Hop Press

Issue 29 – March 1989

A rough scan & OCR of the original leaving out graphics, adverts & some sections such as the Crossword

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Contents

• Editorial
• Real Ale restated
• Smoke gets in your eyes
• Red Lion
• Bieres sans frontieres
• MMC Report
• 1992 and all that
• Hampshire cider
• Pub News
• Meanwhile at the Cleveland Bay...

Editorial Hop Press index

One of the things most of us least like is to have someone say "I told you so ..." after some event. Just this once, though, we will say it, loudly, about the Monopolies and Mergers Commission's report.

The synopsis of the report reads almost like a reprint of CAMRA's own submission to the MMC, virtually all of our points have been taken up and put into the recommendations and comments. We will not dwell on the details here – the centrefold gives the main points and a brief comment on them from CAMRA's National Executive.

What concerns us now is how and if these changes will actually get put into practice. Many people will recall the "Hattersley pub swaps' of the late seventies; the then Labour government decided that the big six brewers were monopolistic and ordered them to swap pubs to give more local diversity. A few hundred pubs did change hands but then the whole exercise petered out leaving almost no trace, The chance of real reform must not be missed again.

If implemented in full, the changes in the British licensed trade will be as profound as those of the Victorian Beer House Acts or Lloyd Georges 'temporary", wartime licensing laws. These could be exciting times but until the government has had its "some months of consultations" and until we see an Act in Parliament, judgement will be reserved.

Real Ale restated Hop Press index

We are still asked by a fair number of people exactly what is meant by real ale. This clearly serves as a reminder that CAMRA has not yet reached all the parts that mass media advertising has. Time then, perhaps, to remedy the matter and to make the definition of real ale clearer.

A full definition of real ale, an expression coined by CAMRA, can now be found in the Oxford English Dictionary; although at £1500 for a copy of the new edition Hop Press is probably a more cost effective way of finding out.

Briefly, the term refers to any beer that undergoes a secondary fermentation and is served without extraneous carbon dioxide (CO₂). In the vast majority of cases this is equivalent to what is known as cask conditioned beer, served by gravity, handpump or electric dispense.

CASK CONDITIONED BEER; After the initial fermentation in the brewery, which normally takes about a 'week, the beer – known at this stage as green beer – has to be conditioned to remove some rough and harsh characteristics and to generate some complex flavour chemicals that immeasurably enhance its quality. In cash conditioned beer this maturing process takes place in the casks from which the beer is eventually served, The rough beer is run off into the casks together with the yeast and this yeast (which constitutes the cloudy sediment at the bottom of the cask) continues a slow fermentation.

Most brewers use the original yeast for this purpose but in some cases nowadays the first yeast is filtered out and a new charge of a different variety is added, often together with some un-fermented beer, this is known as "krausenising".

DISPENSING: The cash conditioned beer then has to be dispensed in a proper manner. The simplest method is straight from the cask to the glass – gravity dispense – but most of us in this area will be more familiar with the handpump for serving our ale. In the North electric pumps are common and in Scotland there is a unique system called the "tall font" – too involved to elaborate in this article.

At no time during the dispense of the beer should the cask be connected to any source of extraneous CO2. By far the worst situation is to use pressurised gas to force the beer up to the counter, through a free flow fitting like a normal lager outlet. The pressure of gas required to do this completely ruins the beer and produces a fizzy pint almost indistinguishable from a keg beer.

The next sin is to apply a low pressure of CO2 – a few pounds to the square inch – to prevent air entering the cask. This is known as the blanket pressure system and also results in an unacceptably fizzy pint.

Finally there is a device called the cask breather. This allows CO2 to replace the drawn off beer at no extra pressure, in order to slow the degradation processes in the beer and prolong its life in the cask.

This would appear to be a useful device but it has its detractors. Supporters of the cash breather maintain that it has no effect on the beer other than maintaining it in good condition, however, its opponents say that it causes the beer to be served too 'young' and claim to be able to taste increases in the CO2 content. CAMRA as a whole is divided on the issue but several AGMs have voted about 2: 1 to consider that beer served with the aid of the cash breather does not constitute real ale. The best policy is to decide for yourself – the hand-pumped beer in most Eldridge Pope pubs, for example, is served with a cask breather.

