12th May 2012

The Green Dragon in UPPER GRAVENHURST which has been closed for a few months now is up for sale at a mere £325K. The price includes two flats. Contact Country Properties if you're interested.

2/5/12 - Nikki at the Bell in STUDHAM has informed us that they have recently added "Cask to Glass Ales" with two Hopping Mad beers served on gravity dispense directly from cooled casks behind the bar.

In LEIGHTON BUZZARD the Ship closed it's doors on Wednesday 25th April and the Falcon has also been boarded up recently. The future of both pubs is unknown. Better news is that Gynnie at the Red Lion will be holding a mini beer festival from 1st to 5th June. In addition to the usual Black Sheep and Abbot  there will be two extra ales on handpump and two on gravity dispense.

In LUTON the Bramingham was recently found to be offering CAMRA members 20p off a pint and 10p off a half. The same deal is to be offered at the Wigmore Arms. Both pubs are owned by Orchid Inns who are supporting the CAMRA Discount Scheme. The Mulberry Bush in DUNSTABLE and Black Lion in LEIGHTON BUZZARD are also part of the Orchid Inns group and so will probably be offering the same discount (though this is not confirmed).

25/4/12 - The Albion in Ampthill is the 2012 Bedfordshire Pub of the Year. On Saturday 21st April, representatives of the three Bedfordshire Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) branches met to decide which pub out of the Cricketers Arms, Bedford, the Engineers Arms, Henlow and the Albion, Ampthill was to become the 2012 CAMRA Bedfordshire county Pub of the Year. In the end, the Albion was chosen as the winner. One of the key points that swung the decision was the effect that the Albion has had on the rest of the town. The sheer choice of ales available in the Albion has caused regulars of other pubs and clubs to ask for more choice. This is partly due to Russell Fletcher (landlord of the Albion) going out of his way to engage with and help the other local pubs. The Albion is most definitely a deserved winner.

Just two years ago, the Albion Arms (as it was then called) was easily the lowest pub in Ampthill, owned by an over-stretched, national pub company, going through a succession of un-interested temporary managers with no investment, you would rarely find a real ale there let alone one worth drinking. Along to the rescue came the Everards Brewery to buy the pub and under what they call their “Project William” scheme, they leased it out to local brewery B&T with a very limited beer tie. After a short, sharp and no-doubt costly refurbishment the pub re-opened in April 2010 with a shiny row of no-less than 12 hand-pumps dispensing B&T and Everards beers plus at least six guests from breweries all over the country. The currently available ales are listed on two blackboards along with an idea of their colour; you can also buy a selection of three thirds. The background music is kept low, the TV is tucked away in the back room and there are no distracting gambling bandit machines – it’s the little touches that can make all the difference when competing at this level.
A choice of real cider and perry is also on the menu. There are a couple of beer festivals and a cider festival held annually.
The huge success of the Albion just goes to show what can be done with a struggling pub given the right approach. Even stalwart CAMRA pub-goers would not be able to recognise that it is owned by Everards, this is testament to their long-term vision rather than just aiming to make a quick buck which is all that can be said for the large pub companies and certain, major super-regional brewer-come-pub owners predominant in this area.

21/4/12 - The Sping newsletter is now out. They are being distributed as we speak, keep an eye out for them in your nearest pub.

18/4/12 - There are loads of beer festivals in the local area these next few weeks beginning this weekend for St George's. Please go to the "Other Beer Festivals" section for more details.

In AMPTHILL there have always been good pubs and now officially they have the best, with the B&T owned Albion being crowned the South Beds CAMRA pub of the year. Definitely a town worth visiting. The Ossory Arms are having a beer, cider and cheese festival over the Easter weekend. There will be eight ales, three ciders and a selection of chesse, biscuits and olives.

In ASPLEY HEATH the Royal Oak hosts an excellent music night on the 2nd Thursday of every month. We’ll be there on Thursday 10th May for a CAMRA branch social - why not come along too?

