Real Ale Festival

Visitors to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway found themselves engaged in some thirsty work over the Mayday Bank Holiday weekend.

Faced with the somewhat daunting opportunity to sample a range of 24 fine ales and a selection of bottled conditioned beers, English country wines and traditional cider; railway enthusiasts and beer lovers alike were spoilt for choice at the Real Ale Festival in Havenstreet.

Now in its third year, the festival has grown in size and reputation to become ever more popular and this year was by far no exception. As the clouds rolled along to reveal bright skies and hazy sunshine, people flocked to the Steam Railway to compare notes on the Island's top brewery blends.

Visitors made a beeline for the taste of sweet honey

The festival was well represented by the Island's three main breweries; Goddards in Ryde, Yates' based in St Lawrence and Ventnor Brewery, plus a carefully chosen selection from microbreweries across several South Western counties contributed. Many Islanders' may have already been familiar with Goddard's 'Ale of Wight,' 'Inspiration' and 'Fuggle Dee Dum' and equally Yates' Brewery's 'Undercliff Experience,' 'Best,' 'Wight Winter' and 'Old Ale,' but there were several more obscure names to try out too.

Ventnor Brewery's 'Calbourne's Ressurection Mild,' a beer brewed to commemorate the 1940's event held at the Steam Railway last year whilst acknowledging the rebuild of their 'O2' engine, sold out of one of two barrels on the second day of the event. Their 'Golden Bitter' which is brewed with St Boniface spring water and includes hints of honey was the second beer to sell out but was piped to the post in terms of favouritism by the extremely popular 'Heligan Honey' brewed by Skinners in Truro, Cornwall.

Made from real Cornwall honey, this sweet-tasting beer sold out in record time on the Saturday and for those who missed out on sampling a glass, the organisers are hoping to get it in again for the Island Steam Show over the August bank holiday weekend. Even the special half-pint souvenir festival glasses sold out before the dawn of bank holiday Monday!

New and unusual beverages to trial

Other contributing mainland breweries included Dorset and Sherbourne in Dorset, Bath Ales, Wickwar and Goff's in Gloucestershire, Oakleaf in Hampshire, Blindman's and Newman's in Somerset, Moles, Downton and Ramsbury in Wiltshire, Blackawton in Cornwall and finally Barum, Summerskills and Country Life in Devon.

If the copious amounts of ale weren't to everyone's taste, there were many other alcoholic beverages to sample and savour. Wine ranging from blackberry, rhubarb, elderberry and rose petal, sloe gin, strawberry, black cherry and bramble liqueur, ginger beer, bottled beers and ciders were also available from a whole host of local providers.

Support came from across the South

Festival Manager Derek Bishop, who has been involved with the railway at Havenstreet for over 40 years, told iwight.com how pleased he was with the turnout of tasters this year. "Saturday was manic - a really busy day" he enthused "The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) who have been campaigning for real ale, pubs and drinkers' rights since 1971, advertise the event on their website and as a result as well as picking up Island trade, we've had people travelling over from the south of England and many from North London to be here this weekend."

CAMRA is an independent, voluntary organisation with over 89,000 members and has been described as the most successful consumer group in Europe. They promote good-quality real ale and pubs, as well as acting as the consumer's champion in relation to the UK and European beer and drinks industry.

The perfect blend of reacreation, relaxation and nostalgia

Entertainment was on-hand throughout the course of the weekend from 'Dave B' who can usually be seen performing on the station platform at Havenstreet. Dave took time out from his usual schedule to play in the Real Ale marquee for a couple of hours a day and to provide the perfect musical accompaniment to a relaxing session of socialising and saluting.

Entrance to the site throughout the course of the weekend was free, but visitors had the chance to purchase train tickets and to experience the Island's unique and nostalgic steam railway if they so wished.

St Peter's Church in Havenstreet were responsible for setting up several stalls on the strip of land neighbouring the Real Ale marquee and hot and cold drinks and snacks were available from Granny Winters Pantry and the outdoor café. In addition to this a special barbeque was held on Saturday and Sunday which encouraged visitors to make the very most of the first of the warm evenings and soak up the atmosphere of the Real Ale Festival until the gates closed at 10pm.

More to come!

Further Real Ale bars will feature at the Island Steam Railway for the forthcoming 1940's Weekend that will be taking place on the 5-6th July and the Island Steam Show on the 22-25th August. There will also be a Wine Festival taking place on 27-28th September.

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