Cheers! Beer lovers raise a glass to SE London Camra’s 50th anniversary

Beer lovers from across southeast London have been celebrating the 50th anniversary of the local Campaign for Real Ale in fine style. MARIA FREEMAN raises a glass to our locals. 

Members and supporters gathered at The Great Harry – the Wetherspoon pub in Woolwich – to get the party started before heading to Plumstead to the site of the Lord Derby pub, where the first South East London Camra meeting took place on July 15, 1974.

The pub traded until 2010 and was converted into a Nepalese restaurant, Danfe Radigher. That closed in April after a licensing breach, so Camra members found themselves standing outside a shut-down corner plot rather than inside a vibrant community venue.

But that came shortly after, as we were able to continue our celebrations with a drink or two at the Plum Tree Beer shop – last year’s Greenwich district pub of the year.

While many pubs are closing, not all is lost on the real ale and cider scene. There is good news – newer businesses such as The Green Goddess in Blackheath, which recently marked its second anniversary, and The Shirker’s Rest in New Cross and The Rusty Bucket in Eltham.

One afternoon in July, a “Shirk, Rust and Pray” free shuttle bus – driven by Stephen O’Connor, the Green Goddess’s owner – enabled beer fans to visit all three pubs in an afternoon.

Micropubs are also Camra award-winners – the River Ale House in Greenwich is our 2024 branch pub of the year.

There have also been community fightbacks resisting development, such as at the White Swan in Charlton. Another campaign resulted in The Ivy House in Nunhead becoming a successful community-owned pub.

Camra members continue to support and champion pubs during these challenging time, in particular by visiting and buying beer and cider. We have a number of branch socials where you can make new friends and find out more about how to get involved in supporting real ale and cider.   

Members can also support brewers by attending Camra’s local beer festivals. All Camra festivals are run by members and are a great introduction to real ale and cider. 

For many years South East London Camra held a festival at Charlton Park rugby club in Kidbrooke, and before that in venues such as the Borough Hall in Greenwich and the Broadway Theatre in Catford.  This year, we moved to Dulwich Hamlet football club, selling over 50 beers and ciders, with over 1,200 visitors over three days in May. 

We also had a specially-commissioned 50^th anniversary ale – SE London ESB 5.8% — in both cask and bottle, from our friends at Southwark Brewery, which sold very well.  

Andy Large, South East London Camra’s chair, said “It has been a pleasure to celebrate the branch’s 50^th anniversary. Thank you to all branch colleagues past and present for helping us flourish. We had a fantastic beer festival in Dulwich in May, and look forward to returning there next year.”

It is fair to say that Camra has suffered image problems for some time – being seen as old-fashioned, male, pale and stale. So, we need more people involved, from different backgrounds, to help the campaign grow and develop. 

The arguments about cask and keg can rumble along, but in my view, the focus should be – does the beer taste good, is this establishment welcoming and a good place to spend time in? 

Then there are bigger considerations – how are we helping businesses flourish and innovate? The British pub is a thing to celebrate, along with our brewing heritage, which is under threat. 

South East London Camra is a large branch covering the boroughs of Greenwich, Lewisham and Southwark, along with the parts of Lambeth with an SE postcode. A potted history, written by branch organiser Roger Warhurst and Mostyn Lewis, a founder member, is on our website, along with our calendar of social events. Why not join us?

To find out more about South East London Camra, visit sel.camra.org.uk. Join Camra at join.camra.org.uk.