The Coopers Tavern on Cross Street, Burton upon Trent has won an award and for once it has nothing to do with the quality of the beer. The CAMRA Pub Design Awards are designed to highlight architecture, design and conservation in British pubs and this year the Joule’s pub has been officially recognised for the conservation work that took place in 2017 by being bestowed the Historic England Award for Conservation.

The careful refurbishment saw a new beer garden and two extra rooms which share the same unique character of the original pub in such a way that a first-time visitor wouldn’t realise which rooms had only been recently added. The narrow corridor leading into the bar area with it’s even narrower counter still makes this one of the few pubs where it is not only acceptable to queue for a pint, but essential.

The history of the Coopers Tavern stretches back over 200 years; originally a house for the Brewer in Charge at Bass, it was used to store special malts and then in 1826 as a storeroom for Imperial Stout. Legend has it that it became an unofficial drinking place for Bass Coopers, hence the name, and was first licenced in 1858. It spent many years as the Bass Brewery Tap. After spending a number of years under the ownership of Kimberley Ales, who added what is now the William Bass Meeting Room in the 1990’s, the pub was bought by Joules. Along with a full range of their beers and an ever-changing array of guest ales, Draught Bass was reintroduced; served directly from the barrel of course, in keeping with a long-standing Burton tradition that dates back to when the pub was little more than a room with a few chairs and a barrel.

Andrew Davison, chair of CAMRA’s judging panel: “People sometimes assume that ‘conservation’ simply means ‘preservation in aspic’. However, Historic England, the sponsor of the award, has long advocated constructive conservation where the features which give a building its special character are retained and conserved, whilst changes which will give it a viable future are carried out as carefully and sympathetically as possible.  

“This has been done to very good effect at the Coopers Tavern. The introduction of a ‘proper’ bar counter, which might have been expected to dismay lovers of a pub which has only the tiniest of counters in the historic tap room, has been handled with great care whilst new public rooms have been created from private accommodation in a way which is totally in keeping with the historic core. A very worthy winner of this award.”

“This pub is particularly important to us, with Joule’s previous association with Bass,” admits Marie Poole, the Property Manager of Joule’s. “When we came to site to start the work I did feel that the eyes of the world were boring down on us. On many occasions I found people lurking outside, peering through the window …” she laughs. “It was a labour of love for us and we paid reverence to what is a shrine for beer. We then passed it onto the Landlady Mandy who has done a great job looking after it and I know she cherishes this pub.”

“I am extremely proud of the award,” says Landlady Mandy Addis, who took over the pub two years ago. “It’s a brilliant accolade to Joules and the team for their amazing work. I feel so lucky to be the Landlady here, it is such a beautiful building steeped in history.”

Other winners were:

Refurbishment category

Winner: The Pilot Boat in Lyme Regis

Highly commended: The Sekforde Arms, London

Conversion to Pub Use category

Joint Winner: The Royal Pavilon in Ramsgate

Joint Winner: The Slaughterhouse in Guernsey

Highly Commended: The Butcher’s Hook, Gloucestershire

Highly Commended: The Draughtsman Alehouse, Doncaster

Joe Goodwin Award (best street corner local)

Winner: Cardigan Arms, Leeds

Starting this Thursday running until Bank Holiday Monday is the 4th Birthday Party for The Dog, Burton & South Derbyshire CAMRA’s three time Pub of the Year winners.

Along with a wide range of beers, ciders, perrys and gins for sale, this also marks the launch of a special collaboration between The Dog and Thornbridge.

“The beer is a Cherry Bakewell Stout called Cerberus,” says Landlord John McLaughlin referencing the triple headed dog from Greek Mythology that guarded the gates of the underworld. “It will be available over the whole weekend. Being our 4th Birthday we needed a birthday cake so we’ve taken a few pints of our Cerberus and added it to a rich cherry and chocolate cake so make sure you get a slice of that!”

And how is the beer?

“it’s tasting amazing!”

John has being doing some Brew It Yourself.

“To be able to brew on Thornbridge’s original kit that gave birth to Jaipur was a real honour,” reckons John. “It was tasting Jaipur and Thornbridge’s other beers that sent me on my good beer journey.”

