Category: Bolton Branch News

Welcome to your Bolton CAMRA Branch Update. We’re definitely in the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness and as well as the nights drawing in, some of the beers on the bar of your local may be taking on a darker appearance. Still the last remnants of the summer sunshine continue to make a beer garden a tempting spot to enjoy a pint or two.

Branch Meetings

The October branch meeting will take place at 8pm on 1 October at the Crown Hotel 1 Chorley New Road, Horwich, BL6 7QJ. As well as the meeting itself, we will be presenting the pub with the award for having been voted Summer Pub of the Season. Congratulations to the team at the Crown. As always, all are welcome to come along and try the Holt’s beers on offer.

The November meeting will include the branch Annual General Meeting and will take place on Thursday 5 November at 8pm at the Spinning Mule Unit 2 Nelson Square, Bolton, BL1 1JT. Amongst the business of this meeting will be the election of officers and the presentaion of accounts. We will also consider adopting an updated branch constitution which will be based on CAMRA’s new model constitution with minor amendments to reflect how the branch operates in practice. All members are entitled to vote on these issues.

Good Beer Guide

You may have seen that the 2027 Good Beer Guide has now been published. Congratulations to the Bolton pubs that have made it into the guide and particular the two new entrants, Sparrows Rum Bar and JR’s Ale House in Horwich.

Bolton Branch is allocated thirteen entries in the Good Beer Guide and each year the process begins from scratch with a shortlist being drawn up from those pubs with beer scores above the branch average for the previous 12 months. In this way CAMRA members are the starting point for choosing which pubs go into the guide. As I have said before, if you believe your local pub deserves to be in the guide, then make sure you score their beers and make sure any other CAMRA members who frequent the pub do so too. Information on beer scoring is available on the branch website here. Publicity material is also available for licensees who wish to encourage members to beer score. Drop me a line at chair@bolton.camra.org.uk and we can get a poster to you.

Royal Hotel

You will be aware from both CAMRA and the wider media that pubs are having a difficult time and many are closing. One such casualty is the Royal Hotel on Vernon Street, Bolton. Despite describing the pub as being ‘proud to be part of the community’ and having a ‘great following from the local community’, the owners, Admiral Taverns, have sold the property and closed it without giving anyone an opportunity to buy it and keep it running. An application has now been made to Bolton Council to convert the building into a 12 bedroom HMO. The regulars, however, are not prepared to let their local go without a fight and have started a campaign to save the pub. As well as objecting to the application they have also applied to the Council to have the building designated an Asset of Community Value.The Save the Royal Hotel Facebook page can be found here. Bolton CAMRA has also submitted an objection to the change but previous experience has shown that Bolton Council is not particularly protective of pubs. This would be a great opportunity to show that it really does care about the loss of vital community facilities. There may still be time to make a comment on the application yourself. It can can be accessed here. 

Locale

CAMRA’s LocAle initiative promotes pubs stocking locally brewed real ale in order to reduce the number of ‘beer miles’ from brewery to pub cellar in response to growing consumer demand for quality local produce. This includes beer from Bolton’s own breweries including Bank Top, Blackedge, Northern Monkey and Escape and also other breweries within a 25 mile radius. Surveys have consistently shown that cask ale drinkers want to drink beers that are brewed locally and so by checking if a pub is Locale accredited you can check where to find somewhere that stocks them. More information can be found here.

Birthday Party

And finally, Bolton CAMRA branch has a significant birthday coming up. In November the branch will be 50 years old. The exact date of the first branch meeting is in question but nevertheless we have chosen 10 November as the date when we will launch 12 months of events to celebrate this milestone with a social at the Northern Monkey Bar, Nelson Square, Bolton, BL1 1AQ. Members are looking at a number of ways of marking the anniversary including highlighting those pubs that have been serving cask ale throughout the 50 years since the branch was formed and possibly having a 50th Anniversary ale brewed by our local brewers. We hope this will be an opportunity for more members to get involved with branch activities and keep the branch going for another 50 years. More information will be available as plans get firmed up but I hope to see you at these events to enjoy the best of British beer. 

