Scottish & Newcastle recently launched their new Theakstons Cool Cask in an attempt to attract younger drinkers to the delights of real ale. Now they have muddied the waters by also marketing the beer in canned and bottled versions for the take-home market. As if this were bad enough the waters now been made totally opaque with mud due to the launch of a smooth nitro-keg version of the 4.2% ABV beer called simply Theakstons Cool. Presumably this is being made for those pubs who can't be bothered to look after the cask version but who want, in some way, to cash in on the advertising campaign for the cask version which has appeared on television and on local cinema screens.

The pump clips for both versions are of virtually identical design, the only difference being that the cask version carries the logo "refreshing cask beer" whereas the nitrokeg version says "cool refreshing beer". Anyone not totally aware of the situation might be forgiven for confusing the keg and cask versions in this case.

In a publicity booklet for Cool Cask, S & N instruct the consumer to look for "the unique Theakston copper pump clip, that tells you this is quality beer". They don't tell you also to take a magnifying glass to identify whether the Cool is cask or keg.

We real ale enthusiasts had thought that Cool Cask might have marked a turning point as one of Britain's largest brewers dedicated itself to producing and marketing a quality cask beer. It seems, however, that old habits die hard and that S & N are about to perpetuate the same sort of confusion that abounds with their John Smiths Bitter with both cask and nitrokeg versions available, often on the same bar.

Another point of confusion concerning Cool, whether it be cask, keg, can or bottle, is where is it actually brewed? The pump clips for both the cask and keg merely display the legend "T & R Theakston, Masham, North Yorkshire" and the cans and bottles state "All Theakstons beers are brewed by T & R Theakston Ltd, The Brewery, Masham, North Yorkshire". Yet, CAMRA believes that the entire production of Theakston Cool takes place at the Tyne Brewery in Newcastle. Perhaps this is one for Trading Standards.

All CAMRA members will know the benefits which membership brings them, but now things have just got better for those in the Preston area.

A couple of months ago the manager of Preston's Hogshead approached the branch requesting a meeting so he could ask us how we thought he could improve the pub from our point of view. So a date was arranged and one Sunday afternoon saw seven branch members get together with the manager, Mike and his assistant, Steve for a frank discussion. Now, there is no secret that the Hogshead can be a touch pricey, so of course this was the main complaint. After a while it was agreed that on production of a valid CAMRA membership card a discount of 20 pence per pint of cask ale would be given (naturally we asked for 40 pence). The only exception to this rule would be that Boddingtons would not be covered by this offer.

Another topic raised was the reduction in choice for guest beers from a couple of hundred each month when the pubs were supplied by Flying Firkin to a couple of dozen each month now they are supplied by Beer Seller. The management explained they were also allowed to be supplied by one local brewer, in Preston's case this being Moorhouses. It was suggested the area manager may be able to have his arm twisted to allow a second local brewer (our suggestion being Hart) onto the bar. Mike said he would ask. Other than that we could only compliment the pub on its good atmosphere, pleasant decor and the quality of the beers served by friendly, well trained staff.

How long this offer lasts remains to be seen as the day after the meeting Whitbread announced that the Hogshead chain was up for sale. In the meantime we have a very generous offer to enjoy (and please do not abuse it, which would bring it to an end). It will be officially launched at a promotion night on Tuesday 23^rd January when anyone wishing to do so will be able to join CAMRA.

Thanks must go to Mike who has now moved on to a sports bar in Wigan (Steve stepping up to stand-in manager), for bringing about the initial meeting, which the branch feels was a very worthwhile exercise. Lets hope not to much happens to this smashing pub.

Cask is definitely making a comeback around the Chorley area. The Top Lock in lower Wheelton ( by the side of the Leeds/ Liverpool canal ) now has a fine selection of cask beers on sale. The pub was once an all-keg emporium ( prior to August 1999 ) but now serves an excellent pint of Coniston Bluebird Bitter, Huddersfield`s Silver Street - and on the Moorhouse`s pump Black Cat Mild.

Phil ntwistle the landlord has put a great deal of time and effort into converting the pub back to a regular cask outlet - driving up to the wilds of Cumbria to pick up his precious cargo of Bluebird Bitter. Other beers on tap have been Daleside, Black Sheep, a full selection of Bank Top brews including Cliffhanger and Samuel Crompton ; and two other beers from the Huddersfield/Kitchen range - S.S.B. and Cunning Cucumber. (if you are out on a serious beer session look no further - the pub even has its own Indian Restaurant upstairs!!!)

Another outlet for Moorhouse's beers is the regular Good Beer Guide entry the Potters Arms, situated at the bottom of Brooke Street which sells an excellent pint of Moorhouse`s Premier Bitter.

Inside Chorley town centre the Market Tavern has been selling a fine selection of Jennings beers (and at a very reasonable price) - the Jennings Cumberland Bitter is certainly well worth a try.

Not far from the Tavern the Prince of Wales has been selling Young`s Special - a pint not often seen around these northern parts.

The Albion on Bolton Street is also worth a mention for the excellent pint of Tetleys Bitter and Mild to be found there.

Other news from the amble is the re-opening of the Queens on Chapel Street, and the Eagle & Child at the top of Pall Mall which is selling Abbot Ale along with Black Sheep and Tetley Bitter. Sadly, although the Queens retains 3 handpumps, no cask beers are on sale and apparently there is no intention to stock any.

The Alp has also received rumour that Chorley`s old Post Office may be taken over and converted into a new Wetherspoon outlet.

