Swindon & North Wiltshire CAMRA

CAMRA has been campaigning for real ale, pubs and drinkers' rights since 1971. It has a large national membership (approaching 100,000). Each member belongs to an individual CAMRA Branch in the UK - like this one.

If you're not already a member, why not join online at CAMRA Membership?

The Harrow at Wanborough

The Harrow closed 26-May-09. This is really bad news because it has been a Good Beer Guide pub of this branch for many years. Dave and Karen had to give up running it for financial reasons. Is this a case of Enterprise Inns trying to squeeze unrealistic amounts of money out of tennants and lessees? If this large and historic village pub closes, what chances are there for small corner pubs?

The Waterfront in Pewsey

The Waterfront will be holding a beer festival - 17 to 19 July. Please phone 01672 564020 for further details.

Archers is in administration - again and still

The gates shut at this local brewery on Friday 20 March 2009. An administrator was appointed trying to sell the brewery as a going concern. There have been no new developments since, except that the metal casks seem to have been sold.

This could be the end of this landmark and important player in the local and national real ale scene. Archers has been brewing in Swindon since 1979. Its beers have won many rewards over the years and are appreciated by lovers of real ale.

The brewery was in administration in 2007 and was then bought by a local businessman. That rescue operation has been rather shortlived, unfortunately.

We sincerely hope that this is not the end of Archers as a local brewery.

The Pipers Arms in Old Town reopened towards the end of March. It all looks very promising for real ale lovers. The new landlord likes his ale and has been running other watering holes. There are four changing real ales on handpull. Apparently, the new man in charge can get any beer produced by a SIBA member. SIBA is the Society of Independent Brewers and counts many of the brewers among its members that have made such a difference to the real ale scene in recent years by creating new and interesting beers.

Picklejohns in Old Town is closed and boarded up since April 09. No further details yet.

The Royal Oak in Old Town opened again in April 09; not known whether they serve real ale.

Swindon & Cricklade Railway Beer Festival over the May Bank Holiday weekend

Over the May bank holiday weekend, Swindon & N Wilts CAMRA helped the Swindon & Cricklade Railway with their Beer Festival at Blunsdon station to the north west of Swindon. The festival was held semi-outdoors, with the beers being served in a small marquee near the station. (photo of tent etc) As always with festivals, a fair amount of behind the scenes work was required to make it happen. The S&CR provided the tent, and constructed the stillage for mounting the beer casks on, while Gill White of S&NW CAMRA organised the beer. Several CAMRA members helped with the setting up and running of the festival over the three days. (photo of Gill cleaning taps) Fifteen beers and five ciders were on offer, most of the beers being from Gloucestershire breweries, including the recently opened Prescott, from Cheltenham. (photo of Bill & the beer)

We were fortunate to enjoy fine weather - sunny days and cool nights, which attracted a record attendance on the one hand and helped keep the beer in good condition on the other. Trade was so good that we ran out of beer late on Sunday. Fortunately Three Castles Brewery were able to help out with a quick delivery, while Gill was able to obtain more beer from Battledown Brewery on bank holiday Monday, so we were able to restock. Although this was not a CAMRA event, it managed to reach out to many people who would not normally attend a beer festival, so it was a success from a campaigning point of view. It also managed to raise funds for the S&CR, to help their future expansion plans. More information about the railway can be found on their website.

Local pub database

There is an online beer and pub guide covering this branch. It contains around 300 pubs, bars and hotels; about 30 of these do not exist any more; they are in the database for historical reasons. 50 odd don't serve real ale and some are currently closed. This leaves about 200 pubs that probably serve real ale. We try to visit every pub as often as we can.
Have a look at Swindon Area Beer & Pub Guide.
Please help us to keep it up to date by completing a pub survey when you visit a pub in the area. If there has been no change to the pub, just let us know - no need for a survey. You can print or download the form as a pdf file. Pub Survey Form.pdf (10kb).
Here are the pubs that have not had a survey for three years:

Royal Oak, 35 North Street, Pewsey SN9 5ES
Riffs Bar, 26 Greatfield, Swindon SN4 8EQ
White Hart, High Street, Burbage SN8 3AA
Cross Keys, 16 High Street, Great Bedwyn, Marlborough, SN8 3NU
Jovial Monk, Highdown Way, Swindon, SN25 4FD
Village Tavern (Toot & Whistle), Village Centre, Toothill, Swindon, SN5 8DH
Mail Coach, 59 Fleet Street, Swindon, SN1 1RA

The pubs below are due for a survey soon:

Ivy Hotel, Moormead Road, Wroughton, Swindon, SN4 9BY

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