(Produced for Ales & Tales)
The mornings are brighter, there are flowers adding vibrant bursts of colour, trees in full blossom and residents at long last ditching their heavy winter coats. We've even managed to recover from losing that extra hour in bed with the arrival of British Summer Time.
The mornings are brighter, there are flowers adding vibrant bursts of colour, trees in full blossom and residents at long last ditching their heavy winter coats. We've even managed to recover from losing that extra hour in bed with the arrival of British Summer Time.
This of course means two things: that by the time you are reading this spring is well and truly here and that the beer festival at the Stourbridge Town Hall is getting ready to tempt you with a multitude of real ale delights.
The 14th Stourbridge Beer Festival takes place a little later than usual, so make sure you make a note in your calendars for the 12th 13th and 14th of May. The festival, for those that haven't been before, is held yearly at the Stourbridge Town Hall, close to town centre bus stops and the Stourbridge Town rail station. A short walk along the high street will present you with the magnificent Victorian town hall and the less aesthetically pleasing 1980s built Crown Centre. Entrance is through the library.
As ever there will be a delightful range of around 80 real ales from round the country and also around 20 real ciders and perries with their time-honoured fruitiness. This year's theme will be beers from Yorkshire, so along with plenty of your locally brewed favourites and a few festival specials, several gems from “God's Own County” will be making an appearance. Worry not however, as dourness and flat caps will of course be optional.
Our logo for the commemorative festival glasses this year is celebrating the life of a former resident and British hero, Frank Foley. In his role as passport control officer he helped thousands of Jews escape terror in Nazi Germany. At the 1961 trial of former high ranking Nazi Adolf Eichmann, he was described as a “Scarlet Pimpernel” for the way he risked his own life to save Jews threatened with death by the Nazis. Despite having no diplomatic immunity and being liable to arrest at any time, Foley would bend the rules when stamping passports and issuing visas, to allow Jews to escape “legally” to Britain or Palestine, which was then controlled by the British. Sometimes he went further, going into internment camps to get Jews out, hiding them in his home, and helping them get forged passports. One Jewish aid worker estimated that he saved “tens of thousands” of people from the Holocaust.
Entrance charge to the festival is reduced for all CAMRA members and those wishing to join up on the day will be rewarded with discounts and a host of other goodies. For more information visit our website www.stourbridgecamra.org.uk/beerfest/ where you'll be able to take a look at the beers on offer as well as how to get involved.
We hope to see you at this year’s festival, whether you are a veteran attendee of many years or have never been before. Remember, Stourbridge Beer Festival for three days will be the biggest pub around!
Roberto Ross
Roberto Ross
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