CAMRA Press Release

For Immediate Release - 16th December 2009

Cheriton Brewpub celebrates over 35 years in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide

In recognition of it's commitment to real ale, the quality of it's beer and the pub's undisputed charm, The Flowerpots in Cheriton has been named in the 2010 Good Beer Guide for the 36th year in a row.

The Southern Hampshire Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) today presented landlords Jo Bartlett and Paul Tickner with an engraved mirror in recognition of their achievement and commitment to real ale. Now in its 37th year, the Good Beer Guide is annually revised and updated and has the details of more than 4,500 pubs across the country serving the best real ale. The Pots was originally selected in 1975 and has been reselected each year by local CAMRA members making it one of the longest consecutively featured pubs in Britain.

Jo has been at the pub since February 1968, a total of 41 years, which was originally with her mother Pat and husband John. Now, together with her partner Paul they have been running the pub since 1982. In 1990 they bought the pub from Whitbread following the passing of the Beer Orders Act (1989), which required the breweries with the larger estates to sell some of their pubs and it was then that their business started to grow. Their very popular microbrewery was built in 1993 and now supplies many pubs across the area with their popular brews such as; Perridge Pale (3.6% abv), Goodens Gold (4.8% abv), Flowerpots Bitter (3.8% abv) and the new Flowerpots IPA (6% abv).

Landlady Jo said, "We're very honoured to be serving good beer guide quality real ale for over 35 years. It's more special since we've had our own real ale brewery on site. We're delighted that our focus is beer rather than food and hope to continue this for many years to come."

CAMRA's Southern Hampshire Branch Press & Publicity Officer, David Mackie said, "We're really pleased to be able to recognise such a wonderful pub serving great real ale in our area, not only are the surroundings second to none but all the beers are fresh and lovingly craft produced just across the car park."

The local CAMRA South Hampshire Branch has over 1250 members that annually recommend and review local entries to the guide, replicated across the various branches in Britain, CAMRA HQ then revises and updates the guide which is even available for the satnav! CAMRA has now attracted over 100,000 members to the campaign. For more information about CAMRA and it's work please see http://www.camra.org.uk/

For more information about local branch activity please see the CAMRA South Hampshire Branch website https://www.shantscamra.org.uk/

Notes to editors

CAMRA campaigns for real ale, real pubs and consumer rights. We are an independent, voluntary organisation with over 100,000 members and have been described as the most successful consumer group in Europe. CAMRA promotes good-quality real ale and pubs, as well as acting as the consumer's champion in relation to the UK and European beer and drinks industry. We aim to:

• Protect and improve consumer rights
• Promote quality, choice and value for money
• Support the public house as a focus of community life
• Campaign for greater appreciation of traditional beers, ciders and perries as part of our national heritage and culture
• Seek improvements in all licensed premises and throughout the brewing industry

Resources

A photo of Flowerpots Inn proprietors Jo and Paul with their CAMRA award mirror with Chair of CAMRA Southern Hampshire Branch, Rob Bennett and other members of the branch. This photo (JPEG, 3456 x 2304 pixels) can be downloaded from: https://www.shantscamra.org.uk/archive/photos/flowerpots35years/IMG_8168.JPG.

For Further Information

The Flowerpots Inn, Cheriton, Hampshire
01962 771318
http://www.flowerpots.f2s.com/

David Mackie
Press & Publicity Officer
CAMRA Southern Hampshire Branch
023 8061 1998 / 07905 315614 / david.mackie@shantscamra.org.uk.