The branch’s Pub of the Year is the Duke of Cumberland Arms in Henley.

This country pub has an unspoilt interior, beers (including Langham Hip Hop and Harveys Best) served on gravity, and some original gas lights. The large rolling gardens feature trout pools, and there’s a real log fire in the smoking area!

The food’s pretty good, too: the cod and chips was the approximate size of a whale…

The fascinating history of brewing and breadmaking will be explored during a special Focus Day at the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum at Singleton, near Chichester on Sunday September 14. The event will cover history, mysteries, and contemporary brewing and baking, with a chance to try some all-important samples!

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The Autumn 2008 edition of the Sussex Drinker is now out, and you can download it here.

Sussex Drinker, Autumn 2008

Printed copies should be appearing in a pub near you soon…

Dark & Light Mild

1. Beckstones Black Freddy
2. Rudgate Ruby Mild
3. Rhymney Dark

Bitters

1. Triple fff Alton’s Pride
2. Lees Bitter
3. Jarrow Rivet Catcher / Surrey Hills Ranmore Ale

Best Bitters

1. Skinners Betty Stogs
2. Highland Scapa Special
3. Cairngorm Nessie’s Monster Mash / Timothy Taylor Landlord

Golden Ales

1. Otley O1
2. Loddon Ferryman’s Gold
3. Skinners Cornish Knocker

Strong Bitter

1. Thornbridge Jaipur IPA
2. Fullers ESB
3. Highland Orkney Blast

Speciality

1. Otley O-Garden
2. Wentworth Bumble Beer
3. Nethergate Umbel Magna

Real Ale In A Bottle

1. Wye Valley Dorothy Goodbody’s Wholesome Stout
2. Fullers 1845
3. Wells & Youngs Special London Ale

CHAMPION BEER OF BRITAIN

1. Triple fff Alton’s Pride
2. Beckstones Black Freddy
3. Wickwar Station Porter (Champion Winter Beer)

This got to us a bit too late for the Sussex Drinker, but there’s a beer festival coming up at the Eastgate, Chichester. It’s on June 20–22, with 10 beers on stillage (plus the usual Fuller’s/Gale’s range on the bar) and a hog roast on Saturday.

It’s time for another Bus Cruise. Details are yet to be confirmed, but the Royal Oak at Friday Street has been mentioned as a possible…

For more details contact Pete Brown on 01243 552908.

The more the merrier (and the lower the cost per person — so let’s try and fill this one up!)

Here’s the provisional Yapton Beerex 2008 beer list.

Sorry, all — delays at the printers. They should be delivered on Wednesday.

Update: tickets are at the Maypole now. Postal bookings should hopefully be dealt with in the next few days. The tickets for the Selden will be with them on Saturday.

Second Update: those of you who have your tickets might notice the wrong dates: Friday is actually the 16th and Saturday is actually the 17th. The day, not the date printed on the ticket is the day your ticket is for. Friday’s tickets are yellow, Saturday lunchtime tickets are blue and Saturday evening tickets are green. Those responsible (ie me) will be shot…

Looks like we have an Internet campaign underway: to get Alistair Darling barred from every pub in Britain.

You can download the poster for the window of your local, and there’s a Facebook group, too — 143 members at the current count.

The only Sussex pubs I’ve spotted on the list so far are all in Lewes (including the Gardener’s Arms) but I’m sure we in Western Sussex can increase the total.

(Could we bar him from all the petrol stations while we’re at it, too?)

The Seal, Selsey, is Western Sussex CAMRA’s Pub of the Year for 2008.

A large, friendly pub offering a good range of beers, often including Dark Star, the Seal is a breath of fresh air on the Selsey scene and a worthy winner. Congratulations!