9yPMfx0MI_F4o-agnFxJCd-OE/w400-h108/Screenshot%202023-06-23%20at%2009-21-17%20RealAleBlog.png (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsqnDSmAVCDY92E6LVVxkiWy2J8GN2LGZmUjtrgWRcWl-t9skYcx0H7wut_Q8eKEUDc4RaOHn9A31seCTbU8LJLtDZCK2Ii WQ0Dkejt8r8jhyvSMnn0pseRkiXuDIgRGnLDkMKBS0Ba92CcxM 7SEYEnfJ2PvJ0gdrtDa9yPMfx0MI_F4o-agnFxJCd-OE/s494/Screenshot%202023-06-23%20at%2009-21-17%20RealAleBlog.png)I was tempted to take the plunge and start my own blog, by anexcellent fellow
called Paul Garrard, who at the time lived in Norwich. Paul produced an excellent blog, titled the RealAleBlog (http://www.realaleblog.co.uk/), as well as a couple of otherblogs, including one which reflected his general outlook on life, and hisslightly left-leaning politics. Paul had a similar background to my own, evento the extent of running his own beer shop. I'm not quite sure when thisbusiness ceased trading, and despite talking to him about his shop, I’m notsure what his reasons were for winding it up.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqtZbWkF-Yrt-1R9GuAGlci2svP67NKHr_BUrRkpH080WK66xBH2XSH-kcFD_XzI2hAUbnV5bA7mFDZTbqW3XbIFdOeugyYpQVeQ3FKEvF MpRbM82dO1odUyNdqeK-7cRS-GarbOFZSQmXdncDqR9BvK-m1iDdq9TFcWd4pT8ObGqQ7i0is4wILdw0k8I/w400-h286/Rifle%20Volunteer.JPG (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqtZbWkF-Yrt-1R9GuAGlci2svP67NKHr_BUrRkpH080WK66xBH2XSH-kcFD_XzI2hAUbnV5bA7mFDZTbqW3XbIFdOeugyYpQVeQ3FKEvF MpRbM82dO1odUyNdqeK-7cRS-GarbOFZSQmXdncDqR9BvK-m1iDdq9TFcWd4pT8ObGqQ7i0is4wILdw0k8I/s1980/Rifle%20Volunteer.JPG)
I met up with him, in 2009, for a few pints of Goacher’s, atthe unspoiled Rifle Volunteers pub in Maidstone – a town which Paul and his wife werevisiting at the time. We enjoyed a good session on the Goacher’s, and you canread about it here. (https://baileysbeerblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/bloggers-meet-up.html) Paul encouraged other writers, or in my case aspiringbloggers, to write a guest post on his blog, and I can remember writing atleast one such piece. From memory, my post was generally well receive and thisencouraged me to take the plunge and start my own blog, using Google’s Bloggeras the platform to host it.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizS-IG9dnbszJbQJbFjZ7Y1O5bf67XVLGwTB5lwak92J1E5hHO8RZ1 sVMZDZL3gqk1p_-TNsJ5Rp9pW34ChktquObpBgfy3cMYgMuB-u8dotsMhWiOnOKZOtysKPTfYPEAYoqKbxId5Lm5UMVUUJTBaGa QSk79vDysJ_tAEO1fGeBUwLH_1S6uD0kEbac/w300-h400/DSCN1728%20cut%20&%20paste.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizS-IG9dnbszJbQJbFjZ7Y1O5bf67XVLGwTB5lwak92J1E5hHO8RZ1 sVMZDZL3gqk1p_-TNsJ5Rp9pW34ChktquObpBgfy3cMYgMuB-u8dotsMhWiOnOKZOtysKPTfYPEAYoqKbxId5Lm5UMVUUJTBaGa QSk79vDysJ_tAEO1fGeBUwLH_1S6uD0kEbac/s1600/DSCN1728%20cut%20&%20paste.jpg)
Looking back, my initial choice of Paul Bailey’s Beer Blogfor the title wasn't very imaginative, especially as there are some far wittier,and less personal titles floating around, than my own. I'm stuck with the name now,and despite my early reservations, the name I chose has, generally speaking, servedme well over the years. I took a look back at those early years, and it seems thatthe last entry on Paul’s RealAleBlog (http://www.realaleblog.co.uk/) was made in 2014. As with the beer shop,I'm not quite sure what happened, whether Paul just lost interest, or whether somethingmore profound took place, but the beauty of Blogger, as opposed to self-hosted blogsand websites, is that the information is still out there. So today, 9 years onfrom the last entry, the pages of Paul’s RealAleBlog are there, and with alittle bit of searching, they can still be accessed.