Drink
Following the success of the UK’s first City of Ale event in 2011, Norwich City of Ale returns jubilantly in 2012 with more pubs, more beers, and more events than before. It’s a ten-day celebration of real ale, craft brewing and friendly, welcoming pubs taking place all over the fine city.
More than 40 city pubs will be serving hundreds of beers from 35 local breweries. From the Official Launch Party on 31 May to the Closing Party on 10 June a huge range of events will be taking place giving the City a fantastic festival atmosphere.
These include the popular Brewers’ Market, which returns on Saturday 2 June to Millennium Plain outside the iconic Forum in central Norwich, showcasing a brewers’ dozen or so stalls with a wide variety of ales to try and buy.
This year, along with all the usual (and highly enjoyable) suspects – live bands, pub quizzes, barbecues, Morris dancing and traditional pub games – there are some additional showcase events. A political debate on Friday 1 features three MPs influential in the brewing and licensed trade plus the CEO of the Campaign for Real Ale responding to pressing issues focused around the beer and pub industries. There’s a fund-raising auction on Saturday 9 with oddments and collectable items of breweriana. Throughout the festival there’ll be pub and brewery-oriented heritage walks conducted by Blue Badge Guides; a multimedia extravaganza of Norwich’s pub and brewing heritage airs daily on the big screen at Fusion and the iconic City of Ale Bus (a 1954 Bristol Lodekka) will be plying a number of routes around the more outlying pubs (though, wonderfully, all the pubs are within easy walking distance; Norwich is a city on a human scale with the most complete medieval street plan in Europe).
In these austere times when alcohol is increasingly seen as a social evil, with convivial drinkers being demonised by the press, and the beer escalator duty hitting them where it hurts most (in the wallet), this is an occasion to celebrate all that is truly good, wholesome and enjoyable about our national tipple; salubrious, honest, natural, unpretentious real ale. Surely we can all drink to that!
Norwich City of Ale 31st May – 10th June 2012. View the schedule of events and the pubs and breweries that are taking part.
THREE MEN ON A BIKE-BASED PUB ‘CRAWL’ FOR SPORT RELIEF 2012.
Paul, Josh & James.
This year three guys from South Norfolk are cycling 150 miles around Norfolk stopping at every Red Lion pub along the way – all in a bid to raise vital funds for Sport Relief.
Over the Sport Relief weekend starting Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th March, Paul Worley (44), Josh Worley (16) and James Blackett (39) will be hopping on their bicycles to complete the 150 mile ‘S’ shaped route around the county.
Starting at the Needham Red Lion the boys will stop at 13 Red Lion pubs before finally finishing at the Red Lion in Stiffkey on the North Norfolk Coast. View the entire (planned) ITINERARY.
Obviously, this is no ordinary pub crawl. As well as trying to stay off the sauce(!), these 3 will also be trying to raise as much cash as possible to help Sport Relief fund vital, life-changing projects in some of the poorest places on earth and right here in the UK. The challenge doesn’t just stop with the cyclists. As well as the actual bike ride, Paul, Josh and James are challenging all 13 pubs on their route to try and raise £1000 each for the Red Lion Challenge by any means necessary – so get down to your local Red Lion and help reach that one grand goal of £20,ooo!
During the Red Lion Challenge, you can track the lads live via GPS on their website.
Support the lads by:
- Donating Online at www.redlionchallenge2012.com.
- Donating by Text by texting ‘LION 50 1’ to 70070 to donate £1†
† Texts cost £1 from all UK networks and the whole £1 goes to Sport Relief.
To mark the upcoming occasion of the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton on 29th April, The English Whisky Co in Roudham, Norfolk, have produced a unique whisky.
Described as ‘a marriage of casks’, this hand picked single malt in an engraved decanter bottle is available on one-time, limited release at £65 from St George’s Distillery or online (P&P applies online).
The Limited Release Royal Wedding Whisky.
The first and only registered whisky distillery in England, St. George’s Distillery became operational in December 2006. Originally a ‘retirement project’ for Farmer James Nelstrop, the objective was to produce excellent quality whisky that will be able to compete with some of the finest whiskies currently on the market.
Though whisky production stopped in England over 100 years ago, the barley grown in Norfolk and the Breckland water are prefect for producing excellent quality whisky. Forsyths of Rothes, who have been servicing the whisky industry since the late 1800’s, built the equipment in the distillery, including the beautiful copper stills. St. George’s was also fortunate enough to have award-winning master distiller Iain Henderson – formerly Manager at the Laphroaig Distillery and who has assisted in the set up of several successful distilleries – overseeing the initial production.
The first batch of whisky was bottled in December 2009, and during 2010 the distillery bottled an exclusive peaty number that was specially distilled by Iain. The distillery also plans to experiment with sherry and Madeira casks and in 2012 there will be a superb English whisky for the Olympic games.
Now you can buy English Whisky Co’s delicious range of liqueurs, creams and English spirit, as well as numerous other whisky-related items in the large on-site shop. With glassware, clothing, books and some unusual and rare whiskies from around the world, it is the perfect place to source a truly unique gift for any whisky-lover.
The distillery and visitor centre lie just off the B1111 at Roudham amongst a grove of cricket bat willows. In addition to the fascinating distillery, shop and coffee shop, there is extensive ‘green’ space to walk and picnic or to simply sit and reflect on the fact that history is being made along with whisky, as it is once again produced in England.
Open 7 days a week 10am-5.30pm.Tour times 10am-4pm on the hour.Shop & café open 10am-5.30pm.
Admission to the distillery, shop & café is FREE. Tours start at £5 per person (£2 for under-18s).
The English Whisky Co.
St. George’s Distillery, Harling Road, Roudham, Norwich, NR16 2QW.
Tel: 01953 717939.
- 18/05/2012 - Victorian Shell Artistry May 18, 2012
- 18/05/2012 - Shipwrecked! Back to 1897 May 18, 2012
- 18/05/2012 - A Walk Through Time: The Victorians May 18, 2012
- 18/05/2012 - Norwich 20 Group – Looking into 20 – paintings and sculpture at The Forum May 18, 2012
- 18/05/2012 - Tony Foster Paintings/Angela Harding Prints May 18, 2012