Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries, one of the two "super-regionals" is being pursued by a firm of venture capitalists who wish to asset strip the company in order to make lots of filthy lucre. W & D who operate 4 breweries, 2 maltings and around 1,700 pubs, have been targeted because of their low share price, itself the result of making less than expected profits after the acquisition of Marstons and Mansfield breweries.

The firm doing the pursuing is called Botts & Co and is in cohorts with Mr Robert Breare, the man responsible for separating Ushers Wiltshire brewery from its pubs and closing it down. One of the reasons given by Botts for eyeing up W & D - as yet, no formal bid has been made - is that the company has been slow to make cost savings after its acquisitions.

In laymans terms, this means that they haven't closed any breweries as they were expected to do by the pin-stripe city boffins. Currently W & D are conducting a review of their breweries and it is expected that at least one will close - generally assumed to be Mansfield. However, at the time of takeover earlier this year, W & D gave an assurance that the Mansfield brewery would remain open for at least two years, far too long for Mr. Breare.

David Thompson, W & D's ebullient managing director, has firmly rejected the approach from Botts, saying that the proposals undervalue the company and he has promised to vigorously fight and bid should one land on his desk. For make no bones about it, it would be a disaster if this company were to be taken over by these cowboys.

W & D produces quality ales from quality ingredients. It operates two floor maltings in the West Midlands where it malts Maris Otter barley, a high quality variety once threatened with extinction. It also operates the last Burton Union system of fermentation anywhere in the world at Marston's and has long-term contracts with quality hop-growers in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Under the asset-strippers, it will be goodbye Banks's Bitter, goodbye Camerons Strongarm, goodbye Marston's Pedigree and goodbye Mansfield Bitter. In short, goodbye to a lot of decent ale.

Sadly this is not the case. Most of the pubs in the immediate vicinity serve only uninteresting nitro-keg beers - are the brewers lazy, or uninterested. Do they think this is what all students wish to drink or is there more profit in these beers?

Fortunately, there is still a good choice of real ales close to the University and over the page Janet Cooper reviews the best places to visit.

However, the list of shame is long. The nearest four pubs to the Students Union have no real ale at all, that is the Ship and Time Square on Fylde Road, Variety on Adelphi Street and Adelphi on Fylde Road roundabout. Just across the roundabout, the Lamb & Packet is a recent sad loss to real ale, part of a worrying trend in Thwaites pubs. Major extensions are due and we can only hope that real ale will make a reappearance once that is done.

Friargate is one of Preston best real ale areas, but not all is roses. At the University end, no real ale in the Friars Gate, O'Neills or Roper Hall with the Sun as the first safe haven, serving real Thwaites Bitter.

Preston has well over 100 pubs, and about 70 of these sell Real Ale. You may ask why drink real ale, well it’s cheap, has no additives and therefore should not give you a hangover. A word of warning however keep away from "Smooth Beers" they are NOT real ale and will give you one heck of a hangover.

For anyone new to the subject, real ale is basically 'living' beer which is served without added gas. Unlike smooth beers or keg beer, it is allowed to condition and mature in the barrel which builds up a fuller flavour, and then served without the nitrogen gas that kills the taste of smooth beers or carbon dioxide that gives keg beer its fizzy pop character.

In Preston at least, the handpump is the thing to look for as a pretty safe sign of real ale, while the various shapes of plastic box dispense smooth or keg beer. It is 'warm beer', not served chilled like lager, but at its best is still served below room temperature. Anyway, most of the year round in Preston, who needs to be chilled by their beer.

So for all you new students here’s a list of some of the best real ale pubs in Preston.

Opposite Livesey House, very good beer, great jukebox, "singer’s" night on Wednesdays, student’s union rock society meets here, recently had a refurbishment. Usually two or three guest beers from all over the country served in superb condition.

The "Bikers" pub. Great music, rock disco Sunday nights. Great food and fantastic curries available at lunch time. Usually 4 real ales including the very tasty Highgate Mild from the West Midlands and at least one changing guest.

Next to Vernon Building this locals pub has a games room and 2 changing guest beers.

Opposite Mitre Tavern, the local "haunted" pub has live local groups. Good mix of students and locals. Guest beers available.

Good meeting place, sells Thwaites Bitter, good home cooked food, very reasonably priced.

A large range of real ales, usually around 8 including rarities you will probably not have heard of or seen before, very busy at weekends, has local bands on Saturday nights.

Robinson’s pub, sells the famous Old Tom strong ale (8.5%abv). Small rooms for chatting, open upstairs at weekends. Popular with Indie music crowds and students, well worth a visit.

Recently started selling "Hart" beers, a local brewery, lively pub particularly at weekends.

Large Wetherspoons pub, no piped music but beer and food very cheap and a good range. Very busy weekend evenings when staff are rushed off their feet.

A bit further away:

Recently refurbished, has started selling up to 4 real ales, lively town centre pub at weekends.

Only place in Preston to enjoy a pint of Holt’s bitter, large TV screen.

Recently refurbished, beer is excellent and the food menu is varied and cheap. If you’re nearby and hungry look no further. Two for the price of one offers on beer at certain times. Serves Jennings beers from the Lake District.

Congratulations must go to Dave and Jackie of the Prince of Wales , Cowling, which has recently won CAMRA West Lancashire pub of the season. The Prince was once part of the Cafe Inns empire but has since been acquired by Jennings brewery along with other pubs within the Chorley area. It is one of those rare things - an unspoilt town pub with its own tap room, games room, and snug still intact from the clumsy hammer of the redeveloper.

At the Prince of Wales in addition to Jennings Mild and Cumberland Bitter, and its regular guest beers (recently Everards Tiger and Ruddles County), the latest addition to the beer list is Jennings Cross Buttock- a seasonal beer of 4.5% ABV which replaces Jennings Cocker Hoop (be careful with this one!!).

The Potters Arms just down the road on Brooke Street has also had a new guest beer on tap, and has recently been serving Moorhouse's Lancashire Ale - this was temporarily swapped in place of its regular guest beer which is Moorhouse`s Premier bitter. The Potters is a favourite stopping off point for many local drinkers, as the Moorhouse`s Premier represents a superb pint of quaffing bitter (after a couple of pints its difficult to prise yourself from the bar top !!).

