Tiny North Wales inn clinches Camra's pub of the year award

A small community pub in North Wales which was only taken over by a local family three years ago has today been declared as the best pub in Britain.

Revered by beer lovers, The Bridge End Inn, in Ruabon, is run by the McGivern family who brew their own beer on site as well as serving a wide variety of real ale and cider. It is also the first Welsh pub to take the  Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) award.

The accolade takes into account a variety of factors including atmosphere, value for money, and - most importantly - the quality of the beer.

Now serving seven real ales and a selection of local ciders at any one time, the pub has stocked real ales from over 100 breweries since opening, with a particular emphasis on local produce.

[Related feature: Warm your cockles at one of these cosy pubs]

Peter McGivern, said: ‘We are a family business, and the pub has been a real labour of love. What we strived to do was create a pub not focused on food that we would enjoy visiting, putting the product first and offering a wide range of traditional beer styles.

'As a result we’ve built up a mixed trade of locals and beer lovers from all over Britain.

‘We are delighted with this national award, particularly as we were told when first taking on the pub that there was little demand for real ale in the area.'

[Related feature: Sink a pint in Britain's most haunted pub]

Julian Hough, CAMRA Pubs Director, said that the success was down to investing time into providing quality beer and a range of choice.

‘The pub is an unbelievable success story, and is a perfect case study of a local outlet playing a pivotal role at the heart of a small community.

'The pub in a short space of time has become revered across Britain by many beer lovers.'

The finalists the Bridge End Inn beat are:

Engineers Arms, Henlow, Bedfordshire.

Front, Custom House Quay, Falmouth, Cornwall.

Swan with Two Necks, Main Street, Pendleton, Lancashire.