One great leap for ale-kind

If travel broadens the mind, then my little grey cells have been revitalised by two long trips to remote parts of the country.

They are trips that have proved that good British beer is undergoing a small but encouraging revival.

My first jaunt took me to Shropshire where a famous brew-pub, the All Nations at Madeley, has re-opened.

In the 1970s, when Camra was getting under way and I was sharpening my quill to write about beer, there were just four brew-pubs left in the country; the All Nations, the Three Tuns at Bishop's Castle, also in Shropshire, the Olde Swan in Netherton, West Midlands, and the Blue Anchor in Helston, Cornwall.

The first three have led precarious lives in recent years.

They have closed and, in the case of the Three Tuns and the Olde Swan, have re-opened under new and careful hands.

But when the shutters came down on the All Nations two years ago it seemed we would lose a small piece of our brewing heritage for good.

A friend who visited the pub just before it closed spoke forlornly of cracked lino on the floor, an absence of customers, and poor quality beer.

The omens were not good.

But local people thought the pub was too good and too important to lose.

Linda and Jim Birtwhistle ran a pub in Madeley but decided ­ bravely ­ to leave a thriving business and take on a closed pub and mini-brewery on the outskirts of town.

When I arrived on a Monday, traditionally a poor trading day for pubs, a decorator was putting the final touches to the exterior of the small alehouse that stands proud above the Coalport Road.

Linda proudly showed me the interior.

The cracked lino has gone.

So has a false ceiling and boarded-up fireplaces.

Now there are flagstone and timber floors, comfortable settles, open fires and exposed beams.

The hand-pumped beers include the house beer, Dabley Ale, named after a road that used to run past the pub.

It's brewed by Mike Handley of the Worfield Brewery in Bridgnorth who, by September, will have moved his brewing equipment to the brewhouse at the rear of the All Nations.

The 3.8% beer is straw-coloured with a big hoppy aroma and a fine balance of creamy malt and bitter hops in the mouth.

On a warm afternoon, it was wonderfully refreshing.

I wasn't the only one who thought so: as early evening arrived, so did the customers.

They were mainly young people and they were supping Dabley Ale.

"We're weaning them off lager," Handley said.

Long may the new All Nations fly the flag for ale.

Then I took off to Somerset last Saturday for a party.

The Cottage Brewery at West Lydford was celebrating 10 years of successful beer making.

I went down to West Lydford when Chris Norman, and his wife Helen, were still reeling from the shock of winning the Champion Beer of Britain award in 1995 with Norman's Conquest.

Since then, they've won a silver for Best Bitter in the same championship and another gold for Conquest in the winter version of Camra's awards.

The brewery has been so successful that a move to new premises in a former dairy was made necessary, followed by the installation of brewing kit that has enabled the company to move from 10 barrels a week to 30.

The Normans now have a full-time brewer and a marketing man to help them grow the business.

Chris and Helen took a chance last Saturday with an open-air event that included a barbecue, children's playground and a live Beatles tribute band.

They hoped it wouldn't rain on their parade and the gods smiled on them: it was a day of searing heat, and the casks of fine ale were drained as we toasted the Norman's success.

The global giants who dominate brewing in Britain will sneer and say they spill more beer than the likes of the All Nations and Cottage make.

But that misses the point.

Small breweries provide much-needed choice for drinkers.

The All Nations has been saved for the country, while Cottage refreshes parched throats throughout the West Country and beyond.

Long may they both prosper. www.protzonbeer.com