On a final note, many local drinkers are looking anxiously at the situation at Banks`s brewery with the hope that a management buyout can succeed in saving the brewery from the greedy scythe of the city speculator. The Plough on Pall Mall is a fine local outlet for Banks`s Bitter and Mild - whilst the Half Way House, in Clayton le Woods, sells Banks`s Bitter . Let`s hope their customers will continue to enjoy these excellent beers on cask!

In Wheelton, rebuilding at the Dressers Arms is now complete, making way for a brewing plant to be installed. Equipment has been purchased from an Italian-based pub brewery (honestly!) and is to be installed soon with brewing starting in the New Year. We hope to have a full feature in the next issue, but in the meantime the pub is worth a visit for its range of guest beers.

Down the road at the Red Lion, this former true free house has now been taken over by Enterprise Inns. Landlord Brian Platt has transferred from management to a tenancy and the beers stocked will be Theakstons, Boddingtons and one guest.

On Friargate, the Bar Censsa has opened - but no real ale. This café-bar style outlet on 2 floors has waiter/waitress service at times, but apparently high prices as well. It is not likely to attract readers of this publication away from the Black Bull or Greyfriar just across the road.

Further down, the former Duke of York, more recently Friars Gate, has re-opened after yet another change of image as high-tech Base.

Another new pub proposal on Friargate could be an Old Monk outlet with a 'Springbok' feel, whatever that is, a new building on the site of the former Friargate Social Club opposite the Sun.

On Lancaster Road, Robinson's pub the Golden Cross is closed at present awaiting new landlords. Real ale had not been on sale in the last few weeks, but should return when the pub re-opens. Lets hope that Robinson's can find some good tenants to put in this pub which could be considered as being in a prime location.

The Black Horse, Preston's other Robinsons pub, has withdrawn all its nitro-keg beers, but the cask Mild has also gone.

The Old Black Bull has been getting some very interesting ales in lately. The landlord, Stan Eaton, deserves some praise for fighting so hard to keep the Old Black Bull's reputation for guest beers going against the trend for S and N owned pubs.

Outside the centre, two ex-Boddingtons pubs seem to have lost their real ale. The Belle Vue on New Hall Lane and the Royal Oak on Plungington Road both had no handpumped beer on sale recently, the smoothflow type being the only bitter offered. A sad trend.

The Vic and Station has reopened after being closed a long time for refurbishment. Now called the Old Vic and selling two cask ales, Theakston Cool Cask and Courage Directors, although the handpumps are not instantly visible on entering the pub, they are tucked away on the right of the bar as you enter, partially hidden by the juke box.

The Olde Dog and Partridge on Friargate has removed Worthington Best Bitter from the bar and added Marstons Pedigree, making Fullers London Pride the standard bitter.

The Flax and Firkin has been offered a few more beers to choose from, so the likes of Marstons Pedigree and Wadworth 6X may be available.

Do you think you can get cheap beer in this area? In the Greyfriar in Preston, guest beers are often on sale at £1.39, a competitive price. Samuel Smith are able to serve their tasty Old Brewery Bitter at £1.24 in the Old Blue Bell.

But drinkers in Saddleworth can go one better! The Church Inn on the moors above Uppermill is home to the Saddleworth Brewery and the landlord serves the 3.8% Saddleworth More bitter at £1.05p a pint in the pub.

He claims to make 30p a pint profit, despite the fact that it costs him more per pint to brew the beer than the big brewers.

I usually manage to get my hands on a copy of your publication. It is a very interesting read although it is of little value to me personally. The reason for that being the fact that I am Vegan.

My purpose in writing is to ask your assistance in finding a reasonably local hostel that serves vegan beer (i.e. produced without the use of finings for example). I realise this is sacrilege to you "Real Ale" connoisseurs.

Your publication consistently lists and reviews numerous pubs and the beers available. You are most disappointed if a pub no longer serves a particular pint. Imagine then for a moment, if you can, how you would feel if 99.9% of pubs no longer served ANY beer that you could drink.

That is my predicament and why I require your help.

With the exception of Samuel Smiths keg beers I don't know of any brewers of bitter or mild suitable for vegan's.

I am hoping you may, or that you might be able to suggest where I could obtain this information. I have obviously already written to the major breweries.

As a regular visitor to Chorley, I recently picked up a copy of your Autumn "Ale Cry". I have some really exciting new for your local correspondent "Alp" who compiled the Chorley review. He has obviously not yet discovered the Malt & Hops pub on Friday St. (behind the railway station) and I would recommend he does so on his next visit. This enterprising Free House has five rotating Guest Beers plus a good range of regular real ales, all served up in a warm & welcoming atmosphere.

Elsewhere in the Chorley area, I must admit that the overall quality and choice is extremely poor, indeed many pubs that advertise themselves as supplying Guest beers generally have little, and often none. This includes recent advertisers in the Adlington & Coppull areas.

The plan was as follows - two groups, having visited other pubs in the area, would join up at the Fylde Tavern and then proceed towards the town centre.

Thus one group started in the Ribble Pilot on Preston's Docklands where they could slake their thirst on the cask-conditioned Banks's Bitter on sale by overhead electric font. There is a handpump for Cameron's Strongarm, but none was available on the night. One thing that the Ribble Pilot does still have though is oversized glasses so that you are guaranteed a full pint.

After passing the Wellington on Tulketh Road (a sign advertising real ale but none on sale), the other group met in the Grand Junction which, as its name implies is at the large intersection where Strand Road, Watery Lane and Fylde Road meet. Theakstons Best Bitter is the real ale on sale here and was a fine enough example of this brew.

