Category: Branch News

Our local social this time will take us to Horwich. We have some pubs that have opened in the past few months and are selling real ale. Catch the 125 bus to meet at the Bank Top Ale House at 1.00pm. Obviously the Ale House and Crown are not recently open, but both are worth a visit.

Bank Top Ale House, 36 Church St. BL6 6AD. A good selection of cask ale

JR’s Ale House, 176 Chorley New Road (could catch the 575 or 576 from Bolton to meet here approx. 1.45-2.00) A good selection of cask ales

Sparrows Rum Bar, 32 Winter Hay Lane, BL6 7AA, 2 cask ales

Victoria & Albert, 141 Lee Lane, BL6 7AF, 6 handpumps

Tails & Ale, 141 Lee Lane, BL6 7AG. 3 changing cask ales

Crown, 1 Chorley New Road, BL6 7QJ, 4 regular cask ales from Holts and 4 changing cask ales.

We will be visiting some of the well known pubs when we include Horwich in the Cider Trail

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

Annual General Meeting

Just a reminder that the branch’s AGM will be held at 8.00 p.m. on Thursday 7 November at the Spinning Mule, Nelson Square, Bolton BL1 1JT. Amongst other things, the meeting will be electing the branch officers to serve for the next twelve months. The list of current officers can be found on the branch website here and each of the officers has confirmed that they are willing to continue in their roles. That does not, however, prevent any other member from standing for those roles if they wish. In addition to the areas which are already covered, there are other roles which are vacant and for which nominations would be welcomed.

Like all branches, Bolton’s membership is weighted toward the older end of the spectrum and a Young Members’ Contact could help us to attract more younger people to the branch. I have also mentioned before that we have many clubs in the borough about which we hold very little information so a Clubs Co-ordinator who could gather this information and promote real ale in our clubs would be a boon. Click on the role description links to find out what’s involved. 

Budget

After what seemed like an eternity, the budget has finally happened and it was a mixed bag so far as the hospitality industry is concerned. CAMRA welcomes the one penny per pint cut in draught beer and cider duty, but given the price of a pint, I’m not sure drinkers will notice. A review of the business rates system was promised which, if it is done right, is also welcome, but the reduction in the business rates support from 75% to 40% from next April is bound to have an impact. 

The government also announced its intention to bring in measures to make it easier for small brewers to get their beers on the bar in pubs although how this is to be achieved is not yet clear.

It’s fair to say that the industry itself was not so impressed with the budget, citing concerns about the increases in the living wage and National Insurance having an impact on their costs.

How all this is reflected in the price of a pint and the choice of beer on the bar remains to be seen.

Champion Beer of Britain

Nominations for the Champion Beer of Britain 2026 close on Monday 4 November. Don’t miss your chance to put forward your favourite local or national beers for this prestigious prize. You can vote on the CAMRA website by clicking here.

Local MPs

Last week I had the opportunity to meet Phil Brickell, the recently elected MP for Bolton North East. Over a beer in the Bank Top Brewery Ale House, our current Pub of the Year, we talked about the budget, planning protection for pubs and competition issues. Phil was very sympatheitic to CAMRA’s concerns and is willing to raise them in Parliament on our behalf. I hope to get the chance to speak to our other two MPs soon.

CAMRA Website

The new CAMRA website, currently dubbed ‘the CAMRA Experience’ is now live and feedback on how it is working is welcomed. The site has pubs front and centre, with much more information about the beers available in those pubs. Some changes have been made to the way beer scoring is done and I will let you have more information about this next time. We will also update the guidance on the branch website. In the meantime you can still use the old WhatPub site which will be available for a while.  Beer scoring is a subject I mention frequently, but it is important as it forms the basis of how pubs are chosen for the Good Beer Guide. 

Well, it’s getting to that time of year when a pint in a warm pub or club is a welcome retreat from the colder weather and the darker evenings, so why not pull on your big coat, brave the elements and find out what treats your local has to offer in this season of mists and mellow fruitfulness?

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 £7.10 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.

Start at  Petersgate Tap: 19a St Petersgate, SK1 1EB
Six changing cask beers. Cold pies from local butcher.
The next two are all in the Market Place a few doors apart.

Bakers Vaults: Market Place, SK1 1ES
Eight cask beers, five Robinson’s and three changing, usually from Titanic.
They let you bring in food from surrounding businesses. Possibly Old Tom will be on the bar.

Angel Inn: 20 Market Place,  SK1 1EY
One regular cask beer, Thornbridge Jaipur and five changing beers, including 2 dark.

Crown Inn: 154 Heaton Lane, SK4 1AR
Two regular beers. Three changing beers. Food available

The Magnet: 51 Wellington Road North, Heaton Norris, SK4 1HJ
Fourteen cask ales, one regular and 13 changing. 

Ye Old Vic: 1 Chetham Street, SK3 9ED.
6 changing beers. Doesn’t open until 5.00 unless Stockport playing at Home. This pub is opposite the station and is well worth a visit

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

Branch Meeting

Unfortunately, the October Branch Meeting due to be held this evening, 1 October, at the Beer School, Westhoughton, has had to be postponed, owing to a  leak at the premises. The good news is that the meeting will now take place next Tuesday, 8 October 2024 at 7.30 at the Beer School. The meeting will be followed by a beer themed quiz. Everyone is welcome, as always, and we will be hoping to attract some new members to join the branch.

