Why CAMRA say Appleton Thorn Village Hall is best for beer

To its members and those in the know, the former school – which dates back to the early 1900s – is one of Warrington’s best kept secrets for beer lovers.

The accolades speak for themselves with Appleton Thorn Village Hall picking up 34 awards from CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale) since the Massey family took over in 2004.

It makes the village hall one of CAMRA’s most decorated venues, scooping the national Club of the Year title in 2008 and again last year.

This is due to the ever-changing range of seven cask beers sourced from all over the UK as well as from micro-breweries and Warrington and Cheshire brewers.

Appleton Thorn Village Hall has also been consistently praised for its staff knowledge, surroundings, atmosphere and the sense of community it has created.

Chris Massey, a former Bridgewater High School student, currently runs the venue.

He started as a glass collector for his parents, Derek and Alison, 13 years ago before working his way up to bar manager.

The 30-year-old said: “It was certainly a massive honour to win the National Club of the Year in 2019.

“We won it when I worked here for my parents in 2008 but winning it on my own has been a great feeling.

“We had a big party here to celebrate which was when we were presented with a brass plaque.”

Although Appleton Thorn Village Hall missed out on the national Club of the Year 2020 title – which went to Cheltenham Motor Club – the venue has been named North Cheshire CAMRA Club of the Year.

Chris, who pours more than 600 pints a week, added: “It was amazing to get back in the final four for this year’s competition.

“I hand-pick all the beers and it’s about getting the right styles that people like from pale ales to copper bitters. I enjoy discovering and working with new breweries. You get CAMRA members known as ‘beer tickers’ who travel all over the country to sample beer from new breweries so it’s great if I can get something on they’ve never had before. It’s just about keeping your eyes open and trying to keep ahead of the game to stay relevant with the beers while also supporting the local breweries.”

The club largely serves the village and its surroundings but visitors have come from as far as Japan. Non-members are welcome and simply pay a 50p admission fee.

Chris, who grew up in Appleton and now lives in Latchford, said: “Some people come in because they’ve been invited by friends or there is a function and there is always a sense of surprise about the variety and the quality of the beer.

“The beer festival in October has been a good way of getting new faces in. The festival is not about making money really but showing what we can do with 30 beers on offer.”

Word spreads far and memories endure when it comes to fans of the club.

Chris, whose favourite breweries are The Rat, Phoenix Brewery and Harviestoun, said: “We used to have a lot of members who lived in Manchester but were part of a cycling club.

“So they would cycle along the Trans Pennine Trail and then deviate off to have a break here before carrying on with their route.

“We’ve got members in Somerset as their father used to live in Appleton Thorn and even though he has now died they still come to the village to visit friends.

“They like supporting so they still join as members every year and come here to reminisce.”

It is a far cry from when Chris’s parents Derek and Alison took over in 2004. Membership was at a low but the couple injected new life into the community space which resulted in them winning CAMRA’s national Club of Year by 2008. It harked back to the venue’s early days – it became a real ale establishment in 1981 and under different management won Club of the Year in 1994 and 1995 before a patch when the venue began to struggle.

Geoff Plass, chairman of Appleton Village Hall Committee, said: “The Massey family came here and made a huge difference to the whole ambience of the building.

“Before that there was nothing consistent about any of it. It was a bit haphazard. But I remember when Derek and Alison came here and the difference in the first month was incredible.

“The friendliness and the way the club welcomed villagers and the community changed almost overnight. It was that dramatic.

“Over the years, with their stamp on it and with what we’ve tried to do, we’ve now got the quirkiness of the history of an old school with a cosy pub-like area, good beers, lots of awards and a function room which gives it that rawness that people like.”

Chris, who also works at Latchford’s 4Ts Brewery two days a week, added: “My dad didn’t run it as a business. He looked at it as a passion project.

“He retired from his regular job and sold his haulage company so he didn’t do it for the income but for the love of it. It is hard when you’ve set the bar that high but it makes me proud that we’ve created that sense of community here.”