Pub of The Year

The Taps

Henry Street, Lytham

Joint winner of the Blackpool Fylde and Wyre branch of CAMRA “Pub of the Year” is The Taps on Henry Street in Lytham on the Fylde coast. Sharing the award with the Shovels in Marton, these two pubs were streets ahead in the popularity stakes by members of the local CAMRA branch. However the Taps will go forward as the branch nomination in the regional and national heats of the competition. We believe this wonderful pub can beat all-comers, but it isn't our decision. However, FYLDE ALE will keep you up to date with its progress. The presentation of the award on the 4th May was a bitter-sweet affair, coming so soon after the death of the popular landlady June Rigg, however Ian decided the event should go ahead as June would have so wished. The branch decided to dedicate the award to the memory of June, a very proper and popular decision. Branch chairman, Ian Ward passed on the branches condolences on the loss of June and went on to say. “The Taps is the benchmark against which all pubs in Blackpool, Fylde & Wyre are measured, and once again none have quite managed to knock this wonderful place off the number one spot. Ian, June and all the team here do what they do so well that we all just keep wanting to come back time and again - and that, simply, is the mark of a top pub”. Ian Rigg replied by thanking his loyal staff for their hard work. He was touched and gladdened by the decision to present the award in June’s memory. Alan Doggart

Awards by the Shovelful

The Shovels

Common Edge Road, Blackpool

Was it the challenge of getting to the pub now that Blackpool Transport has cancelled the no. 14 buses south of the town centre after tea-time or was it the anticipation of free pints and food?
Hmm, tough one to call, but frankly I suspect that wild horses would not have stopped our Branch turning out in force in mid-March to present the Joint Pub of the Year 2010 Award to Steve Norris and all his team at the Shovels, Blackpool. The Shovels is one of those pubs that show how important top quality beers and attention to customer service are in the success of a business. The building itself is a smart, clean yet otherwise unremarkable building on Common Edge Road, and it is only when you sample the superb range of ever-changing beers, which are now joined by Shovels Best Bitter brewed by our friends at Lytham Brewery, that you start to realise why so many customers return here time after time. It should have been no surprise that, in accepting the award, Steve paid tribute not only to all his staff and our other joint winner, the Taps, but to another pub that scored highly throughout the year - the Thomas Drummond, Wetherspoon’s Fleetwood outlet. In fact he was so fulsome in his praise of the Drummond that I nearly took the award certificate back off him! I know that hard work and commitment to business success is the bedrock of Steve’s approach, but anyone who knows him also knows that being a friendly landlord with a genuine enthusiasm for what he does is also a key part of why we hold him in such high regard. Despite his probably unhealthy devotion to Sunderland FC, The Shovels is a truly Premier League pub, run by a Champions League guy. Wardy