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt-EVLENTTfT2yaKMwCb2wIneI7GSxVyiEnDoGYgHRcV1K60FADgF B-3toYDxRjGdy_bAEXXok2tm9GQGDI7zPtwa9K7EqQ1dNdukX2Dv L3X5cZytq4hRQ6nHh4MoYoql5zb_1Q00hK7W8Cnk1ipVY8ixnq c45VlrAmoaAZLZoLoEO4carIK5LYpnglN4/w400-h127/Draught%20Copy.png (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt-EVLENTTfT2yaKMwCb2wIneI7GSxVyiEnDoGYgHRcV1K60FADgF B-3toYDxRjGdy_bAEXXok2tm9GQGDI7zPtwa9K7EqQ1dNdukX2Dv L3X5cZytq4hRQ6nHh4MoYoql5zb_1Q00hK7W8Cnk1ipVY8ixnq c45VlrAmoaAZLZoLoEO4carIK5LYpnglN4/s398/Draught%20Copy.png)
What people may not know is I have been writing about beerand pubs for much longer than the past 15 years, although strangely enough itwas a complete accident as to how and why I became a writer in the firstplace. I described the reasons here (https://baileysbeerblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/how-i-got-into-beer-writing-part-one.html), in this post written in November 2016, soI won’t repeat them again, but for several years, back in the mid-1980’s, I waseditor, and chief copy-writer of Draught Copy – the newsletter of the Maidstone & Mid-Kent Branch of CAMRA (http://www.mmk.camra.org.uk/).
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgteX4KE-TKmb-hqpUKjBH2Fy3I2d5_Wqrm41dQvuT-hxFeo909sEiAJ6ZAh6H5vgZrLKkN0OjCLPYdyeyZYTqpVICyBe ihAPqyN-qTrgNptLxTBJdv9dYX83uG5ce-NcvUc7MN7-S6COmcznuWp-g_Ngp0Jv_Fo5ybaLx7czVYtX4Oh5BSSFhJKuCmRi0/w286-h400/Red%20Lion%20-%20Draught%20Copy.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgteX4KE-TKmb-hqpUKjBH2Fy3I2d5_Wqrm41dQvuT-hxFeo909sEiAJ6ZAh6H5vgZrLKkN0OjCLPYdyeyZYTqpVICyBe ihAPqyN-qTrgNptLxTBJdv9dYX83uG5ce-NcvUc7MN7-S6COmcznuWp-g_Ngp0Jv_Fo5ybaLx7czVYtX4Oh5BSSFhJKuCmRi0/s1447/Red%20Lion%20-%20Draught%20Copy.jpg)
Draught Copy is still going strong today, but instead of a couple offolded A3 sheets, it has evolved into an enlarged and much more professionallooking branch magazine, which is published on a quarterly basis, anddistributed free to local pubs and clubs. As well as covering the Maidstone & Mid-Kent branch area, DraughtCopy now takes in pubs served by the Gravesend & Darent Valley, Bexley, Medway, and West Kent branches of CAMRA, as well.In 1985, for business and personal reasons, I movedto Tonbridge, some 15 miles from Maidstone, but in a different CAMRAbranch area. After a few months, I was approached by the CAMRA areaorganiser for Kent, and asked to help resurrect what was then the TunbridgeWells branch of CAMRA. The branch had become moribund, but with the able assistanceof three other CAMRA enthusiasts, all of whom lived in Tonbridge, we were ableto get the branch going again, hold regular meetings, and start surveying pubsonce again for the Good Beer Guide.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrkh8mYacjE6WgaVl_rAxM9ZiXlqNeGrozjuLW941hjj BY2ZFVpn3-PYfH9qkpoCtLCAhV0zVWbGY_h67xDoX_at20WGOMlUpp1eDTcq W_-_SIhTGdJeFPwrzscDhJc01Xbp3cBFpgt_BTcKOo51AcOaey1Ul ouCUA3emfOrc2CYc1nrrPZ2cAUDU83fM/w400-h374/Screenshot%202023-06-23%20at%2009-52-50%20CAMRA%20West%20KentCampaign%20For%20Real%20Al e%20-%20CAMRA%20-%20West%20Kent%20-%20Tunbridge%20Wells%20-%20Sevenoaks%20-%20Tonbridge%20-%20Edenbridge.png (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrkh8mYacjE6WgaVl_rAxM9ZiXlqNeGrozjuLW941hjj BY2ZFVpn3-PYfH9qkpoCtLCAhV0zVWbGY_h67xDoX_at20WGOMlUpp1eDTcq W_-_SIhTGdJeFPwrzscDhJc01Xbp3cBFpgt_BTcKOo51AcOaey1Ul ouCUA3emfOrc2CYc1nrrPZ2cAUDU83fM/s1028/Screenshot%202023-06-23%20at%2009-52-50%20CAMRA%20West%20KentCampaign%20For%20Real%20Al e%20-%20CAMRA%20-%20West%20Kent%20-%20Tunbridge%20Wells%20-%20Sevenoaks%20-%20Tonbridge%20-%20Edenbridge.png)
