1990 – David Gray and Di Whitaker 2020 – Jo Dormer and Tilly Harrington 2022 – Jo Dormer and Tilly Harrington
This year’s Tournament was great fun and another success. The most amazing thing was that Jo Dormer and Tilly Harrington (Helen Bolton’s daughter) were the winning team for the third year running! This is quite an achievement and was the result of a four round, three games per round afternoon. Congratulations to them both.
Runners up were welcome newcomers to the tournament, Chris Lang and his cribbage partner Aidan.
As in previous years, there was a good turnout of keen players. Note: next year’s date has already been set: Sunday 18 February 2024.
At the Tournament we ask for donations to support the great work of Sur Ryder, and particular the Duchess of Kent Hospice in Reading. This year we raised £165. 100% of this amount has been sent to Sue Ryder.
The Good Beer Guide from CAMRA is the UK’s best selling beer and pub guide. The Retreat is proud to be listed again.
The Guide, which surveys 4,500 of the best pubs across the UK, is the definitive beer drinker’s guide to the very best pints in the most picturesque and friendly pubs. Compiled by thousands of independent volunteers, it helps identify significant trends and themes across the pub sector.
To be listed in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide is a fantastic achievement for a pub. The Guide is based entirely on personal recommendations made by local CAMRA members, which are rigorously reviewed by branches and editors.
Recommendations consider beer quality as well as the history and architecture of a pub and various aspects such as food, gardens, family and disabled facilities and special events. CAMRA does not take any fees for listings to ensure the guide remains independent and unbiased.
What makes the Guide unique is that all the entries are compiled and vetted by a huge volunteer team based around the country. CAMRA works hard to ensure that all areas of the country are covered and, unlike some competitor titles, inclusion in this book is dependent on merit – not on payment.
Retreat 8 St John’s Street, RG1 4EH (0118) 376 9159 www.theretreat.pub Harvey’s Sussex Best Bitter; 4 changing beers (often Butcombe, Sharp’s) This well-loved back-street boozer has been recently refurbished. A good range of real ales is squeezed onto the small bar – the landlord tends to concentrate on well-known regional brands, however there is a good range of more eclectic choices available in bottles, including continental beers, as well as a number of ciders. Locally renowned for regular live music and local events.
Every year, the Reading & Mid-Berkshire CAMRA branch awards its Pub of the Year title to the pub voted for by branch members. It’s the most prestigious prize they can bestow.
We are delighted to announce that The Retreat was runner up.
The Retreat was pleased to host The Helen Bolton Cribbage Tournament for the third time. Tilly Harrington and Jo Dormer were the winners. You can see more here.
Jo Dormer and Tilly Harrington, winners of The Helen Bolton Cribbage Tournament 2022 held at The Retreat
We are pleased to announce that The Retreat is one of the 24 pubs selected by Reading & Mid Berkshire CAMRA to be on the Reading Ale Trail 2022. And, we are especially excited that the Ale Trail will be launched at The Retreat on Saturday 5 March, where books will be on sale from 12.00 to 16.00.
What’s the Reading Ale Trail all about?
The Ale Trail is an annual event run by Reading & Mid Berkshire CAMRA in Spring to encourage people to find some local pubs in the Reading area and publicise the forthcoming beer festival. This year 700 booklets have been printed featuring 24 pubs. The task is simple: get yourself a booklet, then for each half pint of real ale or real cider (or a soft drink for designated drivers) you ask for a sticker. Collect all 24 stickers and submit your booklet by the deadline for a prize. This does not have to be done in one day!
Ale Trail booklets will be available to purchase from the launch day at the Retreat, and also at the Nags Head and the Alehouse in Reading.
By completing the Trail (i.e. visiting all 24 pubs and getting the appropriate stickers), you win either a T-shirt AND a half-pint beer festival voucher OR six half-pint beer festival vouchers. By completing 16 pubs you get three half-pint beer festival vouchers. The booklet costs £2.
Brian Moignard, landlord of The Retreat said, “This is great news for The Retreat. We’ve been working hard on improvements and the Reading Ale Trail will be a wonderful opportunity for cask ale lovers to see what we’ve been up to.”
What will be the cask ales served at The Retreat for the 2022 Reading Ale Trail?
Pushing Brian on what beers will be served for the Ale Trail he kept schtum and told us to, “watch this space.” Whatever his decision, they will be well kept ales fitting for the Ale Trailers.
The pubs taking part in the Reading Ale Trail 2022
The latest edition of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide is published this week and The Retreat is listed again. We were originally listed in the first ever CAMRA Good Beer Guide in 1974.
Out of more than 50,000 pubs in Britain, only 4,500 of the finest outlets for real ale are chosen for inclusion in the Good Beer Guide. The guide is compiled by members of the Campaign for Real Ale and, unlike some other beer guides, pubs cannot pay to be listed. Instead, places are awarded in the Good Beer Guide on the basis of recommendations by thousands of CAMRA volunteers across the UK. Every pub or bar listed has been carefully selected by unpaid, but knowledgeable, volunteers who have visited every one and tasted their beers. These enthusiasts understand what makes a great pint of beer and which venues serve it best.
Now in its 49th edition, the beer-lovers’ bible is fully revised and updated to feature recommended pubs across the United Kingdom that serve the best real ale. This is the complete book for beer lovers and for anyone wanting to experience the UK’s finest pubs.
Brian Moignard, landlord of The Retreat, says, “We are looking forward to customers of old visiting us again soon to enjoy the real ales, great conversation and the live music in Reading. We are also excited about the new people that are discovering us since our refurbishment. We hope the Good Beer Guide 2022 will help more people find us in our tucked away location in RG1.”
The Blunt point about British pubs
In his foreword for CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide 2022, World renowned singer James Blunt has thrown his support behind the Great British pub and reflected on the industry’s struggles during the coronavirus pandemic.
Following 18 months of struggles for the industry in the face of restrictions and lockdowns, Blunt, who owns the 17th-century Fox & Pheasant pub in Chelsea, remarks that as both a musician and a publican, he has “pretty much chosen the worst two jobs for a global pandemic”.
However, with plenty of optimism, he highlights the importance of pubs to communities and encourages Brits to get back to the pub to support their locals, writing: “Whilst, in recent years, there might have been a trend for people to drink cheap supermarket beer at home, those people have been locked away for the best part of a year, and now those people want out. They can taste real beer from the tap, and food cooked by a pro, and they can meet legally and joyfully.”
Did you know that it’s International Beer Day on Friday 6 August? No? Neither did I. The good news is that we are in training and will be match fit for 6 August.
Apparently, participants are encouraged to give one another the ‘gift of beer’ by buying each other drinks, and to express gratitude to brewers, bartenders, and other beer technicians. In the international spirit of the holiday, it is also suggested that participants step out of their domestic/locally brewed comfort zone and sample a beer from another culture.