“I had a hand in pretty much every aspect of the brew from weighing the grains, mashing them in, testing that all the starch had converted to sugars, sparging and transferring to the boil kettle, adding the hops & lactose, chilling, transferring and finally pitching the yeast.”

Even emptying out the Mash Tun?

“And yes, of course digging out he mash tun,” he laughs. “Wet grains are heavy!”

As if one beer isn’t enough, John has also produced The Notorious D.O.G.

“I can’t start my day without a coffee and a Lotus Biscoff biscuit,” reveals John. “We have tried to recreate this in a beer by adding over 3kgs of Biscoff biscuits into the mash and adding fresh cold brew coffee and caramel to the fermentation!”

“This was brewed at the Brewhouse & Kitchen in Lichfield, there’s only one cask in existence so get here Thursday if you wanna try this one!” No so much Micro brewing or even Nano brewing, is this an example of Pico brewing?

Back to the festival, although John has yet to reveal the beer list he does have this to say.

“We have a host of other beers from the likes of Northern Monk, Arbor, Loka Polly, Track, Salopian, Oakham, Titanic, Siren and plenty more with gluten free and vegan friendly beers on sale too! It’s not just beers on sale, as always we have a great selection of ciders, perrys & gins and to keep your hunger at bay we will have a range of cobs, pork pies and nibbles for you.”

https://www.facebook.com/thedoginnburton/

@TheDogBurton

I have been asked on a number of occasions recently about what has happened to the Burton Old Cottage Beer Company and The Weighbridge Inn. Although there has been no official word, the rumours are the business has been put up for sale (one source says £15k but don’t quote me on that) due to the departure of the part time brewer and the awful news that the owner is very poorly; if anyone connected to the brewery is reading this please pass on my best wishes.

Over the last six months the opening hours of The Weighbridge Inn have slowly reduced until it finally closed last month, the lease is apparently up for sale as well.

If you attended this year’s 40th Beer & Cider Festival, you might have tried their Just So Stout and Halcyon Daze, I had a half of Daze on the Saturday evening and it was spot on. It saddens me that I may never get to drink it again.

Here are some photographs that I took over the last year or so of the Weighbridge Inn.

“Being made ‘club of the year’ by our local CAMRA branch is fantastic news for our club,” says Ian McGibbon, Secretary of Stretton Social Club following last night’s presentation. “We are very grateful to CAMRA for the recognition. The most important part of any club or pub is the quality of the beer. To that extent this award is testament to the brilliant work of our Bar Manager Ian Woolley and his fantastic team of staff headed up by Katrina Worthington, they keep a great pint and serve it with a smile.”

“A club should be an asset to and be at the heart of its local community,” Ian continues. “As a family friendly club, we definitely aspire to be that in Stretton. The support from our members, old and new has been terrific as the club has developed and improved over the last few years. Long may that continue! We are also very grateful to John Brandon at Rolleston Club for his, support, encouragement and advice, the fact we have taken the crown as club of the year from such brilliant club as Rolleston suggests we are getting a few things right,” says Ian with a smile.

“We stock Pedigree and there are two further rotating guest ales, featuring popular national guest beers and the best local beers we can source,” Ian explains. “Visitors are welcome but as can be seen by the expansion of membership, people tend to join once they have been in a few times.”

Stretton Social Club has seen a significant rise in membership, from 250 in 2015 to around 1,000. This has led to re-investment and improvements in the facilities.

“Both the bar and lounge have been refurbished and there are plans to build new toilets, disabled facilities and a ‘snug’. The club though remains a family friendly village club.”

The club has a long and varied history that Ian now tells.

“Following the war a group of Stretton men decide to build a club on the current site in 1946/47. Originally it was known as Stretton Labour Club. It was a corrugated iron structure which allegedly blew into the canal almost as soon as it was built! A more substantial structure replaced it and in January 1951 the club became a ‘social’ club and adapted new articles of association. It is wholly owned by its members. The club was a real focal point of the village, a place where families could spend time but bingo was sacrosanct!

“A new structure was built above the original building and the bar as it is now (more or less) was created during the 1960s. In 1967 a lounge was added, with the support of Bass. A bowling green to the rear of the club was also added.

“The club’s heydays were the 1960’s and 1970’s, stories of people getting off the ‘Blue Bus’ in Beech Lane at 7.00pm on Friday and Saturday night and racing in to get a seat are retold regularly.”