Another pub at the top end of Chorley is the Bretherton Arms on Eaves Lane which has recently been refurbished and sells a good pint of Marston`s Pedigree on hand pump.

Other pubs within Chorley town centre have also kept faith with cask ale. The Tut and Shive has been selling a fine pint of Flowers Original and Castle Eden Ale, the Prince of Wales (near Chorley covered market) sells an excellent pint of Bass and John Smiths cask, the Queens on Chapel Street has been selling Brains SA and Greene King`s Abbot Ale on hand pump. [Stop Press: The Queens has just closed and appears to have been stripped of its furniture. A temporary situation we hope] The Fox And Grapes (near the train station ) has been serving Camerons Strongarm, and a particular favourite Hydes Jekyll`s Gold.

Also worth a mention is the excellent pint of Banks`s Bitter to be found at the Plough on Pall Mall. This is served in a full measured glass and at a very reasonable price, and is a pint which the landlord keeps in consistently good condition. (Let`s hope the proposed city take-over of Wolverhampton & Dudley falls through - so we can all continue to enjoy Banks`s beer on cask !!)

Of equal interest for the local drinker is the conversion of the Market Tavern to Jennings cask. The Market Tavern was once a shining example of the Victorian town centre pub complete with cosy snugs and bell pushes, which sold an excellent pint of Walkers Bitter and Mild on hand pump - a refuge where people could once enjoy a friendly pint and something called a "conversation". Alas the Market Tavern was not as fortunate as the Prince of Wales ,Cowling, and its unique interior was demolished. These woes were compounded by a long spell of mainly keg beers. Thankfully those dark days are now over with the news of the new tenants commitment to cask ale. Which is a very welcome signal both for the future of the pub, and for the town centre scene in general.

Another recently acquired pub for Jennings is The Railway, situated at the bottom of Steeley Lane on the other side of Chorley railway station. The Railway is the place to find an excellent pint of Jennings standard bitter.

Other news from the amble is the sad closure of Chorley's only Joseph Holt house, the Duke of York on Bolton Road, which is now boarded up for sale. The Duke of York had a good start selling an excellent pint of Holts` Bitter and Mild but unfortunately went on to flounder, its problems being compounded by the pubs location outside the normal town centre circuit.

Equally sad comes the news that the Little Eagle next door is no longer selling Worthington Bitter on cask (as we go press). Also comes the recent news of the closure of Ackhurst Farm which once sold a range of cask ale under its original name the Game Bird (the pub-cum restaurant is to make way for new office development).

Outside Chorley, there is some good news from the border town of Adlington. The White Bear has re-opened and is back selling cask beers- which can only be good news for all the local seasoned drinkers. Rumour also has it that the bottom Spinners is under new ownership and the new tenants are to introduce a range of cask beers.

Of equal interest is the Cricketers in the village of Brinscall which is another pub that has converted over to Jennings cask and serves a fine pint of their standard bitter and mild- the Hare & Hounds in neighbouring Abbey Village is also worth an amble and always serves a fine selection of guest beers on hand pump, particularly Taylors Landlord.

On a final note, the little village of Croston is well worth an exploration by the discerning beer drinker- as it has a good collection of decent pubs to visit, the best of which is the Black Horse. When I was last there the pub was serving Timothy Taylors Landlord, Black Sheep Bitter, and Timothy Taylors Best Bitter- a pint not often seen outside its native Keighley. At the back of the pub there is a superb beer garden and bowling green, which is often used by CAMRA members.

Anyway, I`m off on a 14 pint drunken ramble with my buddy William Hague !!! (keep off the keg)

The Black Bull at Fulwood has re-opened after its major refurb. Gone is the "conservatory" look with walls replacing the glass. The interior is a definite improvement on the previous layout, for although the separate public bar has gone, several separate drinking areas have been created, including a separate 'No Smoking' area. The pub is run under the auspices of Ember Inns and is in fact a training academy for them. It serves three cask beers, Draught Bass, Stones Bitter and Fullers London Pride, and always seems to have plenty of staff on, so that although the pub can get full, you don't have to wait long to get served.

Another refurbed pub has also re-opened, namely the Sumners and although there are eight handpumps every one dispenses solely Boddingtons Bitter. The refurb seems to be a bit low key too, with the main difference (apart from the "Barras House" signs) being a preponderance of sombre wallpaper and some ponderous 19^th century portraits of the aforementioned John Barras.

Contrary to reports in the last issue of Ale Cry, the guest beer in the Shawes Arms on London Road is Moorhouses Premier Bitter.

The Black Horse in Preston is stocking the Robinsons seasonal beer, currently Whispering Willy, a 4% strength ale. It is also on sale at the Myerscough at Balderstone, near Samlesbury Aerodrome. Another seasonal beer is due in October. The Church Street Tavern has added Websters Green Label to the Yorkshire Bitter it currently sells.

The Market Tavern has recently been selling Black Sheep Bitter alongside its regular Jennings Bitter.

What have Burtonwood got against Preston? It is always a pleasure to visit the likes of the Original Withy Trees in Bamber Bridge or the Eagle & Child in Leyland, but to get any of Burtonwood's real ales in Preston, you have to hope for a pub serving it as a guest beer!

Recently trying to get around the few pubs in Preston not previously visited, one member was touring the Skeffington road area. Whilst finding no real ale in the Hesketh Arms, Skeffington, Cemetery Road (which had no Banks' products on sale despite the outside signage), Deepdale or Charnock, Burtonwood's Derby Arms was found to be shut up, awaiting a new tenant. When a new tenant arrives will it sell real ale? If any of the other Burtonwood pubs in Preston are anything to go by, no!

A trip out to Lea Town will find new managers in the Saddle serving a fine pint of Thwaites bitter and on a recent visit the Scallywag seasonal beer from Thwaites. One annoying point with a lot of Thwaites houses, when asking for a pint of bitter, you are asked "Traditional or Smooth?". Look at a Thwaites smooth dispense font, nowhere does it describe it as bitter, to be bitter requires taste which smooth never does.

