The voice of Independent Brewing in the UK has named The Bailey Head in Oswestry as the best craft beer pub or bar in Britain, outside of a city centre
The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), named the Bailey Head pub champion at their annual conference in Liverpool on Wednesday (11/03/2020) evening. The prestigious event was attended by hundreds of UK brewers who had gathered to celebrate the best of British beer.
It was a momentous evening for the pub as at the same time as picking up the national prize their local CAMRA branch named as them as the Shrewsbury and West Shropshire Market Towns Pub of the year.
At the awards ceremony pub co-owner Duncan Borrowman said “We are extremely proud to be named as the best Independent Craft Beer Pub or Bar in the UK. In the last four years we have collected several awards, but to be named as national Champion is really special.
“We work closely with breweries up and down the UK, and to win their prize means so much to us.”
Others have been quick to congratulate Duncan and his wife Grace who jointly own and run the Bailey Head: Nik Antona, National Chairman of Camra said, “Duncan & Grace took on this failing pub in 2016 and saved it for the community of Oswestry. Since then they have gone from strength to strength winning multiple local CAMRA awards as well as being named SIBA’s best UK Rural Craft Beer Pub for 2020.
“This is a fantastic achievement and is a testament to the hard work and dedication that both Duncan and Grace have put in to turning the Bailey’s Head into a “jewel in the crown” of the pub scene, of not just Oswestry but the whole of the Midlands. I congratulate them on this outstanding achievement.”
Other members of the Campaign for Real Ale National Executive were also delighted for the couple, Abigail Newton, National Vice Chairman of CAMRA added, “As a female beer drinker it is was a delight to visit the Bailey Head. The owners Grace and Duncan were so welcoming as if I’d been a regular all my life. We talked a lot about beer, they clearly know a lot about it and how to keep it well. Their pub is a delight and an exquisite example of best of British pubs. I’m very much looking forward to my next visit”
Despite their successes the couple are still looking to the future, Grace said “We are very proud of what we have achieved and grateful to our staff and the people of Oswestry for all their support, the challenge for us moving forward is to make sure we keep getting better, year on year.”