Budget

The new Chancellor’s first Budget will be held on Wednesday 30 October and we want to see meaningful action taken to support pubs, social clubs, brewers, cider makers and consumers.

We’ve called for the Chancellor to make sure that the draught duty rate is able to realise its full potential by introducing a 20% difference between the tax paid on pints in pubs compared to supermarket alcohol. We’ve also asked the Government to stick by their manifesto committment to reform the unfair Business Rates system.

CAMRA has joined forces with industry leaders, the Society of Independent Brewers to send groundbreaking new economic modelling directly to the Treasury, showing the transformation a UK wide cut in duty charged on beer and cider served in pubs could bring.  

Our proposed 20% discount for tax on pints in pubs would create thousands of new jobs and put millions back into the economy, as consumers are encouraged to move from supermarket alcohol back to being able to support their local pubs and social clubs. We’ll also be taking the campaign to the heart of Parliament, holding events to lobby MPs directly over the next six weeks.

If you haven’t already done so, you can help by emailing your MP asking them to urge the Chancellor to support CAMRA’s position. The link below will take you to CAMRA’s main campaigning page where you can use the easy online tool. This will match you with your MP and give you a template email, which you can choose to edit or send straight away. It only takes a few minutes to get involved.

EMAIL YOUR MP

Cheers

John Mitchell

Chair 

Branch: Bolton

Our local social this time will take us to Harwood. We will be able to visit the newly open The Plough. Meet at the Bolton Bus Station to catch the 507 bus at 12.40. Stand E. We should arrive just before 13.00.  We will meet at the House without a name.  The stop is  Lea Gate (opposite Church Street)

House Without a Name, 75-77 Lea Gate, BL2 3ET, 2 changing beers

Nook & Cranny Tap House, 12 Gatefold BL2 3HN, 2 changing beers

Plough, 157 Lea Gate, BL2 4BQ, 2 changing beers

If anyone has suggestions about other pubs with cask, no on the list please let us know.

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 have been able to enjoy a pint or two in the outdoors despite the poor weather and days when the moon seemed to shine brighter than the sun!

Summer Pub of the Season

On the subject of summer, the branch has chosen the Thomas Egerton in Egerton as its Summer Pub of the Season so congratulations to the team there. A presentation of the award is being arranged so please watch our social media for details.

Branch Meetings

There won’t be a formal Branch meeting in September, however, an informal get together will be held on 12 September starting at the Olde Man and Scythe, Bolton at 8 p.m. and possibly moving on to other venues in the town centre as the evening progresses.

The October branch meeting will be held on TUESDAY 1 October at 7.30 p.m. at the Beer School, Westhoughton. The meeting will be followed by a beer themed quiz. Everyone is welcome, as always, and we will be hoping to attract some new members to join the branch.

General Election

The general election seems like a long time ago but we now have a new government in Westminster and two new MPs in Bolton. CAMRA is engaging with the new ministers who have responsibilities relevant to the Campaign. In particular, CAMRA will be pushing for greater legal protection for pubs one year on from the sudden demolition of the Crooked House pub in the Midlands. Further information on this can be found on CAMRA’s website here. I will be writing to our local MPs asking them to give their support to our local pubs, clubs and breweries.

CAMRA Experience

If anyone has looked at CAMRA’s national website recently, you will have noticed that it gives you the option of being redirected to the new website, known as the CAMRA Experience. The intention is to bring a number of separate websites (e.g. WhatPub and Learn and Discover) together so that they can be linked and accessed much more easily. The new version of WhatPub will also have a beer quality indicator giving pubs/clubs a score of one, two or three pint glasses. These scores will be based on the beer scores submitted by members. It is felt that showing scores this way will encourage licensees to keep their beer in the best condition. Beer scoring is the key to this and to ensure that our local cask ale outlets do not end up with three empty glasses, please score their beers when you visit. If you haven’t scored beers before, please read the guidance on how to do it on the branch website here.

Good Beer Guide

The Good Beer Guide is CAMRA’s flagship publication and the 2025 edition will be published in late September. Bolton has an allocation of thirteen pubs in the guide, but which pubs they are will not be revealed until the Guide is published. The branch is intending to hold a launch event on our around the publication date so please watch our social media for details.

Pub and Club News

The Victoria and Albert in Horwich is to reopen on 23 August after a major refurbishment. Up to five real ales will be on offer along with a cask cider. This should be another great addition to the already thriving real ale scene in Horwich.

Over in Harwood, the Seven Stars, now renamed the Plough, should be opening shortly following refurbishment. We are told cask ales will be on sale, adding to the allure of Harwood as a real ale drinker’s destination.

Astley Bridge Cricket Club will be holding its annual beer festival on 13,14 & 15 September. Nine ales and four ciders will be on offer. Entry is £5 including a glass and programme.

Maybe the often promised heatwave will materialise before Autumn sets in, but whatever the weather, a glass of cask ale in one of our local pubs and clubs will always make the day a little brighter.

Cheers

John Mitchell

Chair