Cheers,

John Mitchell – Chair

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, 3 changing ales, food available in the market

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

Elephant & Castle, 4-10 Deansgate, Bolton, BL1 1BR (recently reopened with a new landlord)

Olde Man and Scythe, 6-8 Churchgate, Bolton, BL1 1HL, 4 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

We are having a Cider Trail.  We will meet in Westhoughton at Blackedge Brewery Tap at around 1.00pm. From Horwich the 516 bus runs every hour. Catch the bus at 12.32 at Horwich Leisure centre arriving in Westhoughton at 13.05. Return bus for Horwich is 14.39 arriving in Horwich 15.16.

Travelling from Bolton catch the 607 bus from the Interchange at 12.20(12.40) arriving at 12.45 (13.07)

Brewery Tap, 55 Market St. BL5 3AG, real cider on three handpumps

Beer School, 88 Market St. BL5 3AZ, up to four ciders

B33R@33, 33 Lee Lane, BL6 7AX, real cider

Sparrows Rum Bar, 32 Winter Hey Lane, BL6 7AA, 2 real ciders

Blackedge Brewery Bar, Moreton Mill, Hampson St. BL6 7JH, real cider

There are other pubs. If there is a favourite let the group know. Although this is a cider trail don’t let that put anyone off who does not like cider. All the pubs mentioned have a good selection of real ale. If you need any further details or need to contact on the day, please contact social@bolton.camra.org.uk or call Gill on 07967585670

Beer Festival at Bury Transport Museum.

Friday 18th September

11.00am-10.00pm

Tickets cost £4 per adult, to be purchased on the day.

Doors open 11am – 10pm Friday and Saturday, 11am – 5pm Sunday. CAMRA members get free entry!

Glassses are included in the entry price, CAMRA members will be charged £1 for a glass on their free entry.

Further information, including ticketing arrangements and the brewery line-up, will be available soon

We’re in the Castlecroft Goods Warehouse, just across the road from the Bury Bolton Street Station. You won’t miss us; there are plenty of signposts from the platform.

The 471 bus runs every 12 minutes from Bolton Interchange, Stand J.

Food is available

If you need any further information the website is
ELR Diesel Gala – Beer and Cider Festival – The East Lancashire Railway

Departing Bolton at 10:54, change at Manchester Piccadilly (31min wait),  train from Piccadilly at 11:51, arriving in Buxton at 12:53.  
Return – Departing Buxton at either 18:14, 18:44 or 19:14, arriving back at Bolton at 19:52, 20:21 or 20:52 depending on which train we catch, with a change at Manchester Piccadilly.

An off peak return from Bolton is £19.20. This could be cheaper if you have the the train added to a bus pass. 

Alternatively:
Meet at Manchester Piccadilly train station.  
Departing Manchester Piccadilly at 11:51, arriving in Buxton at 12:53.  
Return – Departing Buxton at either 18:14, 18:44 or 19:14, arriving back at Manchester Piccadilly at 19:16, 19:47 or 20:16 depending on which train we catch.

An off peak return from Manchester is £13.90. This could be cheaper if you have the the train added to a bus pass.  Alternatively you can purchase cheaper single tickets, starting at £3.00 each way, but you would be tied to those times.

Obviously earlier trains are available if you prefer.

These are the pubs we plan to visit.

Cheshire Cheese – Titanic Brewery owned pub with 10 hand pumps serving a range of Titanic beers and guest ales.

Ale Stop – Micropub with 4 changing beers

New Inn – 2 regular beers, 4 changing beers.  Food is also available.

Buxton Tap House – Buxton Brewery Tap House pub with 1 regular, & 3 changing beers

RedWillow Buxton – RedWillow Brewery owned pub with 2 regular & 3 changing beers

Old Clubhouse – Greene King owned pub with 4 changing beers. Food is also available.

These pubs can also be viewed in the CAMRA Trip link below.

https://camra.org.uk/profile/trips/56a86fd3-f732-4710-b1f5-b61675763b23

A trip to Torrside is always a good day out. Catch the train from Bolton to New Mills Newtown. The walk to the Brewery is about three minutes. Meet at Bolton station to catch the 9.54 train arriving at Manchester Piccadilly at 10.15. There is a wait at Piccadilly 35 minutes before we catch the 10.51 to New Mills Newtown arriving at 11.28.  The return trains 16.11 arriving at Bolton 17.21 depending on when you want to leave.