Alas like many clubs they struggled in the 1990’s, selling off the bowling green for houses, the club then downsized in the 2000’s.

“The club still struggled though and faced closure several times,” Ian says sadly. “Finally following a sustained effort by former Secretary and Treasurer, Mick and Marina Gray, supported by a small committee, the club was put back onto a sustainable footing. Alas though as they moved on in 2015, footfall was reduced and the future looked challenging. A new committee was formed in May 2015 and there was a sustained effort to turn the club back into what it had originally been, a club for and owned by the village, a community asset.”

If you live in Stretton and have never been to the club, there is plenty to tempt you.

“We host regular live bands and acoustic acts and a number of family parties throughout the year.  We show live football, have regular bingo nights along with zumba classes, karate for under 16’s and a poker league. Darts, pool and dominoes teams also compete from the club.”

Congratulations to Stretton Social club, worthy winners of Burton & South Derbyshire CAMRA Club of the Year 2019.

https://www.facebook.com/StrettonSocialClub/

@strettonsocial1

If you have walked by Brews of the World today you may have spotted a new setting area in the window where you can pop in and enjoy a bottle or a can. The plan is to expand this side of the business further in the next month or so by installing keg lines.

It’s been a badly kept secret that they have further ideas for a pub area, “The the back will open up for more seating,” says Robin Ludlow. “Currently people can enjoy anything that we have in stock from the shelves or fridges: over 25 German lagers/ wheat beers. 20 ish Belgian beers, locally brewed ales, Craft ales from the likes of Cloudwater. Left Handed Giant. Loka Polly. Wylam. Buxton. Arbor Ales, a handful of proper Cider. Sam Smiths Ales, Tynt Meadow Trappist Ale, Blue Monkey beers, Ashover …”

Why not drop in to Burton’s bottle shop and support this new idea?

https://www.facebook.com/BOTWBurton/

@BOTW_Burton

Now let’s be honest, if you live in Swadlincote and you fancy a decent pint of Real Ale, Craft Keg or Real Cider, the first thing you do is leave town. It says a lot that the best pub in the town centre for CAMRA members is a Wetherspoon’s; this isn’t knocking the Sir Nigel Gresley as the beer is always drinkable but it is a Spoons; it is cheap, cheerful but never going to trouble the CAMRA Pub of the Year list. This week things are set to change when a new Micropub called Bodell’s opens its doors on Belmont Street in the downstairs of what used to be The Yard.

The last five years have seen an explosion in the phenomena of the Micropub, but what exactly is a Micropub? There is no hard and fast CAMRA approved classification and no doubt what is and what isn’t has fuelled many a discussion, but for sake of argument the Facebook group ‘Micropubs in the UK’ describes one as “… a small freehouse which listens to its customers, mainly serves cask ales, promotes conversation, shuns all forms of electronic entertainment and dabbles in traditional pub snacks.” Locally there is the Cask & Pottle at Tutbury and the Fuggle & Nugget, The Junction and The Last Heretic in Burton.

Now talking of The Last Heretic, those who have frequented there will recognise one of the faces behind Bodell’s; Pete Spittals. Pete opened the Heretic three years ago on Station Street in Burton and his business has gone from strength to strength.

“My background in the pub trade is very limited,” says Pete who was Airline Cabin Crew before becoming a Heretic. “I worked in pubs in 1985-6 and that was it really until I opened The Last Heretic. I remember resigning from a pub I worked in because the Manager wouldn’t let me have the England v Poland game off in the Mexico ‘86 World Cup; Lineker scored a hattrick if I recall,” he laughs.

Pete’s business partner is Ashley Ayling and this marks his first venture into the pub trade.

“Apart from occasional bar work when I was younger, absolutely none whatsoever,” confesses Ash when quizzed about his pub experience “Plenty of drinking from the other side of the bar however!” Ash however relishes the challenge, “I am looking forward to it.”

Pete and Ash first met in The Last Heretic and then became friends after seeing each other at Burton Albion and over a few pints began to talk about an idea that Pete had.

“Everyone who came into The Last Heretic from Swadlincote was telling me to open a place in Swad, I was even approached by the Chief Executive of South Derbyshire District Council Frank McArdle!” says Pete. “I looked at other properties in Swad, including the newly opened Fish & Chip Shop, but thought them all a bit on the small side? I didn’t want a successful business to be hampered by size if it really took off. The space outside Bodell’s is fantastic!”

