Drinkers rail against dale ale, Teesdale Mercury

A ROW is brewing after Barnard Castle was branded as “the worst real ale town in Britain”.

The Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) has asked whether Barnard Castle was the worst culprit for pubs choosing to serve lager rather than traditionally brewed beer.

But landlords say the demand for real ale has dropped and that it often no longer makes economic sense to sell it.

The Black Horse’s landlord, Andy Power, said: “We’ve had Camra people here many, many times and they’re crackpots – for them, it’s either real ale or nothing.

“Barnard Castle is a small town and the demand is not there. 

“Many pubs can’t make enough money from real ale. If we could, we’d sell it.”

The storm began after Camra published its latest newspaper, called What’s Brewing. In it, the organisation printed an article by David Williams, of Merseyside.

The piece was headlined: “Is this the worst real ale town in the British Isles?”

Mr Williams complained that after fell walking nearby, he returned to Barnard Castle looking forward to a pint of real ale.

He described visiting the Coach and Horses, the Commercial Hotel, the Three Horseshoes and the Cricketers Arms in a fruitless search for traditional beer.

He wrote: “If we go to Barnard Castle again next year, I will not bother. I have never been to anywhere worse. No wonder there are no Barnard Castle pubs listed in the Good Beer Guide. I would not live there if you gave me a house for free.”

At least four of the town’s pubs serve real ale including the Turk’s Head, Golden Lion, Coach and Horses, and the Old Well.

Mr Power said the Black Horse used to sell it about five years ago, but ended up “pouring most of it away”.

He said: “We’d need to turn over a keg of ale every three or four days, otherwise it goes off. We get about one person a month asking for real ale – and we’re one of the busiest pubs in town.”

Dean Basey, landlord of the Turks Head, agreed it might have been harsh to suggest that the town was the worst for old-fashioned beer in Britain.

He said: “The town is definitely not what it once was for real ale, 

but it’s not the worst. We have three or four real ales, but most of those 

are drunk by over 50s and tourists. 

“I can completely understand why some pubs don’t sell it – most younger people want lager. It’s about market forces.”

A barman at The Commercial Hotel said it was unable to sell cask ales because the brewery makes decisions on alcohol.

The landlady of the Cricketers, Kath Clement, said the Camra article was wrong.

“There are definitely some pubs that do real ale,” she said. “But we can’t because we have only got a small cellar and there aren’t that many people who want it.”

Rose Blackburn, who runs the Coach and Horses, said it sells Jennings Cumberland Ale – despite being named in Camra’s newspaper as one of those that didn’t have any on the pumps.

“They’ve obviously been to the wrong pub – I’ve worked here for 20 years and we’ve always had one real ale in,” she said.

The local branch of Camra now plans to send a member to Barnard Castle in a bid to establish if the town tops the real ale drinkers’ league of shame.