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

Annual General Meeting and July Branch Meeting.

Our July Annual General Meeting and Open Branch Meeting is on Tuesday 1 July in the Prince Albert from 7pm. The AGM will receive the branch accounts and reports and will appoint officers and committee members to the serve the branch for the next year. The branch meeting will deal with more general matters, including where our August meeting, on Tuesday 5 (tbc) will be held. There will still still be plenty of time to chat and have a drink. Why not join us. As an added incentive, if your first time at an Ely CAMRA AGM we'll buy you a pint!

Beer Festivals.

Summer is prime time for beer and cider festivals whether they be run by pubs & clubs, town and village committees or CAMRA volunteers. Local ones this weekend include Haddenham Beer Festival on Haddenham Recreation Ground and Oakington Cider Festival as part of Oakington Village Day on their Recreation Ground. 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 June branch meeting heard that we had received 77 beer scores from 17 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 beer 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.

Friday 27 - Sunday 29 June. 10th Anniversary Haddenham Beer Festival on Haddenham Recreation Ground. Local beer, food, music and fun. 5:30-11:30 on Friday. Noon to 11:30 on Saturday. Noon to 6 on Sunday.

Saturday 28 July, 12:30-9pm. Oakington Cider Festival on Oakington Recreation Ground. 20+ real ciders and perries from Cambridgeshire producers. The cider festival main sponsor is the Black Horse in Rampton. Individual ciders & perries are also sponsored by local companies. It is part of Oakington Village Day celebrations raising money for local good causes.

Saturday 28 & Sunday 29 July. Red Lion Swaffham Prior. John & Lana are leaving but not without celebrating the enjoyment of the last two years.

Tuesday 1 July from 7pm. Branch AGM and Monthly Meeting at the Prince Albert.

Friday 4 - Sunday 6 July. Chequers, Cottenham Beer Festival. Beer, Pizza, Live Music.

Friday 4 - Sunday 6 July. Rose & Crown Impington. Beer Festival. 16 Real Ales, 8 Real Ciders, Food Trucks.

Friday 18 & Saturday 19 July. Willingham Social Club Beer Festival. Beer, Food, Entertainment.

Friday 26 - Sunday 28 July. Northstowe Beano at Northstowe Tap & Social. Beer festival with live music, market stalls and food trucks.

Wednesday 30 July - Sunday 3 August. Crystal Ship Earith Booze Fest. 25+ Beers. 15+ Ciders. 2 Lagers. Wednesday Quiz. Saturday Live Music & Food Van.

Tuesday 5 - Saturday 9 August. CAMRA's flagship Great British Beer Festival at the NEC, Birmingham.

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

Carpenters Arms, Soham Prior to our April branch meeting at the Carpenters Arms in Soham Ely & East Cambridgeshire MP Charlotte Cane presented pub landlord Joppo with our Rural Pub of the Year certificate.

Tiger on Demand Bus Trip Our Public Transport Officer, Phil, is organising a pub trip using buses, both a regular service and the new Tiger on Demand bus service. It will take place on Saturday, 26 April. We will catch the 112 Stephenson Newmarket bus from Ely Market Street Stop C at 11:56 (Tesco Layby at 12:01) arriving at Fordham at 12:30. We'll then visit Fordham Royal British Legion Club where Ely and East Cambridgeshire MP Charlotte Cane will present the club with our Club of the Year award. At around 14:15 the Tiger on Demand bus will pick us up and take us to the Five Miles from Anywhere in Upware. At 15:45 the Tiger on Demand will return us to Ely Station. Tiger timings are approximate. Each trip costs £2 per person (£6 total). Free for concession pass holders. The Tiger bus needs to be booked and can only be booked up to 48 hours in advance. For more information or to book yourself a Tiger seat email Phil moc.loa@ctlbyle by Thursday 24 April.

Awards Presentation to the Drayman's Son The Drayman's Son is our City Pub of the Year, our overall Pub of the Year and our Cider Pub of the Year. We will be presenting them with the award certificates on Tuesday 6 May at 7pm.

May Open Branch Meeting Our May Open Branch Meeting will be held on Tuesday 6 May from 7:45pm at the West End House. Come along and hear what your branch is doing. Our June Open Branch Meeting will be on 3 June in the Plough in Little Downham.

Strolling Social in Kings Lynn Cambridge and Ely CAMRA branches have a joint Strolling Social in Kings Lynn on Saturday 10 May. Catch the 11:56 train 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.

Cambridge Beer Festival 2025 May sees the return of the Cambridge Beer Festival to Jesus Green from Monday 19 to Saturday 24. As always we'll have a range of beer, cider, perry, mead and wine from across the UK, as well as beer from around the world, accompanied by our cheese counter. Entry to all sessions is free for CAMRA members. The festival doesn't happen without volunteers. We need several hundred across the week we're open. Many volunteers also help to set up before the event and take it down again afterwards. Can you give us a hand? Even if you can only spend a few hours serving customers at the bar, your time will be greatly appreciated. And you’ll be made really welcome. It's fun, you'll make new friends, and get to try the fantastic beer, cider, mead and wine we have in store this year. Almost anyone can serve customers at the festival. We provide all the training you need on the day. You don't need to be a CAMRA member. You don't need extensive knowledge of beer. You just need to be enthusiastic and willing to join in. Find out more or volunteer now.

Upcoming Events Saturday 26 April. Bus trip to Fordham RBLC for branch award presentation and to the Five Miles from Anywhere, Upware. Friday 2 - Sunday 4 May. Boot, Dullingham. Beer Festival. Friday 2 - Monday 5 May. Sun Inn, Waterbeach. Beer Festival. Friday 2 - Monday 5 May. Red Lion, Swaffham Prior. Beer Festival. Tuesday 6 May at 7:00. Presentation of branch awards to the Drayman's Son. Tuesday 6 May from 7:45. Open Branch Meeting at the West End House. Saturday 10 May. Strolling Social in Kings Lynn. Saturday 17 May. Wicken Beer Festival on Wicken Recreation Ground. Monday 19 - Saturday 24 May. Maypole (Cambridge). Beer Festival. Open all day. Monday 19 - Saturday 24 May. Cambridge Beer Festival. CAMRA event on Jesus Green. 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.

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

Elysian Winter Beer Festival Our recent beer festival was a big success. We hope that you had the opportunity to enjoy it. You almost drank us dry. We are very grateful to all the volunteers who made it happen. Last night we got them together at the Prince Albert to thank them for all that they did. Also very grateful are our festival charity, Something To Look Forward To. Your generosity at the festival together with the proceeds from last night's raffle raised around £1,750 for them.

Open Branch Meeting Our March Open Branch Meeting will be held on Tuesday 4 March from 7:45pm at the Hereward. Come along and hear what your branch is doing.

Upcoming Events Tuesday 4 March from 7:45. Open Branch Meeting at the Hereward. Wednesday 12 March: Cambridge CAMRA Strolling Social of pubs from Blackfriars to Farringdon. Catch the 10:28 from Ely to make the connection at Cambridge. Tuesday 1 April from 7:45. Open Branch Meeting at the Carpenters Arms, Soham.