The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has named the best four member clubs in the UK as part of its Club of the Year 2024 competition.
The top four clubs are:
Haydock Reading Room, St Helens
The Haydock Reading Room has provided a warm and welcoming place for all who like a well-maintained pint with good company since 1884. Three cask beers are available with at least one from a local brewery. The club hosts live music and other events for the community over weekends.
Club Steward Nigel Arnold said: “It has been an incredible achievement from everybody involved at the Haydock Reading Room. We set out each year to get nominated for Club of the Year and everything beyond that is a bonus to us and the job we do here. I have a great team of staff that are all fully trained on looking after and serving real ales. As well as that, we have a great committee supporting the work we do.
“In the last three years since I took over, we have gone from strength to strength, progressing in this competition and it’s just wonderful to get the recognition from CAMRA that we have. The St Helens branch has been great in supporting us and advising when they can. It’s just an incredible achievement for all of us involved at the Reading Room.”
Kettering Midland Band Social Club, Kettering
A popular club tucked away close to Rockingham Road Pleasure Park. The Midland Band Club has plenty of space to accommodate guests, with a long public bar, sunken lounge area, a separate games area and a large concert room for events. Five guest beers from independent breweries are on the bar including one dark beer, with Bar Manager David Bellamy having previously won Club Mirror’s Bar Manager of the Year. The club actively strives to entertain its community with a busy social diary and regular organised trips.
Bar Manager David Bellamy said: “To say I am overwhelmed is an understatement. It makes six and a half years of hard work all worthwhile in taking the club from strength to strength and promoting good real ale with the management committee's full support.”
Marden Village Club, Marden
This Grade II listed community hub won the overall Club of the Year title in both 2022 and 2023. The Marden Village Club boasts of six cask beers at the bar, generally from local microbreweries and with one dark beer always available. Snooker and darts teams are very poplar, along with regular bingo nights.
Marden Village Club Chair Les James said: ″We are very proud and honoured to be named by CAMRA as one of the top four clubs in the UK. This is testament to the tremendous efforts and accomplishments of Simon, the club’s manager, his amazing bar team and the dedicated cleaners. They are all ably assisted by the Club’s Committee in ensuring the Club has a warm and welcoming atmosphere for members to socialise and drink. None of this would have been possible without the continued support of the Club’s members.”
Firs Club, Codsall
A comfortably furnished private club with its own onsite microbrewery, the Firs Club’s highlight of the year is its November beer festival, which is a great showcase for its own brews. At the bar there are five locally sourced changing cask beers, usually including one mild. Guests can enjoy a pint in the bar area, relax in the quiet lounge, play pool and darts in the separate sports lounge or play snooker upstairs.
Club Manager Anna Reynolds, Club Chairman Richard Bissell, Cellarman Dave Potts said: “Here at The Firs in Codsall we are extremely honoured to hear that we have achieved a place in the top four clubs in the country. This would not have been possible without the support of CAMRA members who have voted for us year after year, our committee, staff, members and customers.
“We strive to provide a welcoming atmosphere with a good selection of ales, including ales from our onsite microbrewery. We consider the club as a central part of the community of Codsall and surrounding areas.”
The four finalists will now have a chance to win the overall Club of the Year title for 2024, which will be announced in early 2025.
National Club of the Year Co-ordinator Phil Gregg said: “We have a very exciting competition this year, with a fantastic final lineup to the Club of the Year award. These four clubs exemplify what people come to expect from an excellent social club - important community spaces that promote the social wellbeing of their local area with a commitment to top quality cask beer I urge everyone to seek out the top four clubs in the UK, and to visit social clubs in your local area.”
Notes to editors
For images, contact CAMRA's Press Office at: press@camra.org.uk
CAMRA campaigns to protect and promote clubs, as well as pubs, which are important community assets that promote the social wellbeing of their local area. The Club of the Year competition is run in conjunction with Club Mirror magazine and is the highest honour the campaigning organisation can award a social club.
All of the clubs in the competition are selected by CAMRA volunteers and judged on their atmosphere, decor, welcome, service, value for money, customer mix and most importantly – quality of beer.
