A total of 73 Notts pubs feature in the latest CAMRA Good Beer Guide
The UK's best-selling beer and pub guide has put more than 70 Nottinghamshire pubs into the spotlight in the new 2025 edition. The Campaign for Real Ale’s (CAMRA) Good Beer Guide surveys 4,500 of the best pubs across the nation
Out of the 73 recommendations in Notts, the guide features 17 new entries as well as 40 real ale breweries across the county, from Castle Rock in Queensbridge Road, Nottingham, to Vaguely Brewing in Bingham, a specialist in small-batch brewing.
Nottinghamshire entries kick off with the Robin Hood & Little John in Church Street, Arnold. The Lincoln Green pub has no fewer than 16 changing beers. As well as ten real ale pumps in each bar showcasing the Hucknall-based brewery's beers, it also has guest ales from micro breweries.
The A-Z listing ends with the award-winning Mallard in Station Approach, Worksop. The former railway station buffet makes a small cosy pub with four changing beers, sourced nationally. Amongst them is a dark beer, a bitter and two ciders as well as a selection of foreign bottled beers, country fruit wines and specialist wines. It was crowned North Notts CAMRA regional Pub of the Year 2024.
Ten city pubs feature, amongst them the Dragon, in Long Row with its Castle Rock Harvest Pale, Oakham Citra and Hambleton Bakery cobs for when drinkers feel peckish. The pubs are picked by members of CAMRA's local groups, which each have an allocation.
Nottingham CAMRA guide co-ordinator Alan Ward said: "CAMRA members enter scores relating to the quality of cask beer in a pub they visit. As a committee we onerously sift through averages of these for each pub to select the best performing pubs in our branch area, trying to ensure we get a spread rather than just, say, the city centre."
Some of the new entries which haven't featured before include micro pubs and a Wetherspoon. Amongst them is Pottle in Beeston. The tiny pub in Stoney Street serves ale aficionados with six changing beers and ciders. They're served by gravity from a small temperature controlled room while two craft keg dispensers and four traditional ciders are also available.
Another newcomer to the guide is The Falcon, in Canning Circus, even though the pub actually dates back to 1853. Four changing beers plus Oakham Cirtra and Titanic Plum Porter have earnt the pub in a place in the 2025 beer bible. The pub, which is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, was extensively furbished in 2013. The six handpumps serve mainly local brews.
Wetherspoon pub The Samuel Hall, in Mansfield Road, Sherwood, gets a mention for its eight real ales. Greene King Abbot, Ruddles Best Bitter and Sharp's Doom Bar are some of the brews drinkers will find served in the converted bus depot.
The 52nd edition of the definitive beer drinkers' guide has not one but two covers featuring famous pubs from the world of TV soaps - Coronation Street's Rovers Return and Emmerdale's Woolpack.
The foreword has been written by multi award-winning Iain Macleod, ITV ’s Executive Producer for Continuing Drama. He said: "The story which threatened one of our pubs the most was also the one which most resonated with our times. In 2023, the Rovers Return closed its doors.
"A combination of the lingering legacy of the Covid lockdowns and the cost-of-living crisis meant that landlady Jenny Bradley couldn’t afford to keep it open. The characters – and the viewers – lamented the news like the loss of a loved one. If it were needed, it was a timely reminder of the central place the nation’s pubs have in our lives and in our affections.”
Despite a slight slowdown in the numbers of pubs lost forever to conversion or demolition in recent years, CAMRA says its data shows worrying trends developing. More and more venues are reportedly redeveloped without the proper permissions – including the high profile case of the Crooked House, Himley in 2023, which is still awaiting an appeal decision despite the efforts of local campaigners. Licensees are also feeling the rising pressure, with over a thousand businesses shuttered in the last 12 months alone as pubs can’t afford to keep the lights on.
The Good Beer Guide 2025 is available for pre-order now priced £14.99 here.