Hopefully such questions are never asked nearby at the Smiths Arms by the BNFL factory. Unfortunately the mild has been withdrawn for the summer but will be reinstated when the darts and dominoes league starts up again in the autumn, with Alan, the landlord, toying with the idea of putting a Thwaites seasonal ale through the pump in the meantime.

Across the road in the works club, one guest beer is served and always in tip top condition, a few Hart brews featured recently. For entrance, show a CAMRA membership card or Good Beer Guide and you will be signed in by kind arrangement.

The management couple from the Fox & Grapes on Fox Street have exchanged pubs and moved to the...Exchange next door, adding Courage Directors to the Theakston Best Bitter already on sale. Also of importance is that they have taken the table football machine with them.

Tenancy TO Let signs seem to be appearing more

and more often. Recent sightingshave been the Cemetery Road, Wellington (Tulketh Road) and the Friars Gate (formerly Finnigans Wake, Olde Politician and Duke of York), now closed for refurbishment.

Longstanding landlord of the Wheatsheaf at Woodplumpton, Dave, has sadly left the trade since the last Ale Cry. We wish him well for his future. In his time at the pub he would never have Smooth on his bar and was one of the few places you could get cask John Smiths bitter. This has now changed however. It is not all bad news though, the new landlord stocks Ruddles best bitter, which was in fine condition on a recent visit, and a guest beer from whatever S & N allow him from Beer Seller, at weekends.

The Jazz Bar, between Church Street and the Guildhall, is now selling Jennings cask-conditioned beers, an interesting gain for cask beer as this has long been a keg-only pub apart from a brief unsuccessful trial of Theakstons cask in the 80s. We wish them well.

Angels on Lune Street is still for sale, but has recently been trying Hart beers as an interesting guest alongside more standard products.

On Fylde Road, the Hole in the Wall, listed in the last issue as one of Preston's closed pubs, has now re-opened. No sign of real ale as yet though.

Further down Fylde Road though, real ale goes from strength to strength at the Fylde Tavern. On a recent visit, 2 guest beers were available alongside the regular Boddingtons and Festival, both from Moorhouses, Pride of Pendle and the award-winning Black Cat.

The guest beer has gone, however, from the Lane Ends.

The 2001 edition of the best-selling Good Beer Guide, sponsored by Cask Marque will be on sale around the time this issue hits the pubs. 5,000 pubs freshly surveyed to guide you to the very best in real ale, both in this area and throughout the country, plus the Breweries section identifying all those obscure breweries whose beers you see in the free houses in the area.

£11.99 in the bookshops, but come along to one of the Branch Meetings & Socials (see the back page) to buy at a substantially reduced price (even greater reduction for members of CAMRA). You never know, you might even enjoy the meeting.

Guides should be available at the Ashton Institute on 23^rd October when Nigel Craig from Moorhouses will be visiting to talk about their national award for Black Cat.

Whilst attending the CAMRA AGM in Derby earlier this year, I picked up a recently published German language beer guide called the Oberpfälzer Bierführer by Harald Schieder & Ralph Forster, a publication I shall henceforth refer to as the Guide.

The Oberpfalz is an area in north eastern Bavaria stretching from Marktredwitz in the north to the capital Regensburg in the south and over to the Czech border in the east. The Guide purports to list "all the Breweries and all the beers" in this area - we shall see!

Regensburg is a handsome city situated at the confluence of the rivers Regen and Danube, well worth a visit even if you are tee-total. For the beer drinker, however, it is even more attractive. The Guide, though, gives one piece of news I didn't know, namely that the city's largest brewer, Thurn & Taxis, visible from the railway station, is now closed after the whole T & T dynasty, including a bank, went to the wall. The beers are now produced by the Paulaner Brewery in Munich. This leaves only the Bischofshof Brewery as a large scale producer in Regensburg.

The city still has two small producers that make a visit worthwhile. The first is the Kneitinger Brewery whose ancient brewery tap is located close to the Cathedral. Here the two regular beers, Edel Pils and Dunkel (Dark) are dispensed direct from wooden casks in a rumbustious beer hall atmosphere along with sausages and sauerkraut.

The other small brewery is quite different. The Spital brewery, founded in 1226 by a religious order, is on an island in the Danube opposite the city. On fine summer evenings the huge beer garden is packed with people downing the pale, hoppy and cheap Spital Hell (Light) in ½ litre glasses. A Pils and a pale, unfiltered wheat beer are also produced.

From Regensburg, I travelled north to the walled town of Amberg. The last time I was here, in the mid 1980s, Amberg, like the more famous city of Bamberg, had 10 breweries. Whereas Bamberg has lost only one brewery during the intervening years, Amberg has lost half of its breweries bringing the total down to a mere five. Since 1998, this has been increased to six as a new brew pub, the Schloderer Brau, has been opened.

As I was only here for a short time I visited the new brew pub, conveniently located near the town hall and about 5 minutes from the station. Like all new wave brew pubs in Germany, the beers are all unfiltered and served extremely cloudy. A pale and a dark lager are produced together with a pale wheat beer, all available on draught. The shining, copper brewing equipment forms part of the bar area and there is a pleasant outside courtyard in which to eat and drink. In honour of my visit, by the way, the German weather had been exchanged for that of Spain and the temperature was now in the upper 80's. The cool wheat beer was most refreshing in this climate.

After consulting the Guide, I left Amberg for the small town of Roding which is on the line to Cham and the Czech border at Furth-im-Wald. The Guide said that Roding has two breweries and one of them operates a hotel with 17 rooms. It didn't say that the town is about 3 miles from the railway station and that the connecting bus doesn't meet every train. However, with a bit of patience it is possible to get to Roding by public transport. The Hotel Brantl is on the main street of this one horse town and the small Brantl brewery is further up the same street next to a Norma supermarket. On the same street in the opposite direction is the Greiner brewery, slightly larger than the Brantl.

Although the room was clean and inexpensive at the Hotel Brantl, my schnitzel was tough and worst of all the Brantl Export was so warm that I'm sure even John Major would splutter it out after a mouthful. Had the usually efficient German coolers failed in the untypical heatwave or is the Brantl beer always like this?

