2004 – Aleblazers « Geddington Volunteer Fire Brigade

2004 – Aleblazers

Posted on September 10th, 2009 01:09 by Harker, JME

The 2004 adventure was “Aleblazers” – a dramatic departure from customary activities involving firemen in visits to assess every pub (some 650 plus) in Northamptonshire to:

Decide the best pub in the county
Decide the best pub in each local authority area
Raising money for our charity

Each of the 5 GVFB Sections visited 100 plus pubs to select a top three that would go forward to the final selection process. The Pubs and Publicans pictured here are those that reached this stage. They include town as well as village pubs demonstrating the diversity of establishments in the county.

This was no mean feat taking some 9 months to complete with some individual Firemen visiting in excess of 100 pubs. Needless to say the next 9 months was spent on diets.

Publicans were invited to purchase voluntarily one or more raffle tickets for £1.00 each. The tickets were entered into a Grand Draw, with the winner, The Cock Inn at Denford awarded £100. This was donated equally to the Royal Variety Club of Great Britain and the British Lung Foundation.

The Grand Draw raised in excess of £2000 for charity funds these in turn being donated to deserving causes within the local Geddington area.

The decision as to which pub was the best in Northamptonshire was not easy as the assessment criteria included not only beer quality and pub ambience but also the contribution made to the local community.

The winning Pub received not only the accolades of the members of GVFB, but also a specially commissioned trophy.

Outside the winning pub, the Fox & Hounds

After reviewing the 16 Public Houses above the Althorp Coaching Inn (Fox & Hounds) was declared the GVFB 2004 best pub in Northamptonshire. Licensed premises since 1620 the pub is full of character, serving some 10 real ales at any one time.

The Bell Inn – Finedon was runner up.
The Bell – Helmdon came third.

Presentation

On Tuesday 3rd May a group of some 25 Firemen visited The Fox & Hounds for a celebratory charity evening.

The trophy is a half inch brass and copper alloy Branch manufactured in the 1920s and used on front line fire appliances in Oswestry. In the war it was given to a training college at Gobowen & was stamped DCTC (Derwen Cripples Training College) It appeared in front of HRH Queen Elizabeth at the Royal Shrewsbury Show in 1976.

Presented to Jackie Ellard and Marion Comuk.