CAMRA's success has ensured that the handpump is now a powerful selling symbol for any beer (just look at Guinness adverts that frame their action among anonymous beer engines). This unfortunately means that the brewery marketing whizz-kids will try to con you into accepting any product from it. In some cases the pump is the real thing and the beer being sold from it is a keg product but in other cases the pump itself is also a fake coupled to a hidden pressure tap. Locally a common example of beer served by this deceitful method Is Whitbread's White Label low alcohol beer.

Real ale has to be stored for some time In the cellar before being served. The temperature – which should be 13-14C – is very important in determining the beer's condition, since it affects the amount of CO2 in solution. Beer only needs to be slightly off the correct temperature for it to be either gassy and cold or warm and flat.

BOTTLED BEERS: Almost all bottled beers are pasteurised and filtered at the brewery, and therefore cannot be termed real ales. However, there are some notable exceptions, both from British and foreign brewers. The most readily available are Guinness (only in returnable bottles) and the fine Worthington White Shield. There are several real bottled barley wines, the exceptionally strong Thomas Hardy's Ale from Eldridge Pope and Prize Old Ale 'corkers' from Gales being a well known local examples.

KEG BEERS: Thankfully becoming less popular, keg beers are still, however, found in most pubs. In the production of keg beer, mashing and fermentation are carried out in the same way as for real ale, but all yeast is then removed by filtering and the beer is often also sterilised by pasteurisation. The beer is now a 'dead' substance and carbon dioxide has to be added to resurrect it and chemicals added to preserve it and to give it a head. Not surprisingly all this happens to destroy the beer's flavour! Keg beer is definitely not real ale!

LAGER: Nearly all lagers found in Britain bear little resemblance to their (often worthy) continental counterparts. These beers are produced in exactly the same way as keg bitters and are thus worthy of as little comment, although fortunately we can now get genuine bottled continental beers and just occasionally some draught ones.

What, then, does CAMRA stand for? Contrary to popular opinion, CAMRA does not exist to campaign against keg beers and lagers, but to campaign for real ales. CAMRA is a consumer organisation, which believes that the drinker should have a choice – not just of decent beers but also of high quality pubs in which to enjoy them.

CAMRA also fights for quality, not only in the storage and dispense, but also in the beer from the brewery. Just as CAMRA does not support licensees who turn out cold, warm, cloudy or old beer, we are also fighting against the increasing tide of bland and uninspiring brown liquids emanating from certain brewers.

Your heritage still needs your support, and there is no other organisation to carry on the campaign for good quality beers and pubs but CAMRA.

Further information on CAMRA and our activities can be obtained from the Editor of Hop Press.

Smoke gets in your eyes Hop Press index

Rob Whatley

A common image of the public house bar is of a room so densely filled with cigarette smoke that it is difficult to see from one side of the room to the other.

Sadly this image is all too often the reality, despite the best efforts of the air conditioning companies.

Smokers seem largely oblivious to the situation but for non-smokers this pollution spoils a visit to the pub.

Apart from the well documented and incontrovertible (except to those in the payment of the tobacco companies) evidence that Inhaling other people's cigarette smoke Increases the risk of developing lung cancer, the smoke also makes eyes sting and clothes smell.

I once popped round to see some friends after a lunchtime session working as a barman. They immediately knew that I had been working at the pub, not because of any smell of beer on my breath or hands but because my clothes stank of smoke.

Some would argue that smoking is an integral part of a visit to a pub and has been for many years. However, so were bear-baiting and cock-fighting once.

One possible solution is to have separate smoking and non-smoking bars. Unfortunately many of today's pubs have only one large bar, usually through the destructive efforts of the brewers. Even a non-smoking area of such a pub would soon be filled with smoke from other areas of the bar.

Even if there were separate bars, if the bar with the dart board, for example, was declared the smoking bar, why should non-smokers have to suffer just for a game of darts?

