Welcome to this update of what's happening in Ely & District Branch CAMRA

New Ely Branch Committee… seeking more members!

Please welcome the 2025-2026 Ely Branch Committee who were elected at the Open Branch Meeting last month:

Chair - Phil Eden Vice Chair - Steven Spencer Treasurer - Fil Utting-Brown Secretary - Megan Sutton Town Pubs Officer - Terry Carter Beer Festival Organiser - Will Smith Pub Data Coordinator - Paul Butler

We are still seeking committee members - please reach out to ku.gro.armac.yle@tcatnoc to learn more about volunteer opportunities with CAMRA! Open roles include Pub Protection Officer, Rural Pubs Officer, Socials Secretary, Cider Representative, and Public Affairs.

Upcoming Dates for Ely & District CAMRA

We will host an August social on Friday 29 August at 1200 - join us in the beer garden and enjoy the first hours of Prince Albert’s Summer Beer Festival!

The next Ely & District Branch meeting will take place on 2 September at 1900 at The Cutter Inn

New Publicans Network for Ely & Rural Pubs

CAMRA members attended the first-ever meeting of a “Publicans Network” organised by Ely and East Cambridgeshire MP Charlotte Cane at the Three Kings in Haddenham. Pub owners from Ely, Reach, and Waterbeach shared views on a variety of opportunities and challenges facing the pub industry in our area.

Publicans discussed rising costs for ingredients and the inability to hire kitchen staff due to lack of interest and immigration challenges. Pubs have a very low profit margin on beer, with some distributors raising prices yearly; most of the profit for pubs comes from food and special events. Rural pubs face all of these same obstacles but more acutely as they lack reliable foot traffic and sufficient public transportation services. Also part of the discussion was the positive impact of VAT relief on pubs during Covid - many owners struggle to adequately reinvest in their business due to high VAT and business rates on insurance, permitting, etc. France’s VAT reduction programs for pubs and restaurants have shown positive impact for all parties. The overarching theme of the meeting was that pubs serve as important community centers in East Cambridgeshire and the government should take more action to support the vital role that pubs play in combating loneliness, feeding rural populations, and serving as a gathering place. It was great to see caring Publicans have the opportunity to have facetime with our local MP - everyone left the meeting feeling energized about being heard and excited about opportunities to share wisdom at future Publican Network meetings.

As CAMRA members, we can continue our important work of promoting pubs and real ale by visiting pubs often, eating out at pubs, sharing their posts on social media, and supporting local breweries that supply these pubs.

Beer Festivals locally and beyond

Summer is prime time for beer and cider festivals whether they be run by pubs & clubs, town and village committees or CAMRA volunteers. Here’s some upcoming festivals!

Tuesday 19 August - Saturday 23 August - CAMRA Peterborough Beer Festival - Peterborough

Wednesday 20 August - Monday 25 August - East Anglian Beer & Cider Festival - Bury St Edmunds

Friday 29 August - Saturday 31 August - Prince Albert Beer Festival - Ely

Thursday 18 September - Sunday 21 September - Dyke’s End Beer Festival - Reach

Please email us about real ale events that aren’t listed here yet!

Adopt a Pub Program

Turn your visits to your favourite pubs into action for Ely CAMRA - adopt a pub on behalf of CAMRA! With Ely’s large number of city and rural pubs its hard for our small committee to keep track of and support all of the pubs in our district. That’s where you come in! By adopting a pub, you can make sure CAMRA stays apprised of news and events for your pub and you can make sure the pub knows all of the ways that CAMRA can support them. Pubs with great community engagement and high standards for real ale should be recognized - with your help we can make sure all great pubs are supported! Contact Megan at ku.gro.armac.yle@yraterceS if you are interested in adopting a pub.

Beer Scoring

Many thanks to all CAMRA members who have been scoring their beers recently. It helps us to monitor pubs so please score the beers you drink whether they be good, mediocre or poor. Beer scoring is easy to do via the pub’s CAMRA website entry. If you have a smart phone you can score while you drink. If not, you can do it from home later. Your beer scores help us to discover which pubs are serving the best beer and also helps in selecting candidates for the Good Beer Guide. CAMRA’s website can also be used to give us feedback on pubs. If you spot that the pub description is inaccurate or the opening hours are wrong, click on “Suggest an edit” and let us know.

Fordham Royal British Legion Club Presentation While on our bus tour at the end of April we stopped in at Fordham Royal British Legion Club and presented them with their certificate for being our Club of the Year. The club has since gone on to become Cambridgeshire Club of the Year.

Drayman's Son Presentation Prior to our May monthly meeting at the West End House a group of us visited the Drayman's Son to present manager John with their certificates for being our City Pub of the Year, overall Pub of the Year and Cider Pub of the Year.

