Welcome to the website of the Bath & Borders branch of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale.
As from May 17th pubs can now open (see below), with up to 30 in outside areas only, and but only six people inside in a group, at a table. Therefore we can still not have normal CAMRA socials and meetings in pubs. However we will be holding a Zoom meeting on Wednesday at 8.30 pm, on a weekly basis, to help us get together in these troubled and strange times.
To get onto the Zoom meeting, you follow the link to the Zoom Meeting page. Of course it is just a bit more than that, but I explain the details on how to join in on our Diary page.
You can stay as long as you like, up to the closing hour, and drink whatever you have in the house!
Hope to see you on a Wednesday evening.
Pubs now open for beer!
As from May 17th pubs are allowed to open up indoors for groups of up to six at a table, and outside for groups of up to 30, to sell beer and other drinks, as well as food. We now have a list online on our Facebook page that shows those pubs that we know are open. This list will change (hopefully expand!) so please check with the pub itself for the hours they are open, and whether booking is needed.
Click on these links for our local Whatpub list of pubs (and links to the pubs) and our Facebook page for those we have been informed have opened.
2021 Good Beer Guide out Thursday 29th October 2020.
The 2021 edition of the ever-popular CAMRA Good Beer Guide was launched on Thursday 29th October 2020. The book is available from main bookshops and you can buy it direct from CAMRA here: https://shop1.camra.org.uk/product/the-good-beer-guide-2021/
The cover price is £15.99, with a discounted price for CAMRA members purchasing online of £12.00 plus £2.50 postage.
In addition there is an updated app version available for download on both iOS and Android devices.
The Good Beer Guide is an ideal Christmas or birthday present for anyone who enjoys a pint. It is the only properly and independently researched guide to the best pubs for real ale and cider across the UK. A huge amount of dedicated research is put in by unpaid volunteers across the country to ensure that the pubs with the best kept real ale are included in this prestigious guide, so thank you to everyone that has contributed towards this.
The new ‘ Pints West in Lockdown 3 is out.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the associated lockdown, it is not currently viable to print and distribute Pints West as normal. So here is the latest special online ‘Lockdown 3’ edition packed full of beer, pub and brewery related articles. Well done to the editor and all the contributors for knocking it out of the park in these challenging times!
Click here to view the pdf
Due to the advice and recommendations, re Covid-19, from the Government, Public Health England and the World Health Organisation, all Bath and Borders CAMRA socials and meetings are suspended from March 17th until further notice. As the situation and official guidance is changing so rapidly, we will update this page when we can.
Please see CAMRA’s Pulling Together Page for how we can all help our local pubs and brewers.
CAMRA is a national, independent, voluntary organisation campaigning for real ale, community pubs and consumer rights. Bath and Borders branch is just one of many throughout the UK with a total membership of over 185,000. Between us we put on dozens of beer festivals every year, campaign for all things beery, including fighting the closure of breweries and pubs, and, after selflessly visiting many hundreds of pubs and drinking thousands of pints (‘surveying’ is what we call it), we all contribute towards the annual Good Beer Guide, as well as the full national online guide to all pubs and many bars, WhatPub.
Our branch covers a wide area, which encompasses not only Bath but also towns and villages in Wiltshire and Somerset. In Wiltshire these include Bradford-on-Avon, Trowbridge, Westbury, and Warminster, and, in Somerset, the City of Wells, Frome, Shepton Mallet, Midsomer Norton, and Radstock. The City of Bath, one of the finest cities in the country for real ale, is the jewel in our crown and the Bath Beer Festival is one of the longest running CAMRA events in the region. The whole branch area is a rich haven of real ale and splendid pubs, and it contains no less than sixteen excellent breweries / brewpubs.
For a link to a crawl of some Bath pubs click here: Pub & Beer Trails – Bath. Note that this is not an official CAMRA site, or created by a local member.
The 2020 CAMRA Bath Beer Festival, our fourth Winter Ales Fest, was held on Friday the 7th and Saturday the 8th of February (2020) at the Widcombe Social Club.
You can read an article by Trevor Cromie on the 2020 festival on our Beer Fest page here.
We have well over 300 pubs and bars in our branch area. The best way to find a pub in the area you are in, or are planning to visit, is via our national CAMRA pub guide WhatPub. Just enter the name of the place, be it a city such as Bath or Wells, or one of the many towns or villages we cover, some listed above. You can see the area we cover on our Branch map.
Please note that, while we try to make these entries as accurate and comprehensive as possible, some mistakes and/or omissions may well occur as pubs close, open, and change in some way, so please let us know of any changes or updates.
You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Alongside the Bath Beer Festival the branch runs events on a more-or-less weekly basis. These include socials and meetings, brewery visits, minibus trips to outlying pubs, joint events with neighbouring branches, and even an annual weekend away. If you’re a CAMRA member in the area, or even just somebody interested in beer, please feel free to come to any of our events. Click on the Branch Diary link for full details. You can also email us via our contacts page.