The pub is named in homage to Swadlincote’s most famous son Jack Bodell; for those of you who are unfamiliar with who Jack was, his son Mark explains.

“Jack Bodell was an English professional boxer, active during the 1960s and 1970s,” says Mark, rightly proud of his Dad’s achievements. “He was born in Swadlincote on 11 August 1940 and started out as a light heavyweight, winning the 1961 ABA Championships and a bronze medal at the European Amateur Championships the same year. He won the British Heavyweight Championship in 1969, before losing it to Henry Cooper in his first defence, although he regained the title a year later by out-pointing Joe Bugner. Dad’s final professional record was 58 wins (including 31 by knockout) and 13 losses. He died on 9 November 2016 at the age of 76.”

There have been a few comments on Social Media that Pete and Ash are cashing in on the Bodell name which is of course completely untrue.

“I have provided some boxing memorabilia to display in the pub,” Mark states. “My father would have been proud to have a pub named after him in his home town, I think most people would. He never forgot his roots and before his dementia prevented it, he would visit the town regularly on a Friday for a game of dominos and a pint of shandy mostly at the Foresters on High Street if I remember correctly. He did this even after moving to Coventry for many years.”

Bodell’s will offer a wide range of drinks, that will cater for all tastes, but as anyone who has enjoyed a pint in a Micropub with attest, the appeal goes further than just the drinks; it is the friendly welcome, the knowledgeable host and the ability to converse with not only your friends but also the other customers without the distraction of blaring music or a football match on the TV.

“There will be eight Hand Pulls and twelve Keg Lines, so more Craft Beer will be available than what is in the Heretic,” Ash says excitedly. “Freedom Lager will be permanently served and we will be offering a selection of ciders and a range of gins, wines and other spirits. Food on offer will be crisps, nuts, scratchings and pork pies although we are exploring the possibility of food vendors based outside as events.”

For those who attended the Transport Festival, you may have noticed that Bodell’s was in business, Pete and Ash had decided to have a “soft opening” to enable them to iron out any issues ahead of the official opening on Thursday. The first customer to be served was Stephen Hunt from Claymore Drive in Newhall.

“It’ll be a godsend in the Real Ale desert that is Swadlincote,” says Stephen supping his beer. “Pete is a really good host and he knows about people. I’m excited!” He laughs. “It’ll have the same vibe as the Heretic.”

Another drinker Kevin Plant, from Chiltern Road in Swadlincote agrees.

“It is what Swad needs, it’s good that there is no TV or fruit machine,” reckons Kevin. “I like all the old pub food too.”

Local CAMRA members Mark Murkin and Becky Lenaghan popped in for a quick pint.

“We arrived at just before 1pm,” says Becky. “The place was heaving already. It seems like the decision to open for the afternoon was a really good idea. The venue itself is really nice, the outdoor seating is a big bonus, the bar is really well sized and the staff seemed to be coping really well with the amount of customers. This is definitely what has been needed in Swad for a long time.”

Bodell’s opens officially at 3pm on Thursday 16 May, see you there!

www.facebook.com/BodellsSwad @BodellsSwad

All photographs by Netty Webster

Firstly congratulations on winning Burton & South Derbyshire CAMRA Pub of the Year for the third consecutive year! How does it feel?

“It’s fantastic to win it for the third time in a row,” says John McLaughlin, Landlord of The Dog on Lichfield Street, Burton upon Trent. “It makes me really proud to have been judged the best pub in such a famous brewing town filled with other great pubs.”

John took over The Dog in 2015 and has since offered over 2,200 different guest ales, which works out at about ten a week. Along with their core range of Black Country Ales and locally produced Bass, there are regular Tap Take Overs from innovative breweries such as Wild Beer, Thornbridge, Tiny Rebel and Siren.

“We can only strive to do our best and if people enjoy what we do and the selection we give then that’s amazing.”

Is there a secret to running The Dog?

“We don’t have a secret as such. We just strive to do the best we can and to give our customers a warm welcome, with a great selection of beers, a tasty cob and some great events throughout the year,” says John. “And of course the free dog treats on the bar always helps get the four legged votes,” he laughs.

