Opened in July 2021, the rebuilt Falkland Cricket Club pavilion is the spacious home for the Bowler’s Arms. It’s elevated position, on Newbury’s southern outskirts, gives views of the cricket ground surrounded by trees.
On Monday 31 October 2022, it wasn’t the thwack of leather on willow but the sounds from a charity Halloween evening in the adjacent area that provided the background for West Berkshire CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide 2023 launch event.
Branch Chair Andy Pinkard welcomed visitors from five more pubs featured in the Guide saying ‘you represent the fine establishments where people can get some of the best beer available in West Berkshire’.
Individual presentations of CAMRA publicity materials confirmed their inclusion in the Guide. Many took the limited opportunity to purchase the 50th Good Beer Guide, published a few days earlier, at a discount price.
For five decades, it has been an independent guide to the UK’s breweries, their ales and the best places to find them. Inclusion is based solely on merit and is the result of research by CAMRA members.
This article first appeared in Ullage Winter 2022-23