Lamb & Flag wins boating accolade.

On Thursday 14th March, Gina & Dennis Birch were presented with three framed photographs, courtesy of boat enthusiasts appreciative of the warm welcome offered to visitors to the Lamb & Flag.  Welney is listed as a destination for boaters by the Inland Waterways Association (www.waterways.org.uk).  Thank you to John Revell for telling us about the presentation and congratulations to Gina & Dennis for receiving this accolade.

Lamb & Flag presentation images. Click to see to full size.

The photographs show that boats have been using the Old Bedford River since it first opened in 1637.  The Inland Waterways Association is campaigning to fully restore this ancient navigation.  Those reaching Welney are sure of a warm welcome from the excellent Lamb & Flag.

Photos taken by Mike Daines.

Wisbech Brewers, Elgood & Sons, were delighted to hand over a cheque for £1,500 to The Norfolk Hospice Tapping House at the Brewery’s Christmas Open Weekend.

A raffle and other competitions held over the course of the weekend realised £383.  Prizes included a homemade Christmas Cake and Christmas Pudding, donated by Elgood’s employee Sheila Wright, who first came up with the idea of holding a raffle in support of the Hospice.  Other prizes included a ham donated by Plater’s Family Butchers of Wisbech, beer donated by the Brewery and several items donated by the various Craft Stall holders.

The proceeds from the weekend were added to those raised at various other events throughout the year, including the annual Jazz in the Garden afternoon organised by Dave & Sheila Dyer, which this year raised a spectacular £522.  Other donations included booking fees from the Craft Fairs in May and September, which raised £420, £200 from Elgood’s Beer Festival, as well as various individual donations from staff and visitors.

Sheila Wright & Nigel Elgood of Elgood’s Brewery, Lindsey Atkin of Tapping House, Sheila & Dave Dyer

After receiving the cheque from Elgood’s Chairman, Nigel Elgood, Lindsey Atkin of Tapping House said “The Norfolk Hospice are extremely grateful to all the team at Elgood’s Brewery for their continued support.  It is good to know that money raised locally will be put to use to help local patients and their families.”

Elgood’s QE Cherry Wheat beer has scooped overall gold in the bottled & canned beer competition at the 2018 SIBA East Independent Beer Awards.

The awards, run by the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), were held at Elgood’s before this years’ beer festival opening, and are judged by brewers and beer experts.

Elgood’s head brewer Alan Pateman, said: “This award is recognition of the hard work that has gone into developing our new-style beers which come from a completely new style of brewing.”

“Our unique, spontaneously fermented sour beers and fruited wheat beers are a new thing for many British drinkers but our Cherry wheat is sweeter and fruity and proving really popular thanks to its approachable, full fruity flavour.”

The finals of SIBA will be held in Liverpool next year. See the full article by John Elworthy in the Wisbech Standard.

Guy Shephed of SIBA (second left) with head brewer Alan Pateman, Nigel Elgood (right) chairman and Belinda Sutton, managing director of Elgood’s. Photograph courtesy of Wisbech Standard.

The competition, in which four other Elgood’s products also won awards, took place immediately before the opening of the three-day Elgood’s beer festival.  The “not for profit” festival featured over 150 beers from independent craft breweries and was attended by around 1,000 visitors.  There was live music each night from local bands “Toadfish Bone”, “The Cherry Reds”, “Bewildered” and “The Rusty Relics”.

All proceeds from the festival, after the deduction of overheads, will be presented to the following local Charities:

• Suzanne’s Hedgehog Rescue
• SSAFA (Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen & Families Association)
• Mind Cambridgeshire, Peterborough & South Lincolnshire (CPSL)
• East Anglia Air Ambulance
• Meadowgate School
• Addenbrookes Charitable Trust

Elgood’s are delighted to announce that our sour beers are now available on www.beermenow.co.uk.

Customers can now benefit from the brand new subscription service which showcases hand-picked beers from across the UK and Europe.

Find beermenow at their website or on social media @beermenowhq

Despite the overcast and slightly cool weather, nearly 400 people gathered in Elgood’s Brewery Gardens to enjoy an afternoon of jazz organised by Dave & Sheila Dyer.

Music was provided by the Peter Rudeforth Jazz Band who played a wonderful selection of classic numbers with some stunning solos from the band members.  In between sets from the Jazz Band, the audience was treated to music from a Ukulele Band whose line-up included our very own Dave Dyer.

Visitors enjoyed their picnics, which looked delicious; the beer, which was (of course) excellent; and the bands, who were superb

A fantastic range of prizes had been donated for a raffle in support of Norfolk Hospice Tapping House, which raised £500 in total for this worthy cause.

Dave Sheila were delighted with the turn out and they expressed their thanks to everyone at Elgood’s who helped with the organisation and to Nigel & Anne Elgood for hosting the event.