There are 2 train stations in New Mills, please make sure you purchase the tickets to New Mills Newtown, not Central.

There are different options for train tickets depending on where you start from and also senior rail cards or using the bus pass which allows travel for free in Greater Manchester. I suggest you chose the ticket that is best for you

If you need any further details or need to contact on the day, please contact social@bolton.camra.org.uk or call Gill on 07967585670

A trip to Torrside is always a good day out. Catch the train from Bolton to New Mills Newtown. The walk to the Brewery is about three minutes. Meet at Bolton station to catch the 9.54 train arriving at Manchester Piccadilly at 10.15. There is a wait at Piccadilly 35 minutes before we catch the 10.51 to New Mills Newtown arriving at 11.28.  The return trains 16.11 arriving at Bolton 17.21 depending on when you want to leave.

There are 2 train stations in New Mills, please make sure you purchase the tickets to New Mills Newtown, not Central.

There are different options for train tickets depending on where you start from and also senior rail cards or using the bus pass which allows travel for free in Greater Manchester. I suggest you chose the ticket that is best for you

If you need any further details or need to contact on the day, please contact social@bolton.camra.org.uk or call Gill on 07967585670

Welcome to your Bolton CAMRA branch update. I hope you’ve managed to enjoy a pint or two to ease the effects of the heatwave.

Branch Meeting

The next branch meeting will be held at 8pm on Thursday 2 July at the Northern Monkey Brewery Tap, Unit 1 Chorley Street Industrial Estate, Bolton, BL1 4AL (not the Nelson Square Bar!). Hopefully the weather will be kind and we can have the big door open. As always, everyone welcome, members and non-members alike.

Summer Pub of the Season

Nominations are in for the Summer Pub of the Season and they are:

The Beer School, Westhoughton.

The Crown, Horwich.

The Drop inn, Bromley Cross.

The Queen Anne, Little Lever.

The White Lion, Westhoughton.

You can vote online from this evening until Saturday evening at https://bolton.camra.org.uk/login/ or if you prefer you can vote in person at Thursday’s branch meeting. The winner will be announced on the branch website and on social media. 

Cider and Perry Month

July is CAMRA’s Cider and Perry month. Why July? Real cider and perry are generally seasonal products that can only be made when fruit is ripe. This means production of these drinks are tied to a natural cycle of the apple and perry pear trees found in orchards around the UK.  

But the celebration of these fantastic drinks is an all-year-round event, often enjoyed best when the sun is shining, picnic baskets are being prepared, and locals are serving the finest real cider and perry during their busy summertime peak. 

Independent cider and perry makers produce some of the best quality drinks in the UK. We hope consumers can help us champion producers by ordering a pint of real cider or perry at their local this July! 

To find out more about real cider and Cider and Perry Month visit https://members.camra.org.uk/cider-and-perry-months/

Taste Match

Taste Match is a feature on CAMRA’s website which matches beers available all over the country to your personal tastes and then tells you where you may be able to find them. If you go to https://camra.org.uk/taste-match you will find your own personal taste profile, built from beers that you have scored on the website. If you click on your profile it will tell you in detail what kind of flavours in beer you prefer. I am a Hophead, as I prefer pale ales and IPAs with lots of hops. Your profile may be completely different depending on the kind of beers you drink. You will, of course, have to score your beers in order to build your profile. Below your profile you will find beers that Taste Match thinks fit your particular tastes. If you click on the beers it will tell you in which pubs the recommended beers can be found. 

I was fascinated by the recommended beers and look forward to trying them, although I may have to travel to sample some of them. 

Socials

There are a number of socials in the pipeline so get the follwing dates in your diary.

Saturday 25th July 2026 – Torrside Brewery trip. 

Saturday Ist August – Greater Manchester Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood trip to the Darwen/Blackburn area on Saturday 1st August heading to The Black Bull (3Bs brewery). 

Wednesday 5th August 2026 – Egerton to Bromley Cross social. Organised by the Stockport & South Manchester branch.

Bolton Branch members have been invited to attend both the above trips.

Saturday 29th August 2026 – Torrside Brewery trip.

