Author: manchestercamra

Welcome to your latest CAMRA Branch Update. It looks like summer is well and truly over so I hope you managed to get a few al fresco pints in the sunshine before the rains came.

Branch Meeting

The next branch meeting will be held on Thursday 4 September 2025 at the Ukrainian Social Club 99 Castle Street, Bolton, BL2 1JP. The meeting will start at 8.00 p.m. and, as always, everyone is welcome.

Unesco Petition

You may be aware of this petition which has been launched to ask the Government to seek Unesco approval to British Cask Ale being given Intangible Cultural Heritage status. This will put it on the same footing as Belgian Beer Culture and other traditional drinks cultures in Europe. The hope is that by being granted such status, cask ale will be recognised as part of the British traditional way of life and will receive a boost through international recognition. CAMRA fully supports this petition so if you haven’t already signed it, you can find it here. If it gets to 100,000 signatures, the petition will be considered for debate in Parliament.

Cask Ale Week

This year’s Cask Ale Week will take place between Thursday 18  and Sunday 28 September – slightly longer than a week but then a couple of extra days to enjoy cask beers is always welcome. This annual event, organised by Cask Marque, is supported by CAMRA and is intend to be a celebration of Britain’s national drink. It’s an opportunity for pubs and breweries to get involved and encourage their customers to try and promote real ale by organising events and activities throughout the week. For more information, go to the Cask Ale Week website here.

Awards

The Stork Tavern, 548 Halliwell Road, Bolton, BL1 8BP has been voted Pub of the Season for Summer 2025. The Stork, a Grade II listed building and reputed to have the largest beer garden in Bolton, was recognised for being somewhere where all the family could enjoy a Summer’s day with a good selection of cask ales.

Bolton branch’s Pub of the Year, B33R@33 in Horwich, came third in the Greater Manchester Area round of the National Pub of the Year competition. 

Congratulations to the teams at both of these pubs. Keep an eye on our social media for details of the presentations of the awards.

Taste Match

CAMRA is continuing to make improvements to its website and one of the new initiatives, known as Taste Match and free for CAMRA members, allows you to build a taste profile for yourself from the characteristics of the beers you enjoy. Once you have a profile, Taste Match will recommend beers from breweries across the country that should appeal to your palate. As it builds its database, Taste Match will also be able to tell you where you can get these beers. If you’re a regular beer scorer, you may find that Taste Match has already built your profile for you. Give it a try here.

Socials and Beer Festivals

Our next social will be a trip to Oldham on Thursday 4 September. Meet at Bolton railway station to catch the 11.18 train to Manchester Victoria and then on to Oldham. Following that there will be an outing to Dunham Massey Apple Farm on Friday 12 September to sample their excellent ciders. Details of all our socials can be found on the branch website here.

Astley Bridge Cricket Club will be holding its annual beer festival on 5, 6 & 7 September. The festival will be open Friday 18:00-23:00, Saturday 18:00- 23:00, and Sunday 12:00- 16:00. Entrance is £5 inclusive of a glass and a programme. Food will be available at all 3 sessions. There will be a selection of 8 ales and 4 ciders. 

As Autumn sneaks up on us, we might start to see a different range of beers appearing on the bars of our favourite pubs. At this time of year the golden ales we’ve been enjoying through the summer months give way to the darker delights of stouts, porters and other warming brews. This highlights the fantastic variety of cask ales produced by our skilled brewers, small and large. This is why we, as members of CAMRA, must continue to campaign for, champion and drink cask ale to ensure that it, and the pubs that sell it, thrive. 

Cheers!

John Mitchell – Chair

Meet at Bolton Station in time to catch 11.54 train to Stockport, change at Manchester Piccadilly arriving at 12.39 or meet at the Petersgate Tap at 13.00. The off-peak fare is £8.30 return. If using the bus to get to the station, there is a System One bus and train ticket for £9.40. Of course, those who have a bus pass can use the train within Greater Manchester if they add train and tram to their bus pass for £10 for the year. We may not visit all pubs.

