Recently in Pubs Category

The Old Moseley Arms is hosting its autumn beer festival from the Thursday lunchtime on 14 October, through to the following Sunday.

The pub will be offering a selection of 10 ales, with live music and food throughout the weekend. Full details on 0121 440 1954.

Forget the "Booze Britain" headlines - alcohol consumption in the UK is actually going through its biggest dip in 60 years, according to new research.

The latest edition of the British Beer & Pub Association's annual Statistical Handbook reveals alcohol consumption dropped a full six per cent last year. Beer remains the nation's favourite, accounting for 60 per cent of all on-trade sales.

It's not all bad news, though: JD Wetherspoons has announced a four per cent rise in sales for the financial year ending July. However, most of this came from the 47 new pubs it opened furing that period, bringing its estate up to 775.

Already one of the better town centre haunts for Solihull beerhunters, the White Swan on Station Road will be launching its first-ever cider festival on Monday, 23 August. You can view the pub's website here.

No sooner do we get a spate of decent weather than Solihull CAMRA's Bob Jackson e-mails me: "This is to tell you of an informal social on Sat 5th June. We will be cycling from Shirley to Henley in Arden, setting out at 11:00, and returning late afternoon, possibly by train, depending on peoples' condition.

"The purpose of the trip will be to assess beer choice and quality and the suitability of the pubs for future Branch Meetings. If you're interested please get in touch with me to decide where to meet up and also if the weather looks doubtful."

Bob's number is 0121 705 8743 (mobile: 07771 623 909).

Fancy sampling a half-dozen of the region's best real ales next weekend in the comfort of a Warwick pub?

The Rose & Crown, in the town's market place, is holding a mini-festival next Friday and Saturday. The event's being sponsored by Purity, and as well as brewery's beers, there'll be representation from Wye Valley, Church End, Slaughterhouse, Hobsons and Salopian.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg is among 500 Parliamentary candidates who've signed up to support the Campaign for Real Ale's Beer Drinkers and Pub Goers Charter. Other signatories include Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green Party Labour's Austin Mitchell, Tory candidate Anthony Ridge-Newman and independent Ben Sherman (standing under the slogan "Reduce Tax on Beer").

The Lib Dems are at the forefront of the campaign, with 201 candidates backing the charter, followed by Labour, with 140. Only 50 Conservative candidates have signed up.

Nick Clegg said "I am proud to be a signatory to the charter and to help bring attention to the much-needed support required for well-run community pubs, local brewers and consumer rights which all contribute to community life and boost the local economy.

"Well-run pubs are important to tackling alcohol misuse, they are not part of the problem. Government policies, such as continually raising duty on beer and refusing to reform the beer tie, have led to a situation in which more than five pubs a day are said to be closing. It is hugely important that we stand up for the pub industry during these difficult times."

For full details, check out CAMRA's election coverage.

The excellent Reservoir pub over in Earlswood is running its first Beer & Bangers Festival this weekend, offering 10 real ales, one real cider and five flavours of locally-produced sausage.

Full directions here.

A government initiative supporting the pub industry has been warmly welcomed by the Campaign for Real Ale.

The 12-point action plan follows months of pressure from CAMRA, the brewing industry, pub bosses and ordinary customers. It includes £1m promoting pubs as community hubs, £3m to encourage community ownership and relaxation of licensing laws on live music.

CAMRA chief executive Mike Benner said: "We are now busy lobbying hard to encourage the other political parties to unveil their policies to support pubs before the General Election. We also need to ensure that the Government sticks to the proposals they've announced."

Congratulations to the Dodford Inn, named winter pub of 2009/10 by CAMRA's Redditch and Bromsgrove branch. The official presentation was made on Sunday afternoon.

Founded 150 years ago, the Inn was threatened with closure last year and eyed up for housing development, but thankfully bucked the national trend and reopened under new management.

The branch's next meeting will be at Bromgrove Golf Club on 23 February. For full details, contact Doug Robinson on 07842 135 354.

A couple of months back, I highlighted the continuing scandal of tied pubs and the Office of Fair Trading's astonishing decision not to investigate a system its own research indicates costs the average tied publican £20,000 per year.

On 22 December, the Campaign for Real Ale launched a legal challenge to the OFT's intransigence via the Competition Appeals Tribunal. However, it can only succeed with your backing.

CAMRA's chief executive, Mike Benner, announced this afternoon: "'We are today calling for pub goers to support CAMRA's campaign to secure a fair deal for consumers by donating to our campaign to ensure the beer tie works in a fair and competitive manner.

"'CAMRA has found that a lack of competition in the UK pub market is costing consumers £2.5 billion a year, as well as harming the pub-going experience through reduced quality and choice."

The lack of effective competition was a key reason why seven pubs are closing for good every day, he added, causing "irreparable damage" to local communities.

"'Regrettably, the OFT did not examine competition in local pub markets, which is why we have taken the decision to appeal. The OFT's assertion that consumers benefit from a good deal of competition and choice in the pub sector is in our view not supported by the available evidence.

"'CAMRA has pledged funds to the appeal process and is urging consumers to contribute to ensure our campaign stands the best chance of success.

"This is an historic opportunity for pub-goers to stand up to unfair conditions in the UK pub market and to assist the Office of Fair Trading in understanding the scale of harm to consumers."

You can learn more about CAMRA's appeal here.