Campaign for Real Ale

Pub of the Year

Our Pub of the Year for 2024 was The Fox and Hounds, Caversham, the runner-up being The Bell, Waltham St Lawrence.

Our Cider Pub of the Year for 2024 was The Bell, Waltham St Lawrence, the runner-up being The Nags Head, Reading.

Our Club of the Year for 2024 was the Wargrave & District Snooker Club, the runner-up being the Sonning Golf Club.

Regional Pub of the Year Final

It's Regional POTY judging time again!

We would like as many members as possible to get involved so that the results are as fair and representative as possible. It's also a great opportunity to visit some of the very best pubs in our region. If you'd like to participate in the judging, you must visit all three pubs listed below. Please note that scores are on a range of 0-10 and not 0-5 as for normal beer scoring.

The pubs to be judged are as follows:

Bell, Aldworth Bird in Hand, Princes Risborough Butchers Arms, Balscote

Completed forms should be returned to me at ku.oc.liamtoh@esbarmac by Monday 24th July.

The winner will be declared before the end of July, which is the national deadline.

Regional PoTY Final Process Guide

Regional PoTY Final Judging Form - pdf

Regional PoTY Final Judging Form - Excel

What is it?

Every year, the Reading & Mid-Berkshire CAMRA branch awards its Pub of the Year (POTY) title to the pub voted for by branch members. It's the most prestigious prize we can bestow and the more people voting, the better.

Our winner plays off against the other three Berkshire branches in order to decide who is Berkshire POTY. It can then proceed through a number of larger inter-regional rounds and, if it's judged best in class all the way through, end up as the National Pub of the Year.

How does it work?

First we invite all members to suggest the pub that they think should be the next Pub of the Year. From those and the pubs that are at the highest level of beer quality scores (Any pub that has had over 20 'visits' is eligible and we almost always pick the top pubs in % terms of 'good' scores to go through to POTY (the 'best of the best' if you will). A shortlist of ten pubs will be prepared to go to the next available Branch meeting. From these, the meeting will choose five-six finalists. The ten on the shortlist will be published at least a week before the meeting. Therefore those who cannot get to the Branch meeting can nominate another member who is going to be their proxy and cast their vote for them. Our branch rules on proxy voting only allow the members present to cast their own and one proxy vote.

The result of the selection of finalists are announced before the end of October and from then on any time you visit one of the finalists, you can rate it according to the national criteria set out for deciding the branch, regional and national pubs of the year.

The criteria are laid out below:

  • Quality and Condition of Product
  • Promotion and Knowledge of Product
  • Cleanliness and Staff Hygiene
  • Service, Welcome and Offering
  • Style, Décor and Furnishings
  • Community Focus and Atmosphere
  • Sympathy with CAMRA's Aims
  • Overall Impression and Value

Can I join in?

Yes! If you're a member of CAMRA or an affiliated organisation. We only insist that you score fairly and honestly.

How and when can I vote?

Voting for the Pub of the Year is open until 3rd March 2024. We like as many people as possible to vote, so we give you a lot of time in which to complete your surveys and have also tried to make it as simple as possible to vote.

There are two ways to vote:

If you decide to vote via our online form you can submit more than one form per pub as the scores will be condensed after the deadline has passed.

You must be a CAMRA member, and you are welcome to score any of the pubs more than once – particularly if your ratings are significantly different on different visits. Multiple votes will be compressed to form an average once the voting has closed.


For more information, please Contact Us.

Cider Pub of the Year

The National Cider Pub of the Year is an award for the pub or club in the UK that best promotes and encourages the sale of quality real cider and perry.

There are 4 stages to the competition:

  • Branch Judging (January to mid-March) (to award a Branch Cider Pub of the Year)
  • Regional Judging (mid-March to mid-May) (to award a Regional Cider Pub of the Year)
  • Super-Regional Judging (mid-May to mid-July) (to award Finalist for the National Cider Pub of the Year)
  • Final Judging (mid-July to mid-September) (to award National Cider Pub of the Year)

The winner of National Cider Pub of the Year is normally announced on 1st October to start our October Cider & Perry Month.

The Reading & Mid Berks branch will be using the criteria recommended by CAMRA nationally. This is to score pubs for the following:

  • Quality of cider or perry
  • Promotion/knowledge of product
  • Atmosphere, style and decor
  • Service/welcome
  • Community focus
  • Sympathy with CAMRA aims
  • Overall value

Club of the Year

CAMRA has a Club of the Year award scheme for clubs that like our Pub of the Year award judges clubs on the basis of their being a community asset and providing a wide range of facilities, and focusing on quality in everything they do, including the real ales they offer.