During the humid evening I decided to explore the other brewery in Roding. Outside the brewery buildings, a sign pointed to the Greiner brewery tap. Although this looked quaint and attractive, it was closed and looked like it had been for months if not years. Tramping round the town, I could find no other pub or bar serving the Greiner beer so I concluded that perhaps the brewery itself was closed, there being no sign of life in there.

I therefore plunged into a small bar tied to the Hofmark brewery of Traitsching near Cham. Hofmark's main claim to fame is that it has the contract to supply the own label lager to Harrods of London. Here, I had a bottle of Hofmark Würzig Mild served from a Bügelflasche (Grolsch-style flip-top bottle) and anexcellent Bernauer Schwarz (black) Beer from the Burger Brewery in Berlin. This was a former communist brewery acquired by Hofmark on privatisation. I was sitting on one of the stools round the bar so the barmaid came to chat with me. She wanted to know what an Englishman was doing in Roding, which she referred to as "Deadsville". I said I was staying at the Hotel Brantl and she blanched visibly saying it had a poor reputation. Perhaps she knew about the warm beer and tough schnitzel.

Next morning I stood at the bus stop awaiting a non-connecting bus to the station. A woman asked me where I spent the night and blanched visibly when I told her. But I was distracted from the conversation by a large cloud of steam and the unmistakable smell of mashing coming from the no longer derelict looking Greiner Brewery. The Kraken had awoken in Deadsville.

NEXT EXCITING ISSUE: How I escape from Deadsville and discover the Amber Nectar of the Gods in the Bavarian Forest.

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Next month watch out for Preston's next real ale festival, at the Ashton Institute on Wellington Road, just off Waterloo Road. This will be on from 16^th to 19^th November. In previous years this has been very successful, with a good range of well-kept beers, 30+ this year. A website will be set up with details of opening times, beers etc. See the West Lancs. CAMRA site for a link, or ring the Club for details.

He was already selling cask beer and after a visit to the Bank Top Brewery in Bolton, he thought it would be a good idea to brew his own. Hestarted brewing in October 1999 and already his beers have been on sale in Preston, Nanny Flier having appeared in the Old Black Bull.

Thus, a busload of West Lancs. members were slowly making their way up a cobbled dead-end road through Mount Pleasant towards the Lord Raglan, named after the commander of the British forces in the Crimea from 1854. The bus seemed to be labouring up the steep incline, but after a few cries of "Onward, Onward" we reached the summit and its fine views of Peel Tower on Holcombe Moor.

On entering, we could see four Leyden beers on sale, Nanny Flier (3.8%), Light Brigade (4.2%), Heavy Brigade (4.7%) and Black Beard (3.9%). Another beer is also produced, Raglan Sleeve at 4.6%. Most of us started with the weakest and made our way up the scale. We were to learn later that the original brew, Nanny Flyer, named after the local 49 bus that used to come up the road, was suggested by John at Bank Top, but that the rest are Brendan's own recipes. And very good recipes they are too.

Nanny Flier is a very drinkable session beer, whilst Light Brigade is a golden coloured brew with a complex fruit and hop taste. The Heavy Brigade, as the name suggests, has more body, being a traditional strong, bitter beer. The Black Beard was a very drinkable dark creamy beer brewed using oats and roasted malts.

After meals were finished, we were taken by Brendan to view his plant at the rear of the pub. The impressive small plant was mostly made and installed by a local engineer. As a chef, Brendan knows the value of good ingredients, so only pure products are used in the brewing of his beers. He gets his yeast from Thwaites at the moment but hopes to cultivate his own soon. He brews for the pub and delivers it himself to pubs in the Greater Manchester area. Anybody interested in having his beers can ring 0161-764-6680 and ask for Brendan or Terry.

We returned to the bar for further supplies of these fine ales. All too soon it was time to shoot off back down the road and return home. Anyone who wants to make a trip to the Lord Raglan can have Brendan's home-cooked meals until 9.30 every night, all day Sunday and from 12-2 during the week. Of course the home-brewed ales are on sale all the time.

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As mentioned in the last issue, the branch followed up Mark Ashton's visit to Pictish Brewery with a visit of its own. Despite getting lost on the way there (it must have been a heavy trip last time), we finally arrived with the help of the landlord of the Britannia Inn) in Rochdale. Details of the beers were in the last issue, suffice to say that all were in good form and copious amounts were drunk on the night, helped down by a tasty buffet.

The winner of the Autumn Pub of the Season is the New Hall Tavern, Cuerdale Lane, Samlesbury. It is near the Interbrew (Whitbread) keg factory but cask beer is the order of the day in the New Hall, with up to 5 real ales on sale, three of which are ever changing guest ales from all over the country. The one permanent feature is Boddingtons Bitter.

The New Hall is owned and run by Vic Stott and his wife Helen who bought the pub 2½ years ago. He used to live in Samlesbury and it was his local for many years before the opportunity came round for them to take it over. Surprisingly for such a well-run pub, it was his first venture in the pub trade, for he is an accountant by profession, something which he still does on a part time basis. It was a bit run down when they took over this one-time Matthew Brown owned pub, but it has been completely refurbished and is now a warm, welcoming pub where smooth beers do not sell, such is the quality of the cask ales.

While Vic looks after the beer, Helen is in charge of the delicious home-cooked food that is available there each lunchtime and evening and all day Sunday. Again, Helen had never cooked professionally before but now 700 meals a week are sold in the pub. While food is a feature, it is not exclusively so; Sky Sports are popular with the strong local following.

Vic is a great fan of Bob Dylan and often in the background you can hear his favourite tracks being played over the pub's music system. This is great for people like me who are also afficionados. If you visit the pub at weekends you can usually identify Vic quite easily. He will be the one wearing the waistcoat with the champagne bottles on, celebrating his well-deserved success at the New Hall, as will our branch when we present him with the award on Monday October 9^th at 8pm. All are welcome to attend.