To celebrate the CAMRA presentation, John coincided it with his latest Tap Taker, this by Northern Monk from Leeds. A visit to their website reveals a brewer putting a twist on traditional styles; mocha porter, ice cream pale, ice cream porter, IPA, DIPA, a TIPA called Glory and a 12% Imperial Stout simply named Death. Not your traditional CAMRA fare perhaps?

“They are very selective with their cask beers but we are lucky enough to have a great working relationship with the brewery so they have casked us some beers especially”

To toast his success there were the likes of New World, Henderson’s Relish, Eternal and Striding Edge which seemed to go down very well despite it’s rather light 2.8%, as well as an array of Craft Keg.

After the presentation by CAMRA’s Chairman Mike Gibson, John gave a heartful speech, his face a massive cheesy grin. After thanking his staff and customers John added.

“I’d like to say a massive thank you to our local CAMRA,” he gushed “it is a huge privilege to be voted the best pub especially for the third year in a row.”

John has promised not to let his hat trick go to his head, although he already has his eye on 2020’s prize.

“We want to get four years, five years, we wanna get all the years! Obviously let other people have a go now and again. It is a massive honour!”

@TheDogBurton

https://www.facebook.com/thedoginnburton/

To begin with I’d like to state that I would love there to be a lake under Burton upon Trent that is not only easily accessible but also navigable by people; imagine the interest and the possible tourist attraction! When such a claim was made on Facebook last week I wanted to do some digging (pardon the pun) into the mystery. Are we walking over caves that rival those in North Derbyshire, is this an urban myth or is it somewhere in between?

The claim goes that the access point was in the yard of the Staffordshire Knot on Station Street, although the pub has long since gone photographic evidence shows it stood next to the Gurkha Curry Lounge dead opposite the old County Court building.

C.C. Owen’s “Burton upon Trent: The Development of Industry” has a map of the principle boreholes and wells of Burton, number 74 is designated “Staffordshire Knot” meaning that there was / is a Borehole in the right place, Owen then tells us this was sunk by Salt & Co. c.1870 and that water was found at 95 feet below ground level, that’s a long way down! So yes there is a Borehole at the Staffordshire Knot that has water at the bottom, but would a man be able to climb down the hole?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a Borehole as “a hole made by boring … a deep vertical hole of small diameter bored into the earth to ascertain the nature of the underlying strata or to obtain water.” This is exactly what Thomas Salt been doing in c.1870, looking for water to brew with.

So Boreholes; how big are they and are they the same as a Well? On groundwateruk.org they state a Well is wide enough to allow a man to dig it, 95 feet seems like a lot of work! To reach that depth it would be a Borehole that are smaller in diameter and require machinery like a drilling rig (this was in the 1870’s so it would have either been hand, horse or steam powered). Hardly likely that it would be wide enough for a person to pass down?

So from this I can’t see there being a hole big enough for a person to access the water below, let alone one big enough to get a boat down. I also wonder how they’d breathe down there?

There is an underground boat in Burton, this is accessed via the basement of 107 Station Street (aka Allied Breweries Offices, B Block, Punch, Spirit or if you are being precise Allsopp’s New Brewery). This was built in 1858 on land next to the railway line, but there was a problem; a brook called the Moor Mill Dam which crossed the land from Horninglow Street at Brook Street running towards the foot of the Station Bridge. To overcome this Allsopp built a tunnel over it and buried it. The tunnel needed to be checked for subsidence etc. periodically so a boat floats on the brook to enable this to be done.I think the story of the Staffordshire Knot lake and the Allsopp boat have become confused. Pity as I really wanted it to be true.

The burden of proof is therefore with those making the claim, so as much as I want to believe; photographic evidence is needed.

 

Welcome to the new blog logo; I wanted something that looked familiar but wasn’t close enough to a copyrighted image. I had the original idea to make a pastiche of the Bass logo and it was made real by an old uni friend Helen.

I then started to get worried, what if it was too close for comfort, would I end up getting sued or at least be on the end of a cease and desist letter from InBev? Not only do they own the Bass brand, they are also the largest brewer in the world and probably have a pretty decent legal team. I emailed them, never expecting a reply, however a few hours later they got back to me saying it was fine from an Intellectual Property level and that I was okay to use it. Sometimes it pays to be cheeky,