Welcome to the website of the Bath & Borders branch of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale.
Even though many, if not most, of our pubs are now open, due to social distancing rules, we can still not have CAMRA socials and meetings inside, or outside, pubs. However CAMRA HQ are still running the online ‘virtual pub’ called the Red On-Lion, to help us get together in these troubled and strange times.
Sadly though, it is being restricted to one hour per day for each ‘table’ for the rest of July, and then 30 minutes per day for August, after which it will stop. We are, therefore, looking into other online methods of running our online get togethers.
To get onto the Red On-Lion, you follow the link to the web page, log on with your CAMRA details, enter our branch table code ( VWU-794 ) and then you’re able to see and chat to everybody else who is at your ‘virtual table’. Of course it is just a bit more than that, but I explain the details on how to join in on our Diary page.
We have a regular weekly meet up at the Red (On)Lion on Wednesdays from 8.30 PM. 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.
The new Summer 2020 Pints West in Lockdown 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 a special online 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.
This is the official guidance from CAMRA HQ, sent out on March 17th.
‘While we understand the important social benefits of CAMRA and the huge pleasure in pub going, we feel it would be seen as highly irresponsible to continue to promote gatherings of people in pubs – both of which have been advised against by the Government. Considering this, the National Executive has decided to instruct all committees, at national, regional and branch level, to immediately cancel any physical meetings and only organise virtual meetings.’
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 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.