CAMRA reveals National Pub of the Year

Having reopened the pub five weeks after taking it on, licensee Peter McGivern and his family were praised by CAMRA members for restoring the pub’s interior, and “introducing an extensive real ale and cider range”.

The McGivern family took over the site in 2009 and set up a micro-brewery McGivern Ales, overseen by son Matthew.

Now serving seven real ales and a selection of local ciders at any one time, the pub has stocked real ales from over 100 breweries since opening, with a particular emphasis on local produce. As well as acting as the brewery tap for McGivern Ales, other breweries from north Wales, Cheshire and Shropshire feature prominently at the bar.

The pub beat three other finalists: the Engineer Arms in Henlow, Bedforshire, the Front in Falmouth, Cornwall, the Swan with Two Necks in Pendleton, Lancashire.

Peter said: “What we strived to do was create a pub not focused on food that we would enjoy visiting, putting the product first and offering a wide range of traditional beer styles. As a result we’ve built up a mixed trade of locals and beer lovers from all over Britain.

“We are delighted with this national award, particularly as we were told when first taking on the pub that there was little demand for real ale in the area.”

Julian Hough, CAMRA pubs director, said: “The pub is an unbelievable success story, and is a perfect case study of a local outlet playing a pivotal role at the heart of a small community. By investing time into providing a quality beer range full of choice, the pub in a short space of time has become revered across Britain by many beer lovers.”