Here's an update on the latest news and information from West London branch of CAMRA. Further news can be found in the London Drinker.

Branch and other local CAMRA events

• Monday 24th July - Branch social. Uxbridge Arms, Uxbridge St W8 7TQ 7pm, Hillgate, Hillgate Street, 8pm; Churchill Arms 9pm.
• 1 to 5 August - Great British Beer Festival - CAMRA's main national beer festival, held within the branch area at Olympia. As always it will have an amazing selection of beers and ciders, plus food stalls and entertainment! Find out more at https://gbbf.org.uk/.
• Tuesday 15th August: Afternoon social - Cask Pub & Kitchen (SW1V 2EE) 2pm
• Tuesday 5th September: Afternoon social - Metropolitan Bar (NW1 5LA) 2pm
• Tuesday 19th September: Branch Meeting - Speaker (SW1P 2HA) 7pm for 7.30pm
• Monday 25th September: Evening Soho social - meet at Shaston Arms (W1F 7QN) 7pm, moving on to Shakespeare's Head, Great Marlborough St 8pm; Clachan, Kingly St 9pm.

Branch and regional CAMRA news

• London Pubs Group continues its tours of historic pubs - for information see https://londonpubsgroup.camra.org.uk/events. Upcoming events: Wednesday 9 August 2023 - Evening Tour of Mayfair; Saturday 14 October 2023 - Daytime Tour of Chiswick Park and Turnham Green; Wednesday 6 December 2023 - Evening Tour (area TBD).
• The London Drinker is available with news about pubs and CAMRA, in print at many local pubs and online.

 Pub and brewery news

• Wetherspoons have applied for planning permission to open a pub at 11 Strand, near Covent Garden.
• The Tom Cribb, Panton Street closed for a refurbishment. It is due to reopen mid September.
• The Cheshire Cheese, Milford Lane (south of Strand, not to be confused with the nearby Olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet St!) stopped selling real ale in about June, with no immediate plans to reintroduce it.
• Works to convert the Old Suffolk Punch, Fulham Palace Rd, Hammersmith to a hotel appear to be in progress. The plans include a replacement pub at ground floor level.
• The Hero of Maida pub is closed.
• SW1, MOO CANTINA ARGENTINA, 43 Vauxhall Bridge Road, SW1V 2TA. Closed - future uncertain.
• SW7, IMPERIAL COLLEGE UNION BARS (Imperial College), Beit Quadrangle, Prince Consort Road, SW7 2BB. No longer Cask Marque accredited.
• W1, MARKET PLACE, 11 Market Place, W1W 8AH. Renamed OXFORD MARKET.
• W1, RUNNING HORSE (Grosvenor Estates), 50 Davies Street, W1K 5JE. Closed as part of major redevelopment. The Running Horse Pub will remain at the corner of Davies Street and Davies Mews undergoing renovation works to repair its historic features as well as creating guest bedrooms in existing rooms on the upper floors.
• W1, MR FOGG’S HAT TAVERN & GIN CLUB 22 Great Chapel Street, W1F 8FR. Part of the growing Mr Fogg’s chain of themed cocktail bars run by Inception Group, but this one does sell some draught keg beers. The site is very close to the former Henry Heath top-hat factory and the venue has hats on display. Formerly London Gin Club.
• W2, STABLEHAND, 4 Bathurst Street, W2 2SD. This is a new gastropub in the former Hall & Woodhouse Archery Tavern which closed at the start of 2006 when the lease ran out. The site dates from 1839 and the old pub was named after the archery range on which it was built. The site then became a restaurant. The food offering includes Sunday roasts. At the date of our visit, soon after opening, the handpumps were as yet unused and an ale cask was available on stillage.
• W6, RAVEN (Trust Inns/MC Bars Ltd/MC Bars), 375 Goldhawk Road, W6 0SA. No longer Cask Marque accredited.
• W8, UXBRIDGE ARMS (Stonegate), 13 Uxbridge Street, W8 7TQ. Appears to have reverted to tenanted.
• WC2, MARQUESS OF ANGLESEY (Young's), 39 Bow Street, WC2E 7AU. Reopened following refurbishment. Ale range reported reduced.
• WC2, NELL OF OLD DRURY (Stonegate), 29 Catherine Street, WC2B 5JS. Sign on the bar advertising 10% discount for CAMRA members

National CAMRA news

• The Great British Beer Festival will be at Olympia on 1 to 5th August 2023.
• More national CAMRA news and events can be found in CAMRA's online newspaper What's Brewing available at https://wb.camra.org.uk/.
• CAMRA also regularly produces a podcast 'Pubs. Pints. People' available at https://camra.org.uk/podcast/.