Over the road stands Muldoons (having lost its 'Scruffy' first name) which recently had a large spread in a certain free paper that gets shoved through our doors. This claimed that several real ales were on sale. This is bunkum as none were on sale, and none have been on sale for many a day. How do they get away with it?

We then all congregated in the Fylde Tavern. Many older drinkers will remember this as the Steamer, its proximity to both the Docks and the Lancaster Canal giving a clue to its original name. For our enjoyment on this night were 3 cask beers, Boddingtons Bitter, Greenalls Festival and the best of the lot, Moorhouses Black Cat. This beer was voted the Champion Beer of Britain at the Great British Beer Festival in London. Well deserved it was too as just one drink of this dark delicious beer will testify. Most of us had two.

Much as we would have liked to stay for more, we needed to get on. Next up was the Limekiln just up Aqueduct Street. Originally to get to this pub, you would have to walk through a single track tunnel under the canal to reach it, but with the southern end of the canal being drained beyond this point to build an extension to what is now the University, this disappeared in the 1960s. The pub is still going strong though and deservedly so. Now a Banks's tied house, both the Original Mild and Bitter are on handpump and excellent they are too.

Retracing our steps to Fylde Road, we headed towards town, spending barely a minute in the Doctor Syntax to confirm that it did not sell cask ale and only looking through the window of the Hole in'th Wall to see that nothing to interest us was on sale. Thinking back to when this was a lively Tap & Spile pub, it was sad to see it thus.

We quickly moved on to another pub that has seen changes in recent months. The Watering Trough was one of several pubs bought by Vaux breweries in Sunderland and cask Samson and Wards Best Bitter from Sheffield were installed and proved very popular. Then all of a sudden the asset strippers arrived, shut down the breweries just like that and then sold off the pubs. They now belong to Pubmaster and the only cask beer on sale was the ubiquitous Boddingtons.

We repaired to the Hogshead next door where in contrast 9 cask beers were on sale including two Milds, Caledonian 80/-, O'Hanlons Blackley N^o 1 and Mauldons Black Adder. You might be able to knock the prices, but not the choice (and see the front page for exciting news on price for CAMRA members).

There is a threat to the Hogshead chain as Whitbread seek to divest themselves of their brewing history completely (If Sam Whitbread were alive today, he'd be turning in his grave, to use the old gag). Whilst it is still with us, don't forget this pub when planning your jaunts. I for one have never had a bad pint in there, which speaks a lot for the quality control.

One or two of the gang moved closer to the town centre, but I finished the night off there.

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Interbrew, new owner of Bass's breweries, has announced an international marketing campaign for Draught Bass. It takes a foreign company to realise the worth of what was once one of Britain's finest beers.

The Story so far: Armed with the Oberpfälzer Bierführer, a German-language guide to "all the breweries and all the beers" in the Oberpfälz, an area stretching to the north of Regensburg and east to the Czech border, I escaped from the one horse/two brewery town of Roding, known to local barmaids as Deadsville.

Back on the train, I decided to head for the town of Kötzting (tricky to pronounce this even when sober) an inland Spa town east of Cham. In Cham, it is necessary to change from the Deutsche Bahn to the privately-owned Regentalbahn. However, if there is any time to spare, you can do no worse than go for a half litre at the Rhanbräu Braustuberl just outside the station. This dispenses a Pils, a Helles (Pale) and an unfiltered wheat beer from the Rhan brewery located in a small village to the north of Cham.

The line to Kötzting is extremely scenic, almost like Switzerland without the snowcapped peaks. At one small station Runding, there is the Rundinger Schlossbrauerei which produces just two regular beers, an unfiltered Helles and a Spezial which is singled out for special praise by the editors of the Guide.

At Kötzting, I alighted from the train and wended my way up the hill to the town centre. Along the way I noted many pubs and bars displaying numerous brewery signs. The visitor will look in vain though for any mention of Kötzting's own brewery, the Lindner Brewery, for this would seem to be a state secret. I first discovered this brewery in the mid 1980s when on a wet Sunday afternoon I saw the word "Brauerei" on an old, fading map of the town. Expecting to find an old ruin, I was pleasantly surprised when I found a still-operating brewery serving a beer which I noted at the time reminded me of Taylor Best Bitter.

Having booked in at a hotel, I then headed for the Lindner Brewery which, unusually, is located in the middle of the towns park which is back down the hill near the station. This explains why most of the numerous visitors to Kötzting probably never realise that there is a brewery there at all.

I must once again emphasise that the weather had turned unexpectedly sub[tropical with the temperature in the region of 90^oF. The entrance is through the whitewashed walls of the brewery into a courtyard through which runs a river. On this hot day, hundreds of people were drinking at outside tables. The cool Export beer seemed to be pumped direct from some deep recess in the bowels of the brewery.

The beer was exceptionally hoppy with a fruity taste. Perhaps if Timothy Taylor brewed in Bavaria rather than Yorkshire this is the beer they would make. I think though that all the drinkers here were locals, not wishing outsiders to know about their towns best kept secret.

Next day, I departed from Kötzting for eastern Germany but a few days later I was back in the Oberpfälz, now with cooler weather, and arrived in Weiden, a largish town between Regensburg and Hof.

Booking in at the Hotel Post opposite the station, I noticed a couple of remarkable things whilst reading about the three Weiden breweries in the guide. The first was that all three were founded in the 20^th century, in 1901, 1927 and 1993 respectively. The second thing was that, according to the address given in the Guide, the oldest of these was in fact next door to my hotel.

