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22nd Ale & Steam Weekend

North Cotswold Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale

 

            We hope you enjoyed the above, which turned out to be another great event. The weather was a mixed bag. Friday was forecasted to be wet with thundery showers, but was dry all day. Saturday had one heavy shower. Sunday was the best weather day.

 

          This year the report will centre on Toddington, which had a new location for the beer marquee. Toddington started in the platform 2 waiting room, in 2022 we moved to a marquee off Platform 1.

 

 

 

    The present new marquee location was by the café. We thought this was the best location so far, we hope you did. The road in front was closed off during the festival, and drinkers could go inside the café to shelter from any rain.

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   Saint Class Lady of Legend, no.2999, was for the first time in operation at this festival. The original Western Region Saint Class was first introduced in 1902. They were very pioneering, with most subsequent classes, like the Castle Class, based on this design. Sadly none of the original Saint Class were preserved. But in 2019, the Great Western Society at the Didcot Railway Centre, finished building this new class member. Here it is seen running on 12th June.

 

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   At Toddington we started off with 20 beers and 5 Ciders/Perrys. The photo left was taken early on Saturday, with Toddington Bar Manager, Rob James, in the foreground.

 

 

 

 The photo right was also taken on Saturday, from the glasses stand, showing the queue for the beers. Our Festival Director, Alan McLellan, is seen on the extreme left. Blue skies at this time.

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  A surprise visitor was the miniature steam traction engine, seen left, which was seen driving around the car park.

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   At the start of Sunday, Toddington was reduced to 11 beers remaining, and just the two Perry ciders. One of the reserve beers, Moreton Mild, was tapped, making 12 available. At the end of the day at 3 pm, only one Perry and a few beers remained. All the remaining beer barrels only had a few pints left in them.

 

  Initial indications are that we slightly bettered last year on sales. The Railway said they sold more tickets than last year. A big thanks to our customers, who made this another successful festival.

 

Report and photos by Peter Rowe