Aylesbury Vale & Wycombe

News

Branch News

  • Good Beer Guide Launch Thursday 25 September 2025

    The Good Beer Guide 2026, the UK's most trusted and authoritative guide to exceptional cask beer pubs, launches on 25th September as a testament to the remarkable resilience of Britain's pub industry.

    With more than 50 pubs included in the guide, Buckinghamshire is strongly represented, demonstrating the area's exceptional cask beer heritage, which includes many fine local breweries.

    Chair, Mike Clarke, visited one of the guide’s long-standing entries, the Bird in Hand in Princes Risborough to present licensee Katie Baldock with a copy of the book. He said, “The Bird in Hand exemplifies the community spirit celebrated in this year's guide and continues to win awards.” The Oak Taverns pub, the branch’s 2023 Pub of the Year, was recently named in the Telegraph’s Top 500 pubs in the country.

    As the definitive guidebook to pubs serving great cask beer across the UK, The Good Beer Guide maintains its position as the complete resource for beer lovers and anyone wanting to experience Britain's finest pubs. The guide's pubs are selected by CAMRA members based on consistent beer quality.

    The launch comes at a critical moment for the industry, with the upcoming Budget representing a make-or-break moment for the local pubs and breweries championed by CAMRA branches nationwide.

    CAMRA continues to lobby for government support and tangible legislation to protect pubs across the UK, with many establishments struggling under the weight of business rates, VAT, beer duty and energy costs.

    “Use them or lose them,” is a phrase often used about our treasured locals. The new edition of the guide shows that, for now, there are still plenty of excellent pubs in Buckinghamshire in which to enjoy a pint of cask ale.

    The new edition of the guide can be ordered online from CAMRA or found in all good bookshops.

  • Rose and Thistle, Haddenham Monday 1 September 2025

    A campaign group has been established with the aim of reopening the Rose & Thistle. The pub closed in March 2019 and planning permission was granted by Buckinghamshire Council in March 2024 for conversion into a dwelling house. Below are links to the group's GoFundMe and Facebook pages.

    Rose & Thistle Go Fund Me

    Rose & Thistle Facebook

  • Summer POTY presentation Monday 2 June 2025

    The General Havelock in Loudwater was voted our Summer Pub of the Year for 2025. The family-run pub has been recognised for its excellent real ale quality and decades of service to the community.

    Famously, it’s a pub whose location has long been a matter of dispute. Some maintain it is located in Loudwater (including CAMRA’s own Good Beer Guide). However, others locate it more precisely in Wycombe Marsh, an address found on the pub’s own website.

    Whatever its precise whereabouts, the pub is widely acknowledged for its consistently excellent cask ales, from the Fuller’s portfolio. The General Havelock has been a regular fixture in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide for decades. The award of Summer Pub of the Year additionally recognises the pub’s peaceful, enclosed garden, furnished with enough tables to enable an exodus into the sun to enjoy the pub’s fine ales.

    Marc Porter is the current licensee, the pub having been in the capable hands of the same family for nearly forty years.

    Branch Chair Mike Clarke commented: "The General Havelock delivers exactly what CAMRA champions – consistently great real ale in a pub that's the heart of its community. And, weather permitting, drinkers can sit and sip a pint in the pleasant garden, confirming we have a deserved winner for our Summer Pub of the Year." .

  • Cask Calling Saturday 17 May 2025

    Our branch magazine has been relaunched as Cask Calling. Swan Supping ran for 140 editions over 27 years with Dave Roe as editor for all this time.

    When Dave decided to stand down it was agreed a relaunch was required. This is the first issue.

    We welcome any comments or suggestions as the new magazine beds in.

    Cask Calling 001

  • Recognise the production and serving of cask ale as Intangible Cultural Heritage Thursday 1 May 2025

    CAMRA have been working with the Craft Beer Channel to get cask beer the protection and recognition it deserves from the UK government and UNESCO.

    The petition has already received more than 10,000 signatures, with the UK Government responding both quickly and positively to the campaign. They will be opening a call for submissions later this year, which we will respond to, making the case for including cask beer in the nation's Living Heritage Inventory.

    To find out more about the Living Heritage Inventory, visit the UNESCO webpage.

    UNESCO Living Heritage Inventory

    CAMRA are pushing for 100,000 signatures to get the petition debated in Parliament. If you haven't already signed it, go to petition on the UK Parliament website.

    Parliamentary Petition

  • Branch Pub of the Year 2025 Sunday 13 April 2025

    We made our Pub of the Year 2025 award on 6th March to the Rose and Crown in High Wycombe.

    We had an excellent response to our online poll and many thanks to the members who voted and left comments praising the shortlisted pubs.

    The vote was close but the winner was the Rose and Crown in High Wycombe with 28%. Close behind were joint runners-up, the Hop Pole in Aylesbury and King and Queen in Wendover with 20% each. Congratulations also to the other two nominees, the King’s Head in Aylesbury and the Lions of Bledlow, which both scored well.

    Branch committee and other members joined Chair, Mike Clarke, to present a certificate to Kirsten Palmer, licensee of the Rose and Crown.

    Mike said “The Rose and Crown was joint runner-up in last year’s competition and is an excellent example of a thriving town centre local and shows how offering a great selection of real ale can build a loyal local following.”

    The award was voted for by local branch members in an online poll. Members added their own tributes to the pub. Examples include: “the pub stands out as a survivor from the past against the backdrop of the Eden shopping centre”, “always a smile and good selection of real ale” and “beers are invariably in excellent condition and temperature, probably due to the traditional cellar and good attention to pump and line hygiene in the pub”.

    Kirsten said “We are absolutely over the moon to have been awarded Pub of the Year from Aylesbury Vale & Wycombe CAMRA! This coincides with a five-year renewal of our lease, so you’re stuck with us!”

    The pub has three darts teams and hosts other games such as cribbage and other card games. Live music is also featured each month with charity pub quizzes and sports on TV. It’s also convenient for Wycombe bus station.

    Members of the local CAMRA branch raise their glasses to the Rose and Crown and wish it good luck as it goes on to represent the branch in the next round of the CAMRA National Pub of the Year competition.

    The presentation to the Rose and Crown was featured in the Bucks Free Press.

    POTY Bucks Free Press

    Members also had much praise for the two runners-up. The Hop Pole was described as having “beers kept in excellent condition and always changing”, “a warm and lovely atmosphere” and a “great selection of house and rotating ales”. The King and Queen was “a proper pub. Proper hospitality. No food. It’s all about the beer”, “Very friendly and comfortable. Good rotation of guest beers and always well kept” and “whilst they currently don’t have a chef they have some great food trucks that serve a couple of times a week.”

    Coverage of the presentations to the runners-up from the Bucks Free Press and Bucks Herald.

    POTY 2025 runners-up

    POTY runners-up Bucks Herald