Is the only solution then to ban all smoking in pubs, which would, of course, be possible only as part of a total ban on smoking in all public places? In the eyes of the law however a public house is essentially considered as being a private house so unlikely as such a public ban would be, it is doubly unlikely that it would include pubs.

Smokers would claim that such a ban would be an Infringement of their freedoms as individuals, but my view is that non-smokers, who are now In the majority by two to one, have the greater right to breathe un-polluted air. It is the smokers, then, who are acting against the status quo.

Finally, I would ask those who smoke in pubs to pose themselves one question: "Do I wish to be responsible for the deaths of my fellow human beings?" Unsafe Foodstuffs

Red Lion Hop Press index

Rumours abound within Whitbread Wessex of an extensive 'shake out" of what they regard as un-economic, expendable pubs. However, unlike Watney's recent similar exercise, rather than sell the pubs to other brewers they are believed to want to realise the property values by de-licencing them. Up to thirty may be involved but as usual Whitbread are not being too forthcoming!

One that we do know is under threat is the Good Beer Guide pub the Red Lion in West Dean. A fine village local, its closure would leave a big hole in the village. Visit the pub to judge Whitbread's social commitment, sign your name to the petition and help fight this vandalism by the corporate lager louts.

Bieres sans frontieres Hop Press index

Steve Broomfield

One of the sure signs that Christmas is over is the annual outbreak of Judith Chalmers, a complaint symptomised by a vast number of magazine articles and TV advertisements proclaiming holidays in exotic (and expensive) places. Not to be outdone, of course, Hop Press now presents a few recommendations for Holiday '89.

No sitting on the beach, soaking up the sunshine, watching the topless sunbathers, though...! We are heading for France and Belgium, and some real continental beer. We tend to see France as a land of fine wine and cheese, of beautiful women with unspeakable table manners, and of unspeakable men with even worse table manners. Belgians... well, if we think of them at all, it is as the world's greatest consumers of chips with mayonnaise. Indeed, it is widely believed that Belgian mothers have evolved square nipples to help wean their infants onto this diet

What then have these nations to teach us about beer? The truth is, quite a lot, as will be explained.

Most of us have, I imagine, been on a cross-channel ferry, and have dropped in at the local hypermarket for a spot of duty-free shopping and some sticky cakes. We've all seen the English shoppers there, wheeling trolleys groaning under cases of Stella Abattoir and Heineken. Well, they are continental, aren't they?

How about an alternative holiday suggestion? Take a few minutes to have a look around the place. Climb over the mountains of Stella and take a look' at the little back room of the hypermarket. Conduct a little research before you go – simply asking for biere is not recommended! In Belgium especially try the local – real local – brews. All beers referred to in this article are easily obtainable – and within 50 miles of Calais. In fact most can be bought at a single hypermarket, the Mamouth in St. Omer.

Let us start in Belgium. The place to head for is Ypres, or Ieper as It is known in Flemish. Central to the fighting in the Great War, it is also now a place of pilgrimage for many beer drinkers as the near centre of the monastery brewing industry. The town's main square is a haven of bars and restaurants (all, incidentally, with very interesting toilets! That's another story...).

Here, a bottle of St. Sixtus is essential drinking. Brewed under licence from the monastery at Westvleteren, about five miles from leper, this beer comes in two strengths – Abt 8 and the stronger Abt 12. The latter is a very dark beer, fruity and fulfilling; it is best served in a large balloon glass and savoured a little at a time – certainly not swilled.

While in Ieper, enjoy the atmosphere of the bars, quite unlike that of the English pub. There are comfortable seats, no loud music and absolutely no fruit machines. Both children and dogs abound. Drinking is a social not an antisocial pursuit. After lunch – the food is also recommended – a visit to Westvleteren itself would let you try the real thing at its origin, an experience analogous to drinking a fine wine at the chateau.

Sixtus is available at Mamouth in its 12 version, and is highly recommended. Also sold at Mamouth is Leffe, an abbey-style beer but produced by the giant Artois group. Although not to my own taste, it is worth trying.