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Bateman's brewery in Lincolnshire is definitely a family-run concern. Chairman George Bateman is the grandson of the founder, and his wife Pat, son Stuart and daughter Jaclyn are all directors of the company. Jaclyn, in addition to being the Marketing Director, is the first lady liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Brewers.

She recently celebrated her marriage to James Louth. Nothing newsworthy there for a beer newsletter you might think, except that he a business manager for … Greene King Brewery!!!

Every year the Brewers & Licenced Retailers Society produce figures to show that the consumption of cask-conditioned beer is going down. The latest figures show that there has been a decrease of around 12% on the previous set of figures.

As I ranted last issue, I for one don't believe these figures. For one thing, I don't see how they can be accurately collated as most brewers would regard information on how much of any type of beer they produce as a commercial secret and wouldn't want to disclose to a bunch of busybodies who also represent, when wearing other hats, their commercial rivals. In fact I would go so far as to say that it would be in the interests of smaller brewers to deliberately understate the amount of real ale, or any other kind of ale, that they produce.

Last year I was privileged to be shown around the cellar of a large Holts pub in south Manchester. There were no less than 17 hogsheads (54 gallon casks) of Bitter and 3 barrels (36 gallon casks) of Mild in the cellar. Thats a heck of a lot of real ale all being sold in a pub where the main activity is drinking rather than eating, and I believe that Holts have a lot of pubs where a similar turnover applies.

Yet it wouldn't surprise me if Holts didn't even fill in the annual figures for the Brewers & Licensed Retailers Society, "chuck it in the bin Joe" is what I think they would say. I also think there are plenty of brewers with this attitude. They are too busy brewing good beer to fill in forms, only the likes of Bass and Whitbread have the time to do this, so perhaps next year the form should be in Flemish so that Interbrew can fill it in for them.

Real ale brewing lost a firm friend recently with the death in July of Peter Kershaw. Peter, 85, was Chairman of Holt's brewery in Manchester for over 30 years.

The management philosophy of Holts to the present day is largely his work, a firm believer in selling real ale, making it cheap, popular and profitable. He had no time for expensive executive trappings, but this did not prevent him from investing wisely in new plant and using high quality ingredients.

The Peter Kershaw Trust, set up in 1974, has also given nearly £2 million mainly for medical research, while Peter has a fine sportsman, winning many championships at a variety of sports including real tennis.

He continued to go to the office until shortly before his death and was a supporter of the recent decision to buy the company back into private hands.

Another of our Ale Cry distribution crawls took us out into the Lancashire countryside to the north-east of our branch area on an amazingly sunny evening after all the rain we had just had. We headed first up the narrow rural roads to Inglewhite, a small village set round a village green, with one pub, the Green Man.

This former Greenalls pub is well known for its food but it is not overpowered by it and besides its comfortable lounge areas, there is a separate games room. It also has three cask beers, Greenalls Bitter, Theakstons Bitter and Marston Pedigree. As none of us wanted to try the Theakstons, I cannot vouch for its quality but the other two were pronounced to be very good.

As the next pub to be visited, the Cross Keys at Whitechapel, only opens at 8pm, we left the Green Man to give us an ETA at that time. Lo and behold, just as we drove up at 8 o'clock, the lights were turned on and the front door unlocked. The barman seemed surprised to see 12 people come in all at once but made us welcome nevertheless.

The Cross Keys is a pub that is very difficult to find if you do not know where you are, but it can be found on the O.S. map at SD561412 (From Inglewhite, head for Beacon Fell and turn right at the top of a steep hill - Ed.). The pub is affectionately known as the Dorchester but do not expect opulence. What you get is a rural gem more akin to having a drink in a country farmhouse several decades ago. As you enter, the bar is right in front of you, a games room to the left, an alcove to your right with a large farmhouse table and further on a large front room with wooden benches and chairs, featuring a piano.

The cask beer is Boddingtons Bitter, which might not be unusual, but a visit to this unusual pub is well worth the effort.

We travelled on to the centre of Goosnargh where two pubs face each other near the village green, the Grapes and the Bushells Arms. The Grapes is well known for having a couple of guest beers on sale besides its four regular beers of Tetley Mild, Bitter, Boddingtons and Theakstons Bitter. On our visit, the guests were Hart Amber Ale (3.8%) and Wychwood Oberon (4.3%). These were the two beers everybody concentrated on.

We had time for a visit to the Bushells which sells Timothy Taylor's Best Bitter and has done for about two years. It was in tip-top condition and was being enthusiastically drunk by a small band of content locals. We joined them in their pleasure. I for one prefer the Best Bitter to the more commonly found Taylors Landlord.

Our next stop was to be the Stags Head which had recently re-opened, even though our new-found friends warned us that it was a more 'restauranty' pub. We went nevertheless and were disappointed only to find Theakstons Bitter. In conversation with the new managers, we learnt that Directors had been tried unsuccessfully and Theakstons XB was coming on. They can apparently get any beer on the Scottish Courage guest list.

Time had flown by and we had to get back to Preston. On the way back we dropped some people off at the newly re-opened Black Bull at Fulwood with its 3 real ales (Draught Bass, Stones Bitter and Fullers London Pride). Others got out at the Moor Lane/Garstang Road junction with its 3 real ale pubs, the rest just had time for one in Preston centre before the last bus home.

Moorhouse's Black Cat has won the Champion Beer of Britain Award at the Great British Beer Festival. It was judged to be the best beer in Britain by a panel of brewers, beer writers and journalists. The mild beer is described in the 2000 Good Beer Guide as, "A smooth, well-balanced dark mild with a fruity aroma. Chocolate and coffee flavours complement the bitter roast character that lingers on into the aftertaste."

The Burnley brewed mild, often available in this area, was chosen as the overall winner from over thirty finalists in five categories including beers from tiny micros to major national brewers.

This is only the third time a mild has won the most prestigious beer competition in the World, the last time being twenty years ago. At a time when many brewers are dropping their milds claiming drinkers don't want them, this marks a real achievement for Moorhouses and promises to turn the mild market around.

