John Winney, who took over as chair of Oxford CAMRA at the AGM, writes:
“I arrived in Oxford in ’84 and moved to Wheatley in ’97. I spent most of my adult life in various IT jobs and was lucky enough to retire in ’22.
“My real ale journey began growing up in Cambridge, and often back then good cask was hard to find. It’s easy to forget what CAMRA has achieved!
My first aim as chair is not to break anything! We can rightly be very proud of our beer festival and the branch has a busy diary, so let’s see more of this.
“Since becoming involved with the branch I’ve had fun, learnt loads and become a bit more adventurous about the beers I try. While I may always have a bias towards darker, more traditional beer styles, CAMRA has helped me discover many other kinds of great beer. I hope there will be more fun, learning and beer adventures to come.
“It’s challenging times for many. Nationally it seems likely that the wave of pub and brewery closures is far from over. Locally we have seen some of this trend, but Community-Owned efforts such as the Lamb & Flag, and companies like Oak Taverns and Morgan Pub Co, have been saving pubs that might otherwise have been lost. Making sure we keep as many pubs as possible, and that they are able to promote our great local breweries, is at the heart of what I see the branch continue to help with.
“Before I was elected we’d already started to shift branch meetings more towards socials, which we’re good at. We’ve had some great suggestions from people not on the committee of things to do, and the answer to them is yes – with more of what people enjoy, it should be a fun year.”
- You can contact John at chair@oxford.camra.org.uk