Now I'm usually quite alert to these things but I didn't notice a brewery next to the hotel when I booked in. A quick trip out of the hotel soon solved the mystery. A narrow lane ran alongside the hotel and finished abruptly at a locked gate over which was a sign saying "Privat Brauerei Iblacker seit 1901". A detour around the block was made and I found the small brewery tap, the Zoiglstuberl. As it was just 7pm, a barmaid was at that moment unlocking the door, the pub hours being 7 to 11 (closed Sundays).

Inside the Zoiglstuberl on tap were an unfiltered, hefetrub (cloudy) Zoigl Hell served in stone pots, and a filtered Zoigl Dunkles (dark) served in clear glasses. The word Zoigl refers to Germany's most mysterious beer. It is a paradox that if you see a beer called Zoigl being served in a pub or bar then it cannot be a true Zoigl. True Zoigl is brewed in community-owned breweries (Kommunbrauerei) by private citizens who have a licence to brew.

The beer, which can be top or bottom fermented, draught or bottled, light or dark, clear or cloudy is fermented at the brewers home. When ready it is then sold at the house which becomes a pub for a short while. To indicate that such beer is on sale a sign (or Zoigl in the local dialect) is hung outside the house. Curiously, for this country, the sign resembles the Star of David. The Oberpfälz is the last stronghold of Zoigl brewing in Germany and the most famous Kommunbrauerei is in the village of Falkenberg.

A number of breweries in the area produce commercial beers which they call Zoigl and which they hope will resemble those made by the true Zoigl brewers. In fact Iblacker's Zoigl Hell is a superb hoppy beer with a low carbonation level. It much resembled the Keller beer popular in Franconia, around Bamberg. When I left the Zoiglstuberl, it was packed out, including whole families taking advantage of the cheap beer and food.

My next port of call was at Weiden's newest brewery, the Bräuwirt, located next to the town hall. The beers on sale here were an unfiltered wheat beer and surprise, surprise St Georgs Zoigl Dunkel and St Georgs Zoigl Hell. All three beers were extremely cloudy and indicated how the Germans attitude to cloudy beer had changed over the years. The slightly cloudy Iblacker brew was served in stone pots disguising its cloudyness but the Bräuwirt served their extremely cloudy beer in clear glasses and indeed advertised the benefits to health of drinking "fine yeast".

In my haste I had forgotten to find out where Weiden's third brewery, the Gambrinus, was. I now know it is at the other side of the railway line about 10 minutes from the town centre. [A classic traditional German gaststätte hidden away in the back-streets serving an entirely local custom, slightly reminiscent of the style of a Holts pub in back-street Salford, serving a pleasant but unexceptional Helles].

For last orders, I plunged into a town centre beer house tied to the Scherdel brewery of Hof, a town in the very north of Bavaria. The exceptionally bitter Pilsner was more like one from the very north of Germany such as a Jever or Flensburger. Anyway, it made a fitting end to the trip as I watched the locals playing cards with such violence, as they slammed their cards down on the table that I'm sure the whole building shook with fear.

The theme for the Winter Pub of the Season was "A Much Improved Pub" and a unanimous decision was the Market Tavern in Preston. This pub has recently had a major rebuild and bears little resemblance to the old pub internally. For once it is a real improvement on what was there before with ornate pillars and comfortable seating (including two intimate booths). Alright, it is much smaller than before, but that back room was a bit dark and damp.

The best news for real ale drinkers is that 3 cask ales are on tap. All this is the work of Glen Johnston who used to work for S & N as a line manager for 17 years and has been at the Market since November 1999. He thinks it would be a good idea if all line managers had a stint working behind bars so they could get an insight into what it is like.

Glen is a tenant of the pubs owners, who are the Royal Bank of Scotland and thus has a certain amount of leeway in his choice of beers. Recently on sale has been John smith's Bitter, Jennings Bitter and a Pictish beer (Brewers Gold, but Glen prefers Celtic Warrior). A beer seen often is Black Sheep Bitter, and other beers have been tried.

In fact Glen is thinking of replacing the cask John Smiths with "oddities" i.e. it could be anything but hopefully it will be unusual. Cask sales are doing well and you will find the pub a friendly and welcoming place. In fact it is gaining a reputation of being like a local in the centre of town.

Glen will receive his award on Monday 15^th January and all are welcome to come along and celebrate (from 8pm).

On a recent trip to British Columbia in Western Canada the Alp donned his lumberjack shirt and snow shoes and set off in search of the elusive North American brew-pub. Flying into Vancouver on Canada`s Pacific coast I took the ferry boat across to the provincial capital of Victoria on Vancouver Island.

Victoria is a very Anglo-Saxon city, complete with English style pubs and red London buses, but its real gem is the Spinnaker Arms- a brew pub situated in its beautiful harbour. The Spinnaker is Canada`s oldest licensed brew-pub - first opened in May 1984. When I was there I tried the excellent Spinnakers Ale - a light bodied amber-coloured Pale Ale with a delicate hop aroma.

Unlike most North American micro brews this was served well above freezing temperature and tasted as good as anything back home ( after more than a few pints the Alp treated his Canadian hosts to a passable impression of Oliver Reed !!).

The Spinnaker also brews a black full-roasted Oatmeal Stout, and a medium bodied Honey Blonde Ale.

Finding this place was a rare treat in the land of Molson, Labatts and Budweiser- and illustrates a growing enthusiasm for real ale across the pond.

Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries, brewers of Banks's, Marstons, Camerons and Mansfield ales have not yet received a bid from the firm of venture capitalists, Botts & Co. (as reported in the last edition of Ale Cry). A Catch 22 situation seems to have arisen where Botts would not make a firm bid until W &D had opened all the books to them and W & D stuck to their right not to open the books until a firm bid was on the table. A compromise was eventually reached whereby a few books were opened up to Botts.

We, therefore, can only guess what the next move is going to be as the parties fume behind closed doors. One suggestion is that W & D will do a Holts and go private, removing itself from the stock exchange altogether. Meanwhile all the uncertainly cannot be good for the company's management, employees and last but not least, the customers.

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CAMRA Head of Campaigns Mike Benner has blasted S & N for a new directive that will guarantee short measure for drinkers in its managed houses. A report in the Publican newspaper has said that S & N has withdrawn wastage allowances from its pub managers and is insisting on higher yields. "The report confirms that S & N is quite happy to serve 95% liquid pints and a pub manager acknowledges that the only way to achieve 100% yield is to serve short pints" said Mr. Benner. "Such irresponsible behaviour sends the wrong message to consumers".

Calling all beer drinkers - enough is enough! We are no longer going to stand by and get soaked by the Government. Starting early next month, I am going to organise a nationwide protest at the scandalously high rate of duty on beer in this country. This will entail peaceful blockading of breweries around the country.

I have been assured by sympathetic draymen that such a blockade will leave the country bone dry (apart from flooded areas) within a couple of weeks.

Of course we shall be compassionate. Emergency supplies will be allowed out, after vetting by my committee, for delivery to named alcoholics who might otherwise die of thirst. Bottles of stout will also be allowed to be delivered to local maternity wards. We shall then give the Government 60 days to reduce the duty on a pint by 25p.

The People's Ale Lobby, as my protest group will be known, will accept nothing less than this. We are a mixed lot consisting of real ale drinkers, lager drinkers and even nitro-keg drinkers. Any attempt to, say, reduce the duty on nitro-keg (or red diesel as it is sometimes known) and not on real ale, will be met with an intensified blockade.

In fact, if our demands are not met in full after the 60 day period, a long line of horse drawn dray wagons will trot down the M6 to join a vast rally in London's Hyde Park where Mr William Hague MP will down 14 pints of bitter.

The above protest has had to be cancelled. The police wouldn't allow 150 horse drawn drays on the motorway without 150 road cleaning wagons following on behind. Mr. William Hague became incoherent after just one pint, and someone made the point that what's the point of having French levels of beer duty when all there is to drink is Kronenburg.

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The duty in the UK on a 5% ABV beer is 34p a pint, compared with 5p in France, so the tax raised is equivalent to 9 million pints a day. A European Commission report in January is expected to conclude that Britain's high beer taxes causes bootlegging and other criminal activity. Will anyone listen?

With the 5th Ashton Institute beer festival over for another year, lets reflect on this years triumph. Current estimations see about £700 raised for this years chosen charity, the Royal Preston Hospital Intensive Care Unit. Thanks must go to all barrel sponsors and also the sundry sponsors for being kind enough to donate all kinds of goodies for auctioning after being pestered shamelessly by the festival bar manager. Most of all, thanks must go to those who took the trouble to find the club and join in the festivities.

With the refurbishment of the function room completed only a few weeks earlier, the festival had to be delayed a few weeks and a name change from Oktoberfest to Not The Oktoberfest applied. The refurbishment also managed to disorientate regulars of the festival because of the change of end of the bar, but the scaffolding proved easier to install than previous years, resulting in a very impressive erection.

The opening night saw a queue of a dozen or so at the door at 7 pm. There was a frightening moment at about 6:45 pm when pulling the beers off when it was noticed that the individual colour coding used for barrel to line to pump (to ensure the correct handpump empties the corresponding cask) was found to be mismatched on the festival bar. So, when doors opened at 7 pm, frantic reconnections and line purging was in progress.

The last minute solution was to steer the punters towards the main bar (with eight beers available) until about ten past seven, when we were ready for action with another seventeen beers. When we got behind the bar we noticed another slip-up, we were stood behind seventeen handpumps with no indication on our side as to what each pump was serving. Five minutes with a felt tip pen solved that problem.

Friday went trouble free enough with local landlords, various CAMRA members and many old faces turning up. The evening surpassed the previous festival Friday by a good amount (as did the Thursday).

Saturday had a slow start, but by the end of the evening things were swinging with Neil, the club steward, taking the microphone for the breweriana auction towards the end of the evening, with his admirable (if not competent) attempt at humour shaming people to part with hard earned cash for various goodies.

Sunday saw a very steady afternoon with the ten or so beers left on the festival bar slowly dropping off one by one, until the end of the night when all the beers on the festival bar had been sold. This enabled an easy dismantling session for Monday and a chance to start winding down on Tuesday.

Extra special thanks must go to the local CAMRA branch members, Mike Atkins, Dave Hegarty, Diane Ogden, Gordon Small and Alan Thompson for their volunteered efforts on the side of the bar which is normally alien to them.

So OK, it was a bad night and there were rumours of Ribchester being flooded, but for only 6 people to have turned up for the coach was a bit much. If Ribchester had have been flooded, we could have gone elsewhere. As it was, it wasn't and the magnificent six who went on this Friday night social enjoyed themselves tremendously.

