Pubs from Spalding, Holbeach, Bourne, Donington, Bicker, Deeping St James, Dyke, Surfleet, Market Deeping, Pinchbeck, Swineshead and Wyberton Fen named in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide 2024

Pubs and breweries in our patch are toasting another successful year – after being named in the 2024 CAMRA Good Beer Guide.

A total of 13 boozers from the area have been included in this year’s tome, which is seen as a huge endorsement by real ale aficionados across the region.

Meanwhile, five of our breweries have also made the cut.

The Campaign for Real Ale’s Good Beer Guide – the UK’s best-selling beer and pub guide – is celebrating its 51st edition with a striking cover and a foreword supplied by Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson.

The Guide, which surveys 4,500 of the best pubs across the UK, is the definitive beer drinker’s guide for those seeking the best pints in the nation’s pubs.

Dickinson’s foreword shines a spotlight on the cultural tradition of pubs within the United Kingdom, the importance of protecting the heritage, charm and welcoming nature of pubs and clubs, and not taking them for granted.

Four establishments from our area have been added to the book this year. They are the Thirsty Giraffe (Deeping St James), Wishing Well Inn (Dyke), Crown Hotel (Holbeach) and Crown Inn (Surfleet).

Retaining their place in the Good Beer Guide for this year are: Red Lion (Bicker), Anchor (Bourne), Black Bull (Donington), Vine Inn (Market Deeping), Ship (Pinchbeck), Prior’s Overn (Spalding), Red Lion Hotel (Spalding), Green Dragon (Swineshead) and Hammer & Pincers (Wyberton Fen).

However, there was no place this year for Fosdyke’s Ship Inn, Horbling’s Plough Inn and the Duke of York at Gosberton Risegate, which is now closed.

The five breweries listed from our area in the guide are: Austendyke (Spalding), Fuddy Duck (Kirton), Hopshackle (Market Deeping), Welland (Spalding) and Blue Bell (Whaplode St Catherine).

All five were included in the 2023 guide.

The Good Beer Guide helps beer lovers take a barometer of the local beer scene.

As well as covering 398 of the very best pubs across Lincolnshire, Rutland, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire, it keeps track of brewery numbers, and while the Guide notes that seven breweries have opened, seven have also unfortunately closed across the counties.

The story is the same across the UK, as although the Guide records 82 new breweries, 142 have closed.

This net loss of 60 breweries is a worrying reminder that a lack of support from the Government means dire consequences for local businesses, in the wake of a cost-of-business crisis and the constant pressure of fuel bills.

This year’s Guide contains 910 newly featured pubs, which is a fantastic prospect for the pub trade which has been struggling to stay afloat in recent years following the pandemic and rising fuel costs.

The trade also faces an impending threat from unlawful demolitions, which CAMRA has declared a national scandal in the wake of the demolition of the Crooked House in Himley.

CAMRA Chairman Nik Antona said: “The last few years have been an incredibly difficult time for the industry, and we need more support than ever before to keep our nation’s pubs and breweries open and thriving.

“I’d encourage everyone to use this year’s Guide to visit the very best pubs and breweries across the UK and support them for generations to come.”

The Good Beer Guide, which reviews over 4,500 pubs across the UK, is the definitive beer drinkers’ guide to the very best pints in a variety of styles of pubs to suit individual tastes.

Compiled by thousands of independent volunteers, it helps identify significant trends and themes locally and nationally.