Category: Branch News

Welcome to your latest Bolton CAMRA Branch Update. Well, the promised heatwave actually appeared! I hope you were among the many who flocked to the nation’s beer gardens and gave our hard pressed licensees an unexpected but welcome Spring bonus.

Branch Meeting

June’s Branch Meeting will be held on Thursday 5 June at The Northern Monkey Brewery Tap, Unit 1 Chorley Street Industrial Estate, Bolton, BL1 4AL (not the Nelson Square Bar). Come along and sample Northern Monkey’s finest only metres from where they’re brewed. You can also see where the magic happens while you savour the beers.

Bolton Beer and Cider Week

Bolton Beer and Cider Week will take place in July 2025. It lasts slightly longer than a week, but there’s plenty to fit in. There will be tap takeovers, brewery tours and cider tastings. The ever popular Rivvy Beer Walk will happen on the second Saturday. A Beer Passport will run for the whole month to give people the chance to visit as many pubs as they can and collect stickers for a chance to win prizes. Keep an eye on the Facebook page and other social media for details.

Something for History Buffs

Every branch should have a Pubs Officer and we are particularly fortunate to have Don, who is dedicated to gathering information on the pubs and clubs of Bolton branch area for CAMRA members and the public to access. I mentioned in my last update the wealth of information available on CAMRA’s new website which includes not only data on existing pubs but also the many, sadly, closed pubs and clubs in the borough. Don has spent the last couple of months adding information to the closed pub entries so that those who are interested can look at their history both in terms of CAMRA and also local and national media. You can search for an individual pub, or search a location but if you search a location, you will need to click on the filter button next to the orange search button, scroll to the bottom and uncheck the ‘Hide Closed Down Pubs & Clubs’ box. A fine example many Boltonians will remember is the Howcroft, a great real ale pub and for many years the host of the Bolton Beer Festival. Click here and it will take you to masses of information about the pub from mentions in various branch magazines to articles in the Bolton News, plus photos. I hope you find it interesting.

Socials

Our next branch social will be a trip to Clitheroe on the 14 June and our annual trip to Torrside Brewery in Derbyshire will be on 26 July. Check out the Social Events page for details.

CAMRA’s biggest social event of the year, the Great British Beer Festival will run from Tuesday 5 to Saturday 9 August at the NEC in Birmingham. Click here for information on the festival whether you want to volunteer or simply sample the hundreds of beers, ciders and perries on offer.

As well as CAMRA events, there will be lots of local events and promotions going on in our pubs and clubs so make the most of them and let’s keep that Spring bonus going through the Summer.

Cheers!

John Mitchell – Chair

Welcome to your latest Bolton CAMRA Branch update. I hope you enjoyed the Easter break and got the opportunity to try some of the Six Nations, Easter and St George’s day brews that have been on offer.

Branch Meeting

The May Branch Meeting will be held at 8 p.m. on Thursday 1 May at the Ukraininan Social Club, 99 Castle Street, Bolton BL2 1JP.  The meeting will start with a presentation to the club, having been voted, once again, Club of the Year for the Bolton Branch.

On the subject of presentations, on Thursday 15 May we will be handing over the awards for Pub of the Year and Cider Pub of the Year to B33R@33, Horwich. The presentation will be at 7.15 so please come along to celebrate a rare double win for this popular bar.

Pub Closures

CAMRA has published its data on pub closures for 2023. The headline figures are quite stark, with 1293 businesses closed across the UK and 194 lost permanently through demolition or conversion to other uses. Although there have been some openings too, these tend to be town centre bars and do not replace the community locals which are too often the casualties. It is often said that the battle for cask beer has been won and it is true that real ale is now available in many more outlets, however, as cask beer can only be drunk in a pub or club, the closure of so many pubs means cask beer is under threat once again. In recognition of this CAMRA gives equal weight to campaigning for the promotion and protection of pubs as to campaigning for live beer, cider and perry. We campaign to help save pubs regardless of whether they serve cask beer or not. As I mentioned in my last update, it is important that we know what is going on with the pubs and clubs in our area so please keep us updated by emailing pubs@bolton.camra.org.uk or updating the pub/club details on the website. Information on how to do that is below. As, I presume, we all joined CAMRA because we enjoy drinking real ale in convivial surroundings, let’s all try to make sure we can carry on doing just that! The full report on closures can be read here.

