Hook Norton pub near Banbury is CAMRA’s Regional Pub of the Year
Oxfordshire has notched up a major success as the Butchers Arms in Balscote now has a chance of becoming CAMRA’s national Pub of the Year for 2023. The Butchers, off the A422 Banbury to Stratford road, is a village local owned by Hook Norton brewery, and two or three of the brewery’s beers – typically Hooky, Old Hooky and sometimes a seasonal ale – are served direct from casks behind the bar rather than from hand pumps. It has been a Hook Norton pub since 1878 but was once part of an abattoir, hence the name, and still has an “ice house” in the garden dating from its previous role.
The award is a major and unexpected accolade for landlady Kate Francis Smith, who had no experience of keeping real ale before taking over her first pub in 2019 when the tenancy became available. Since then she has worked hard to increase the community focus of the village pub, which serves food only on Friday and Saturday evenings and special occasions. It is deceptively small inside for such an imposing building, and most of the tables would have to be set aside for food if that became its main focus.
But there are plenty of other dining pubs within easy reach, and Kate said the locals appreciate a traditional pub where the emphasis is on drinks, games and social activities. This clearly impressed the CAMRA judges, as community focus and atmosphere is one of the most important categories they voted on.
“The village has always seen this pub as a focal point, but when the last tenancy ended people were worried they might lose it,” said Kate. “Pubs have been under pressure, and Hook Norton has put up two pubs for sale recently.
“In any village, you have a certain number of people who will use the pub regularly, some who will use it now and again, and some who never come. What I’ve been trying to do is to attract people who never use it, by offering fish and chips on a Friday or burgers on a Saturday. If they like it, they will then bring their families and visitors.
“We have live music once a month, charity nights, and Christmas presents for the children when Santa comes to visit and my husband Simon is one of the elves! We also have Easter Egg hunts, and all year round we have a dominoes team and a ladies’ darts team, plus two Aunt Sally teams in the summer.
“The local vicar, who looks after eight village churches, then approached us to hold a church breakfast here, and we now do that once a month with 18 people turning up at the last one to eat and chat in relaxed and informal surroundings. It’s all about community here, being friendly to customers and offering them what they want. Hook Norton is very good to us and leaves us to our own devices.”
News that the Butchers Arms is regional Pub of the Year and a potential national winner is now starting to attract CAMRA members from other parts of the country, and Kate admits some are surprised to find only Hook Norton ales behind the bar as they may be used to a wider choice at many Good Beer Guide pubs. But the quality of Kate’s ales is superb, this being the number one category for voting. The quality (not variety) of real ale, cider and perry is paramount, with pub staff’s promotion and knowledge of real ale also very important, along with community focus, and cleanliness and hygiene. Service and welcome, style and décor, sympathy with CAMRA’s aims, and overall impression and value, are also voted on.
“A lot of people are now coming from afar, and we recently had visitors from Yorkshire who had been to the brewery and now wanted to visit one of its pubs,” said Kate. “It sometimes frustrates me that we can’t appeal to everyone, and that when a pub closes in some places, people who never used it complain that there is no pub. I’ve worked in hospitality all my life, and always wanted my own place.”
Kate previously worked at Warwick University, while husband Simon bought nearby Wroxham Wood Yard after moving to Balscote. Daughter Abi sometimes works behind the bar, proving that this is very much a family business as well as a CAMRA award winner. It first won North Oxfordshire’s Pub of the Year award, then the Oxfordshire title before beating off challenges from the Berkshire and Buckinghamshire champions to become South Central Pub of the Year.
Voting so far has been by local CAMRA members, but the top four pubs nationwide (to be announced in October) and then the overall winner (chosen early next year) are decided by CAMRA’s National Executive, with 16 regional winners to choose from. The national Pub of the Year award is currently held by shop conversion the Tamworth Tap in Tamworth, Staffordshire.