January 2009 Archives

Walsall has not one but two local beer festivals scheduled for the next couple of months.

The first is being held this coming Friday and Saturday at the Gorway Road headquarters of Walsall Cricket Club.

The next has been organised by the Walsall branch of the Campaign for Real Ale and will be held at the Town Hall, Leicester Street, on 5-7 March. Details of the group's activities are available here.

More dates for your diary:
23-24 January, Bridley Moor & Batchley Social Club, Redditch
29 January - 1 February, Notts County Football Club
6-7 February, Watson Hall, Tewkesbury
27-28 February, Gresford Colliery Social Club, Wrexham
28 February - 1 March, Handsworth Rugby Club
11-14 March, Charotar Patidar Samaj, Leicester
13-14 March, Burton Town Hall
27-28 March, Coventry Rugby Football Ground

The Campaign for Real Ale anticipates a record turnout for the 2009 National Winter Ales Festival, to be launched at Manchester's New Century Hall at 4pm this afternoon.

Organiser Graham Donning said an additional 3500 pints had been laid for this year's four-day celebration of the season's beers. "We've ignored bleak economic forecasts and warnings of decreased consumer spending with one of our biggest beer orders to date.

"We believe this show of adversity will be well-received by consumers, who last year really helped make the event such a success."

Full details of the 200+ British and foreign beers on tap were available at the festival website, he added.

"The fact last year's attendance figures were over one thousand up on 2007 also gave us an indication of the potential for this year. In addition to a bigger beer order, we have a greater selection of cider and perry, which, considering the growing profile of CAMRA's National Cider and Perry Month in October, we anticipate will sell out by the final day."

There's been a lot of talk lately about the imminent death of the British local, but what's occasionally lost in the froth of nostalgia and statistics is the reason why people should be bothered to see its demise.

Well, I spent an evening just before new year's eve at a Willenhall pub which typifies all that is worth preserving about this cornerstone of British life. The Falcon in Willenhall is a proper community pub, where nearby residents are guaranteed a warm welcome and the chance for a chinwag over a friendly game of cards.

Nor does landlord Mick Taylor hold back on the real ales. In addition to four regular beers (Oakham JHB, 3.5% ABV; Pardoe's Dark, 4.2%; Pitchfork, 4.3%; Abbot, 5%), I counted no fewer than three guests (Purity UBU, 4.5%; We Three Kings, 5.0%; Bubblehole, 5.2%). Needless to say, my companion and I grabbed a taxi for the return journey.

Obviously, not every local is such an oasis for real ale fans, but it just proves what hidden treasures can be lying down an otherwise uninviting street on a chill winter's evening.