Campaign for Real Ale
Enfield and Barnet Branch
Campaign for Real Ale Enfield and Barnet Branch | |
Home Diary News Pub Guide Contacts Awards History Links Young Members Branch Map |
Branch Yahoo Group
If you are a
CAMRA member you are invited to join the Enfield and Barnet YAHOO group email
list. This enables instant communication with other group members - a great
way to send and receive the latest news.
To register send an e-mail to camraenfieldandbarnet-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
giving your name, CAMRA membership number and postcode.
The Sustainable Communities Act
Browse through our website Pub Guide and you will see highlighted in red text the many pubs in Enfield and Barnet that have closed down or been demolished since 1995 - far outstripping new openings. The Sustainable Communities Act is a law that can save pubs and promote local brewers by:-
To find out more, visit www.localworks.org
New pub/diner the Beaufort opens in NW9
April 2008. Wells and Youngs have opened a brand new, upmarket pub/diner, on Grahame Park Estate, Colindale, NW9. See 'Pub Guide' entry for more information.
Black Bull, Whetstone serves its last pint
Owners Mitchells and Butlers have sold the historic N20 pub. It served its last pint on 31st March 2008. A spokesman for M&B said he could not name the pub's purchasers, but Barnet council said an informal inquiry has been made regarding development of the land. (Source: Barnet & Potters Bar Times, 13/3/08).
Other recent pub closures (Winter 2007/8) that have come to our attention are:-
Albion, EN5
Rosie's of Edmonton, N9
Cheers, N3
Whole Hog and Green Dragon back in business
A welcome February 2008 re-opening for the Whole Hog in Palmers Green, N13 after 16 months closure. This former Wetherspoon shop conversion now features Red Squirrel beers from Hertford amongst others.
A mile further north along Green Lanes, the Green Dragon, Winchmore Hill, N21 has re-opened, reverting to its old name.
Pub News - Autumn 2007
'Bull and Butcher', Whetstone is now 'New Bull and Butcher'.
'Cat and Lantern', East Barnet, EN4 has re-opened after refurbishment, now called 'Village Bar'. Real ale discontinued.
'Woolpack', 52 High Street, Southgate, N14 has re-opened after refurbishment.
Smoking ban will attract real ale drinkers
In early 2007 the branch wrote to nearly 100 non-real ale pubs, encouraging them to give cask beer a try when the nationwide smoking ban commenced from 1st July. This was after a CAMRA survey revealed that smokers are typically lager drinkers and that real ale drinkers were more likely to visit pubs more often after the ban commences.
TABLE 1: Percentage of people who said they would be more likely to visit a pub or that their number of pub visits would not be affected by the ban
Real ale drinkers: 93%
Keg bitter drinkers: 90%
Wine drinkers: 89%
Soft Drink drinkers:88%
Spirit drinkers: 86%
Lager drinkers: 84%
Alcopop drinkers: 81%
TABLE 2: Percentage of people who smoke
Lager drinkers: 43%
Alcopop drinkers: 42%
Spirit drinkers: 37%
Keg bitter drinkers: 35%
Real ale drinkers: 25%
Soft drink drinkers: 24%
Wine drinkers: 20%
Take it to the Top - Demand a Full Pint
Figures from CAMRA show that a whopping 26.6% of pints served in pubs contain less than 95% beer. CAMRA is taking its campaign for a full pint straight to the top by launching a national petition calling on the Prime Minister to put an end to short beer measures.
Full Pints Key Facts
# 26.6% of pints are more
than 5% short measure
# Short measure costs consumers £481 million
a year, or over £1.3 million a day
# Pubs serve customers 208 million more pints than
they buy in
CAMRA needs your help to ensure you receive a full pint of beer every time.
Sign the online petition by clicking on the 'CAMRA Home' link
in the top right corner of this page.
Pub news - April/May 2007
One of the few real ale pubs in Enfield EN3 is reported closed and boarded up. Greene King's White Horse in Green Street looks set to become another victim of housing development. The freehold of another Greene King pub Rosie's of Edmonton, N9 is also up for grabs.