Friday 27th – Saturday 28th November 2026 – Wolverhampton & Dudley trip. 

As always, details on the branch website Socials Events page. 

Trips

If you prefer organising your own beer days, you may have tried the May Mildness trip I included in my last newsletter. Here is a link to some more trips featuring ‘Indie’ beers in and around Bolton. The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) says that independent beer is handmade by real people who truly care about the quality and flavour of the beer they are producing. Importantly, you’ll be supporting local business, protecting local pubs, and making a more sustainable choice too.

Hopefully there’s something there to excite your tastebuds, but even if you only call in at your local, you’re still keeping Bolton’s pubs and clubs going.

Cheers,

John Mitchell – Chair

Presentations

Before we talk about the changes to the Beer Scoring System, I wanted to let you know that if you are able to get to Horwich this Saturday – 13 June – there will be a couple of presentations going on. At 3pm we will be presenting the Cider Pub of the Year Runner-Up award to Blackedge Brewery Bar. At 5pm we will be at the Bank Top Brewery Ale House where we will be presenting the Pub of the Year award for the Ale House itself and the Runner-Up award for the Bank Top Brewery Tap. We will also be presenting an award for Bank Top’s Leprechaun Stout.

Beer Scoring Changes

There are tens of thousands of pubs across the country serving cask beers, and many of those serve really good pints. 

For lovers of a decent pint, it’s important to be able to find them. CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide has been the ‘bible’ for finding the very best ones since 1974 and continues to be relied upon by tens of thousands of people. CAMRA’s online pub guide camra.org.uk/pubs can also help because beer quality is indicated by the ‘3 Pints’ symbols that CAMRA members can see when logged in. 

Pubs and clubs that serve really excellent pints, and serve them consistently well, can be potential candidates for the Good Beer Guide. To help identify them, CAMRA members score their pints whenever they have the opportunity. Their scores help local branches determine candidates for the Guide, and these can change year on year because the standards are high. Serving live cask beer requires skill in the cellar and attention by bar staff all the time. Competition for a place is stiff because only 4,500 places are available. 

Up until now, the scoring system has used a numbering system of 0 to 5. But there are problems with this. It requires memorising the criteria for each score and using them consistently, but memories can be variable. Some people genuinely struggle with numbers, so they don’t take part. It becomes open to individual interpretation with resulting inconsistency between scorers. There’s also the potential for individual bias and a reluctance to ‘award’ high scores.

We all know when we are drinking a good pint that’s been well-kept, and we also know when a pint is very good or excellent – who cannot resist telling everyone else about it! And likewise, a pint that is simply OK or, hopefully not often, undrinkable. 

So, to make things easier for everyone, a new intuitive ratings system is being introduced, which is more descriptive of the beer being drunk. Each of the new ratings has a description and a likely reaction to help you pin down the most appropriate rating. Ratings can be recorded on CAMRA’s online pub guide camra.org.uk/pubs by all CAMRA members so start rating your beer now.

The new ratings and descriptions and your likely reaction to being served a pint of this quality are: 

EXCELLENT – Exceptional and clear (if intended to be) with fantastic aromas, flavours and ideal carbonation. Superb!

Your reaction: 
You tell your friends and compliment the
cellar manager. 
VERY GOOD – Satisfying and well-kept with a great
appearance, good carbonation and enticing
aromas and flavours. 

Your reaction:
You consider having another and may cancel plans to
move to another pub. 
GOOD – Nice appearance, good carbonation, aromas
and flavour. Pleasant but not memorable.

Your reaction: You’re happy to have
another but might consider something else. 
ACCEPTABLE – Unremarkable and ordinary, with no noteworthy characteristics. 

Your reaction: You’re unlikely to have another unless it is all there is and there isn’t another pub to go to. 
POOR – Noticeably imperfect.

Your reaction: Drinkable with resentment, but you politely ask for a replacement. 
UNDRINKABLE – Unpleasant to drink, likely with a disgusting taste, incorrect appearance and off/foul aroma. 
Your reaction: You politely ask for it to be replaced and consider asking the publican to take it off.