Back in France, we turn first to the ubiquitous Pelforth. This comes in different styles, the commonest being the pale blonde, a lager type that we would generally see as the typical continental beer. This particular brew can be found from time to time in this country, at branches of Oddbins. Incidentally, Oddbins can be invaluable to those who are really determined not to travel, selling many beers from other lands. Another example being Jenlain Biere de Garde, with its distinctive wired, champagne-style cork.

A more tasty drink than the blonde, however, is the darker Pelforth Brune, which is perhaps more acceptable to those accustomed to British ales. A dry-tasting beer, it is widely available in northern France – look for the pelican sign outside cafes. Served chilled with a packet of pommes frites (as opposed to chips!), it represents a classic northern European taste. In supermarkets the brune comes in a six-pack of 25cl bottles bearing the immortal phrase 'Donnez une Pelforth brune aux hommes qui ont soif'. My wife, incidentally, takes this to mean that this beer should be given women whether they are thirsty or not!

Another northern French beer is Ch'ti, which comes in blonde, amber and brune varieties. Of these I have only tried the blonde, which is quite pleasant and is also available in 25cl six-packs.

Final honours in this article go to Belgium for another monastery brewed Trappiestenbier, Chimay. This comes in three varieties – red, white and blue. The red is dark, highly drinkable and fairly strong, the white lighter and drier whilst the blue is a classic to be appreciated, the bottles being date marked and best kept for two years. Fermentation takes place in the bottle, so they should be stored in a dark place at an even temperature and should be poured with care. I have a bottle hidden away for my 35th birthday – I might last that long, but I'm not so sure about the beer!

MMC Report Hop Press index

CAMRA'S POLICIES on the increasingly monopolistic position in the UK brewing industry have been totally vindicated by the Monopolies and Mergers Commissions report into the supply of beer in the UK. The main recommendations of the report are.

* A ceiling of not more than 2,000 tied pubs to be owned by an individual brewery or group: this includes tenanted and managed houses. This will mean the divestment of 22,000 pubs by the big six brewers as no regional or local brewer currently owns more than this number. Breweries will have three years to carry out the MMC recommendation.

* Pubs being sold should have no covenants attached restricting a new owner to the former brewery's products. Also there should be no sales of pubs with covenants which preclude them from being used as pubs in the future.

* The elimination of all loan ties. Existing loans should be allowed to run their course.

• Tenants should be allowed to buy a minimum of one draught beer, free of the ties. Also there should be no tie at all for wines, cider, soft drinks.

* Brewers should publish wholesale price lists which set out the discounts that are available.

In its report the MMC is scathing about the state of the industry. It targets its recommendations specifically at the Big Six and has set the ceiling on pub ownership in order to boost the position of the independents. It recognises the complex nature of the industry – with vertical and horizontal integration – and has not made sweeping changes which would have been disastrous for the regionals. The report is an historic victory for the consumer. Buy ensuring the survival of the smaller brewers, outlawing loan ties and forcing brewers to compete on wholesale prices, the MMC has paved the way for genuine choice and price reductions for drinkers.

By ensuring the survival and expansion of the independent regional and local breweries, the commission has moved to protect Britain's unique brewing heritage. The commission also noted that the price of beer had risen by 15 per cent above the retail price index between 1979 and 1987, almost double the rise in restaurant prices. The report adds that brewers have exploited their monopoly situation and act against the public interest.

The MMC reserves most of its venom for lager. It says that the high price of lager is not justified by the cost of producing it. Lager sold for approximately 10 pence a pint more than bitter but despite the claims of the Brewers' Society that lager costs more to produce and advertise, the real difference on a pint-to-pint basis was half a penny more in favour of lager. It dismissed the Brewers' Society's claim that extra money was needed to establish a 'new product' such as lager on the grounds that it had enjoyed a significant market share for the last 25 years.

The MMC also recommends that tenants should be covered by the provisions of the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1954, which will give them greater security of tenure.