Mild Month

In May each year, CAMRA branches across the UK celebrate Mild Month, an initiative to celebrate and highlight the mild beer style. Mild was once, by far, the most widely drunk beer in Bolton but with the decline of heavy industry in the town and the huge sums spent on promoting lager, mild was until recently under threat of extinction. That is starting to change and some local breweries, including Bank Top and Holt’s usually have a mild on sale in their pubs. On May 10, the branch will be holding a Mild Trail, setting off from the town centre and heading by bus to Horwich. It is hoped  that there will be a mild available in each of the pubs visited. More details on this event and all our socials can be found here

Stockport and South Manchester Branch are also holding a Mild Magic trail which continues until 18 May.

CAMRA Website

If you haven’t visited the national website recently you will find that it has been completely changed and offers far more facilities than the old site. The opening page here allows you to search for pubs and clubs anywhere in the country, regardless of whether they serve real or not, and to make it easier you can click on the ‘Pubs and Clubs Nearby’ button to take you straight to the pubs and clubs near your location. If you click on any of the entries it will take you to the page for that pub or club (e.g.B33R@33, Horwich  – our current Pub and Cider Pub of the Year) and give you lots of information including which beers you can expect to see on the bar and (if you’re logged in as a member) the quality of the beer based on beer scores by members. Other tabs allow you to add your own scores and to update any other information that may be out of date. Keeping all this information accurate means a much better experience for anyone wanting to try out those venues so you’ll be helping all your fellow members as well as the public at large by checking it out.

With a couple of bank holidays and (apparently) a heatwave on the way, a bit of research on the CAMRA website will reveal lots of places where you can find excellent beer, so whether it be a pint of mild while watching cricket or a mango infused IPA in a micropub, enjoy!

Cheers!

John Mitchell – Chair

Meet at One for the Road in the Market at 1.00pm.

The 125 Stagecoach bus runs regularly, every 15 minutes during the day from Bolton Interchange which will take us to Bunburys and then on to Horwich. Adult bus fares are £2 per journey but as we stop off at Bunburys a System One ticket for £5 is the best price.

One for the Road, Stalls F14 to F15 Ashburner Street Lifestyle Hall, BL1 1TJ, 2 changing ales. Food available in the market.

Bunbury’s 397 Chorley Old Road, BL1 6AH, micro pub with 3 changing ales

Bank Top Ale House, 36 Church Street, BL6 6AD, 4 regular and 5 changing ales including 1 guest

B33R@33, 33 Lee Lane, BL6 7AX. 2 changing ales

Blackedge Brewery Bar, Moreton Mill, Hampson Street, Horwich, BL6 7JH, 3 regular Blackedge ales and 4 changing from Blackedge. Food available from 1pm

Crown, 1 Chorley New Road, BL6 7QJ, 4 regulars from the Holts stable and 4 changing ales. Food available

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.

It is hoped that all pubs will have a mild beer but if not there will still be some good beers to enjoy

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

Catch the bus at the Bolton Interchange. There are two buses that go to Harwood; 480 runs every hour leaving at 12.25 or 13.25 arriving at 12.40 or 13.40. There is also 507 which runs every 30 minutes; 12.10 or 12.40 arriving at 12.24 or 12.54. If you want lunch the Plough would be the best Pub to visit first.

House without a Name, 75 Lea Gate, Harwood, BL2 3ET. 2 regular beers and 2 changing

The Plough, 157 Lea Gate, Harwood, BL2 4BQ, 2 changing beers. Food is available all day

Nook & Cranny, 12 Gate Fold, Harwood 3HN, 2 changing beers

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

Peter Morris and some friends have organised a trip to Hebden Bridge on 5 April. They have invited any Bolton CAMRA members to join then.

