Updated forthcoming dates are:

* 14 Dec (ghost walk around town centre)

* 8 Feb

* 8 Mar

* 12 Apr

To add a bit more into these relaxed yet informative meetings, it is also intended to bring in a guest speaker (when possible) to help add more information to the project.

East Anglia Region Pub of the Year
(Sept 2009)

n/ Many congratulations to the Wheatsheaf in Writtle

...a warm welcome is assured in this tiny gem
located just south of Chelmsford..

This campaign aims to give a voice to ordinary British pub-goers and consumers, and send a strong message to Whitehall and Westminster that we've had enough. Please join our campaign.

Go to www.axethebeertax.com and sign up as a supporter.

No chance of taxation by volume of alcohol
(April 2009)

CAMRA has branded the Prime Minister's claim that he does not wish to penalize the "sensible majority of moderate drinkers" as hypocritical. Last year the Government increased tax on beer by an eye watering 18%, a move which has significantly penalised all responsible drinkers and contributed to the loss of nearly 6 pubs a day – with over 1500 local community pubs having closed in 2008.

Nationally CAMRA is already supporting the introduction of a minimum price per unit of alcohol – that should be set at a level sufficient to prevent the major supermarkets selling alcohol at a loss - and thereby encouraging more people to drink in the regulated and more social environment of the pub. Recent proposals from Sir Liam Donaldson, t he government's top medical adviser, suggested that no drinks should be sold for less than 50 pence per unit of alcohol they contain. This would mean most bottles of wine could not be sold for less than £4.50 and a can of beer would cost about a pound. It may be that the main reason for the government’s new found reluctance is that all bottles of spirits would then cost between £14 to £20 (i.e. 700ml bottle 40% spirits = 28 units; a litre bottle 40% spirits = 40 units) – a potentially devastating move for the Scottish whisky industry and something any Scottish minister probably could not contemplate!

We now wait to see what travesty this year’s budget brings.

Rate Increases
(April 2009)

Another issue recently in the news is the extraordinary and excessive rate hikes that many of our most local popular pubs are currently being subjected too. Business leaders in Suffolk have recently told how small enterprises are being hit especially hard by this year's business rate increases – reportedly averaging about 5% - which coincides with the end of a four-year transitional rate relief scheme, which had softened the blow of previous increases. However many local firms will get rate bills way way above the basic 5% rise set by Government and this has triggered fears that some traders will struggle to cope with the extra costs and more local pubs may close.

The Crown in Stoke-by-Nayland was recently in the news after being reported by landlord, Richard Sunderland, as being generally improved last September with an 11 bed hotel extension and now he faces a business rates increase from £40k to £115k per annum (280% increase). More locally two popular local pubs, the Ipswich Fat Cat and Dove Street Inn also currently face massive increases of the order of over 350%. John Keatley, owner of the Fat Cat said, "it’s an unfair additional tax for being successful!" and he is now paying an additional £890 per month for rates whilst his electricity bill has also increased by £180 per month since last year, so he has reluctantly been forced to reduce staffing costs to compensate.

We hope that such huge increases do not close pubs or diminish the pub trade during such tough trading times.

Shed Brewing!
(March 2009)

Suffolk CAMRA Cricket team have just launched their new website at
http://www.suffolkcamra.co.uk/cricket/
They will use this website to share information on their future fixtures, match reports and tour news plus any current contact details.

It was over 10 years since the local branches had published a definitive guide to Suffolk pubs. A lot had changed since then and in an attempt to update our knowledge and share it with lots of others we have launched this website. Soon we scoped the site much wider and it now offers details about many closed pubs too - we are still gathering information and regularly update the +2300 pub entries now listed.

NB: If you spot any information on this website which is either out of date or in error please let us know and then it will be updated.

It takes all sorts to campaign for real ale...
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