While the Campaign will be overjoyed by the MMC's findings, which underscore 18 years of research and lobbying, there should be no room for complacency. Local branches must ensure the recommendations are enforced. We do not yet know how they will be policed and it is vital that the Big Six are not let off the hook by divesting only low-barrelage pubs that other brewers will not be keen to buy. As with the infamous pub swaps of the late 1970's, we must insist that the major brewers do not get around the report by cosy insider dealing between themselves.

The report is silent on the subject of takeovers and mergers but we can draw comfort from the fact that the Elders bid for S&N has been blocked, again to the benefit of the consumer, which signals a new toughness on this situation by the Government.

CAMRA can take enormous pleasure from the vindication of our stance and will take Lord Young's advice at his press conference when he suggested breaking out the champagne. Naturally, we will celebrate with the grain rather than the grape.

1992 and all that Hop Press index

Rob Whatley

There has been much publicity in recent months on the possible effects in the United Kingdom of the 1992 single market proposals for the European Community.

These proposals include plans for the harmonisation of tax rates.

Currently around 40 of the cost of a pint goes to the exchequer in the form of duty and VAT (including VAT on the duty, the iniquity of double taxation). If the rates for these taxes were set at the average level throughout the Community there would be a drop of around 20p in the cost of a pint.

In June Romsey and Waterside MP Michael Colvin questioned the Prime Minister on the subject, asking: "What will that do to the sobriety of the nation?"

The Prime Minister replied: "We believe that these attempts to harmonise duties are misconceived and unnecessary and we shall oppose them."

Thus there seems little chance of a reduction in the cost of a pint but at least the chances of any increase in price as a result of the single European market are pretty slim.

There could, however, be benefits for the drinker if the method of collection of beer duty is harmonised. At present, in the UK, duty is levied in advance, based on the original gravity of the beer. In other words, at the point when the brewing process begins; subsequently, every day the beer spends fermenting and conditioning in the brewery is another day's damage to the brewery's cash flow.

In most European countries the tax is paid when the beer leaves the brewery ("factory gate" taxation). This means that the brewers can allow the beer to mature into a better product than under the UK system which encourages the brewers to push out the beer as quickly as possible.

If the system is introduced here British lagers and winter ales can be stored much more cheaply and quality can only improve as a result.

In addition, some European countries operate sliding scales of duty, with the smaller producers paying proportionately less than big brewers – a powerful disincentive to takeovers and mergers.

The U.K. is the only country in the Community which employs neither tax benefit. Even worse, the British system has a built-in benefit for the big breweries – all brewers are allowed to claim 5'6 of their beer as un-taxed production losses. For a small pub brewer this is not enough to cover his real shrinkage but the huge mega-keggeries' gain several percent of sellable, but not taxed, beer!

The Government regularly tells us that the future wealth of the country depends upon the creation of small businesses. If it means what it says it should introduce a sliding scale of duty and levy it at the factory gate. This would make life much easier for the new small brewers and would make for easier entry into the beer production market.

Most importantly, all this could be done without any loss of revenue to the government.

The consumer would have greater choice as the number of small brewers increases and would benefit from an improvement in the quality of the beer produced. As an example one can look to Germany which has well over a thousand breweries and where takeovers are a rarity. One can only ask why such simple duty changes have not been made already – why not make them in conjunction with the implementation of the Monopolies Report?.

Hampshire cider Hop Press index

Dave Neale

In recent years cider making in Hampshire has been in steep decline, dwindling to nothing with the loss of Selborne Gold, Marston and Sillence in recent years.

However, we are pleased to hear that this situation may not be permanent. News has recently reached us of a local application to make and sell real cider.

The application has been made by Mr Barry Topp, of Burley in the New Forest. Recently made redundant from his job with a soft drinks manufacturer, Mr Topp is hoping to revive the cider maker's art at Burley; indeed, his ancestors were making cider In the area until the early part of this century.

Mr Topp has purchased a cider press, which was once used at the former White's Cider of Ashill, near Taunton. The hole for the press has already been dug at the Burley premises, and it is hoped that the press will be dismantled and moved very soon.