Our first stop was the Old Oak at Longridge where we knew we would find some guest beer on sale. That night it was Moorhouses Witchfinder (what with Halloween coming up), a super 4.3% beer. We parked ourselves near the roaring open fire and felt the glow from without and within.

We had another before heading off to try the Corporation Arms, on the way out of Longridge, heading for Ribchester. This is another pub acquired by Jennings of Cockermouth and they thankfully have installed cask ales to this pub with a fine reputation for its restaurant. Bitter and Cumberland Ale were on sale and are a fine addition to the areas supply of cask ales.

Back on the bus, we started on the long drop down to Ribchester village. About halfway down the road is the Cross Keys, a true free house. Moorhouses Black Cat (that champion beer again), Premier Bitter and 3B's Bobbin Bitter were our choice here. Moorhouses needs no introduction, but the 3B's brewery of Blackburn is a fairly recent addition to the brewing canon of our area.

The beers were of tip-top quality and were dispatched with relish. The pub could do to be busier considering the quality of the beers. Maybe it was just the weather. Much interest was shown by our football-following members for the signed shirts belonging to Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End displayed in the back games room. The front room is a rather intimate candlelit dining room.

We finally decided to risk going down towards the River Ribble and parked up in the centre of Ribchester. A few perfunctory sandbags were all the evidence of any flood that we saw (Though sadly some parts of the village did apparently suffer badly - Ed.) and the 1^st pub we ventured into seemed pretty lively.

The White Bull is a Whitbread pub with 3 cask beers, namely Boddingtons (of course), Flowers IPA and Wadworth 6X. The White Bull is another pub that does quite well on the food front (as most pubs must, these days, to make ends meet) but does not neglect the beer side. Three cask beers on the bar are a testament to that. Most of us tried the 6X but a couple tried the IPA and found it quite satisfying, being brewed as it is now at Strangeways in Manchester by Boddingtons.

We still had one pub to visit so we could not linger long. We re-traced our steps and went into the Black Bull, a Thwaites tied house. Here we found Thwaites Mild and their seasonal beer, Scarecrow, but surprisingly the bitter was all smoothflow. Nevertheless, Thwaites cask Mild is a rarity enough these days in their pubs so everybody had one of those and finished with the seasonal.

It was only then we found out the reason for the bitter being keg. Conversing with the landlord, it turned out that he had only been there a couple of weeks and when he arrived, no cask was on sale. He immediately introduced the Mild and the seasonal but weaning people off the smooth-flow bitter would be his next task. People were drinking the cask beers and he thought it was only a matter of time before people realised the superior quality of a cask Bitter. A well- timed visit.

Saturday the 17^th June again was a superb day, very hot although quite windy in exposed places. We set sail from Great Bedwyn and continued going down the canal towards Reading. The canal from here to Hungerford is very quiet and peaceful and we arrived in Hungerford at 12 o'clock on the dot, so as well as shopping we might as well resort to the pub. This the other three did whilst John and I went to the local supermarket.

After what looked like buying half the shop up, we also resorted to the boozer which turned out to be The Plume, situated on the main street close to the railway bridge and station. The pub is well furnished with old style furniture and provides very good food. The more important object of the visit though was the beer, and we were not disappointed for on tap there was Morland and Greene King. We plumped for Greene King IPA which was very good. After having two pints, we then carried on towards Kintbury.

Having arrived in Kintbury, we eventually found somewhere to berth, but right by the G.W.R. main line. I made tea (dinner) and we lost Alan to the railway for nearly an hour. After we had eaten and washed, we walked into the village. First we went to the Prince of Wales where although we were only supposed to have a pint, we actually stopped for three. That was the night England beat Germany so it was a good excuse to stay and have some very good Archers Bitter.

We then carried on to the Blue Ball. There you could have the full range of S & N products plus Greene King bitter. Most of the group went for the Courage Best but I chose the Greene King. We were not overly impressed so back to the Prince of Wales and Archers. There is also another pub in the village called the Dundas Arms but more of that place later. By this time it was closing time so it was back to the boat and bed.

Sunday was another very warm and sunny day and we were on our way to Newbury. We kept criss-crossing the River Kennet now and it would be with us right into Reading. The canal goes through some lovely if flattish countryside now through to Newbury. We arrived at lunchtime and yes you guessed it, straight to the Lock, Stock and Barrel for a pint of Fullers. The Lock, Stock and Barrel stocked the full range of Fullers beers and most of us went for the special which was Summer Ale. It was now a very hot day and 3.9% ABV, a good refreshing drink, was just what we needed.

After about 2 hours in there and suitably refreshed we were ready to carry on to Woolhampton, but we had some very strong currents to deal with. At a lock called Old Monkey Marsh Lock we came across a turf-sided lock. This is one of only two preserved in Britain. What this means is that the lock sides are sloping to the bank and lined with turf and the shape of the lock proper is made with timber posts.

After there, we carried on towards Woolhampton though not before we got stuck on the side of the canal at Heales Lock. We managed to get ourselves off the mud bank after messing about with boating poles and a lot of pushing of the narrow boat, and so we eventually arrived at Woolhampton. We had our Sunday dinner and then we were off to spend the night at the Row Barge.

Before we adjourned to the Row Barge the station was visited because all the trains were stopping there and being nosy we wanted to find out what was wrong. It turned out that it was nothing more than track circuit failure and the trains were being taken through by flagmen, so without further hesitation we went to the pub. There we were to find on tap Courage, 6X, Bass, Brakspear and 2 guest beers which had sold out. I had some Brakspear, Courage and Bass, while the others had a selection of the beers available, and there were no complaints about the standard so it was another good pub to add to the list.

