Andy Munns
Twenty pubs in Salisbury and South Wiltshire have been voted into the 2024 edition of the Good Beer Guide published by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).
The new guide, released today (Thursday 28 September 2023), this the pubs offering the best experience and ales in the country.
They were selected for the Good Beer Guide by local CAMRA members with personal experience of pubs in the South Wiltshire area.
They include The Bridge Inn in Upper Woodford, and the landlady Lorna Janse van Vuuren was presented with the Good Beer Guide certificate by Chris White, chairman of the Salisbury & South Wilts branch of CAMRA.
“We are delighted to be voted into the Good Beer Guide for the first time since we took the pub over,” said Lorna.
“We work hard at keeping our beers well, and people come in here and say that they can really taste the difference.”
Lorna and her husband Tom visited the Woodford Valley for a New Year’s Eve party in 1992.
They made friends there and continued to return from South Africa for holidays until they eventually made the decision to make the valley their permanent home.
Their daughter Emma was instrumental in the decision to take on The Bridge Inn as she had worked there in her gap year, and in November 2019, they took over.
Chris White, chairman of the Salisbury & South Wilts branch of CAMRA, said: “We are lucky to have so many good pubs in this area, and inclusion in the Good Beer Guide is high praise for the very best of them. The Bridge Inn is a wonderful local with well-kept real ales and excellent food.”
The full list of South Wiltshire pubs which have been included can be found in the 2024 edition of the Good Beer Guide.
The cover design and a foreword have been contributed by Bruce Dickinson, the band’s lead singer, an avid drinker of real ale.
For those of a nervous disposition worried by the sight of Eddie bursting through the front cover, there is an alternative version without him featuring the recognisable lettering and imagery of previous editions.
All versions can be ordered online from CAMRA at:
https://camra.org.uk/the-good-beer-guide-2024/
