Shepherd Neame visitor centre shortlisted for tourism award

The Kent brewery is one of five finalists in the Small Visitor Attraction category in the awards celebrating the best of English tourism.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony on Monday 12 May at Cheltenham Racecourse.

Its visitor centre is set in a restored medieval hall house in Faversham, and from there visitors can have an 80 minute guided tasting tour through the brewery and visit the Old Brewery Store, which features displays of historic delivery vehicles, a recreated cooper’s workshop, bygone pub signs and a collection of hop picking memorabilia.

There are also regular evening tours and events including beer and food matching dinners and live music.

The brewer’s visitor centre has previously won gold in the Small Visitor Attraction category at the 2010 Beautiful South Tourism Awards and in 2011 was named Small Visitor Attraction of the Year at the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence and Best Little Treasure at the Group Travel Awards. It has picked up the silver award at the Beautiful South Tourism Awards for the past two years.

'Delighted'​

Visitor Centre manager Graham Hukins said: “We are delighted to have made the shortlist for this prestigious competition. We are passionate about sharing the unique history of Britain’s oldest brewer and it is great for the dedication and enthusiasm of our staff to be recognised in this way.”

James Berresford, chief executive of VisitEngland, said: “I would like to congratulate all those nominated as finalists for this year’s VisitEngland Awards for Excellence.  We receive hundreds of applications each year of an extremely high standard, so it is a tremendous achievement for Shepherd Neame’s Visitor Centre to become a finalist and to represent the top five in their category in England.  I wish all the finalists the very best of luck for the Awards Ceremony in May.”