Several years later, the revived branch which by this timewas known as West Kent CAMRA, started its own branch magazine, called Inn View,and once again, your truly was editor, chief copy writer and this time aroundadvertising manager as well. Although I was never much of a salesman, I canstill remember hawking Inn View around local pubs, plus the odd brewery aswell, trying to sell advertising space in order to finance the magazine. This wasn’t quite as hard as it sounds, because quite a fewpubs, especially those that made a thing of offering a good selection of caskales, were only too happy to splash out for a half, or sometimes even a fullpage. Some were even business minded enough to supply their own camera-readyartwork.
In 1991, I stepped down from my role as magazine editor, andalso from the branch committee, as with the birth of our son, I’d acquired theresponsibility of being a full-time parent. I didn’t stop writing though, asfor many years I wrote articles relating to beer and pubs, with the plan ofeventually publishing my own book. With the working title of “Memories of aBeer Drinking Man,” my magnum opus was going to be a semi-autobiographical lookback at a quarter of a century of enjoying pubs and beer.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixk6GgxZMc10fO_-PxBxMMRmtIpRG1pmUy0nWJHHhXqKbCG5SFtFgkoloAsBy04tf-P8YDutn7RdaZXOLANcF1qisi47pTksOw1_2acOJYDgGqsdgndz igE2yQMibzb16x6cWs_zh_LrINwGPcz476N3G3jvzFo7NphUZQ KHecEU2lv2eDrghdudnq0RA/w281-h400/Country%20Pubs%20kent%20Weald.jpg (https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixk6GgxZMc10fO_-PxBxMMRmtIpRG1pmUy0nWJHHhXqKbCG5SFtFgkoloAsBy04tf-P8YDutn7RdaZXOLANcF1qisi47pTksOw1_2acOJYDgGqsdgndz igE2yQMibzb16x6cWs_zh_LrINwGPcz476N3G3jvzFo7NphUZQ KHecEU2lv2eDrghdudnq0RA/s2999/Country%20Pubs%20kent%20Weald.jpg)
Before I became a father, I also dipped my toes into theworld of self-publishing, with a book called “Country Pubs of the Kent Weald.” Thebook described 50 unspoilt, rural pubs, scattered across the Weald of Kent, allselling cask ale of course, and most of them with a history dating back severalcenturies. The book was illustrated, either with photos I took myself, or with linedrawings sketched out by a local artist. The book was printed by a neighbour, who had his own smallprinting works. He was the same individual who printed Inn View on behalf of WestKent CAMRA. Copies were supplied, on a sale or return basis, to all featuredpubs that wished to take them. I can’t remember the size of the print run, butwe sold virtually all the copies. Starting a family, and later running our own specialist beershop, largely put paid to my writing activities, and it wasn’t until we soldthe business, and I moved back to a career in healthcare products, that I beganto write again. Writing articles and hosting them on my own blog seemed the logicalway to go, and 15 years on, I am still doing it!
Footnote: I tried, unsuccessfully as it happens, to find any images for either "Inn View", or its successor "Inn View News," the latter being the title of the resurrected magazine, which appeared for several editions, following my departure. I probably have the odd copy, laying around somewhere at home, but none have surfaced so far. The copy of WK CAMRA's former webpage, will have to suffice in their absence.
I do remember someone bringing a few old copies along to a West Kent CAMRA social, about five years ago, and the branch secretary asking to borrow them. I shall have to chase up on that, as it would be nice to have a small reminder of my efforts.
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