In the barn behind the cider making site there are already 8,500 gallons of fermenting cider made with the press at Ashill. Mr Topp is hoping to start selling this cider as soon as it is ready, and then plans to start making cider at Burley later this year.

We wish Mr Topp success in his new venture and will keep you informed of further developments.

Pub News Hop Press index

Rob Whatley

As many will have noticed, our traditional red telephone boxes are gradually being replaced by more up-to-date models. Those who miss their local phone box and wonder where it has gone may like to know that they can now renew their acquaintance with this long standing symbol of the British way of life at a number of local pubs.

The first telephone box to appear in a local pub was the blue kiosk at the Lamp and Mantle, West End, some five years ago (a working box with a real 'phone). Old style telephone boxes have recently appeared in two Southampton city pubs as well.

The box at the London Hotel is just part of a whole host of bric-a-brac in the pub which, sadly, detracts somewhat, from the otherwise excellent decor and fittings. As for the beers, Marston's Pedigree, Flowers Original and Strong Country Fitter are all available.

Two more red boxes have been installed at the Dog and Duck, which was previously known as the Inn Centre. The overall decor of this pub is similar to that of the London but is less well done. What is almost certainly the largest group of handpumps in the area dispense Charrington IPA and Courage best.

What a pity that not one of the three actually contains a telephone for the use of customers...

The London is not the only docklands pub which has altered recently. Parker's Hotel re opened in November as (surprise, surprise!) Parkers. Fremlins, Strong Country and Flowers Original were on offer here when we visited the pub. Just round the corner, the Oriental opened its doors again just before Christmas, unfortunately without any real ale.

Nearby, the Glasgow has re-opened, also re-named, as the Gamekeeper. Regular readers will not be surprised to hear that the pub is now a single bar, serving Ruddles Best Bitter and Webster's Yorkshire Bitter. Obviously the new name reflects the large number of gamekeepers who pop in for a drink after tending their pheasants in Queens Park...

Over to the west of the city, we welcome new licensees Ann Douglas and Shirley Biggs to the Sailor's Return in Millbrook. Also in Millbrook, the Fighting Cocks has reopened as the Swan, and is another of the increasing number of Whitbread houses to offer Marston's Pedigree in its range.

We wish a happy retirement to Ron and Margaret Gray who were the pint pullers at the Freemantle Arms for many years, and welcome new licensees Alan and Christine Couzins.

Also leaving are Cohn and Pam Partridge, who have been at Ye Olde Whyte Harte, Hamble, for 17 years. We wish a happy retirement to the couple who have appeared in the last 15 editions of the Good Beer Guide.

In the same area, Whitbread is currently appealing to the Minister of the Environment in an attempt to convert Grange house in Bursledon into a Beefeater steak house. At the inquiry Mr George Bartlett QC, on behalf of Whitbread, said that the building would have its setting enhanced by landscaping, adding: "The area is really not so much one of countryside as one possessing the illusion of countryside." (At this point readers should make up their own jokes as we don't fancy being sued by a QC!)

Not to be outdone, Watneys are to build a Berni Inn at the new retail park to the east of junction 7 of the M27 at Hedge End.

Meanwhile, many will be relieved to hear that an application from Whitbread to put up a 32 bedroom pagoda style hotel next to the Balmoral at Nursling has been turned down by Test Valley planners.

Similar plans may well be in the offing at Compton where Whitbread has acquired the Captain Barnard. The previous owners had obtained planning consent for 10 double bedrooms on the site and Whitbread have already submitted plans to increase the bar and kitchen areas. Of course, the previously interesting range of beers at this pub has been replaced by those rare brews Flowers Original and Strong Country Bitter,

There are also plans for many alterations including a new dining room at the First In Last Out in Winchester, and a revised application has finally gone in for changes to increase the bar areas at the Bell in St Cross.

North of Winchester, there is the possibility that the Saddlers Arms at Sutton Scotney will be demolished so that houses can be built on the site. Salisbury brewers, Gibbs New have applied for outline planning permission for 16 homes. The parish council is known to be opposed to the plan.