June Open Branch Meeting Our June Open Branch Meeting will be held on Tuesday 3 June from 7:45pm at the Plough, Little Downham. Come along and hear what your branch is doing. Our July Annual General Meeting and Open Branch Meeting will be on 1 July in the Prince Albert.

Beer Festivals I'm sure that many of you will have visited and enjoyed last week's Cambridge Beer Festival on Jesus Green. There will be many other smaller beer and cider festivals in and around our branch area over the summer months. Check out the diary on our branch website and events listed below for those we know about and please email us about those that aren't listed.

Beer Scoring Many thanks to all CAMRA members who have been scoring their beers recently. It helps us to monitor pubs so please score the beers you drink whether they be good, mediocre or poor. Our May branch meeting heard that we had received 74 beer scores from 21 members in the previous 4 weeks. The Chequers in Sutton and the Drayman's Son were the rural and city pubs with the highest average annual scores. Beer scoring is easy to do via the pub’s CAMRA website entry. If you have a smart phone and internet access you can score while you drink. If not you can do it from home later. Your beer scores help us to discover which pubs are serving the best beer and also helps in selecting candidates for the Good Beer Guide. CAMRA’s website can also be used to give us feedback on pubs. If you spot that the pub description is inaccurate or the opening hours are wrong, click on “Suggest an edit” and let us know.

Upcoming Events Tuesday 3 June from 7:45. Open Branch Meeting at the Plough, Little Downham. Thursday 5 - Saturday 7 June. Hitchin Beer Festival. CAMRA event at Histon Rugby Club. Friday 13 - Sunday 15 June. Cutter Inn Beer Festival. Local beers and cider. Friday 20 - Saturday 21 June. 25th Wilburton Beer Festival on Wilburton Recreation Ground. Beer, bands, food and fun. 3:30-11 on Friday. Noon to midnight on Saturday. Friday 27 - Sunday 29 June. 10th Anniversary Haddenham Beer Festival on Haddenham Recreation Ground. Beer, food, music and fun. 5:30-11:30 on Friday. Noon to 11:30 on Saturday. Noon to 6 on Sunday. Tuesday 1 July from 7:45. Branch AGM and Monthly Meeting at the Prince Albert. Friday 4 - Sunday 6 July. Chequers, Cottenham Beer Festival.

Welcome to this update of what's happening in Ely CAMRA's branch area.

Pub, Cider Pub and Club of the Year At our March branch meeting we selected our City and Rural Pubs of the Year and our overall Pub of the Year, our Cider Pub of the Year and our Club of the Year. Our Rural Pub of the Year is the Carpenters Arms in Soham. Our City Pub of the Year and our overall Pub of the Year is the Drayman's Son. Our Cider Pub of the Year is also the Drayman's Son. Our Club of the Year is Fordham Royal British Legion Club. Congratulations to all the winners. We will be presenting certificates to them over the next few weeks. The Drayman's Son and Fordham RBLC will now go forward to the Cambridgeshire rounds of CAMRA's Pub of the Year, Cider Pub of the Year and Club of the Year competitions.

Open Branch Meetings Our April Open Branch Meeting will be held on Thursday 3 April from 7:30pm at the Carpenters Arms in Soham. The evening will start with the presentation of the Rural Pub of the Year certificate by Ely MP, Charlotte Cane. Come along, join in the celebrations and hear what your branch is doing. Our May meeting will be in the West End House on Tuesday 6 May.

Tiger on Demand Bus Trip Our Public Transport Officer, Phil, is organising a pub trip to two of our difficult to reach pubs using the new Tiger on Demand bus service. It will take place on Saturday 26 April. The bus will collect us from Ely Station at 11:30 and take us to our first stop. It will then collect us from there at 14:00 and take us to the second stop. At 15:30 it will return us to Ely Station. All timings are approximate. Each trip costs £2 per person (£6 total). Free for concession pass holders. The bus can only be booked up to 48 hours in advance. For more information or to book yourself a seat email Phil by Thursday 24 April.

Strolling Social in Kings Lynn Cambridge and Ely CAMRA branches will have a joint Strolling Social in Kings Lynn on Saturday 10 May. Catch the 11:56 from Ely (12:06 from Littleport) arriving in Kings Lynn at 12:30. We'll then visit 7 of Kings Lynn's best drinking spots. Returning we'll catch the 19:42 train arriving at Littleport at 20:06 and Ely at 20:18. For timings and destinations check out Cambridge branch's Event.

Upcoming Events Thursday 3 April from 7:30. Rural Pub of the Year presentation and Open Branch Meeting at the Carpenters Arms, Soham. Saturday 26 April. Tiger on Demand trip to two of our rural pubs. Tuesday 6 May from 7:45. Open Branch Meeting at the West End House. Saturday 10 May. Strolling Social in Kings Lynn.

