Pubs, Pints & People in Trafford & South West Manchester
The Bishop Blaize on Chester Road in Stretford was presented with the Trafford & Hulme Pub Of The Season award for Summer 2012 on Thursday 19th July. Robinsons brewery had brewed a special Bishop Blaize ale for the occassion and were also present offering samples of their ales. The presentation was made by branch Cider … Read more
Trafford & Hulme CAMRA’s Pub Of The Season for Summer 2012 is the Bishop Blaize on Chester Road, Streford.
The award is in recognition of the efforts of manager Ben Plunkett and his team who have built up a loyal following of regulars throughout the week while making the pub a welcoming destination for cricket fans attending Lancashire matches.
The pub is inevitably packed with football fans on Old Trafford match days but now offers much more to the local community.
The 8th Chorlton Beer and Cider Festival came through fears that the worst weather in its eight year history would keep the people of Chorlton away to end up selling more beer, cider and perry than ever before.
A full day of torrential rain meant that as the festival opened, parts of the grounds of St Clements Church were under several inches of water. A week of beer disturbing storms leading up to the festival had already meant the cellar team from Trafford& Hulme CAMRA used all their skills to get the 82 cask ales ready for serving and then volunteers from the church braved the elements to preparing the grounds for opening time.
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The festival started with the judging of the North West Round of the Champion Specialty Beer Of Britain Competition with judges including John Leech MP and the appropriately named Reverend Ken Flood joining local publicans, journalists and trained beer tasters on the 9 man blind tasting panel. The 8 finalists in the competition selected by online vote of 16,000 CAMRA members across the North West included a cask conditioned Pilsner, beers made with honey, a German style Alt bier, ginger beers, cloudy wheat beers and a fruit flavoured mild.
Chorlton's very own microbrewery is to help local churchgoers celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Church in Chorlton with an exclusive beer brewed especially for the occasion.
While the community of Chorlton can be traced back to the 9th century, until 1512 the local people had to travel four miles to St Mary's, the parish church of Manchester to attend church services. Then the prominent Barlow family took it upon themselves to establish a chapel as a centre of worship for the area. For the first time baptisms, weddings and funerals could be held in the local community.
The chapel was built near the present Chorlton Green in the half-timbered style which was popular at the time. The front of the nearby Horse & Jockey pub is in the same style and is also believed to date back to 1512. With the church and the pub linked by a shared location and history, the pub's own Bootleg Brewery has created the special beer which has been named Parish'D (D being the Roman Numeral for 500). The main celebrations of the 500th anniversary will see the modern St Clements hold a number of events around Chorlton in September, but the beer will be launched on 6th July as the 8th Chorlton Beer and Cider festival opens at St Clements Church.
Listed below are the real ciders and perries ordered for Chorlton Beer & Cider Festival 2012 as of 24th June.
More will be added before the festival opens. We will have more ciders and perries than ever before.
Click image for more details
Listed below are the cask ales ordered for Chorlton Beer & Cider Festival 2012.
There will be approximately 20% more beer available than in 2011 so we expect to maintain a good range through to Saturday evening.
Style guides and tasting notes will be available closer to the date of the festival – please check back later.
Except where indicated below, we will endeavour to have all beers available at opening, but we cannot guarantee that any particular beer will be available at any particular section.
On Wednesday 18th April, Trafford and Hulme branch members gathered at Cask on Liverpool Road, Manchester to present manager Dan Chuaa with certificates confirming them as Pub Of The Season for Spring 2012. Many of the bar’s staff came in to join in the celebrations. Pictured are Dan and his team with their awards.
Trafford & Hulme CAMRA’s Pub of The Year for 2012 is Costello’s Bar in Altrincham.
Although Costello’s only opened in December 2010, with friendly staff and good service from the outset, it has quickly become a firm favourite with Altrincham locals and CAMRA members near and far alike. It was voted branch Pub Of The Season for Summer 2011 and was also voted Champion Mild Pub of Manchester by participants in the 2011 Mild Magic Trail.