The post Vox Pops with regulars in the pub on Adam Green this morning appeared first on The Bailey Head, Oswestry.

Yesterday we were presented with the CAMRA National Pub of the Year Award!

We were presented with the award by Laura Emson, CAMRA’s National Executive member responsible for awards, together with National Chair Ash Corbett-Collins and Helen Morgan MP.

Midlands Today coverage

The One Show

Here are some photos from what was an amazing day!

All photos by Graham Mitchell

The post CAMRA National Pub of the Year Presentation appeared first on The Bailey Head, Oswestry.

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has announced The Bailey Head, Oswestry as the winner of its Pub of the Year competition

The Bailey Head in Oswestry, Shropshire has been named the Campaign for Real Ale’s (CAMRA) overall Pub of the Year for the first time. The pub is a rags-to-riches success story after the owners turned what was once a closed local into a haven for the local community.

The Bailey Head had been failing under the ownership of a major pub company and was listed by CAMRA as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) to protect it from redevelopment. Nine years ago, it was bought by Duncan Borrowman and Grace Goodlad who poured their knowledge and passion into transforming the pub.

Their dedication means that the Bailey Head has won a staggering roster of awards from CAMRA, the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA), The Shropshire GOAT and TripAdvisor.

Community and inclusion are at the heart of the pub, and it acts as a hub for locals to come together for good causes through events like their charity pub quizzes and live music.

Landlord Duncan Borrowman said: “We have always had a policy of Everyone Welcome, any person should feel happy and comfortable coming in by themselves and enjoying a drink, either on their own or chatting to other customers. We thrive on being the heart of the community and a place where people gather to celebrate or commiserate.

“While all of the focus tends to be on us as a couple, this win was also down to our incredible team of welcoming and knowledgeable staff, and to our wonderful regulars who have become very much a community in their own right.”

Aside from providing a welcoming atmosphere, the Bailey Head also boasts an impressive array of cask beer and cider.

Landlady Grace Goodlad said: “We are thrilled, we hope we can live up to the award. In our wildest dreams we never thought we would win CAMRA Pub of the Year. From small beginnings nine years ago, we have taken everything one step at a time, through COVID, slowly improving to the point where we now have twelve handpulls serving six cask beers and six ciders and perries, plus sixteen other draught lines.

“When we bought the pub nine years ago it was failing and had been listed as an Asset of Community Value by the local CAMRA branch. That listing made it possible for us to save it from potentially becoming housing and turning it into the pub it is today.”

Shrewsbury and West Shropshire CAMRA Chairman David Ricketts said: “The story of the Bailey Head from humble beginnings proves that any pub can become the best in the UK with some hard graft. Huge congratulations to Duncan and Grace and their hardworking team at the pub. We are so proud that our local branch plays host to them, and I hope this win can bring plenty of new visitors to their doorstep.”

CAMRA Awards Director Laura Emson said: “There could not be a more deserving winner for the Pub of the Year than the Bailey Head. In a time when running a pub is a significant challenge, the commitment and enthusiasm Duncan and Grace show should be highly commended and seen as an example. January can be an especially tough time for our locals, so please get out and visit them and provide the support that is so desperately needed for pubs across the UK.”

All the pubs 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.

The post The Bailey Head wins CAMRA UK national Overall Pub of the Year! appeared first on The Bailey Head, Oswestry.

Regulars and visitors from far and wide came together to celebrate The Bailey Head pub in Oswestry receiving their certificate for becoming one of the four national finalists in the Campaign for Real Ale Pub of the Year award.

The post Oswestry’s The Bailey Head celebrates receiving National Pub of the Year finalists award appeared first on The Bailey Head, Oswestry.

Today we headed to Stonehouse Brewery to brew their first collaboration beer.

One Day is a 4.7% West Coast IPA designed with Kev the head brewer and Shane over a pint in the pub and features Citra and Krush hops.

Rhys, Carys and Jack came along to join in the brew day and got to stir the mash, add hops and the yeast.

This is the third collaboration that will appear on the bar at our 23 November CAMRA National Pub of the Year finalist presentation.

The post Stonehouse Collaboration Brew Day appeared first on The Bailey Head, Oswestry.

Like Scary Monsters, Super Creeps uses Nelson Sauvin and Ekuanot. It won’t be as hazy as Scary Monsters and will be 4.8%.

This is the second of our three collaborations that will go on the bar at our CAMRA National Pub of the Year finalist presentation on 23 November. Last week we brewed with Riverhead (Ossett) in Yorkshire and next week we will be brewing much closer to home… watch this space.

The post Super Creeps Collaboration with Castle Rock appeared first on The Bailey Head, Oswestry.

We are backing the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) Indie Beer campaign. Apart from our Krombacher (which is brewed by an independent family owned German brewery) all of our draught beer and 99% of our small pack beer is brewed by independent UK breweries.

The post We are backing the SIBA Indie Beer Campaign appeared first on The Bailey Head, Oswestry.

Grace and Duncan have spent the last two days with Ossett Brewery in Yorkshire.
On Monday Oliver Ford and Head Brewer Paul Spencer took the pair of us on a superb tour of three very different pubs and the Ossett Brewery.

We started off at the stunning Kings Arms, Heath Common, Wakefield. This stunning 18th century building is full of beams and atmosphere. Sorry no photos.

We then headed to Fernandes Brewery. Luis Bar, converted from an old maltings couldn’t be more different to the Kings Arms. The cellar houses a tiny brewery! The only photo we grabbed was of the pump clip of local legend Bill Nelson, which Duncan had a very enjoyable pint of, having seen him front Be Bop Deluxe back in 1978!

Then on to a great tour of Ossett Brewery, an incredible setup, that relies on one Mash Tun to feed a mass of tanks.

Finally we headed to the Bingley, for more beers and some great Bao buns and wings.

Tuesday was an early start to head back across Leeds to the Riverhead Brewery Tap in Marsden. Our task for the day was to collaboration brew Wild Flower, a 4.2% hazy pale under the expert guidance of Steve Chapman. Steve has a lifetime of brewing, including many years at Tetley Brewery. It is fair to say that hazy beers packed with lots of American hops post boil are not his personal preference, which to be fair lead to lots of teasing, but this was helped along by lots of discussions about gigs we had all been to. So Wild Flower, 4.2%, hopped with Citra, Idaho 7, Mosaic and Galaxy will make its first appearance at our CAMRA National Pub of the Year Finalists presentation on 23 November.

Thanks again to Ollie, Paul and Steve for looking after us, we had a great time.

The post Ossett Brewery Visit and Riverhead Collaboration Brew appeared first on The Bailey Head, Oswestry.