Members Weekend and AGM

Held at the Octagon Centre, University of Sheffield
15th -17th April 2011

I booked in to my hotel by lunchtime on Friday, and, as conference registration didn’t open until 4pm, I took a tram for the two stops down the hill to Kelham Island.
Kelham Island is a district close to the river Don, which is prone to flooding from time to time, but which nevertheless is home to several award winning breweries and pubs. I was, in fact, on my way to the Kelham Island Brewery (www.kelhambrewery.co.uk), where I had booked a tour later in the afternoon. On the way I came across the Kelham Island Tavern and couldn’t resist a quick pint.
The Kelham Island Tavern is Sheffield CAMRA’s pub of the year, with a great selection of cask ales. I was sampling a pint of Farmers Blond, when someone tapped me on the shoulder and I found myself looking into the lens of a television camera! “Would you like to say a few words to Calendar viewers why this, and other pubs, should be protected” I was asked by a guy wielding a microphone the size of a baseball bat. I was so surprised that I blustered my way through an interview, and cannot for the life of me remember what I said! (Calendar is ITV Yorkshire’s local news program) I decided to dispatch the rest of my Farmers Blond, and left for the brewery.
A couple of minutes walk and I was still too early for the brewery tour, so I sampled a glass of Easy Rider and had a bite to eat in the Fat Cat, the brewery tap. The brewery trip was informative, short and sweet with barely enough room to move (or swing a fat cat) between the brewing vessels, and then off to the hospitality room behind the pub for more Easy Rider, Pale Rider etc. All too soon it was time to go and I took the option to ride back in the vintage double decker bus laid on by the brewery. After much double declutching and grunts of protest from the old gearbox we lurched back up the hill to the Octagon Centre and registration.
Registration over (1 minute), and armed with my shoulder bag of Conference goodies, I ventured into the member’s bar, which was rammed! The 64 beers available were all LocAle from 17 breweries which, together with the 14 ciders and perrys, kept everyone happy. As with most social events of this type, the majority of delegates had attended previous AGMs and it was like an old boys (and girls) reunion. I had booked a brewery trip in the evening, so I dropped my bag of goodies at the hotel and made my way to the coach pick up point.
The destination for that evening was Oakwell Brewery in Barnsley. Based on the site of an abandoned Courage Group distribution centre, the 100+ barrel kit seemed lost in such a large space. However, having completed the tour, and a short walk through the deserted site to the brewery office and hospitality suite, proved that the beer produced was excellent. On offer were Barnsley Bitter, a 3.8% traditional ale, Oakwell Senior Bitter, a 4.3% classic premium pale ale, Old Tom Mild at 3.8% and Oakwell Lager, a 5% cold fermented, continental style, lager which, although the taste was excellent, was too cold and gassy for me. The kind folk at Oakwell provided us with a fantastic buffet (they were expecting two groups to visit that evening and had laid on enough food for 60). I don’t know how 29 of us managed to get through it all! (well, almost all). The locally produced pork pies with mushy peas were out of this world, and complemented the Barnsley Bitter perfectly. Thanks to Margaret Croft from Barnsley CAMRA for organizing a very enjoyable evening.
After a night’s sleep and a good breakfast, I managed to catch the start of conference on Saturday morning. Many motions were discussed in depth by a variety of speakers, the details and outcome of which can be found on www.camra.org.uk/page.aspx?o=agm. There were also several awards made to individuals and branches for achievements over the past year. It came as a great surprise and honour to be asked to collect the award for The Most Improved Website on behalf of Alan Cooke, our hardworking Webmaster. After a quick pint and steak pie ’n chips in the lunch break, and a quick chat to Bob Darnbrook, a fellow H&B member who came up for the day, it was back to conference for an excellent address by Chris Holmes, Chairman of Castle Rock Brewery and ex CAMRA chairman, and the rest of the afternoon session, which ended at 4pm. Another brewery trip beckoned, so 5.30pm saw me boarding another coach to visit Wentworth.
Wentworth Brewery was set up in 1999 in the former powerhouse for the Wentworth Estate, in a very pleasant rural location on the outskirts of Rotherham. We had to split into two groups to tour this compact brewery, which sported some new and very impressive Dutch stainless steel vessels. Afterwards were treated to another fine buffet. Wentworth beers were served throughout our visit and included W P A, a 4% pale ale, Bumble Beer, a 4.3% honey based golden ale, Best Bitter, a 4.1% premium ale and Imperial Beer, a 3.8% session beer. Suitably plenished, we returned to Sheffield at around 10pm, and retired to the member’s bar for a beer. I met up with Bob again and had an interesting chat before he had to leave for his last tram. I retired at about midnight with the place still heaving.
Sunday morning brought another session in the conference hall with more motions passed or defeated. This was preceded by a Campaign Report delivered by Mike Benner, CAMRA’s CEO. Conference finished at 12.45 with another visit to the member’s bar, before leaving for the train home.
A big vote of thanks to Sheffield CAMRA, aided by Barnsley and Rotherham branches, for a superbly run conference. Also Chairman, Colin Valentine, deserves a mention for controlling proceedings, in the presence of over 1000 delegates, with firmness and a fair helping of humour.
For those of you who feel unsure about the formal side of CAMRA, give a Member’s Weekend and AGM a go. You will discover the solid foundations on which the campaign is built and the passion which makes it such a success. I’m sure that you will come away knowing that CAMRA is not an “old mans’ drinking club”, which some people accuse us of being, but a vibrant group of people winning the battle for community values and against social insularity.  

Words & Photos by Robin