We left Woolhampton on the Monday morning with the sky clouding over but not heavy enough for rain. Before leaving the tail of the lock, the swing bridge by the pub has to be opened because the current is very swift there and you would be straight into the structure if you didn't. You or the people that are not aboard at the jetty that is situated on the far side of the bridge.

Onwards we went through Aldermaston only pausing to take on water and then to Theale. The village is situated about a mile from the canal and we had to take some exercise to reach the Falcon. Whilst Bill and the two Alans went to the pub, John and myself restocked with food and joined them there. The beer there was Archers Bitter and again it was good. There is not much to see in Theale, as it is on the outskirts of Reading and is just a typical suburb of the town, so it was back to the boat.

We reached Reading late in the afternoon and after bouncing off the Prudential building (I was steering and the river current was strong), we managed to moor up more or less in the middle of town. After tea, we took a good look around the town which is very modern. Although a few of the old buildings have been saved, it is very much concrete and glass, not unlike a town in the north that we know very well. We spent quite a while looking around and as it was getting cloudy and dark, off to Wetherspoon's Back of Beyond and there we had Tetleys and Spitfire.

So this is Tuesday morning in Reading and it's pouring down. It would be, as this is the day we can do our own thing. Well, rain or not we cannot stay on the boat all day so we all except Allen Kitchen the captain set off for Reading station. I hadn't realised how near we had travelled to London by way of the canal, but it was only half an hour away by train so Billy was going to the Science Museum in Kensington and Alan Nealy to see his sister in Holborn. Alan Kitchen was going around Reading looking at various museums and John and I were travelling to Oxford by way of the Great Western Museum at Didcot.

We duly arrived at the station and bought our tickets to Didcot and caught the train. We had no sooner left Reading station than it stopped raining and by the time we arrived at Didcot the sun was shining. We then spent the next 2½ hours going around the museum. It is a very good museum to go around if you are interested in railways, full of Great Western steam engines and with a section devoted to Broad Gauge. After spending a good period at the museum we then went across to the Prince of Wales pub opposite Didcot station for a pint of Morrells Best Bitter. We were only waiting for the train to Oxford of course.

We arrived in Oxford at about half past one and went towards the centre to have a good look around Morse city. We actually chose a bad time to try and look around some of the colleges as it was exam time so the colleges were closed to the public. We plumped therefore to join the rest of the tourists in having a good look around the city. It is a very beautiful place but very busy. The traffic is so horrendous its no wonder people travel by train so much in the south of the country. We spent quite a while wandering the streets of Oxford during which time we consumed a large Cornish Pasty.

Anyhow, after 2 hours wandering we adjourned to the Kings Arms where we treated ourselves to some of Youngs beers. You have probably seen the Kings on T.V. if you watch Morse. It is a very old place and has been visibly updated by Youngs to comply with modern requirements but it has not been spoilt, and it is right in the city centre. The beer as I mentioned before is Youngs and is kept very well. After trying the ales, we then headed towards Oxford station via the Albion where there was very good Morrells Bitter on handpump, after which we made our way back to Reading.

Arriving back in Reading at about five thirty, we decided to walk around the town before heading off to the Back of Beyond for some good beer and food. As we were walking past the Hope Tap, another Wetherspoon in Friar Street. I heard my name being called out (a bit disconcerting when you are in a strange town). It turned out to be Bill. He had gone to the Back of Beyond but found that it had had to close because of a water burst, so it was back to the Hope for a meal and some beer.

There I had some Shepherd Neame Spitfire and Directors Bitter, which were both very good. After beering and eating we then carried on to The Monks Retreat also in Friar St. I had Tetleys there but it was not very good so we carried on to Hogshead in Kings Road where we had Brakspears Bitter which was very good. After spending the rest of the night there and being joined by the two Alans, we crossed the road by the Prudential building and went back to the boat for a good nights sleep before leaving the big city and heading back down the canal towards Bristol.

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Now that Whitbread has sold its breweries, it is now trying to cut it last links with the drinks industry by selling its pubs. Many landlords would like the opportunity to buy their own pubs, including some in this area, but no, that won't do for Whitbread. They are trying to start a bidding war for their whole estate among pub-owning companies to force up the price. Could be bad news for real ale if a pub-owning company buyer has less enlightened policies on guest beers (and most do!).

It has to be said that Moorhouses Brewery is currently on the crest of a wave, with Black Cat, their dark Mild, having won CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain award as recently as August. Nigel acknowledged that the award had done wonders for the sales of Black Cat, although he was quick to point out that two of their other beers, Premier Bitter and Pendle Witches Brew, had also been the winners of major awards in recent years.

Nigel began his talk by saying that he had three main points he wished to make about the current state of the brewing industry. First he wanted to highlight the excessive level of beer duty currently in place in Britain. He then made some interesting comments - that in Britain we pay a level of beer duty which is six times greater than that in force in mainland Europe; that beer loses out because it is classed as an industrial product, while wine incurs much less duty because it is classed as an agricultural product; that a high level of beer duty inevitably results in increased beer smuggling, and that this definitely has had an effect on beer sales as far north as Lancashire.

His second point was to emphasise the comparatively small amount of money being spent within the industry on real ale advertising. He later admitted that Moorhouses Brewery themselves had a relatively modest budget for advertising, but said that for Moorhouses the real advert was in the glass.

Third, Nigel spoke about the increasing number of pubs owned by Pub Owning companies. He said that effectively this had resulted in there being a real reduction in customer choice, and that in practice this had made things a lot more difficult for smaller independent breweries like Moorhouses.