The Fox and Hounds at Crawley is up for sale for £510,000. Let's hope Whitbread doesn't get its hands on another of our few free houses.

A number of Eastleigh pubs have undergone changes recently. For ex ample, a large extension has been added to the Arrow, where Tetley Bitter is now on offer.

The Chamberlayne Hotel has undergone extensive alterations which are probably not un-connected with the forthcoming opening of the Swan Centre. The pub has now just a single bar with many wooden beams, resulting in the loss of yet another public bar in Eastleigh. The beers on offer are Eldridge Pope IPA and Royal Oak along with Wadworth's Old Timer, The Home Tavern has also re-opened after yet another refurbishment.

Moving now to the Waterside, we hear that plans for 37 business and holiday chalets at the Flying Boat at Calshot have been rejected on appeal. One scheme that is going ahead, however, is an extension to the bar area at Brook's Green Dragon.

Another well known Forest pub is being sold. A cool £410,000 is believed to be the price for which the Foresters at Frogham is changing hands. We understand that the purchasers are local and intend to keep the pub much as it is.

There have been a number of comings and goings among New Forest licensees recently. We welcome new managers Pam and Biff to the Ship Inn at Lymington and Jeremy Tunnicliffe, who Is the new manager of the Inn on the Furlong, Ringwood.

Ian Barrett, who was at one time licensee of the Centurion at Barton, and Tony Talbot, who was previously at the Black Boy in Winchester, have taken over the Snakecatcher, Brockenhurst, from James Smith,

Plenty has been happening in the Lymington area. At Hordle, Raymond and Stephen Dance have left the Three Bells, where Graham Brown is now the new host. There are plans to convert the pub to a single bar. We also welcome Brian and Graham Rolph to the Smugglers at Milford, where they have replaced Henry Murray behind the bar.

In the same area, Raymond Rose and Andrew Morrison have taken over at the Tower Tavern, New Milton and there is also a new manager at the Fisherman's, Woodside, Lymington, which now serves six real ales, including Boddington's Bitter.

Finally we hear that the Star at East Tytherley is again to appear in the second series of the TVS show "Gentlemen and Players" in May, continuing the connection between local pubs and TV series,

Meanwhile at the Cleveland Bay... Hop Press index

The Inn-Sight on the Cleveland Bay, Valley Park, In the last edition of Hop Press stated that the pub's name was unique, indeed Wadworth's chairman Major John Bartholomew claimed this was the case at the opening of the pub in April last year.

On reading the article, however, Lymington CAMRA member Nick Martin wrote to Hop Press claiming that he knew that there are at least two other pubs bearing the name in the North-East.

This sent the Hop Press team of investigative reporters scurrying for their notebooks and after much diligent research a veritable stable of Cleveland Bays has been unearthed.

The longest established Cleveland Bay would appear to be a Bass pub at Eston, near Middlesbrough, which has been known by that name throughout its 70 years.

The Cleveland Bay Hotel at Eaglescliffe is a somewhat older pub but it was known as The Railway until some twenty years ago. In common with the other pubs the sign depicts a horse, but the landlady has told Hop Press that the horse on the sign of this Cameron's Brewery house Is not in fact a Cleveland Bay.

Two further Cleveland Bays which we have discovered are more modern buildings.

There is one in Redcar, owned by Scottish & Newcastle which has borne the name since It opened In the late 1950's and another, outside the county of Cleveland, at Staithes, near Whitby In North Yorkshire. This free house was established in 1961 but the licensee did not know whether the pub has always had the same name.

So the word is now out – the name Cleveland Bay's uniqueness was short-lived!

Of course, although increasing the tally fivefold we do not claim to have discovered every Cleveland Bay in the country. Perhaps one of our readers knows of another one?

Hop Press issue number 29 – March 1989

Editor: Dave Neale
25 Withewood Mansions
Shirley Road
Southampton
SO1 3JA
0703 701648.
hop-press@shantscamra.org.uk

© CAMRA Ltd. 1989