Branch News

Fernandes 25th Birthday Party

It was Luis Bar at Fernandes Brewery 25th birthday in July. To mark the occasion the pub held a birthday party with a lineup of all Fernandes beers including new beers from some well known Wakefield brewers and a special re-brew of Empress Of India with the help of founding owners Maureen and David James, who are pictured below with current owners Liz and Howard Hughes.


Published: 29 August 2024

Wakefield Labour Club

On Saturday afternoon during the East West Festival we will be presenting our Club Of The Year award to the Wakefield Labour Club. On that afternoon also the club will be unveiling a special plaque commemorating the former Club President George Denton. The timing will be around 3pm although subject to change. The East West Festival organised by Five Towns Brewery runs from Thursday evening to Sunday afternoon.


Published: 29 April 2024

Pub and Club Of The Year

At the March Branch Meeting the Pub Of The Year was announced with the Black Rock taking the title for the third year running. Luis Bar came second. Also announced was the Club Of The Year which was again the Wakefield Labour Club "The Red Shed"


Published: 16 March 2024

Chin Chin Win Beer Of The Festival

Congratulations to David Currie for winning Beer Of The Festival with Cow Whisperer, a Milk Stout at the Bradford CAMRA Beer Festival. Chin Chin also took the award for Best Pale beer with Between the Lines. Also congratulations to Malcolm Bastow for winning with Medusa, an 8.5% IPA in the strong beer category. The full results are below: Best Stout or Porter Chin Chin Brewing Company - Cow Whisperer Best Beer 6%+ Five Towns Brewery - Medusa Mild Best Mild - Joint Winners Harrogate Brewing Co - Nidd Mild Brass Castle Brewery - Hazelnut Mild Best Pale Beer 4-5% Bingley Brewery - Dr Rudi Best Pale Beer 5-6% Chin Chin Brewing Company - Between the Lines Best Pale Beer under 4% Darkland Brewery - Wildfire Best Keg or Key Keg Beer Atom Beers - Neutron ------------------------------------- Beer Of The Festival 2024 Chin Chin Brewing Company - Cow Whisperer Best Cider or Perry of The Festival 2024 Grumpy Johns Cider - L raiser


Published: 05 March 2024

Winter Pub of The Season Presentation

We presented The Black Rock Wakefield with our Winter Pub Of The Season award on the 22nd February. A fantastic pub and timely award with Shaun leaving the pub in June. Congratulations!


Published: 25 February 2024

Pub Openings!

It is great to see pubs in our area re-opening. The Market Tap in Castleford opened on Thursday 15th with a craft beer and real ale lineup from Nailmaker, Tartarus (who are from Leeds) and Ossett Brewery. Next up is the Three Houses in Sandal which opened on Friday 16th. This pub is one of the oldest in Wakefield with fantastic history and great to see it open again. Finally is the expanded Six Chimneys in Wakefield. Wetherspoon have spent an impressive £3 million extending the pub into the former Wakey Tavern pub next door. The pub opens on the Tuesday 20th.


Published: 18 February 2024

Pub Of The Year Vote

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN, TIME TO VOTE FOR THE PUB OF THE YEAR The 4 Nominated Pubs are Black Rock, Wakefield Luis Bar, Wakefield Old Grocers, Pontefract Prop'ur Baa, Ossett To vote you must be a Wakefield CAMRA member, the name and number combination provided is checked and you can only vote once. Voting closes at our AGM on Tuesday March 12th. You can vote online here PUB OF THE YEAR ONLINE VOTING


Published: 04 February 2024

Autumn Pub of The Season Presentation

We presented the Bradley Arms in North Featherstone with our Autumn Pub Of The Season award during our February Branch Meeting. A wonderfully traditional pub serving many ales as guest with quite superb Acorn Barnsley Bitter served in a dimpled glass. Congratulations! At the meeting The Black Rock Wakefield was announced as the Winter Pub Of The Season


Published: 04 February 2024

Community Pubs Of The Year

For 2023 we are recognising the fantastic work our local pubs do for their local communities. During September we presented awards to four of our pubs in the district in recognition of the work they do they. We presented to the New Wheel Wrenthorpe, Boot & Shoe Gawthorpe, Masons Arms Ackworth and on what was her final night at the pub to Melanie at the Little Bull Middlestown


Published: 08 October 2023

Summer Pub of The Season Presentation

We presented the Prop'ur Baa Ossett with our Summer Pub Of The Season award on the 30th September. Congratulations!


Published: 01 October 2023

Tetley Dave Award

Members visited Scarborough on the 2nd September to present our "Tetley Dave" award to Mark Seaman of Revolutions Brewing. Former Revolutions BLO Colin Williams presented the award with the following words "When the Wakefield Camra Brewery Liaison Officer roles were handed out I was lucky enough to be given Castleford’s very own Revolutions Brewing. The story doesn’t need retelling but there followed some great years of beers, festival appearances and awards, culminating in the multi-award winning Swoon Chocolate Fudge Stout. Chief Inspector Locale and I were fortunate enough to be at the Bradley Arms, North Featherstone (which had become something of a brewery tap) to enjoy the mighty Swoon and Super Swoon on cask, side by side on a bar for possibly the first as well as the last time. We’re here in Scarborough to present the brewery’s co-founder Mark Seaman with our annual Tetley Dave award, given for outstanding services to real ale. For those who don’t know, the award is named after the legendary Castleford landlord Tetley Dave. His pub, the Shoulder of Mutton, is long gone but it was the first pub to put Revolutions beers on the bar, giving Tetley Dave a special place in the Revolutions story and making this award even more fitting. So, Mark, it was my honour to be your Camra rep and it’s an even greater honour to present you with our Tetley Dave award. The wonderful memories live on and we wish you all the very best for the future."


