The Pub Curmudgeon

I can’t say the news on the front page of today’s Times is exactly surprising, but it’s good to see it in such a prominent spot in a nation...

A few years ago, I posted about the growing problem of walking into a pub, finding nobody behind the bar, and having no means of summoning ...

A while back, I did a poll about what times people went to the pub . The results were really just a confirmation of the obvious so, as sugge...

Ever since I first encountered anti-pubco campaigner J. Mark Dodds on the internet, he’s come across to me as a bit of a wrong ‘un. For a ...

Wetherspoon’s have always put cask beer at the centre of their offering, and their recent expansion into medium-sized towns in Scotland and ...

Let’s fast forward twenty-five years to 2041, and see what the typical pub looks like then. One immediately obvious difference is that, beca...

When CAMRA was formed, it already knew of all the traditional breweries and beers still in existence in the UK, partly due to the pioneering...

Earlier this year, the UK’s Chief Medical Officer lowered the maximum “safe drinking” alcohol guideline for men from 21 units a week to 14, ...

Last night, on the local CAMRA “Stagger” of Offerton, in the Emigration Inn , we had probably the worst experience I can remember in thirty ...

I recently received en e-mail from Punch Taverns inviting me to try a free pint of Carling or Stella in one of their pubs. Some might have t...

This was originally going to be part of my Taste of Tradition post, but it developed a life of its own. Back in the early days of CAMRA, th...

In recent years, it has become common for staff in supermarkets and other shops to be required to wear badges showing their first name. I d...

I’ve been a member of CAMRA for thirty-five years, and my interest in real ale goes back further than that. I remember in 1978 a friend gett...

I’m not planning to turn this into a pub exploring blog, but I thought it would be worth sharing some pub-related images taken in Shropshire...

Here are some photos taken earlier today at the Harrington Arms, Gawsworth, Cheshire, a classic unspoilt Robinsons’ pub listed on CAMRA’s Na...