For the latest news check out our Facebook and Twitter pages. Also for news from CAMRA across London see London Drinker, and the London CAMRA Facebook page.

On 19th June the West London branch attended the presentation of the runners up award for West London CAMRA branch pub of the year to the Victoria, Strathearn Place, Paddington. Chris enthusiastically accepted the award, in a very busy pub, and proudly announced he was going to add it to the collection of second place awards the pub has already been awarded. It had previously been runner-up in 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2022!

The pub is also one of CAMRA's Real Heritage Pubs with a very rare and wonderful mid-Victorian interior. It offers a selection of Fuller's beers plus a guest beer and meals, and a warm welcome!

We welcome a new chairman of the branch, Wanda Piontek. She was elected at our annual general meeting held in May at The Star Tavern, Belgravia.

She told us about how her love of real ale began: "My introduction to ale started with Ruddles County and the funny shaped bottles. At university I moved to the Marstons heartland and innumerable pints of Pedigree were sunk. Moving to Japan Yebisu became the drink of choice. My return to England coincided with a vast improvement to the range of ales available and I have been able to indulge my love of stout and porters".

We'd like to also thank our previous chairman Alex Langford for all his work for the branch. He'll continue to play an important role supporting the branch as our vice-chairman.

Here's an update on the latest news and information from West London branch of CAMRA. Further news can be found in the London Drinker.

Branch and other local CAMRA events

• Wednesday 14th June - Branch social. The Grapes, Shepherd Market W1J 7QQ 2pm

• Monday 19th June – Branch Pub of the Year Runner-up presentation, Victoria 10A Strathearn Place, Paddington, W2 2NH 730pm

• Saturday 24th June (2pm to 5.30pm) CAMRA London Big Birthday Bash, Penderel's Oak, High Holborn. Event celebrating the 50th anniversary of various CAMRA London branches organized by North London Branch. Charge of £5 (to cover cost of snacks being provided). For details see https://northlondon.camra.org.uk/viewnode.php?id=193695 and to book tickets see https://tckty.camra.org.uk/e/116/camra-london-50th-birthday-celebration.
• Monday 26th June - Branch social. Sanctuary House Hotel , Tothill St SW1H 9LA 2pm
• Wednesday 5th July - Branch social. King and Queen Foley St W1W 6DL 2pm. Marquis of Granby, Rathbone Street 3pm; Wheatsheaf, Rathbone Place, 4pm.
• Wednesday 12th July - Branch social. Ealing Beer Festival 7pm. The festival continues until Saturday 15th - for details and advance tickets see https://ebf.camra.org.uk.
• Monday 24th July - Branch social. Uxbridge Arms, Uxbridge St W8 7TQ 7pm, Hillgate, Hillgate Street, 8pm; Churchill Arms 9pm.
• 1 to 5 August - Great British Beer Festival - CAMRA's main national beer festival, held within the branch area at Olympia.

Branch and regional CAMRA news

• London Pubs Group continues its tours of historic pubs - for information see https://londonpubsgroup.camra.org.uk/events. Upcoming events: Saturday 17 June 2023 - Daytime Tour of Wanstead and Leyton; Wednesday 9 August 2023 - Evening Tour of Mayfair; Saturday 14 October 2023 - Daytime Tour of Chiswick Park and Turnham Green; Wednesday 6 December 2023 - Evening Tour (area TBD).
• The London Drinker is available with news about pubs and CAMRA, in print at many local pubs and online.
• The branch held its annual general meeting recently at which Wanda Piontek became the new chairman and Alex Langford became vice-chairman. All other roles were unchanged.

