STAFFORD ARMSSTAFFORD ARMSAndy and Hazel Bennett
have left the Stafford Arms after just four months at the Titanic
orientated Punch Tavern. The Railway Street pub has now been taken
on by Marie Mullaney of the White Lion, Stafford Road, Cannock.
Bob Bell still works at the pub, keeping a good selection of real
ales.
Joules beers have recently been
on sale in two Stone pubs - with a choice of Warrington brewed
or Burton brewed.
Since April last year Coach House of Warrington have supplied
the Swan in Stafford Street with three John Joule and Sons beers,
Old Priory, Victory Brew and Swan Bitter.
More recently, Joules Bitter has appeared at the Bonnie Gem in
Pirehill Lane. This 4.1 % abv beer is from the Bass owned Musem
Brewing Company of Burton upon Trent.
Local drinkers with a memory stretching back more than a quarter
of a century can debate what similarities there might be between
these new beers and the genuine Joules brewed in Stone.
Three days before the Eccleshall Brewery's fifth anniversary its founder Ged Slater suffered a heart attack. Ged is now recouperating and taking things easy. We all wish Ged a speedy and full recovery. Ged's son Andrew continues to do most of the brewing work and there have recently been two more beers. Shining Knight, which was briefly sold as Dragon Slayer, is a 4.5% abv ale that falls between the Premium and Supreme. High Duck is Slater's 4.1 % abv spring beer, which in three previous years was the briefer HiDuck
New licencees at the Woolpack in Weston are Ray and Tanya Cross, who previously kept the Star in Penkridge. Last year they were the regional winner of Banks's Best Kept Cellar competition, having scored higher than the other two hundred Banks's pubs in the area.
A fire caused extensive
damage to the kitchen of Stafford's Picture House pub and prevented
meals from being served for several weeks.
Fortunately it did not spread to the historic main bar area of
the grade II listed Wetherspoon's pub, which was originally a
cinema.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Over a dozen members
attended Stafford and Stone CAMRA's 26th Annual General Meeting
which was held at the Bird in Hand, Stafford, in early May. Chairman
Graham Bell was re-elected and Paul Mudge continues as Potters
Bar writer.
Trevor Edwards is now branch Secretary, Dave Hill has taken on
the Treasurer's role and Neil Farden is the new Membership Secretary.
Other committee members are Dave Beardmore, Charlie Broome, Phil
and Mary Howard and Bill Smith.
Two Stafford town centre
pubs now regularly hold beer festivals each spring and autumn.
The Hogshead in Earl Street featured 25 beers from micro brewers
from 13th to 27th April. The Picture House in Bridge Street then
offered about 17 beers from independent brewers between 27th and
30th April.
For their "Mayday" the Stafford Arms had "10 real
ales all weekend" and the annual beer festival at the Shoulder
of Mutton in Fulford was held during the Easter weekend.
We can now look forward to a local beer festival each month over
the summer.
Sandon HaIl is the setting, on 17th and 18th June, for a small
beer festival, in a marquee, that accompanies a large craft fair.
The Swan, in Stafford Street, Stone, will hold their second annual
beer festival from Friday 14th to Monday 17th July.
Stafford's Tap & Spile will host another beer festival during
the August bank holiday weekend.
Steve Tideswell is pleased to have taken on the tenancy of Stafford's Tap & Spile after managing the Peel Terrace pub for the previous ten months. Steve has gained a reputation for offering an excellent choice of up to eight real ales, and business at the pub has also been boosted by a nearby housing development and by customers migrating from a couple of declining town centre pubs. A successful beer festival was held at the Tap & Spile in late March, with thirty cask beers stillaged in the pub's massive cellar. It is once again easy to see how the Tap & Spile won the prestigious CAMRA Staffordshire Pub of the Year award in l995.
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