They will be leaving Bolton station on the 12.18 train to Rochdale, arriving at 13.01. This gives 10 minutes to catch the train to Hebden Bridge.  They plan to return home around 19.00-20.00. Trains are regular.

Peter has no real plans for Pubs to visit but he knows Hebden Bridge well and has visited them before.

If you need more information send me and email and I will pass it on the Peter; Gill Smart, social@bolton.camra.org.uk

Welcome to your latest Bolton CAMRA Branch update. I hope you’ve been enjoying the sunshine although it might still be a bit chilly for relaxing in a beer garden for any length of time. Fortunately, there are plenty of pubs where you can watch those rays flood in while keeping nice and warm inside.

Branch Meeting

The next branch meeting will be held on 3 April 2025. We’re on the road this month and the meeting will be hosted by the Blackedge Brewery Tap 55 Market St, Westhoughton, BL5 3AG. The meeting will start at the earlier time of 7.30 to give people time to get home on public transport. There are no votes this month so there’ll be more time to talk about all things pub and beer-related (not forgetting cider and perry, of course).

Awards

In my last update I announced the winners and runners-up in our annual Pub of the Year, Cider Pub of the Year and Club of the Year competitions. We are in the process of arranging presentations so keep your eyes on our social media for dates. The Pub, Cider Pub and Club of the Year will now go on to be judged in the Greater Manchester Area competition and, if successful there, could go on to take the national title, so there’s a lot to play for, as it were. The starting point for these pubs and clubs is the beer scores given by members so, if you think your local deserves a crack at the title, make sure you score those beers.

Spring Statement

While there wasn’t a great deal of expectation, the Chancellor’s Spring Statement delivered on Wednesday proved a bit of a disappointment so far as CAMRA is concerned, containing, as it did, nothing to give much hope to the beleaguered hospitality sector. CAMRA’s chair, Ash Corbett-Collins said:

“Pubgoers are understandably worried about the future of community locals. Licensees will be hit by extra costs in the coming days from increased National Insurance contributions and a cut in support with business rates for pubs in England.

In light of these worries, it is disappointing that there weren’t any announcements in the Spring Statement to support pubs, breweries or consumers. Pubgoers and the people running pubs were crying out for the Chancellor to think again on the Employer National Insurance hike for pubs; to speed up the new, fairer system of business rates for pubs in England; for cuts to duty and VAT on beer and cider served in pubs.

CAMRA’s 145,000 members will continue to fight for better consumer choice and support for UK pubs and brewers leading up to the Autumn Budget.”

Citizen Science

OK, so it’s hardly the Big Garden Birdwatch, but CAMRA’s website tries to have details of every pub and club in the country, open or closed, regardless of what it sells, and this information has to be accurate and up to date, not only for for other visiting CAMRA members but for the general public as well. As local CAMRA members, we are all responsible for the information in our branch area but our inclination is to gravitate towards pubs that serve real ale so we have a fair amount of  information about those. There are, however, lots and lots of pubs and clubs out there that don’t serve real ale. Currently, it falls to Don, our intrepid Pubs Officer to go out and survey these pubs, often 15-20 or so at a time, and by car so he can’t have a drink even if he wanted one! It would be really helpful if you, as our eyes and ears on the ground, could pop into one or two of the pubs in your local area and drop Don a line on pubs@bolton.camra.org.uk with the name of the pub and whether it serves cask beer or not, and if it does, what it is. Alternatively, use the WhatPub website feedback form for the pub or even the Beer Scoring comments box. This would save Don a lot of diesel and shoe leather, not to mention the wearisome sight of row after row of keg fonts. What would be even better would be a network of volunteers across the branch area who would be willing to cover a few pubs, cask or otherwise, on their local patch and keep us updated every three months or so. If you would be willing to do this, again, please drop Don a line.

Socials and Beer Festivals

Apologies for the short notice but, the next social is this Saturday 29 March in Bolton Centre. Meet at One for the Road on the Market at 1 p.m.  Details of all our socials can be found here. There are also two local beer festivals in the branch area in April, one at Bradshaw Cricket Club (joint runner-up in our Club of the Year competition) 11-13 April and the other at Daisy Hill Cricket Club 24-27 April. Details are on their websites and Facebook pages.

