Publicans including Sarah Hughes Brewery that have made immense efforts in reviving important heritage pubs have been recognised by CAMRA (The Campaign for Real Ale).
The North Star and Beacon Hotel are Grade II listed buildings, and both appear on CAMRA’s National Inventory for having interiors of national heritage importance.
Kerry Tyrrell, licensee of the North Star, Steventon in Oxfordshire, who was given the top prize was acknowledged for her efforts and pride in the pub, which has been owned by her family for generations, describing the reopened pub as having ‘a new lease of life’.
The pub was recently closed for nine months to undergo extensive works to fix damp and preserve the Grade II listed building, all carried out by local craftsman Michael Toplis.
The results speak for themselves, with a refreshed building which retains its outstanding heritage value, a new programme of events and a ‘buzzing’ atmosphere.
The North Star building dates back to the late 15th century, with little known about it’s history before it became a public house. It was previously run by Wantage Brewing Co, and then Morland Brewery of Abingdon.
It has been a freehouse since 1998, and Kerry’s family have owned the pub for around 200 years.
Sarah Hughes brewery has been honoured as runner up for their work at the Beacon Hotel, Sedgley, their pub and brewery tap in the West Midlands.
Judges praised the high quality of work to convert a sitting room into an additional customer area and a sensitive replacement for the old conservatory. The changes create in-demand additional seating, proving the demand for space in this bustling community local, which also has national important heritage features.
The Heritage Pub Revival Award recognises pubs or pub operators who have renewed the fortunes of a pub on CAMRA’s National Inventory of Historic Interiors, by preserving its heritage features, benefiting the business and having a positive impact on its local community.
Paul Ainsworth, Heritage Pub Revival Award coordinator, said: “Both these pubs have truly precious historic interiors. At the North Star, it’s brilliant that the serious structural issues have been fully addressed but equally great to find it in the hands of management committed to making it a real community hub.
“The work at the Beacon is a textbook example of how to expand and improve customer facilities without any detriment to the historic core.”
Elsewhere, CAMRA has said that the latest Pubs Code Review outcome has shown that the Government is taking a “cautious first step” to tackling issues of ‘Big Beer’.
The latest review has indicated that the Government has opened the door to a raft of changes that could give tied pub tenants greater freedom over beer among other costs.
CAMRA Chairman Ash Corbett-Collins said: “We’re glad that the Pubs Code will be kept in place, as it’s needed more than ever. Ordinary drinkers are being denied choice and value by the global brewers that dominate the UK beer market, including how beer is sold to pubs. We’re looking forward to seeing the details of how more tied pub tenants might be able to challenge the beer tie.
“However, we still have a supply-led beer market that is dominated by global brewers, which means that licensees, independent brewers, and ordinary drinkers lose out.
“We need to see bolder reforms like guest beer rights for tied tenants, and the Department for Business must stop dragging their feet and publish the outcome of the review of access to the beer market for independent brewers.”