The King's Head, East Barnet, EN4 has reverted to a former name 'The Drum'.
The Half Moon, Winchmore Hill, N21 has re-opened after refurbishment as 'Three Wishes'.
56 pubs closing a month
February 2007. New research from CAMRA branches has found that 56 pubs a month are closing permanently and at any time 1,300 pubs are shut, facing an uncertain future. In the past it was rural pubs under threat, but the new survey shows that 8 out of 10 closing are in towns and cities. Many of these pubs are the heart of the community, providing a social focus. Developers are cashing in on the high demand for housing and conversions to restaurants, shops and offices are all playing a part. CAMRA is lobbying MPs to have a loophole closed that allows developers to demolish pubs without seeking planning permisssion.
Edmonton crawl leaves branch dry (well almost)
On 28th October 2006, eight intrepid members met to assess the real ale/pub situation in Edmonton – or more specifically the Hertford Road corridor. Meeting outside Wetherspoon’s Gilpin’s Bell at noon, we found the pub inexplicably closed for the weekend (in the midst of the company’s Full Moon Beer Festival too) and a puzzled Wetherspoon’s delivery man parked outside. Tottenham were playing away, so that couldn’t have had a bearing. Wasting no time we began our trek north, thirsts unquenched.
First a detour down Snell’s Park to the Grove – described in the 1995 CAMRA North London Pub Guide as ’Thriving estate pub… always busy’. Clearly it wasn’t busy enough to stop it being demolished to make way for flats; but at least they’re earmarked for ‘key workers’.
It wasn’t until we reached our 17th pub that the first drop of liquid passed our lips. The Barracuda owned Lamb Inn, Church Street, N9 had Archer’s Negotiator as one of the guest beers (cask running dry as branch chair Sandie Ward was last to be served!). A further 5 pubs bore no fruit, before our final port of call (in the next postal district, EN3) - Wetherspoon’s Picture Palace, where the entire range was made up of guest beers including Elgood’s Cambridge, Cain’s Raisin and York IPA.
The results show the sad state of affairs for pubs and beer
in the N9 and N18 postcodes. Excluding Gilpin's Bell, 22 pubs surveyed, 7 closed
for good, 13 without real ale and only 2 with. All the more reason why CAMRA
and initiatives like the Sustainable Communities Act should
be supported (see above).
Greene King reduces strength of Old Speckled Hen
August 2006. The Suffolk-based brewer is cutting the ABV (alcohol by volume) of cask and keg Old Speckled Hen from 5.2% to 4.5% because they claim to be losing out in the Best Bitter market. Duty savings will be passed to licensees (and customers?). The strength of pasteurized bottled OSH remains unchanged. If you've noticed a price cut for the weaker OSH, please contact the webmaster and we'll be glad to publicize it in this space...........................................................................................................................
Royal Oak, NW11 closes
The Royal Oak in Finchley Road, Temple Fortune, NW11 closed on 12th August 2006 after 145 years serving the local community. Owners Spirit Group sold the pub to unnamed developers for around £2.75 million. Staff and regulars are upset as this sees the disappearance of another Real Ale pub in an area already lacking in them. It is reported a residential development is planned, but a month before closure was due, Barnet Council say no application for a change of use or planning permission had been received.
Wetherspoon's return to Palmers Green
Wetherspoon's opened a new pub - The Alfred Herring, 316-322 Green Lanes, Palmers Green (just north of the Triangle) on 30th May 2006. It is non-smoking throughout (apart from a small outdoor front terrace), with wheelchair access and a specially adapted toilet. This promises to be a welcome return from Wetherspoon's after departing from N13 with the sale of the Whole Hog a few years back. Ironically the Whole Hog closed in October 2006, but re-opened in February 2008.
Note: Wetherspoon's own web site wrongly advertised The Alfred
Herring as The Lord High Treasurer, right up to its opening.
[Disclaimer] [Copyright] |
