Mad Cat, Pidley Pub of the Year
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opening times Huntingdonshire Branch of CAMRA Issue 139 the Campaign for Real Ale Summer 2009 MAD CAT, PIDLEY PUB OF THE YEAR Also inside: • Market Inn, Huntingdon Most Improved Pub of the Year • May boost for mild ale Booze on the Ouse, St Ives Beer Festival Thu 10—Sat 12 September 2009 2 Support your local pub - don't give them an excuse to close it! MAY BOOST FOR MILD ALE One change that has re- In St Neots the Lord John Russell stocks sulted from the CAMRA- Batemans Dark Mild, a ruby-black gem of energised revival in real ale a mild from the Lincolnshire brewer. The choice is a tendency for Hyde Park in St Neots and George and pubs to offer potentially Dragon in Eaton Socon are also regular bewildering ranges of real outlets for real mild. ales, often with names that The recently reopened give no clue as to the style Pig n Falcon in New of the beer they designate. Street S Neots regularly Time was when most pubs offers the dark roasty were tied to a local brewer 4.4% abv Beijing Black and offered an unwavering selection of from Kettering’s Pot- just a couple of styles of real ale with un- belly brewery. In Hun- complicated names such as ‘Mild’, ‘Bitter’, tingdon the Market Inn or ‘Best Bitter’. is another popular out- let for Potbelly Beijing Black. But real draught mild remains as a re- freshing and flavoursome low alcohol style Greene King’s deeply satisfying 3% abv of beer that has seen a revival in recent cask mild, XX, is rare, but availability is years. increasing. The Cock at Gamlingay is a great place to enjoy this beer in fine fettle. Most milds are dark but they can range from black to dark brown to pale amber in Son of Sid Muckcart Mild is another roasty colour. Malty and sweetish tones usually brew often on offer at the Chequers, Little dominate the flavour profile and there is Gransden, where it is produced. often a light fruity background, but there Other notable Cambridgeshire-brewed can be defined touches of dark chocolate milds are Milton Brewery’s malty and or roasted flavours from highly kilned roasty Minotaur and the impressive bitter- malts and impressions of liquorice or cara- sweet Black Dog from Elgoods of Wis- mel are not uncommon. bech, sometimes on sale at the Cock at CAMRA runs an annual May mild promo- Hemingford Grey and the Floods Tavern tion to support this great beer style and in St Ives. will be celebrating National Mild Day on The Green Man at Colne is another regu- Saturday 9 May. Huntingdonshire CAMRA lar outlet for real mild and the malty and in particular is keen to point out the local hoppy Tetleys Mild is usually on sale. revival being enjoyed by draught mild and Nearby, the Mad Cat at Pidley is also ex- its drinkers. pected to be offering mild this May. On Friday 15 May two groups of local May is a good time to find draught mild in CAMRA members will be touring pubs local pubs and others are likely to be stocking real cask mild in the pubs around stocking mild in addition to those men- St Neots and St Ives - full details will be tioned here. Just ask for it. Most pubs published in the diary section on serve real draught bitter these days – so www.huntscamra.org.uk when finalised. why not real draught mild? OPENING TIMES 139 SUMMER 2009 3 PUBS OF THE YEAR The Huntingdonshire Branch people. A sociable bar has a welcoming of CAMRA has selected the open fire, crib and dominoes. A separate Mad Cat in Pidley its branch dining room is popular with villagers and Pub of the Year 2009 . visitors, especially for the Sunday lunch carvery. The food offered is varied, in- CAMRA gives this annual cludes numerous vegetarian options, and award to the pub that it blackboard specials. Most ingredients are judges to provide the widest appeal for its locally sourced, including their meat which combination of good beer, atmosphere, comes from a local farm shop. There is a style, service and value. large garden with a decked patio. The Mad Cat was taken over in July 2007 The pub was jam packed full on an eve- by Darren Tomkins and Sinead Nicholson. ning in March when Huntingdonshire They redecorated the pub and introduced CAMRA visited to present the award. All new food menus with locally sourced in- the regulars turned out to see the presen- gredients and a range of local real ales on tation and there were two birthday parties rotation that quickly began to achieve rec- and a wedding anniversary involving peo- ognition by local beer