Malcolm MacDonald from Moorhouse's said, "It's a tremendous achievement for us all. It proves that a mild style beer is still in demand with today's drinkers. Big thanks to all the staff here in Burnley and we look forward to selling huge quantities of mild!"

The Silver award went to 'TEA' from Hogs Back Brewery in Tongham, Surrey. The Bronze went to Yorkshire Terrier Bitter from York Brewery.

On occasion the Alp has been known to amble outside the area of Chorley. A favourite haunt is the City of Salford which has three good pubs that are well worth an investigation by any self respecting beer-anorak.

Getting off the train at Salford Crescent Station the first port of call is the Crescent pub which has been a regular Beer Guide entry for more than 10 years. The Crescent always has a good selection of guest beers - when I called they had Moorhouse`s Black Cat Mild, Beartown Wheat Beer, Phoenix Brewery Midsummer Madness (a seasonal ale), and their own regular house beer brewed by Rooster`s and called Rooster`s Special. The Rooster`s is a light hoppy beer which is 3.9% ABV and retails at £1.45.

Further down into Salford centre itself is the King`s Arms which is an old Victorian multi-roomed pub off Trinity Way. The King`s Arms is another pub which always serves a good variety of guest beers - when I called in they had Exmoor Gold from Golden Hill Brewery, Fraoch Heather Ale, and Pictish Brewers Gold.

The Pictish Brewers Gold is a regular fixture at the King`s Arms and the pub is now a regular outlet for the newly formed independent brewery from Rochdale. It is a particular favourite of the Alp (its a pint that sinks faster than a stoker on the Titanic !!!)

The final destination of this Salford amble is the Edgerton Arms Hotel which is opposite Salford Central Station.

The Edgerton Arms is an unspoilt city centre pub which serves an excellent pint of Joseph Holt Bitter and Mild. For those of you who enjoy a true ( teeth on edge ) bitter/bitter- this is the place to find it. Holt`s Bitter is one of those pints which has maintained its bitter taste - unlike its neighbour Boddingtons which once had a superb bitter flavour, but has now been blanded down to oblivion.

The evening of Thursday 29^th June saw a new fund-raising initiative from the branch. The Dog & Partridge on Friargate played host to the West Lancs CAMRA Pub Quiz. Thirty cunning questions on a wide variety of subjects with a slight tilt towards heavy rock music, considering our hosts.

To make everything pleasant when we took £1 a team off the entrants, a small gift was given to each team. These gifts have become available because of our lack of beer fests in recent times, hence no tombola stall.

With no tombola stall, we have boxes of breweriana piling up. This event enabled me to give away one box of goodies in return for the entry fee. With three rounds, prizes were available for each team winning a round (each round was won by a different team), with Ronnie generously providing some free beer for the winners & runners up.

It all started in June 1999 when we were sailing the working canals of West & East Yorkshire for about the third time (when I say we, there were 5 of us). Over the last 25 years we have traversed over most of the major canals of Britain, the Kennet & Avon being the only major canal we had not sailed. It was after much discussion that we decided that it was to be the Kennet we would sail but that we would need 3 weeks to do it not two.

Thus I found myself with the others on Preston Station at 7.30am on route to Bristol. After a very comfortable journey by Virgin (£25 return) we arrived in Bristol just after noon. From Temple Meads we went straight to the boat yard, dumped our bags and made our way to the Nova Scotia pub for a pint. We needed it after the journey down to Bristol. There we had several pints of Smiles Bitter & Golden Best and very good it was too. Oh and we had some crisps as well.

After the pub we had to get our boat and put our belongings on board and then on the advice of the boat yard we sailed up the dock to be nearer the city centre. Once we had tied up and changed, we approached the city centre. Around the central part of the city looking for real ale was like looking for a needle in a haystack. We eventually found Wetherspoon's Berkley (near the University) where we had a hot meal and some pints of very good Butcombe Bitter. There are now 6 Wetherspoon's in total in Bristol.

After leaving this one, we found Smiles Brewery Tap. It was a nice little pub with no juke box, always a blessing these days, and the stand in landlord was quite talkative. We had only intended going for a pint but after a couple of pints of bitter, which again was very good, and the landlord giving us all a sample of Harvest, Zum Winter and their own cider, we stayed for the rest of the night.

Next day saw us heading towards Bath, but the boat was not destined to go there that day. We got as far as Keynsham and had to pour 8 pints of water into the engine as it was boiling. We nursed the boat as far as Saltford Lock, tied up and adjourned to the Jolly Sailor. Here we had a good pint of Bellringer brewed by the Abbey Brewery of Bath.

We also took the opportunity to ring the boat yard as the boat was really struggling to keep going. Anglo-Welsh came to look at the boat and declared that it would be at least 24 hours before it would be able to carry on to Reading. It was a great pity that we had to spend some 24 hours at the Jolly Sailor! Still, we had some nice food and a chance for some more Bellringer, Courage Directors or Draught Bass, whichever took your fancy.

The next day, Monday, the firm paid both ways for a taxi into Bath so that I could get some shopping done at Sainsbury's. That done, we had lunch in the Jolly Sailor by which time the new cylinder head gasket had been fitted to the engine and we were ready to carry on to Bath.

Well, we reached Bath at tea time so we just had something to eat then we went into the city. First, we went to the Old Green Tree in Queen Street. There we tried Wickwar Brand Oak Bitter, and cider. Both were very good. After this, to the Bell Inn where there was a jazz & ethnic band playing so we did not stay long and just had 1 pint of Abbey Bellringer.

After further walking, this time up a very steep hill, we found the Star. This is an old pub with wood panelled rooms and serves some of its beers straight from the cask, mainly draught Bass which we drank with relish. We stayed at the Star for the rest of the night and I also tried Fullers London Pride which was dispensed by handpump. Both beers were again very good so after a night of good beer we adjourned to bed.

Tuesday dawned another good day with the sun blazing down. After breakfast, we then proceeded up the Bath flight of locks with one of the deepest locks in Britain at a depth of 19 feet 6 inches. We filled up with water when we found the tap, which had been moved without telling people and then proceeded to Bathhampton to the George Inn. This is more of an eating house and quite expensive but it has a nice beer garden by the canal and is very popular with walkers and cyclists who use the well-kept towpath. The beers sold were Wadworth 6X and Wadworth Henry's.

