The launch of the Berkshire south east branch of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) inaugural Wokingham Ale Trail will take place at the Queens Head, Wokingham on June 7.
Opening at noon, the ribbon will be cut and an introductory speech given at 1:30pm.
The Ale Trail will run from June 7 to July 12, being a self-guided walk around carefully selected participating pubs for which we have evidence of them consistently serving real ale in a very
good condition.
Kevin Lenton, chairman of Berkshire CAMTA noted how it has been a very difficult time for pubs nationwide. Firstly, Covid had a big impact on people’s drinking habits and pub debts built-up during lockdown. Now there are extreme cost pressures facing the hospitality sector.
The tax burden, on top of energy, food and wage inflation, together with rising beer production costs that the brewers have to pass on
to pubs has resulted in increases to the price of a pint.
Headed that not all pubs can absorb these costs. and approximately two British pubs closed a day in the first quarter of 2026, according to figures produced by the industry.
He added that locally, the extensive and continuous road works for the development of the south Wokingham distributor road have impacted footfall in Wokingham.
“Se ask the real ale drinkers of Berkshire and beyond to join the Ale Trail and support pubs that are often at the heart of urban communities.
“Clearly, showcasing the best real ale pubs will benefit them the most by creating a buzz and boosting their publicity.
“However, it is expected that some of the visitors brought in by the Ale Trail will take the opportunity to try other non-participating pubs, and indeed to give their trade to local shops and other businesses.
“We already know that other CAMRA branches in Berkshire will be represented, and for some people this might be their first time visiting Wokingham.”
The Ale Trail will be free to join for anyone.
Ale Trailers can simply visit pubs on the trail in any order, enjoy great real ale, explore the town, then collect their reward.
They will need a copy of the Ale Trail leaflet to collect their stickers from each of the nine pubs visited.
These will be available at the Launch event, also as a pull-out from Issue 2 of the Pubs & Pints magazine, available free in pubs across
Berkshire, or can be downloaded from seberks.camra,org.uk/aletrail, which will also provide further details on how it all works and provide latest updates before and during the Ale Trail.
Those attending the launch event will have the opportunity to make new friends and sample a one-off cask beer brewed specially for this occasion by local award-winning brewery, Elusive Brewing.