So there’s plenty going on and I hope you are able to join us at one of our meetings or socials but in any event there are plenty of opportunities to get out and enjoy a pint.

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, 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

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

These are just four 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

Welcome to your latest Branch Update. The nights are getting lighter and there’s a distinct feeling that Spring might be on the way. It’s that time of year when a beer drinker’s thoughts might be turning to something a little lighter after the dark comforts of stout and winter ale during the colder months.

Awards

On the subject of seasons, not only is the entertainment industry awash with award ceremonies, but Bolton CAMRA is also in the middle of its own awards season. Our first award of 2025 goes to the House Without a Name in Harwood which has been voted Winter Pub of the Season. Congratulations to Jon and the team at the ‘No Name’. We will be presenting them with their certificate at 7p.m. this Wednesday 26 February.

It is also time to vote for three more awards: The Pub of the Year, the Cider Pub of the Year and the Club of the Year. You can vote online on the members’ page of the branch website here. You will need your membership details to log on. Online voting closes at midnight on 4 March 2025. Alternatively, you can vote in person at the March branch meeting which will be held at the Spinning Mule, Nelson Square, Bolton at 8 p.m. on Thursday 6 March 2025.

Your Pub Needs You

Those of you who read the Daily Mirror may be aware of this campaign calling on the Government to take measures to stop the closure of so many of the country’s pubs. The paper ran a series of articles highlighting areas of the country where many pubs have closed and are boarded up but also some success stories where pubs are managing to cling on in the face of adversity or have been brought back from the dead and are now trading succesfully. One of these is CAMRA’s current national Pub of the Year the Bailey Head in Oswestry, Shropshire. CAMRA fully supports the Mirror’s campaign and we hope the publicity will put pressure on the government to help the struggling hospitality sector.

Late Night Levy

I mentioned in an earlier update that the Council had voted to bring in a Late-Night Levy covering bars and takeaways licensed to open between 3 and 6 a.m. in Bolton town centre. The purpose of the levy is to contribute to the costs of policing in the early hours of the morning. A number of other councils have tried this but found it didn’t bring in the amount of money they hoped. Ahead of the levy coming into force this month we have seen a slew of applications from bars seeking to amend their licensed hours to just before 3 a.m. when the charge takes effect. How this will affect the Council’s income remains to be seen, but it clearly won’t be as much as they anticipated, and, for those drinkers who like to stay out until the cows come home, there may be less choice of places to go.

Getting Involved

You will have received an email from Ralph Warrington, CAMRA’s regional Director for the North West looking for someone to take on the role of Area Organiser for Greater Manchester. If you are interested in this role, please email Ralph at rd.northwest@camra.org.uk 

There is also a vacancy for a Brewery Liaison Officer for Bank Top Brewery, Bolton’s award winning and probably best known independent brewery. As the name suggests, the BLO provides the link between CAMRA and the brewery making sure that all our information is up to date. Full details of the role can be found here. Again, you’ll need your membership details to log on. If you’re interested in this position, please drop me a line at chair@bolton.camra.org.uk

We’re also looking for members to get involved by sharing information with other members on our branch website. For example, what’s happening with your local pubs? Have you been on a pub crawl or had an excellent pub experience?  Have you seen a great ale-related website that you think we should link to? If you’re a publican, let us know what beers you are currently serving and if you are hosting any ale-related events. Are you organising a beer festival? If there is anything at all that you have come across that will be of interest to visitors to the site, tell us about it by emailing editor@bolton.camra.org.uk

And on that note, a quick shout out to our neighbouring branch, Wigan, who are holding their beer festival this weekend at Robin Park, Wigan. Details here.

Finally, if your idea of getting involved is simply drinking quality beer with like-minded people, why not come along to one of our branch socials. They take place usually once a month, sometimes more often, taking in Bolton and further afield. Details can be found on the Social Events page of the branch website. The next social is a trip to Sheffield on 7 March.

Cheers,

John Mitchell – Chair