EIGHT Greater Manchester pubs have been voted the best local real ale pubs in the region as the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA) launches April’s Community Pubs Month.
The local pub push from CAMRA comes amid new stats that claim 28 pubs across Britain close every week, with 38% of British adults no longer paying visits to pubs.
CAMRA, the guardians of real ale since 1971, now boast over 160k members with tens of thousands of volunteers scouring pubs across the land to compile a list of the Top 210 Pubs of the Year.
Pubs are judged on the quality and range of their real ale, value for money, service, community focus and décor. Each area winner (lited below) will then battle it out in regional heats for a chance to become the National Pub of the Year 2014, announced in early 2015.
In February 2014, The Swan with Two Necks of Pendleton, in the Ribble Valley of Lancashire (less than an hour’s drive north of Manchester) beat over 57,000 pubs across the UK to scoop CAMRA’s National Pub of the Year for 2013.
2013 National winner: The Swan with Two Necks, Pendleton
Greater Manchester winners (voted for by each CAMRA branch):
Bolton: Bank Top Brewery Tap, Belmont Road, Bolton
High Peak and Cheshire: Harewood Arms, Market Street, Broadbottom
North Manchester: Port Street Beer House, Port Street, Manchester (main image)
Rochdale, Oldham and Bury: Carrion, Huddersfield Road, Oldham
South East Lancashire: White Lion, Leigh Road, Leigh
Stockport and South Manchester: The Hope Inn, Wellington Road North, Stockport
Trafford and Hulme: City Arms, Kennedy Street, Manchester (City centre surely?)
The City Arms, Manchester City Centre
Colin Valentine, CAMRA Chairman said, “I would like to thank all of the volunteers that have judged pubs up and down the country. This can take a lot of dedication to find the best real ale pubs in the area. We like to announce the winners in Community Pubs Month to highlight the best pubs Britain has to offer to help raise the profile of pub-going.
“There are thousands of wonderful pubs that need our support at this moment in time and I would urge everyone to visit their local pub in April and discuss with the licensee ways he or she could encourage you to visit more regularly.”
The local pub push from CAMRA comes amid new stats that claim 28 pubs across Britain close every week, with 38% of British adults no longer paying visits to pubs.
