Only by becoming a co-operative have the residents of one Cumbrian village saved their local pub and brewery
There's a small beer revolution going on in one of the remotest parts of England. The village of Hesket Newmarket, in Cumbria, is served by a weekly bus, and the nearest rail link, at Penrith, demands a long haul in a car along narrow, twisting country lanes.
But just the other evening, the village was buzzing. Mud-spattered — and even snow-spattered — cars lined the streets. When I walked round the back of the only pub in the village, the Old Crown, its small brewery was packed to the proverbial gunwales.
A celebration was under way, and it was considered of sufficient importance for Prince Charles to send a message of congratulations.
The Hesket Newmarket Brewery is unique. It's not only owned by the villagers but is also a co-operative. All the shareholders own one share each, which they can't cash in for personal gain, but can only hand back to the co-op. The owners have rejected the offer of cash dividends and receive their annual pay-out in the best possible way — free beer in the Old Crown.
The celebration last week marked 20 years of brewing in a barn behind the pub. Brewery and pub were run for some years by Jim and Liz Fearnley, but when Jim decided that brewing was too arduous for a man past retirement age, it seemed the brewery was destined to close.
But the villagers were determined to save both the brewery and the last pub in the village. They formed the co-op — a democratically-run community enterprise. The co-op hired a professional brewer and news of the quality of the ale started to spread. The beers won prizes at local Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) festivals and a network of other pubs in Cumbria started to take them.
When the first brewer moved on, the co-op recruited Mike Parker, a former brewer with Bass. Mike used his skill and experience to improve the quality and consistency of the beers, and added to the range. There are now 10 regular beers and most of them take their names from local mountains and fells, as in Sca Fell Blonde, Catbells Pale Ale, Blencathra Bitter and Skiddaw Special.
The brewery has expanded, with smart new equipment that allows 10 barrels a week to be produced. Apart from the Old Crown, it now has 20 regular outlets for the beer and a further 20 pubs take the beers on an occasional basis.
Six of the beers are now available in bottle-conditioned form, but they are sold either from the brewery or from specialist shops in Cumbria: the co-op voted not to get involved with supermarkets, due to the latter's insatiable demand for deep discounts.
Pub and brewery are deeply rooted in their community. When the Fearnleys decided to retire completely, the Old Crown was also saved from closure by the creation of a second co-op. In 2004 Prince Charles visited Hesket Newmarket to officially open the brewery extension. He also toured the Old Crown as part of his commitment to saving rural pubs, through his Pub is the Hub initiative. He returned in 2007 to see the new equipment installed to produce bottled beers.
The term "villager" has taken on a new meaning in Hesket Newmarket. Some of the shareholders in both pub and brewery live far from Cumbria. There are supporters in the United States, and one shareholder, Peter Krugmann, regularly comes from Cologne, in Germany, to attend meetings. He was present last week, brandishing a copy of the Good Beer Guide, supping a pint or two and saying that English ale was superior to German lager.
The beers are superb and, with an irony not lost on Peter Krugmann, meet the strictures of the German "pure beer law", the Reinheitsgebot: they are made only with malt, hops, yeast and water. They have a rich, aroma and flavour of biscuity malt and tangy hops. A new beer launched for the occasion, XX 20th Anniversary Ale at 5.1% abv, is a fine example of a true India Pale Ale, bursting with juicy malt and citrus flavours from imported American hops.
This is a marvellous local enterprise. The control exercised by the community creates great passion for the products and the pub. Hesket Newmarket may be almost off the map, but it's pointing the way for how beer is produced and our pubs are run in the future.