Fringe Activities

The session was the formal launch of a Pub Heritage Group initiative about the creation of local heritage inventories – local lists of pubs, and clubs, with heritage aspects – lists of pubs which do not make the national pub heritage inventory.

It included a brief overview of the national pub heritage listings and a discussion regarding the linking of various CAMRA online pub listing systems. The 24 members present were taken on a step-by-step journey through the process of creating, and publishing, a Local Pub Heritage List.

The group then described, discussed and used, various information gathering strategies:

• CAMRA sources – the national listings on the Pub Heritage website, WhatPub, the numerous publications we have produced over the last half-century
• Other sources – local archives, libraries, online sources, Artificial Intelligence.
• And, a key component – local knowledge.

Participants each created the beginnings of their own local list, which will develop as more research takes place – for example, we’re expecting great things from Warrington.

The long-term aim is to create local inventories, local lists, which:

• Increase our heritage knowledge of pubs and clubs
• Lead to proposals for additions to the national pub heritage listings
• Increase the number of local heritage articles and publications – this could be as quick, and simple, as additions to WhatPub. It could be detailed publications: flyers, leaflets and books – heritage additions to WhatPub will grow detailed heritage books.
• Increase interest in the heritage aspects of pubs and clubs.

If you want to get involved, detailed guidance is available. All documents used yesterday are available from the Pub Heritage website or click on the links below:

Presentation given at Members’ Weekend

Local Pub Heritage Inventories – Introduction

Local Pub Heritage Inventories – Guide

The session was presented by Dave Pickersgill, Pub Heritage Group member and Sheffield Pub Campaigns Co-ordinator, assisted by Regional Directors, Andrea Briers and Kevin Keaveny.

The beer judging training was attended by members from across the country and, in particular, some areas where we are short of trained judges: Scotland, Cumbria, Yorkshire, North West, Wales and Cornwall.

The purpose of the training is to improve the quality of judging and thus the kudos of CAMRA beer judging competitions, whether beer of the festival or the Champion Beer of Britain. The feedback we have had from the trade is that this is a welcome development.

We now have over 200 trained judges and many of these are active tasting panel members. These judges are happy to assist beer festivals who are hosting competitions – whether as a judge or to advise how to run the fairest competition possible. Our training covers many of the pitfalls that occur when judging so they are well placed to help. The Regional CBOB Coordinators have their details so feel free to contact them (details here under relevant tab).

But beer judging is not the only training we do. We have over 20 trained trainers around the country who specialise in beer tasting. This is everything from off flavours to describing beer and beer styles. As soon as we’re made aware of any courses coming up, these are listed on the Training for Volunteers area of the site, where you can also find their contact details.

Most are happy to also do tutored tasting for your branch and these are an excellent activation event, often attracting new faces. It’s also worth noting that beer and food matching sessions tend to catch the attention of more women so if this is one of your branch goals then do consider it.

The session was run by Christine Cryne, assisted by John Cryne, Kevin Travers and Bill Austin.