Welcome to this update of what's happening in Ely CAMRA's branch area.

15th Elysian Winter Beer Festival Obviously the biggest event this month is our 15th Elysian Winter Beer Festival. It opens to the public on Friday 7th (11:00-22:00) and Saturday 8th (11:00-20:00) February at the Maltings. We'll have over 100 beers and ciders for you and other drinkers to enjoy. We also have wine. There's food too. And there's free entry to card carrying CAMRA members. Come along and enjoy this great event in a wonderful venue. And as well as the main event at the Maltings there are also four pubs involved in the Fringe Festival. For more details, including the beer and cider lists, check it out on our website.

2026 Good Beer Guide This weekend will also be your last chance to help decide which five of our pubs will appear in the 2026 edition of CAMRA's Good Beer Guide. We need you to give your views on our shortlist of 15 pubs. CAMRA members from Ely and adjoining branches can take part. We have a website where you can tell us what you think of the shortlisted pubs that you have visited in the last six months. Login using your usual CAMRA login details. You can revise your marks as often as you like until the deadline on Sunday 9 February.

Open Branch Meeting Our February Open Branch Meeting will be held on Wednesday 12 February from 7:45pm at the Cutter Inn. Come along and hear what your branch is doing.

Upcoming Events Friday 7 & Saturday 8 February. 15th Elysian Winter Beer Festival at the Maltings. Sunday 9 February. Marking the Good Beer Guide shortlisted pubs closes. Wednesday 12 February from 7:45pm. Open Branch Meeting at the Cutter Inn.

Welcome to this update of what's happening in Ely CAMRA's branch area.

Open Branch Meeting Our January Open Branch Meeting will be held on Tuesday 7 January from 7:45pm at 3At3 Real Ale and Craft Beer Cafe. Come along and hear what your branch is doing.

Beer Festival Volunteer Recruitment Event We have a dedicated team of volunteers who have planned and will run our beer festival but we always need more help. Some people volunteer for a few hours, some for several days. Many hands make light work. Can you help too? Maybe you've thought about helping but weren't sure what was involved. Would you like to have a drink and chat about how you can help? On Wednesday 8 January from 5pm until 8 or 9 some of our Beer Festival Volunteers will be in the Cutter Inn and would love to explain what we do and how you could help. This year we will start setting up for the festival on Monday 3rd February and will take things down on Sunday 9th February. We need volunteers for both those days and on the days in between. Did you know that our volunteers are fed and, while we are open, most also can drink sensible amounts? Did you know that our volunteers get festival T-shirts? On Saturday 1st March we will also be holding a social get together with a buffet at the Prince Albert to thank our volunteers. If you can't make it to the recruitment event but still want to know more or are already willing to help, check out our webpage.

15th Elysian Winter Beer Festival Our 15th Elysian Winter Beer Festival will be open to the public on Friday 7th (11:00-22:00) and Saturday 8th (11:00-20:00) February at the Maltings. We'll have over 100 beers and ciders for you and other drinkers to enjoy. We also have wine. There's food too. Come along and enjoy this great event in a wonderful venue.

2026 Good Beer Guide We currently need your help to decide which five of our pubs will appear in the 2026 edition of CAMRA's Good Beer Guide. We have drawn up a shortlist of 15 pubs and we need the opinions of CAMRA members from Ely and adjoining branches to decide which go in. We have a website where you can tell us what you think of the shortlisted pubs that you have visited in the last six months. Login using your usual CAMRA login details. You can revise your marks as often as you like until the deadline on Sunday 9 February. If you wish, you can also give us your views in person at one of our branch meetings provided you have your valid CAMRA membership card with you.

Beer Scoring What do you think of the beers you drink in our pubs? You can tell us by Beer Scoring. If you're in a pub you can go to CAMRA's website, search for pubs nearby and you'll find it. Then log in and score your beers. You can also do it from home later. We review beer scores on a monthly so basis so your scores can highlight the rising stars and hidden gems in our branch area. They also contribute to our Good Beer Guide shortlist selection process.

Upcoming Events Tuesday 7 January from 7:45pm. Open Branch Meeting at 3at3 Real Ale & Craft Beer Café. Wednesday 8 January from 5pm. Beer Festival Volunteer Recruitment Event at the Cutter Inn. Friday 7 & Saturday 8 February. 15th Elysian Winter Beer Festival at the Maltings. Sunday 9 February. Marking the Good Beer Guide shortlisted pubs closes. Wednesday 12 February from 7:45pm. Open Branch Meeting at the Cutter Inn (to be confirmed).

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