Published: 03 September 2023

A healthy respect for beer

Thank you to Roger Protz for name checking our magazine and the excellent article from regular contributor Annabel Smith. You can read Roger's article here https://wb.camra.org.uk/2023/06/27/a-healthy-respect-for-beer And also Annabel's article by viewing our O-K magazine here https://wakefield.camra.org.uk/otok/issue89web.pdf


Published: 03 July 2023

New Lease of Life for Historic Community Pub

SALT Brewing & Ossett Pub Company are pleased to announce their joint venture on the renovation and reopening of the incredible Georgian building in the centre of the Horbury community formerly known as 'The Bingley Arms'. Now to be affectionately renamed as simply ‘The Bingley’, in line with how locals have always revered this much loved watering hole. The purchase and refurbishment of the site has seen the breweries invest over £1 million into the venture, the former coaching inn will open its doors for a grand public reopening on Friday 23rd June. 'The Bingley' is the first collaboration between SALT and Ossett & an impressive addition to both breweries’ venue portfolios. Heading back to the homeland of Ossett Brewery, The Bingley is just two miles away from the brewery and is the perfect venture for both breweries involved. Renovation has included a redesigned internal layout, new bar area, essential structural work, new open mezzanine, new Georgian style wooden windows throughout and an open plan street food kitchen. The interior decor creatively combines the SALT influenced contemporary & modern look alongside Ossett’s traditional features such as real fires and exposed stone. Situated between the River Calder and the Calder and Hebble canal, the pub enjoys stunning views of both waterways. The newly constructed front beer garden will seat around 100 customers and to the rear there is a further traditionally flagged seating area, along with a unique decked area directly overlooking the canal. The scenic canal and towpath offer and unrivalled spot for drinkers to sit and enjoy the summer months. The original, prominent ‘Bingley Arms’ stone carved signage has been repainted in gold to further enhance the imposing character of the 18th century building. The Georgian pub has stood on Wakefield’s Horbury Bridge for over 200 years, originally built in 1822. The Bingley has thousands of commuters passing the busy area around Bridge Road each day. With a huge range of award-winning craft beer from SALT, alongside traditional cask ales from Ossett, it is set to be every beer-lovers’ heaven. But it’s not just about the beer, they will also be offering a huge range of spirits, wines from Barrique Fine Wines (the groups own wine wholesaler), Cocktails “On Tap”, soft drinks and much more. Delicious Asian street food will be up for grabs on the second floor by street food vendor, Baobros23, famous in West Yorkshire for its award-winning Asian steamed buns. Owner Jamie Lawson said: “The reopening of this once extremely popular pub is a key post Covid investment for our two breweries, SALT and Ossett. We are so excited to put this landmark pub back on the map after an exciting face lift which will inject new life into the Horbury Bridge community. “We rescued the Bingley with ambitious restoration plans. Those plans were put on hold by the pandemic hitting the hospitality sector particularly hard but after 6 months of hard work we are ready to open the doors. We look forward to welcoming both old and new customers back to The Bingley with a unique site that offers something to all.”


Published: 03 June 2023

Spring Pub of The Season Presentation

We presented the Luis Bar with our Spring Pub Of The Season award on the 30th May. Congratulations!


Published: 31 May 2023

Club Of The Year Presentation

We presented the Wakefield Labour Club (The Red Shed) with our Club Of The Year award on the 6th May 2023. Pictured are Linda Bratley, Steve Wiltshire and Club President Matt Hallas


Published: 07 May 2023

Pub Of The Year Presentation

Chairman Mark Goodair made the presentation to Shaun at the Black Rock on the 23rd of March. Pictured from left to right are John, Shaun, Mark, Sally and Craig. As you can see from the photo there was some fine real ale on the bar enjoyed by our members on a consistent basis. Situated in the centre of Wakefield The Rock is one of the few traditional pubs left in the city.


Published: 24 March 2023


Archive

04 February 2024 Gawthorpe Maypole Procession Pub Crawl
06 November 2023 Autumn Pub of The Season
08 August 2023 Summer Pub Of The Season
21 March 2023 Club Of The Year
15 March 2023 New Committee
08 March 2023 Five Towns Brewery wins in Bradford
08 March 2023 New OtoK is Out!
04 March 2023 Revolutions Brewery wins in Wigan
07 February 2023 Pub Of The Year
21 January 2023 Old Grocers
21 November 2022 East West Fest Returns
07 November 2022 Points Of Brew Podcast
04 November 2022 Autumn Pub Of The Season
10 October 2022 CAMRA’s Members’ Weekend
06 October 2022 Calder Vale Summer Pub Of The Season
22 September 2022 Cask Ale Week
12 September 2022 Ackworth Beer Festival
05 September 2022 Castleford Beer Festival Returns
11 August 2022 Summer Pub Of The Season
08 August 2022 New OtoK at the printers
17 July 2022 Revolutions Swoon wins another award!
07 July 2022 Polka Hop Pub Of The Season Presentation
18 June 2022 Malcolm Bastow wins Tetley Dave Award