The glory in a pint of best at Hereford festival (From Hereford Times)

The glory in a pint of best at Hereford festival

8:00am Saturday 12th July 2008 in

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AN exhibition celebrating the splendour of Herefordshire pubs is taking to the road after it was launched at the Beer on the Wye Festival.

Mark Haslam, of CAMRA, said the exhibition featured 17 of the county’s pubs that had outstanding interiors of great architectural merit, including the Bull’s Head at Craswall, the Olde Tavern at Kington and the Carpenters Arms in Walterstone.

“It caused a sensation at the festival,”

said Mr Haslam. “It will be displayed at the Great British Beer Festival in London which will be attended by around 80,000 people in August.

“People in the county don’t realise how lucky we are to have some marvellous pubs. Only Devon and Cumbria come anywhere near – now we can share this wonderful legacy.”

The beer festival attracted a record 3,200 visitors to Hereford Rowing Club, 600 up on last year.

“It doubled the attendance of the first festival in 2005,” said Mr Haslam.

“Before the festival we were worried the wet weather would put people off. We needn’t have worried, as we have broken every conceivable record for Beer on the Wye – and we were nearly drunk dry by the time the last visitors left the marquee on Sunday.”

Herefordshire CAMRA is looking to invest money raised by the event in a project to raise the profile of county pubs.

Les Lumsden, CAMRA member and professor of sustainable tourism, will be working to produce a number of easy-to-use guides to encourage people to visit the county’s pubs.

The festival offered 111 different beers and 53 ciders and perries.

Champion beer was Station Bitter, a 3.8% strength brew from Stonehouse Brewery in Oswestry, Shropshire.

Champion cider was Black Pig Cider, which is pressed on a farm at Breinton.