Licensees the length and breadth of the country are being urged to join in the celebrations to mark the 200th anniversary of Britain's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. JO de MILLE finds out what brewers have planned across the UK
It's now just six weeks until Trafalgar Weekend, and the warning from the event's sponsors is get involved or your customers are likely to end up celebrating elsewhere.
Up in Lincolnshire, Bateman's marketing director Jaclyn Bateman enthuses: 'It's a great national event, which we all ought to be celebrating. But it's also an opportunity for pubs to do something different and show everyone what England's all about. It's a real excuse for pubs to have fun.
To encourage customers to get involved in the festivities, she recommends licensees offer specially-brewed ales, including Bateman's own Victory Ale, as well as holding a 'Best Nelson competition, where the Nelson who makes the best impression wins a free pint of beer.
This would obviously be something that needs to be advertised in advance. Licensees, of course, would be expected to make an effort to look the part too, she adds.
Fuller's in full battle dress
The fancy-dress theme is echoed by Fuller's public relations manager Georgina Wald, who expects to see plenty of people wearing hats and eye patches to get behind the nautical theme of the weekend
She adds: 'In times of national celebration for something so patriotic, you want to be somewhere that's typically British what better place to be than the pub?
She believes it is also an opportunity for licensees to attract new customers who wouldn't usually go to the pub, but who would, hopefully, return after the weekend.
'We are encouraging our pubs to make an effort and join in we'll give them ideas, but also encourage each individual pub to come up with their own, she explains.
Licensees at London-based Fuller's pubs will be serving the company's Trafalgar Ale, which will be available in time for the weekend. Wald also anticipates that sales of rum will increase over the weekend, as customers enter into the spirit of the day.
Many Fuller's pubs will be offering food menus that have been inspired by the sort of food eaten in Nelson's time. For ideas on this front, she recommends visiting the Trafalgar Weekend website at www.trafalgarweekend.co.uk.
St Austell Brewery's head of marketing Jeremy Mitchell agrees that food will certainly be an important part of the celebrations.
The company's catering manager Paul Drye has, therefore, set about creating a number of menus using local produce that would have been available in Nelson's day.
'The Trafalgar Weekend is our biggest event for the year. It is very important for our brewery since we are based in Cornwall, which is where the news of victory first hit the British mainland. The events mean a lot for Devon and Cornwall in particular, he maintains.
Specially-brewed Admiral's Ale
Mitchell says the brewery is sending a Trafalgar Weekend brochure to its 158-strong estate, as well as a number of freehouses. Admiral's Ale, which has been brewed especially for the event, will also be available to these pubs. One of St Austell's pubs the Blue Anchor in Helston is the only surviving pub in Cornwall where messengers once stopped-off on their journeys, according to Mitchell.
And the Napoleon Inn, in Boscastle so named because it was a smugglers' pub that was used by the French navy to sign up recruits will ironically also be serving Admiral's Ale and celebrating over the weekend.
Mitchell says St Austell is sponsoring a number of Trafalgar Weekend events in the area, such as a classic MG car rally that starts in Cornwall and ends in Devon.
Get on the Trafalgar ale trail
Norfolk-based Woodforde's has also organised several events in its local area to encourage pubs and customers alike to take part in the celebrations.
Marketing manager Dougal Betts says: 'People are becoming increasingly conscious of where their food and drink comes from, and given that our malt and barley is grown in North Norfolk where Nelson was born and bred, people in the area will want to get fully involved in the celebrations.
The company has organised a Trafalgar Ale Trail running throughout the summer months and involving all pubs in Norfolk that sell the brewery's Nelson's Revenge and Admiral's Reserve. Ale trail participants are issued with a map and 'Charter Log Book that will be stamped by each pub visited. They can then collect a Nelson- inspired prize on completion of the trail.
New commemorative pump clips have also been produced to promote awareness of Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar throughout 2005.
And during this month and next, Woodforde's will be offering drinkers of Nelson beers free bars of Caley's Horatio Nelson chocolate, which is available to pubs and wholesalers throughout the UK.
Chief executive of Shepherd Neame, Jonathan Neame, says there is also likely to be a lot of activity in areas of the country that were some-how involved in Nelson's history. Many of the pubs in its Kent heartland have connections with Nelson, which is reflected by the fact that many carry his name.
The Victory was built in Chatham
Neame explains: 'Ships such as HMS Victory were also built in Chatham and many of the men who fought in the Battle of Trafalgar lived in Deal and Faversham, which are both in Kent. For this reason, he expects many pubs to commemorate the event, 'although I don't think there will be so much activity in town-centre pubs, or the newer pubs.
Shep's is currently brewing 'Tapping the Admiral ale which will be available nationally for a couple of weeks over the celebration period.
As Elaine Beckett, PR manager for Suffolk-based Greene King Pub partners, summarises: 'The main thing is to get as many pubs involved as possible to run some sort of event, whether that is a family fun day or simply menus tailored to the celebrations. It is all about getting people together for the weekend, and what better place to initiate this than a pub?
Register your involvement and get free publicity for your events
The organiser of the Trafalgar Weekend is offering to give pubs free publicity about their events to help get extra customers through the door as long as you let them know what you're planning. Simply fill out the form below detailing what you'll be doing at your pub and return it to the address below by Friday, 23 September. Details of your events will then be passed on to national and regional media.
Trafalgar weekend registration of interest form
Name: ...........................................................................
Address: ........................................................................
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
Organisation: ..................................................................
(If appropriate)
Telephone No: ..................................................................
Mobile Tel No: .................................................................
Fax No: ............................................................................
Email Address: .................................................................
I am interested in taking part in The Trafalgar Weekend by organising:
(Please tick relevant boxes)
Trafalgar Day Lunch on Friday 21 October 2005
Trafalgar Night Dinner on Friday 21 October 2005
Trafalgar Night Party on Friday 21 October 2005
Trafalgar Night Beacon on Friday 21 October 2005
Church Service of Commemoration & Thanksgiving of
Nelson's Life on Sunday 23 October 2005
Proposed venue for the above:
Home Private Lunch, Dinner or Party
Pub
Restaurant
Village/Town/City Hall
Church
Other brief description please ........................................
I would like to receive further information by:
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