After a liquid lunch we then carried on to Bradford-on-Avon. This is a very nice part of the canal as it is along the Avon Valley and gives very good views of both the Dundas and Avoncliff aqueducts.

Bradford is a very nice place to visit, like Bath only obviously much smaller. First, we walked along the

towpath to the Beehive, a very good pub right on the side of the canal with a good choice of beers. We chose Kitchen Terrified Turnip, again excellent. There was a choice of Tetleys, Butcombe and two guests changing weekly. From the Beehive, we went to the Barge (you will find several Barge Inn's along the Kennet) and there we found in good condition London Pride. Also at the Barge was Bodd's, Bass and Courage.

From Bradford, the following day we proceeded to Seend Cleeve, again this was called the Barge Inn. The beer range is quite extensive and you can choose from Wadworth, Courage, Hall and Woodhouse and guest beers. There we chose the Wadworth Henries and one of the Wadworth specials, Mayfly, and very good it was too.

We had lunch and then went to Sells Green. It is only about 2 miles further on so we had a leisurely tea and walked back along the towpath to the pub. A Wadworth's pub, the Three Magpies is the only one thereabouts. They also do a very good and interesting menu. We stayed at Sells because it is at the bottom of the Caen Hill Flight of 28 locks, just below Devizes. Very impressive but what a way to spend 4 hours. It is hard work when you think that you are travelling forward only 2 and a half miles.

But it was another good day and there were five of use so it was not a great deal of a problem to us. You have to go up (or down) the flight two abreast so your speed depends on who is the slowest. We were lucky that the people that we had to go up with had also plenty of experience so we had no problems going up. About halfway up the flight you meet the people who are coming down. This can be somewhat of a problem if the people coming down are inexperienced, but we were lucky that day as all the boaters seemed to have some experience between them. The main problem you have is that you have to cross over and pass the boats without running aground or hitting the lockside, a work of art if the other person does not know what he or she is doing.

Anyhow, we arrived in Devizes in a good time of 4 hours and off towards the town. I had to go for supplies so I missed out on the 1^st pint of London Pride, which turned out to be pretty poor anyway. So as soon as I turned up, we departed that pub hurriedly and went to the Old Crown. This is right by Wadworth brewery and is known locally as the Brewery Tap. There was a full range of Wadworth beers available and as you would expect being so close to the brewery very good. We had Henrys IPA. We, we did not stop there long as we had to get on to Honeystreet.

We arrived at Honeystreet at about 5 o'clock. We had our tea, washed up, and then went to the only pub thereabouts, another Barge Inn. The pub is right on the canal side complete with a good large beer garden where you can watch other boats pass by. The other items of interest are the White Horse on Walkers Hill [not a pub! - Ed.] which can be seen from the pub, and if you are lucky it is a good place to see crop circles. This is an Usher's house and apart from the usual fizzy drinks, that is all it serves in the beer line. The Ushers Bitter is very good, especially when drunk in the beer garden. Be warned though that it is very busy as it has a very good name for its food and wine.

-The Thursday dawned again very sunny and we were soon on our way to Wooton Rivers. On our way, we passed through Pewsey which is quite picturesque, but we did not call. Wooton Rivers is a very old village and all the houses, including the pub, have thatched roofs. The one thing that spoils the effect though, to my mind anyway, is the local council obviously has allowed the use of normal TV aerials, and they stuck up all over the village.

The pub is called the Royal Oak and apart from good beer does very good home cooked meals. The beers are Wadworth, London Pride and the guest beer that week was Jennings. So myself and John Rigby plumped for Jennings and Alan Kitchen and Billy Wilson went for Blackthorn Cider seeing as it was so hot. The other Alan went for his usual Guinness.

After having our usual liquid lunch, we then filled up with water and carried on to Great Bedwyn. On our way we travelled through Bruce Tunnel. From this point the canal starts to go downhill. Going down through the locks we pass close to the Crofton Pumping Station. This is still coal-fired and can be seen working on steam weekends from Easter to August.

At Great Bedwyn, we berthed for the night and adjourned to the Cross Keys. The other pub, the Three Tuns, was closed for refurbishment. The Cross Keys is a typical village pub, very friendly. We decided that we would have Fullers London Pride (also available Tetleys Bitter and Courage Best Bitter). Well, after a good meal of Fish, Chips and Peas, we spent the rest of the night on the Fullers.

One of Preston's most well-known and most travelled landlords is back in the area. John Welsh is now at the Pickering Park Country House Hotel at Garstang.

He has been there only a month and already has 5 real ales on the bar. John started off in Preston at the Fox & Grapes on Fox Street. He then went to the Black Horse at Croston for several years before going to the Grapes at Goosnargh. All these pubs were renowned for having guest beers. He finally sold that pub and moved out of our branch area.

The Pickering Park is a hotel on the right hand side of the road going into Garstang from Preston past the Brockholes. Besides having 14 en suite rooms and a conference centre, it also has a public bar. It is this part that John hopes to build up. On a recent visit, two Coach House beers, one each from Hart and Hampshire breweries plus Theakston Bitter were available. Very popular they appeared with the locals who have already found out about this welcome addition to the real ale scene in Garstang.

Handily, the bus from Preston to Morecambe stops almost opposite the entrance to the hotel, giving people the chance to sample all the beers and get back to Preston in one piece.

Most seasoned drinkers will admit that a pint is best enjoyed in a friendly convivial atmosphere where a laugh, a joke , and a conversation can be had in the relaxing environment of a traditional pub.

Unfortunately the traditional pub - complete with its tap room, snug, and games room - is becoming an endangered species within many of our town centres. This has been the result of a long and sad process in which many of our traditional pubs have been brutally redeveloped - their unique interiors demolished to make way for one characterless room.

These new and hideous creations have transformed the traditional pub into a retail outlet for expensive bottled lager, alcopops, and nitrokeg , creating an unwelcoming atmosphere for anyone unfortunate enough to be over the age of 25.The recent spate of brewery take-overs and mergers have taken an equal toll, leaving many pubs boarded up, to be sold off as an expendable asset on the accountants balance sheet. In every town there are numerous examples of these once flourishing pubs - now with the "For Sale" sign nailed firmly to their door.