 Pub and brewery news

• NW1, PERSEVERANCE (Morgana Ltd (IOM), 11 Shroton Street, NW1 6UG. Reported closed early March 2023 with builders on site. Expected to reopen in some form.
• NW1, VICTORIA & ALBERT BARS (SSP), Marylebone Station, NW1 6JJ. Cask Marque reinstated.
• NW8, NEW INN (2 Allisten Road Ltd/Pataka Ltd/independent), 2 Allitsen Road, NW8 6LA. Closed, future uncertain.
• SW3, BEAUCHAMP, 43-44 Beauchamp Place, SW3 1NX. Once known as the Grove Tavern, this site reopened in early 2023 as a four-floor hospitality venue featuring a ground-floor pub, a lower-ground floor cocktail bar/club, open-plan kitchen dining on the first floor, and a second-floor coffee lounge. Keg beers only..
• SW6, BEDFORD ARMS (Craft Union Pub Co (Stonegate)), 204 Dawes Rd, SW6 7RQ. Real Ale reinstated: Fuller's London Pride and Sharp's Doom Bar.
• SW6, BUTCHER'S HOOK (Greene King/unknown/Greene King), 477 Fulham Road, SW6 1HL.Now Cask Marque accredited.
• SW6, CHELSEA LODGE (Burbage Capital Ltd/Stonegate), 562 Kings Road, SW6 2DZ. Closed, lease on the market.
• SW6, GEORGE & DRAGON (Lillie Investments Ltd/Cockpit Hotel (London) Ltd/Accor Hotels), 47 Lillie Road, SW6 1UD. No longer sells real ale.
• SW6, IMPERIAL ARMS (Heineken), 577 Kings Road, SW6 2EH. Closed, lease on the market.
• SW6, KING'S ARMS (Wellington/Wadworth), 425 New Kings Road, SW6 4RN. Now Cask Marque accredited.
• W1, RUNNING HORSE, 50 Davies St. Currently closed and boarded up May 2023.
• W1, WARWICK (Stonegate), 86 Brewer Street, W1F 9UB. Reopened as NESSA by new operator Maslow’s. Self-described as a neighbourhood bistro and bar. Above it are floors of a private members' club, 1 Warwick. Nessa prefers to use its 86 Brewer Street alternate address as this site is on the corner of two streets. Nessa is mainly for dining and has garnered some very good food reviews, but there are some seats at the bar and three draught keg beers are on offer on the drinks menu.
• WC2, ADMIRALTY (Brook Street Investments Ltd/Fuller's), 66 Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DS. Reopened in April 2023.
• WC2, SLUG & LETTUCE (Shaftesbury/Stonegate), 5 Lisle Street, WC2H 7BG. Renamed CLUBHOUSE 5., a new Stonegate brand. Reopened just before the Coronation in May 2023, this is now a large sports pub showing live across two floors, seven days a week. There are two handpumps but, of course, the draught beer offering is mainly keg.
• W2, BEER HOUSE (Network Rail/SSP), by Platforms 10 & 11, Paddington Station Concourse, W2 1HB. Cask Marque re-accredited.
• W2, DAR MARRAKESH (Stonegate/unknown/Bestplace (Ei Group)), 422 Edgware Road, W2 1EG. Closed, freehold with vacant possession being marketed by Savills, March 2023.
• W2, KUPP (Canal & River Trust/Scandinavian Restaurants Ltd), Unit 53, 5 Merchant Square, W2 1AS. Closed October 2022.
• W2, PORCHESTER (Young's/Young's), 88 Bishop's Bridge Road, W2 5AA. Real ale reinstated following refurbishment:- Young’s Original and St Austell Proper Job.
• W2, ROYAL STANDARD (Compton Properties Investments Ltd/Sigma W2 Ltd/independent), 8 Sale Place, W2 1PH. Closed, converted to Vela Brasserie modern-European menu restaurant.
• W6, PRINCE OF WALES TOWNHOUSE (Big Smoke), 73 Dalling Road, W6 0JD. No real cider.
• W11, QUIET NIGHT INN (Max Barney Pub Company/Forest Road Brewery), 60 Great Western Road, W11 1AB. No cask ales reported. Since altered to two handpumps with at least one cask ale available from Forest Road Brewery.
• W12, PHOENIX, 1078 Ariel Way, W12 7GB. Closed, lease on the market.
• W12, QUEEN ADELAIDE (Greene King), 412 Uxbridge Road, W12 0NR. Cask Marque re-accredited.
• W14, ELM (RedCat Taverns), 206 North End Road, W14 9NX. Four handpumps now offer at least two cask ales. The pub is part of the small Yellow Panda pub operation.

National CAMRA news

• The Great British Beer Festival will be at Olympia on 1 to 5th August 2023.
• More national CAMRA news and events can be found in CAMRA's online newspaper What's Brewing available at https://wb.camra.org.uk/.
• CAMRA also regularly produces a podcast 'Pubs. Pints. People' available at https://camra.org.uk/podcast/.

For the latest news check out our Facebook and Twitter pages. Also for news from CAMRA across London see London Drinker, and the London CAMRA Facebook page.