The number of members scoring beers has been steadily increasing as has the number of pubs and beers being scored. I hope you find the new system easier to use and that you too can get involved in choosing our entries for the Good Beer Guide and letting other members know where to find the best quality cask ale in Bolton and across the country.

Cheers.

John Mitchell – Chair

Welcome to your Bolton CAMRA Branch Update. The Bank Holiday is here and, apparently we’re in for a heatwave. What better excuse to get out the the pub for a pint or two? Many pubs are running special bank holiday events and, if we know about them, we’ll do our best to publicise them on our Facebook page here, particularly if there’s cask ale involved. There’s also the small matter of a certain football match which I’m sure lots of pubs will be showing. Probably, by the time you read this, we will know whether the Wanderers have taken a step back to where a club of this size and history should be.

There’s lots going on in the world of beer and pubs at the moment so here goes.

Branch Meeting 

The next Branch Meeting will take place on 4 June 2026 at the Crown, 1 Chorley New Road, Horwich, BL6 7QJ. The meeting will start at 8 p.m. The Crown has just reopened after a major refurbishment and it is good to see Joseph Holt investing in its estate. As always, all are welcome and it will be good to see what’s changed and what remains the same.

Mild Weather

In the late 1930s, mild made up 92% of all the beer sold in Bolton’s pubs, slaking the thirst of the workers from the mills and foundries of the town. Over the following decades as these industries died, mild became seen as a drink of the past and lager took over as the preferred tipple of the masses. Over recent years, mild has been making a comeback with our local breweries regularly brewing it. CAMRA has designated May as its Mild Month and in response, a number of our pubs are stocking a mild. We have put together a trail using the ‘trip’ facility on CAMRA’s website. If you click here it will take you to details of pubs serving mild either for Mild Month or regularly. If you know of other pubs serving mild, please let us know at pubs@bolton.camra.org.uk or use the ‘Spot a Beer’ button on the pub’s entry on the website and we can add them to the trail.

Clubbing It

Over the last couple of months it has been my pleasure to present the awards for Club of the Year. The Ukrainian Social Club was the winner and Daisy Hill Cricket Club and Westhoughton Sports and Social Club joint runners up.  These clubs are at the heart of their communities providing a whole range of activities for local people from band practice to pilates and community gardens. Many of these clubs are open to the public although membership will get you a discount on drinks. These clubs are the hidden gems of cask ale, doing their best to promote real ale to their customers and they deserve our support. As summer approaches, what could be better than watching a game of cricket or bowls in the sunshine over a pint?

Pub News

As well as the Crown reopening, the (relatively) nearby Ridgway Arms at Blackrod has reopened and is advertising Wainwright Gold and Bradfield Farmer’s Blonde on the bar. The Rose and Crown in Westhoughton has also reopened but at the moment there is no real ale although they say they are looking into it.

On the down side, you may have read in the media that national brewer Greene King has closed the Red Lion in Over Hulton as part of a wider rationalisation of their estate. This is a real shame as it was a family friendly, food-led pub and given we’re told the Ryder Cup will be coming to a newly constructed golf course on the Hulton Estate, you would have thought it was perfectly placed to cash in.

I have mentioned before that the iconic Marble Arch on Rochdale Road in manchester is under threat from an unsympathetic development  around it. The pub has once again asked for CAMRA’s help to fight a planning application for a seventeen storey building to be constructed right next to the pub, completely overwhelming it. You can help by submitting an objection to the application. Click here to find out how.  

Socials

There are a number of socials in the pipeline so get the follwing dates in your diary.

Saturday 6th June 2026 – Stalybridge. 

Thursday 18th June 2026 – Local social. 

Friday 19th June 2026 – Stockport Beer Festival. 

Saturday 25th July 2026 – Torrside Brewery trip. 

Saturday 29th August 2026 – Torrside Brewery trip. 

Friday 27th – Saturday 28th November 2026 – Wolverhampton & Dudley trip.

Details of all our branch soocials are availbale on the Social Events page of the Branch website here.

You may have seen some emails emanating from HQ about changes to the beer scoring system. The new rating system will be launched in early June and I will send out another newsletter with details of the changes and other functions on the national website.

In the meantime, I hope you get to enjoy a pint or two in the sunshine while you can.

Cheers

John Mitchell – Chair