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CAMRA names its Pub of the Year

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has revealed the winner of its 2024 Pub of the Year competition.

Image credit: Graham Mitchell

The four finalists of the competition were revealed in October, having been selected from a list of 17 regional finalists.

Now, it has been confirmed that the overall winner was a certain Shropshire watering hole – The Bailey Head in Oswestry.

Previously under the ownership of Marston’s, The Bailey Head came under the private ownership of couple Duncan Borrowman and Grace Goodlad in 2016.

“From small beginnings nine years ago, we have taken everything one step at a time, through Covid, slowly improving to the point where we now have 12 handpulls serving six cask beers and six ciders and perries, plus 16 other draught lines,” said Goodlad, as reported in Beer Today. “When we bought the pub nine years ago it was failing and had been listed as an Asset of Community Value by the local CAMRA branch. That listing made it possible for us to save it from potentially becoming housing and turning it into the pub it is today.”

Indeed, the pub’s cider selection garnered it the distinction of CAMRA’s 2024 West Midlands Regional Cider Pub of the Year.

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Among the permanent beers to feature at the pub is Stonehouse Brewery’s Station Bitter, brewed in Oswestry. According to The Bailey Head’s website, since it reopened in March 2016, it has sold more than 2,500 different cask beers.

“Any person should feel happy and comfortable coming in by themselves and enjoying a drink, either on their own or chatting to other customers. We thrive on being the heart of the community and a place where people gather to celebrate or commiserate,” added Borrowman.

The win marks the first time that the pub has received the national award – 2023 and 2022’s competitions were both won by The Tamworth Tap.

“The story of the Bailey Head, from humble beginnings, proves that any pub can become the best in the UK with some hard graft,” commented Shrewsbury and West Shropshire CAMRA chairman David Ricketts.

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