Westmorland CAMRA Home Page

Home page of the Westmorland Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale.

John Stafford

It is with great sadness that the branch has learnt of the passing of active branch member John Stafford after a short illness. He will be greatly missed, and our sympathies to John's family at this difficult time.

Westmorland CAMRA Pub of the Year 2016

The Beer Hall, Staveley

Westmorland CAMRA is delighted to announce that their 2016 Pub of the Year is the The Beer Hall in Staveley.

The Beer Hall is, of course, the brewery tap for the Hawkshead Brewery. Congratulations to Chris and the team.

This year's Cumbria Pub of the Year judging trip will take place on the 23rd April. This is a visit to the Pub of the Year winners of the three other Cumbrian CAMRA Branches, which this year are the Drovers Rest at Monkhill, the Strands at Nether Wasdale and the Prince of Wales at Foxfield. There will be a minibus from Kendal for this trip which is normally a very good day out, see Tony Jackson for a place.

Westmorland CAMRA Cider and Perry Pub of The Year 2016

Mortal Man, Troutbeck

The Westmorland CAMRA Cider and Perry Pub of the Year for 2016 is the Mortal Man at Troutbeck near Windermere. This is the second year in a row for the pub, so congratulations to the team there.

Westmorland Pubs Reopening

A couple of Westmorland pubs have reopened recently. They are the Union Tavern in Kendal after nearly three years of being closed, and the New Crown Inn in Bolton near Appleby, which is the renovated former Eden Vale Inn. Westmorland CAMRA wishes both success.

Westmorland CAMRA Spring Pub of the Season 2016

The Westmorland CAMRA Spring Pub of the Season for 2016 is the Factory Tap in Kendal. Well done to Les and the team.

Assets of Community Value

Westmorland CAMRA currently has just one pub registered as an asset of community value (ACV) with South Lakeland District Council. However, we are in the process of adding The Castle Inn, Kendal and Punchbowl Inn, Underbarrow to the list. CAMRA have made the process very much simpler recently and the forms for submitting arrive via email with much of the required information already filled in. We are finding this very encouraging, and look forward to more members submitting suggestions of pubs that would benefit from ACV status. This is just one measure that can help us protect pubs that provide a great service to the community around them, but is becoming an important focus for CAMRA as a campaigning organisation.

Flooding in Westmorland CAMRA 2015

As many will be aware, there has been extensive flooding in the Westmorland CAMRA area, with Appleby, Glenridding, Grasmere and Kendal all significantly affected.

Fortunately, the majority of pubs in our area were unaffected and are open and trading normally. However, there have been some that were affected, and the following are those that we know about, with what we know of their status. Please let us know of any others, or if our information is incorrect.

Updated 21st February 2016.

• Watermill Inn, Ings, was closed but now reopened
• Wateredge, Ambleside, currently closed
• Castle Inn, Kendal, closed, but apparently now drying out, hoping to reopen in March.
• Duke of Cumberland, Kendal - currently closed
• Riverside Bar, Kendal, was flooded but reopened.
• Bridge Inn, Kendal, currently closed
• Factory Tap, Kendal, had 3ft of water in, but reopened
• Punch Bowl, Underbarrow, was flooded by reopened
• Hare & Hounds, Bowland Bridge, open for business
• Grapes, Appleby, closed for foreseeable future
• Kings Head, Appleby, flooded
• Crown & Cushion, Appleby, flooded
• Golden Ball, Appleby, ok
• Glenridding Hotel, Glenridding, flooded
• Pedro's at Troutbeck Bridge, formally the Sun, closed due to flooding.
• Eagle and Child and Beer Hall, Staveley, open as usual, but the Gowan bridge in the middle of the village is shut
• The pubs of Pooley Bridge, Tirril, Yanwath and surrounding area are all believed to be open.

Breweries of Cumbria Poster

We now have copies of the latest version of the Breweries of Cumbria Poster available. More details here.

Westmorland Beer Festival

The 2015 Westmorland Beer Festival was held between 30th September to 3rd October 2015, we hope you enjoyed it you came.

The winner of the Best in Westmorland award was Swan Black by Bowness Bay Brewery.

The 2016 festival will be held from Wednesday 9th November to Saturday 12th November, and the planning has already started for next year, more details will appear when they are known. If you would like to be involved in the planning, please let us know, using the email link at the bottom of the page.