enthusiasts for their ple from the local community. consistent high quality on dispense. Pictured are left to right, Sinead, Darren In Spring 2008 the Huntingdonshire and Branch Chairman Keith Lawson. Branch of CAMRA recognised the Mad Cat as it’s Most Improved Pub of the Year, acknowledging the significant enhance- ments Darren and Sinead had made in just 6 months. In Summer 2008 the pub was shortlisted for the Huntingdonshire Food and Drink Awards Best Pub. The Mad Cat was one of the first pubs to be accredited in the branch’s Locale scheme, in Autumn 2008. This celebrates pubs that regularly stock beers brewed within 25 miles of the pub. The Mad Cat always has at least one such beer, with Oakham and Elgoods featuring regularly. Darren And Sinead have also achieved membership of Oakham’s exclusive ‘Oakademy of Excellence’, with exclusive guest beers. The Mad Cat is a community local on the edge of the fens in a village that is the home of the Pidley Mountain Rescue Team, a charity supporting local disabled 4 Check out local music events at www.huntscamra.org.uk/gigguide PUBS OF THE YEAR The Market Inn at Hunting- been awarded the branch’s Locale ac- don has won the Most Im- creditation for its well kept local ales. Pot- proved Pub of the Year belly Brewery of Kettering has a regular award for 2009, presented slot, and the superb Beijing Black is a by the Huntingdonshire current regular. Branch of CAMRA. The Market Inn is a busy town centre local in the very heart of Huntingdon, tucked down a alley. The pub was originally cre- ated from a series of cottages adjacent to the old Fountain Hotel brewery that used to be situated on the opposite side of the alleyway. The pub retains some well pre- served features dating from the 1930’s including original fireplaces and wood Pictured in the presentation above left to panelling. right are Nicky and Paul Harvey, branch representative Kathy Hadfield Moorhouse, and licensee David Norman. Over the last two years the enthusiasm of the pub’s management has been self- evident, and the improvements and in- crease in popularity of the pub are clearly seen. The cask beer range has been boosted by some excel- lent locally brewed prod- ucts, and the presentation of the beers is of a consistent high quality. The Market Inn has OPENING TIMES 139 SUMMER 2009 5 A LOOK BACK IN TIME Summer 1984 saw 25 YEARS AGO the launch of cask Since the late 1990s, York- Flowers IPA by Whit- shire brewers Samuel bread. Their Chelten- Smiths have been known ham brewery re- for producing just one cask placed its cask Whit- beer, the revered Old bread Bitter with the Brewery Bitter. But 25 new beer, which was destined to become years ago they launched a national cask ale brand and eventually two new cask beers, 4X Mild and Tad- survive the demise of Whitbread as a caster Bitter. brewing name. Today it is brewed under licence by independent cask ale brewers A self-cook barbeque was introduced in for brand owners InBev. summer 1984 at James Paine pub the Victoria in Huntingdon. Tenants Ted and Ipswich brewer Tolly Cobbold re-assured Gill Morgan picked up the idea on a Span- CAMRA 25 years ago that it was not pull- ish holiday. Customers were invited to buy ing out of Cambridge after the closure of a steaks and sausages at the bar and cook number of their city pubs. The Foresters, them in the pub garden to enjoy along Locomotive and Dewdrop Inn were all with Paines XXX and EG cask beers. closed and the future of the Station Hotel was under question. National brewers Scottish and Newcastle pulled out of a takeover bid for Cameron’s West Midlands re- of Hartlepool following its referral to the gional brewer Monopolies and Mergers Commission Banks’s moved north after a campaign by CAMRA. with the establish- ment of a trading Another national brewer, Whitbread, estate in the Man- closed its giant Luton plant 25 years ago chester area in a following a six-week industrial dispute. mixture of acquisi- 300 jobs were lost at the plant, which had tions and new builds. Banks’s was aiming produced keg beers and lagers but no real for an estate of 15-20 pubs in the region ale. by the end of 1985. St Neots CAMRA held a summer social in Also in summer 1984, Salisbury brewer 1984 at Manns pub the Jolly Sailor in Gibbs Mew launched Salisbury Best Bit- Ramsey. There was also a minibus trip to ter, a new cask beer brewed to an original Peterborough and a short pub crawl vis- gravity of 1042. ited the Hardwicke Arms, Arrington and the Queen Adelaide at Croydon.