Petersgate Tap: 19a St Petersgate, SK1 1EB. Six changing cask beers. Cold pies from local butcher

The Magnet: 51 Wellington Road North, SK4 1HJ. Fourteen cask ales,

Runaway Brewery Tap: 9-11 Astley Street, SK4 1AW. 2 changing beers

The Crown Inn: 154 Heaton Lane, SK4 1AR. 7 changing beers

Ye Old Vic: 1 Chatham Street, Edgeley, SK3 9ED. 5 changing beers. Opens at 5pm

If anyone is thinking of joining the group in Stockport please call for information about where we are; Gill 07967585670

A few of us are planning a trip to the Dunham Massey Apple Farm on Friday September 12th.

It is a bit of a trek, but here are the details for anyone who might be interested.

Meet at Manchester Deansgate.

Catch the tram from Deansgate-Castlefield to Altrincham.  They are very regular, we will be aiming for the 12.58 tram, arriving at Altrincham at 13.21, there are a couple of slightly later ones at 13.04 and 13.10 which should all get there in time incase of any delays.

Catch the 280 bus from Altrincham interchange to Station Road, arriving at 14.02

There is then a 10 minute walk to the Apple Farm.

Return:

The last 280 bus leaves Dunham at 18:05, arriving back in Altrincham at 18:28

Catch the tram from Altrincham at 18:36, arriving back at Deansgate-Castlefield, Manchester at 19:03,  or stop off in one of the local pubs in Altrincham for a pint before catching a later tram back to Manchester.

Altrincham pub options include:

Costello’s Bar (Dunham Massey brewery pub) – 2 regular and 5 changing beers

Beacon – 2 changing beers

Rustic – 1 regular and 1 changing beer

Old Roebuck – 1 regular and 2 changing beers

This trip should give us approximately 3 1/2 hours at the Apple Farm which should be plenty considering the Ciders are likely to be a decent strength.

This is another weekday Social on a Thursday requested by some members. Meet at Bolton Railway Station to catch the 11.18 train to Manchester Victoria arriving at 11.38. We then catch the tram at Victoria to Oldham Central. We then walk to the following pubs which have been recommended.

Fox & Pine, 18 Greaves St, Oldham, OL1 1AD, 9 changing beers including 3 dark beers, lunchtime meals

Ashton Arms, 28 – 30 Clegg Street, Oldham, OL1 1PL, 6 changing beers plus one real cider. Lunchtime meals

We then travel back to Victoria Station with a possible stop there for a beer at The Victoria Tap, or back to Bolton for a visit to one or two pubs.

If your favourite is not on the list let us know on the day and we can visit. If you need any further details, please contact social@bolton.camra.org.uk or call Gill on 07967585670. If you arrive after the start of the social, please contact Gill to find out where the group are at that time.

Gill Smart, Social Secretary

Meet at One for the Road in the Market at 1.00pm. We will visit some regulars and some pubs we don’t visit often.

One for the Road, Stalls F14 to F15 Ashburner Street Lifestyle Hall, BL1 1TJ, 2 changing ales

The Greyhound, 146 Deansgate, Bolton, BL1 1BB, 3 changing beers

The Elephant and Castle, 4-10 Deansgate, Bolton, BL1 1BR, 2 regular and 2 changing beers

Olde Man & Scythe, 6-8 Churchgate, BL1 1HL, 3 regular and 1 changing beers

Northern Monkey Bar, Nelson Square, BL1 1AQ, 4 changing beers

These are just five pubs. We can discuss others to visit on the day. If anyone has a suggestion of pubs to visit please let us know on the day

It is important that we support our local pubs and be seen to support them. Therefore, if you have a CAMRA t shirt or polo shirt, please wear it if you can.

If you need information on the day, please contact Gill on 07967585670