February 2012

The new CAMRA Central Lancashire branch website is launched.

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March 2012

Ale Cry 95, the Spring 2012 issue of Ale Cry has been produced, with the Withy Arms, Bamber Bridge being featured as the branch's latest choice as Pub of the Season.

The Adelphi, Preston on Fylde Street has been refurbished and the good news is that real ale has been re-introduced. There are now four cask beers available - initially three beers from the Marstons range plus one guest beer.

**May 2012 Update - The Adelphi has recently been selling surplus stocks of Marstons EPA at £1 a pint.

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April 2012

The Black Horse, Preston on Friargate has re-opened after a short period of closure while it has undergone a tasteful refurbishment. Early reports are that the pub is now selling four Robinsons beers, three guest ales, plus a real cider.

**May 2012 Update - The Black Horse appears already to have ceased selling guest beers.

The Tithebarn, Preston has again re-opened after most recently having been closed in November 2011. The pub is owned by Punch Taverns but is now managed by Town and Country Inns. Initially the pub will not be selling real ale, but it is the intention that it will soon be available.

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May 2012

The Waterfront (now Waterfront, Ashton) may soon be re-opening. Enterprise Inns are advertising that the lease for the pub is available at a rent of £45,000 per year. However rather than re-opening as a pub, a more likely prospect is that it will become a restaurant.

The Guild Merchant, Ingol is closing for a complete refurbishment and will be re-opening as a Marston's Inns & Taverns pub restaurant. Hopefully it will have re-opened by the time of the main Preston Guild celebrations in September, and hopefully it will once again be selling real ale.

The new pub in Penwortham is to open in October and is to be called the Brown Hare. Like the Guild Merchant it is to be strongly food oriented and is being promoted by Marston's Inns & Taverns as a pub restaurant.

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June 2012

The winners of CAMRA's Lancashire Pub of the Year and Club of the Year awards for 2012 have been announced, and once again the CAMRA Central Lancs nominations have been overlooked. The Lancashire POTY is the Bridge Bier Huis in Burnley (previously a winner in 2007), and the winner of the Lancashire COTY is Blackpool Cricket Club (previously a winner in 2010). For more information see the Lancashire Area Awards page.

The Stags Head, Goosnargh has re-opened after three months of closure. The pub now comes under the management of Mitchells, and after being described just weeks ago in the Lancashire Evening Post 'as being gutted', it has now been totally refurbished both inside and out. The pub is reported to be selling a selection of cask beers, but no details are available as yet.

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July 2012

The opening of the new pub on Ormskirk Road in Preston has been delayed. This pub, which will be housed in the former Co-op building (Shereton House), is to be run by the people at the Continental, Preston. It had been hoped that this new 'Co-op' pub would be open by the time of the main Preston Guild celebrations in September, but the latest announcement is that it will now be opening in December.

** September 2012 Update - it now looks like the Co-op will not now be opening until early in 2013.

There is a possibility that the Duke Of York in Whittle-le-Woods could be re-opening. The former pub building has been acquired by Whittle Estates Ltd who are seriously considering the practicality of it once again being run as a pub.

The Queens, Leyland is to re-open in August after a complete refurbishment. The pub is now owned by Amber Taverns and indications are that it will be serving three handpumped beers, with at least one of them likely to be from Moorhouses.

**August 2012 Update - The Queens has now re-opened as planned, with beers from Burscough and Moorhouses being amongst those available during the first few weeks. The good news is that all beers are currently being sold at under £2 a pint.

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August 2012

Ale Cry 96, the Summer 2012 issue of Ale Cry has now been produced. This is a bumper 32 page special Preston Guild issue which includes a four page Guild Guide pull-out feature on the city's 52 real ale pubs.

The Guild Merchant, Ingol has re-opened after a period of closure, and as previously announced by Marstons Inns & Taverns it has undergone a change of image and is now more food oriented. Initially there have been three real ales available - Marstons Pedigree, Marstons EPA, and Wychwood Hobgoblin.

The branch's Pub of the Season for Summer 2012 is the Lamb & Packet, Preston. Landlord Warwick Glover was presented with the Pub of the Season certificate by Central Lancs Chairman Dave Linley during a branch meeting held at the pub on Monday August 20th.

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September 2012

Coming up at the end of this month is Cask Ale Week 2012. This year's event which runs from September 28th to October 7th has again been organised jointly by CAMRA and Cask Marque, and it is known that several pubs in the CAMRA Central Lancashire branch area will be running special promotions during the week.

Of particular interest it is known that both Ember Inns and Punch Taverns are running promotions whereby CAMRA members will be able to claim a free pint of beer during Cask Ale Week.

Additionally the Black Bull, Penwortham has entered into the spirit of things and are offering all their customers a 10p per pint reduction on all real ale sold during Cask Ale Week.

The Ship, Preston, has been refurbished and has now been re-launched as Ships & Giggles, Preston. This change has been made as the new owner has plans that it again be more attractive to students and that it become a major live music venue. Although the three handpumps remain in place, unfortunately there seems little likelihood that the pub will be selling any real ale.

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October 2012

The former Yates's Wine Lodge in Chorley has re-opened as Pearson's (although some people seem to think it should be Parson's). It is reported to be selling three real ales - Marstons Pedigree, Tetley Bitter, plus a changing guest beer.

The Brown Hare, Penwortham has now opened. Initially it has been selling four real ales - Jennings Bitter, Marstons Pedigree, and Wychwood Hobgoblin, plus guest/seasonal beer Citra Single Hop.

While one new pub has opened, there have recently also been a number of pub closures. In particular the Fox & Grapes (Fox Street), Preston has been closed for a few weeks, but hopefully will be re-opening soon with a new licensee, while the Bridge, Walton-le-Dale has closed and is understood to be going the same way as the Bridge in Penwortham by being converted into a children's nursery. A third pub, the Swan, Higher Walton is reported to be closed with its windows boarded up.

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November 2012

A new local micro-brewery has recently arrived unannounced on the scene. This is the Chorley Brewhouse, which is based in Coppull, and which has Neil Jones in charge as Head Brewer. Early sightings of Chorley Brewhouse beers have been in the Bitter Suite, Preston and the Old Black Bull, Preston.

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December 2012

Ale Cry 97, the Winter 2012 issue of Ale Cry has now been produced, with the Original Farmers Arms, Eccleston being featured as the branch's latest Pub of the Season recipient.

CAMRA Central Lancashire Branch members have chosen the Leyland Lion, Leyland as the winner of the 2012/13 George Lee Memorial Trophy award (see Branch Awards). A presentation will take place there early in the new year, and the pub will hold the Shield to the end of 2013.

The people from the Continental, Preston have opened the Tundra Bar, a pop-up festive themed bar located next to the Harris Museum & Library in Preston. The bar will be open from December 5th right up until the end of the year, and will be selling up to nine real ales at any one time.

Bad news for Preston's real ale drinkers. The Fox & Grapes (Fox Street), Preston has now been converted into 'a South Californian surf bar in the heart of Preston' called the Beachcomber, and as you would expect there is now no real ale to be found there.

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