We’d like to thank the Gary Cooper (Wetherspoons) in DUNSTABLE for inviting us at CAMRA along to a preview night for their Spring Beer Festival, and for generously offering all that attended 3 free thirds. For the first time all the beers were gravity fed and a good time was had by all.

In EVERSHOLT the Green Man will be holding their annual three day May Bank Holiday Real Ale & Sausage Festival with 30 beers, ciders and 10 varieties of sausages.

At the Axe & Compass in HEATH & REACH we offer our best wishes to Jake who recently became the new landlord. He informed us that “We have now added a fourth handpump and constantly have 4 ales on including Doom Bar, Directors and 2 guest ales from local brewers Tring and Concrete Cow.” At the end of March the Cock Hotel had a name change and is now the Heath Inn.

In FLITWICK the Wheatsheaf which has been closed for a while and seems ever more likely to become an Asian/Indian restaurant.

In KENSWORTH the Fullers owned Farmers Boy is holding a beer fesitval at the end of March.

In LEIGHTON BUZZARD it has been reported that the Hare has been doing well with its real ales recently. In March they had Dark Star Hophead, Phoenix March Hare and Hopback Spring Zing amongst others. They will be staging their annual St George's Day Festival with a dozen or so beers plus one or two real ciders. The Bedford Arms is still closed and it’s future looks very uncertain. The Roebuck and Clay Pipe were both closed for a while but both are believed to have re-opened.

In LUTON, the Gardeners Call on High Town Road, Luton is the first pub in our branch to join the official CAMRA Discount Scheme*. This means that if you show a current CAMRA membership card you can get 10p off the price of your pint of real ale. They have three regular ales including dark mild and regularly changing guests. They are open all day every day with food available - Chinese a speciality and Sunday roasts. Thanks very much to Peter and Li at the Gardeners Call for showing their commitment to real ale and CAMRA.
* The CAMRA Discount Scheme aims to drive business to local pubs. If you know of any other pubs which might be pusuaded to join the scheme then please let us know. There's more information available on the CAMRA website.

The Wigmore Arms in LUTON has been in contact with us and, as well as reminding us that they regularly have 4 real ales, they informed us that they will be holding one of their regular beer festivals in April (Thurs 26th to Sunday 29th). At the Bricklayers Arms in High Town we were sorry to learn that landlady Alison broke her leg in February. We hear that she’s “doing well” and we offer her our best wishes for a speedy recovery. Also a mention for the staff who “are doing brilliant”. Brief report received on the Charles Wells owned Bird & Bush in Bushmead which was serving Bombardier, Youngs Bitter and Adnams Lighthouse.

In MAULDEN, the George Inn remains empty with no planning application submitted as yet. Locals are gathering support in preparation to fight any change of use. This pub really was the hub of the village being near to the church. It was used by all sorts of clubs and societies for their official business - including your favourite CAMRA branch! Still in Maulden, the Black Horse is due to close in March, leaving just two pubs where there were four this time a year ago.

In MILTON BRYAN, we were contacted by Ian the new landlord of the Greene King owned Red Lion informing us that the pub has re-opened. A couple of Greene King beers were available on a recent visit as well as the slightly less expected St Austell Proper Job.

In RIDGMONT, a recent CAMRA Thursday Social visit to the Rose & Crown found Youngs London Porter in excellent condition. Landlady Peggy apologised for the lack of Bombardier and that she only had the Porter and Eagle available for us. Given that the Porter as so good, and we had to stay for another, I think Peggy’s more than forgiven!

In SHARPENHOE there have been some  hopeful signs of life at the Lynmore. The boards on the windows have been removed though the reason for board removal is unknown. Any news on the pub’s future is welcome.

At the Old Hunters Lodge in WHIPSNADE  the GK IPA has been permanently replaced by Tring Brock Bitter. The other two handpumps have Abbot Ale and a guest.

Know of any pub news or upcoming beer festivals we've not listed? Email us.