Pints of View Summer 2026 - the branch magazine of Mansfield & Ashfield CAMRA.
As well as getting a printed magazine back into our pubs, the committee would still very much like to bring back a Mansfield and Ashfield Branch Beer Festival. It's our top priority, and there is work going on behind the scenes. However, as I mentioned earlier, we're a small team of volunteers, doing whatever we can along with our work/home/family commitments. Again, if you think you can help us with any of this, including getting a beer festival up and running, please do get in touch.
Looking forward, we have our Annual General Meeting on Sunday 28th June at 2pm at The Brown Cow in Mansfield. We've booked The Cow Shed (the upstairs room) for this. At the meeting, all committee posts will be up for re-election. Again, our AGM is open to all, and we'd love to have the place full of people. If you're interested, do come along - you won't be forced to sign up to anything, and you can just come along to meet us, have a beer, and see what happens. Equally, if you would like to become involved, either formally or informally ('minister without portfolio' is still an option!), we would really appreciate a few more people helping with our committee roles - and if you're interested in real cider, you could even consider taking the Cider Rep role from me!
I think that's all for now. Cheers!
The former owners of the Hop In, lan and Chelsea Butler, took over at the Boat Inn, Pinxton, in March. A variety of ales have been seen on the bar, including Blue Monkey and The Bridges Brewery, a new brewery also located in Pinxton.
The owners of the Regent, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, announced the acquisition of the Dog & Quayle in Underwood via a Facebook post on January 30th. Cask ale is available.
Real ale was reintroduced at the Black Swan in Edwinstowe in early April, with the first two being from local brewery Pheasantry.
The Duke of Sussex, Sutton-in-Ashfield, had a change of managers. Craig Appleby, who runs the kitchen, is also stepping into the overall pub manager role, and Dolly Wyville is taking the bar manager role. Changes took effect on the 13th April.
The George & Dragon in Newton has recently been closed for a refurbishment.
Two new cask ales are available - a pale and bitter after they debuted at the Castle Beer Fest in Nottingham in April.
April's tap-takeover with Langley Mill's Bang The Elephant Brewery also included a collaboration brew, which was an export-strength stout. May's Tap Takeover features Rivington Brewery in Lancashire. Give them a like on Facebook to keep up to date with what's going on.
Ales from The Bridges Brewing Company started appearing around the branch in mid-March, as well as further afield in Derby.
The first to appear was Lady Bay, a 4.3% easy-drinking pale ale with a nice hoppy bitterness. I tried it at the Market Tavern in South Normanton when we visited for the Pub of the Season presentation, but it has also been spotted at several other pubs around the branch and further afield.
THE BRIDGES
The Black Market Brewery is in full swing, preparing for Festival Season, which starts for us May Bank Holiday Weekend, with ValeFest, a local festival in Bolsover, Derbyshire.
Here, we will be serving up one of our festival favourites, Illicit, a 4.3% Headliner Pale Ale, as well as our Double Dry Hopped IPA Anarchy (4.5%), and the newly brewed festival brew, Vale Pale, 4.3%.
You can either join us in the field or at The Black Market Venue for a pint and a bite to eat. Why not join us for one of our quiz nights, open mic nights or even for some live music every Friday?
Siobahn Sorrell
4.3% ABV
Summer 2026 Pints of View | 5