Having got these three points over, there was then a question and answer session. Straight away one or two members expressed some concern that established outlets had not been getting a regular supply of Moorhouses beers, particularly Black Cat. Nigel replied that their recent success had brought them some problems. However he said that Moorhouses were now brewing twice the amount of Black Cat compared to what they had been doing prior to picking up the CAMRA award. He also stressed that Black Cat would continue to be brewed only at Burnley, and that they would definitely not be taking the easy option to contract out the brewing elsewhere.

It was asked whether Moorhouses ever resort to producing blends of their beers under different names. Nigel admitted that this did sometimes happen - for example George Cross had been a blend of other beers. However Nigel made the point that this was hardly a problem, and said that the main consideration must always be the resultant quality of the beer.

An interesting question asked was when would Moorhouses Brewery be opening a pub in Preston. Nigel replied that Moorhouses would like to have a pub in Preston, but unfortunately it is not an immediate priority. He said that they do have plans to open new pubs, but first they want to refurbish the small estate of six pubs that they already own. He rounded off his talk with the encouraging news that overall Moorhouses were in pretty good shape, and that sales were currently increasing at about 18% per annum.

Those present agreed that Nigel had been very open and informative about the current situation at Moorhouses Brewery. With this reaction, the guest speaker experiment can be considered a success and hopefully it will not be too long before we have another guest speaker along to address the branch.

The award is named after George Lee, who was for 10 years the landlord of the Moorbrook in Preston and who was also CAMRA West Lancs branch’s first ever Treasurer. George, an exiled Liverpudlian, was tremendously influential in keeping the real ale flag flying in the darkest days of the 1970’s, and when he died in April 1981 it was felt that the setting up of an annual award with his name would be an appropriate way to recognise his importance. It goes without saying that had a similar award been around during the 1970’s that George’s Moorbrook would have almost certainly dominated the list of winners.

Time flies, and this year it will be the 20th occasion that the ‘George Lee’ has been voted on. Each year local CAMRA members are invited to nominate suitable candidates, and this year there are several deserving names in the frame to take possession of this prestigious trophy - actually a shield, which had to be enlarged a couple of years back, but which will now hopefully last for at least another 20 years. George Lee Memorial Trophy winners take possession of the shield for a year, and are subsequently presented with a framed certificate as a lasting record of their achievement.

Over the years there have been a great variety of winners. Some are still going strong many years after winning the award, while others have fallen by the wayside. Geographically the winners have come from a variety of locations within the West Lancs branch area. Perhaps inevitably most winners have come from the Preston area, but a quick look down the roll of honour will show that there have also been winners from some of the branch’s outposts.

The first winner was Preston’s oldest pub, the OLD BLUE BELL. These days many local drinkers may take it for granted that this pub has always sold real ale, but for most of the 1970’s the then landlord was adamant that he did not want to sell cask conditioned beer. Late in 1979 there was a change of landlord, and soon after Samuel Smiths had the pub refurbished before getting handpumped Old Brewery Bitter installed early in 1980.

In 1993 the OLD BLACK BULL in Preston became the first ever two-time winner. Having won the award in 1992/93, it was sufficiently popular to retain the award for a second year. As most local drinkers will know, the Old Black Bull continues to be an excellent outlet for real ale and has continued to appear among the ‘George Lee’ nominations almost every year since.

An unexpected problem arose in 1994, when two of the nominations polled the same number of voting points. Rather than have a second vote it was decided that there should be joint winners, with the RAILWAY at Chorley and ST TERESA’S PARISH CENTRE each holding the trophy for a period of six months. St Teresa’s had already been a winner in 1986, but Steve Cranshaw, the landlord of the Railway, had to wait another five years to get a full 12 months possession of the trophy when his next pub, the RED HERRING at Coppull, was to win the award in 1999.

Inevitably there have been some casualties and some which have undergone great change. The 1983/84 winner, the LEYLAND BREWERY COMPANY was only in existence for a couple of years before closing down. The 1982/83 winner, the GEORGE has changed ownership from Thwaites to Mitchells and has been re-named the Shepherds Arms, but unfortunately is now closed - although hopefully this may only be temporary. The 1991/92 winner, GASTONS has become a Burtonwood pub and has reverted to its old name Maguires Tavern, but is no longer selling real ale. Looking down the list of winners, perhaps the biggest surprise of all is the MAUDLAND in 1984/85. Although an ordinary Matthew Brown pub, at the time it was in the middle of a spell of 12 consecutive years in the Good Beer Guide and had a landlord who was very keen on his real ale.

There are many excellent pubs (and clubs) that have come close but have never won. Perhaps the 2000 vote will recognise a real ale outlet that has never won the award, or perhaps the ‘George Lee’ will be back in the possession of a previous winner. Unlike some years the vote would certainly not appear to be a foregone conclusion, and it is with interest the branch awaits the 2000/01 winner being decided at the Stanley Arms in Preston on December 11th.

2,500 copies of Ale Cry are delivered free to over 90 pubs in the West Lancashire area every 3 months. The Winter edition is due to be published on 26^th March 2001. Articles are always welcome. Please send any articles to the address below, or e-mail them to us, by 5^th March.

Ale Cry is the official organ of the West Lancs branch of CAMRA and is edited by David Marsden and Dave Linley, 320 Golden Hill Lane, Leyland, PR5 1YJ.

Tel: (01772) 421069 or (01772) 735628