Chorley in particular has seen many of its local pubs go this way - the Black Boy, at the junction of Pall Mall and Moor Road, is a sad example of one of its traditional town pubs now boarded up for sale. All these developments mean a dwindling choice of places for the local drinker to visit.

Preston by contrast has fared somewhat better than Chorley in still possessing a number of pubs which have survived these depredations- the Moorbrook Inn and the Black Horse being two fine examples.

There are however some pubs within Chorley which have happily escaped this holocaust. One of these pubs is the Albion- which lies within Chorley town centre itself, at the top of Bolton Street near the Big Lamp roundabout.

This happy survivor is an old fashioned town centre pub which has two main rooms divided by a central wooden bar. One room contains a cosy vault - the other a traditional tap room complete with pool table and dart board. The Albion serves an excellent pint of Tetleys Bitter and Mild on handpump - and has sold Bateman`s Mild as a guest beer. The pub represents a welcome refuge for many a town centre drinker who wishes to escape the nightmare of the modern alternative.

It would be hard to argue the case that the CAMRA West Lancashire branch covers a region that has been a hotbed of the British brewing industry. However since the branch’s formation in 1973 there have been a number of breweries which have been operating locally with varying degrees of success.

First, there is the one brewery which has been established throughout the entire lifetime of the branch, although really it is a brewery which has had very few attractions for CAMRA. Already having a well established brewery at nearby Blackburn, in the early 1970’s WHITBREAD built a brand new brewery on a green field site on Cuerdale Lane in Samlesbury. For many years only keg beers and lagers were produced, but for real ale drinkers the brewery did briefly become interesting for a few years from 1983. The ‘powers that be’ at Whitbread had opted for a change of policy which saw them brew a cask version of their Trophy Bitter at Samlesbury for a short time, and later the brewery also had a spell brewing Everards Bitter under contract. Sadly real ale turned out to be a relatively short lived diversion, and it is now believed to be well over 10 years since any cask conditioned beer has come out of the gates of this ‘megakeggery’ which now comes under the ownership of Interbrew.

In 1976 the branch had its first home brew pub when landlord Alan Mawdsley began brewing his Fettlers beers - Bitter, Mild, and Lager - at the NEW FERMOR ARMS in Rufford. Although the beer was handpumped, it did not initially meet with the approval of CAMRA as it was stored under pressure in tanks. In 1981 the pub was purchased by Tetley Walker, and for several years the beer available was the more acceptable Blezards Bitter. In 1987 the pub reverted back to being a free house, with Alan Mawdsley re-introducing his Fettlers Bitter, which was then brewed using a malt extract. The brewery survived a couple more years, before the New Fermor Arms itself was closed as a pub to be converted for residential use.

Next to appear was the LEYLAND BREWERY COMPANY in 1983. This was established by former West Lancs branch member Ian Bignall, who realised an ambition to set up a brewery at the rear of his off-licence premises on Towngate near the Leyland Cross. Ian first produced a beer called Tiger Bitter, then later introduced Old Cross Ale, but his restricted capacity meant sales were effectively limited to his own off-licence. Unfortunately the Leyland Brewing Company proved to be a relatively short lived venture, and by mid-1985 it was all over with Ian selling up his equipment having made the decision to emigrate to Australia.

In June 1992 Preston got its first brewery for almost 25 years when the LITTLE AVENHAM BREWERY was started by Dave Murray in the cellar of the Gastons pub on Avenham Street. The first brew was Clog Dancer, and this was soon followed by beers like Pickled Priest, Torchlight, and Pierrepoints Last Drop. For several years it appeared to be a thriving business, and the beers became increasingly available in other pubs across the country in the then growing free trade. In mid-1995 Gastons was sold, and the brewery was re-located to the much larger Preston Wine Company premises on Hawkins Street. The following year a licence was obtained to run a bar at the new site, but without Gastons as a regular outlet, trade suffered and rumours of closure in late 1997 were eventually confirmed in January 1998.

Hot on the heels of the Little Avenham Brewery, the PRESTON BREWING COMPANY was opened in September 1992 at the Atlas Brewery on Brieryfield Road in Ashton. The brewery was run by former Matthew Brown employee Graham Moss and his business partner Neil Coulton, and the first beer produced was called Preston Pride. Unlike the Little Avenham Brewery, the Preston Brewing Company somehow never really got established. A year after opening it was re-named the Atlas Brewing Company, and it was then producing beers called Pride, Atlas, and Tom Finney. Early in 1994 the brewery closed, the main problem being that it had never had a permanent outlet to sell its beers. There was talk of the brewery being re-located in the town centre, but this never happened and Graham Moss has since spent much of his time as a consultant for other micro-breweries.

That’s it for the CAMRA West Lancashire branch area - five breweries - yet none of them surviving to brew real ale in the year 2000. There is of course one currently functioning brewery with strong Preston connections - the Hart Brewery. This brewery certainly had its formative years in the West Lancs branch area, but only really got properly established in 1995 when premises were found at the Cartford Hotel in Little Eccleston. Five years on the brewery is still going strong, with brewer John Smith continuing to enhance his reputation with the regular introduction of new and interesting beers.

It has to be said that there have also been plenty of announcements and rumours which have briefly raised the hopes of local drinkers. In 1991 it was said that a brewery would be built at the Kings Arms in Preston, then in 1995 there was talk of a brewery at the Eagle & Child in Bispham Green, and in 1996 work actually started on a brewery at the Red Lion at Wheelton. In Preston, Whitbread were at one time interested in setting up a brewing plant in the former Odeon building on Fishergate, while the Firkin people also expressed some brewing aspirations for their Flax & Firkin pub.

With all these disappointments, I can end this article with optimism as there is some good news on the horizon. This concerns the Dressers Arms at Wheelton, where there has recently been building work taking place to set up an on-site brewery. Hopefully it won’t be too long before this new brewery is up and working and in full production.