Welcome to your CAMRA Branch Update. January is always a difficult time for pubs and I hope you’ve been able to get out and support our locals when they need us most. The first month of 2026 was certainly eventful so far as beer and pubs are concerned and there’s plenty going on both nationally and locally.
Branch Meeting
The February branch meeting will be held at the Millstone,12 Crown Street, Bolton, BL1 2RU at 8 p.m. on Thursday 5 February 2026.
At this meeting we will be selecting the branch’s nominations for the Good Beer Guide 2027 from the shortlist approved at the January meeting. If you can’t make the meeting you can vote online here up until midnight on Tuesday 3 February. You will need your CAMRA membership number to log in. As always, everyone is welcome to attend branch meetings although only members will be able to vote in the Good Beer Guide selection.
Awards
At the January branch meeting a vote was held to choose the Winter Pub of the Season. Votes cast at the meeting were combined with online votes and the winner was Sparrows Rum Bar in Horwich. Presentation of the award will take place on the evening of 19th February. Keep an eye on our social media for more details.
Although a relatively new kid on the block, Sparrows, as well as serving two changing cask ales, is also one of a few outlets in the branch area serving what CAMRA considers ‘real’ cider. CAMRA defines real Cider or Perry as being fermented from the whole juice of fresh pressed apples or pears, without the use of concentrated or chaptalised juices. The word ‘chaptalised’ as used in the definition refers to a process where the alcohol level in a cider or perry is increased by the addition of sugar to an unnatural level for storage, before it is diluted with water to the desired alcohol content for sale.
This means that Sparrows, along with the other pubs serving real cider, will be eligible to be the branch Cider Pub of the Year which will be voted for at the March branch meeting. The Pub of the Year and Club of the Year will also be chosen at that meeting although, as always, online voting will be available. The Pub of the Year will be selected from one of those nominated for the Good Beer Guide but the Club of the Year is open to any club in the branch area which serves consistently good quality cask ale on a regular basis. In previous years there has been a small number of nominations owing to the lack of information about clubs serving cask ale. We would be delighted to receive nominations for more clubs serving cask ale to give a wider field of candidates for this award.
Campaigning
In my last update I mentioned that CAMRA, along with other industry bodies, was lobbying the Government to rethink the changes made to business rates on pubs in the budget. These changes would have resulted in some pubs paying significantly increased bills. That lobbying has been partially successful with the Government now offering some transitional relief. CAMRA’s response to the Government’s announcement can be read here: More temporary relief for pubs short-term and short-sighted
Interestingly, the relief only applies to pubs and not social clubs or restaurants although some clubs may fall within the Government’s definition of a pub. Pubs that turn away customers who are not eating and so are effectively restaurants, might be putting out the welcome mat to us casual drinkers again in order to benefit from this relief.
Pub and Club News
A long anticipated application has been submitted to convert the Shakespeare in Farnworth into a house of multiple occupation (HMO). The pub, formerly owned by Admiral Taverns and closed in 2022, is a Grade II listed building with a historic interior. The application for listed building consent states that the historic features will be retained although CAMRA’s Pub Heritage Group, which has submitted an objection, maintains that this would not be possible given the substantial alterations required for the new use.
In my last update I reported that Ben’s at the Legion in Blackrod had reopened as BlackJak’s. Despite this another application has been submitted to convert the property into four apartments. The previous application was rejected although CAMRA’s objection, citing the loss of a valuable community asset, was dismissed on the basis that there were other pubs nearby. Since then, one of those nearby pubs, the Ridgeway next to Blackrod Station, has reportedly itself closed its doors.
Comments have been made that it is easy for CAMRA to put in objections to changes of use because they do not have to try to run a business which is no longer viable. It is true that not all pubs will always be viable but in many cases pub owners deliberately run a business down in order that the value of the premises may be realised through a change of use to something more lucrative. There are many examples around the country where a pub, claimed by its owners to be unviable, has thrived when permission for a change of use has been denied and a new operator has been put in place.
If you are curious about the ownership of your local, there is an interesting feature on CAMRA’s website here by Paul Ainsworth, CAMRA’s National Planning Advisor, about the rise of the big pub owning companies and how they exert such tight control over where and what we drink.
Socials
On Friday 13 February, there will be a visit to the Dark Side of Preston, where five pubs will be celebrating the delights of darker beers. As always, details are on the Social Events page of the branch website here.
So, as Winter slowly recedes and we start to look forward to Spring let’s do our best to make sure that those pubs that have survived Dry January remain viable.
Cheers,
John Mitchell – Chair