This year’s Star Pub & Bar Award winners have been announced, honouring licencees working with Star Pubs & Bars. With 14 categories ranging from Best Cask Pub to the somewhat more modern Best Use of Social Media the awards cover all manor of efforts made by pubs throughout the year. Edinburgh’s Barrelhouse Bar & Grill took the top award of Star Pub of the year.

Complete list of winners:

Best Bar Team
Caygill & Smith, Barrelhouse Bar & Grill, Edinburgh

Live Sports Venue
Blind Tiger Inns, The Talbot, Euxton, Lancashire

Team Training 
Hickory’ Smokehouse, Hickory’s Smokehouse at Burton Green

Heart of the Community
Tony and Michelle Grierson, The Reiver, Carlisle

Famous for Food
Claire Hall, the Spread Eagle, North Shields

Most Family Friendly
Graham Anderson and Sharon Stanton, the Eastfield Inn, Bristol

Best Outdoor Pub
Edward O’Neill, The Crown Inn, Farnham Royal, Buckinghamshire

Pint Perfection
Dianne Irving, the White Mare, Beckermet, Cumbria

Best Cask Pub
Wickwar Wessex Pub Company, The Jersey Lily, Bristol

Marketing
Iain Pert and PG Taverns, The Jolly Botanist, Edinburgh

Best Use of Social Media
Nick Livingstone, 7 Saints, Prestwick, South Ayrshire

Best Newcomer
John Corbett and Natasha Gleeson, The Rose & Crown, Heston, London

Retailer of the Year
Martyn and Lynda Cripps, The Longboat Inn, Penzance, Cornwall

Star Pub of the Year
Caygill & Smith, Barrelhouse Bar & Grill, Edinburgh

 

The Sunday roast is a staple of the British week and regularly voted one of the best things about us (even beating a cup of tea and queuing – which are definitely things we enjoy as a nation). But as much as a home-made dinner is lovely, it has its downsides and sometimes the best option is to just head down the pub. But if you are struggling to convince yourself that outsourcing is the right thing to do on this lazy Sunday, I have complied this handy list of supporting arguments that should do the trick. Ahem…

1: No cooking

Let’s start with the obvious – you don’t have to do anything. Don’t get me wrong, I know that some people find cooking enjoyable, therapeutic even (I am not one of them, but each to their own) and home-cooked food is by far one of the best things on earth when done well. That being said, having a delicious roast dinner appear in front of you as if by magic with absolutely no effort on your part is a joy that everyone deserves to experience once in a while. Preferably on a Sunday when you probably can’t be bothered to do anything.

2: No dishes 

There is no enjoyable way to do the dishes – this is an unfortunate fact of life. Scraping all the plates and trying to figure out where is best to start so you don’t have to replace the manky water after 2 minutes. Then to add insult to injury a piece of soggy food has the audacity to touch your hand *shudder*. No thank you. And don’t think owning a dishwasher makes it any better. It takes approximately 200 pieces of kitchenware to make and consume a Sunday dinner and none of them were designed to fit in your appliance together. Then after all that you end up having to wash the pans by hand anyway so you’re back to square one. In the pub, the dishes disappear as magically as they arrived. Ta-Da!

3: There’s always one…

People have preferences because people are annoying. I can say that because I am one of those annoying people. I (controversially?) prefer mash to roasties, enjoy over-cooked beef and NEED to have mint sauce on absolutely everything – heathen. Trying to kindly and calmly adhere to these kinds of predilections whilst balancing 7 pans of veggies on a 5-hob stove is a bit of a nightmare and you deserve better. Unfortunately, you can’t swap your family, so if you are forced to entertain such bothersome guests, the pub is where those things are no longer your problem. Et voila, everyone is fed and happy and you don’t find yourself screaming into a tea-towel in between peeling carrots.

4: Alcohol on tap – literally

What do you fancy? Beer? Wine? G&T? Whatever it is, they’ll probably have it. And even if they don’t, they’ll have something else that you didn’t even know you wanted but you definitely do now. It beats resorting to the half empty bottle of Chardonnay someone left in the fridge after that party you had in the summer.

And finally, …

5: Two words 

Dessert.Board – “Oh, hello there, yes, I’ll have one of everything, thank you.”

So there you have it, if that doesn’t convince you, nothing will.

Happy Sunday Funday!

Stopping off for a couple of pints while out for a nice walk with the dog is one of life’s little pleasures, so it is no surprise that dog-friendly pubs are becoming more and more popular in the UK. A survey conducted by DogBuddy.com – the online dog-sitting platform – has found that 64% of dog owners research dog-friendly pubs before paying them a visit, which makes sense considering 38% say that they have left or been asked to leave a pub due to a no-dog policy.

But for those establishments who do welcome our four-legged friends, DogBuddy has decided to show some appreciation and, for the second year now, have awarded pubs up and down the country with regional titles leading to a national winner. The initial vote is open to the public with the final decision of overall winner being left to a panel of experts from the RSPCA, Snuffle Dog Beer, The Morning Advertiser, Your Dog magazine, and Richard Setterwall, founder of DogBuddy.com.

Well, today that winner was crowned, and the honour has been bestowed upon the Fox & Hounds in Theale. The general manager, Jayne Tilsley, is said to be delighted with the award and emphasised the how much she and other staff members enjoy the company of a good pub dog – with or without their owner. She told The Morning Advertiser “Our neighbour’s dog, Lord Dobbington of Sunnyside, regularly brings himself to the pub for a solo visit.” Which I think is officially the best quote I have ever seen in print.

For their triumph the Fox & Hounds will receive a DogBuddy “Dog-friendly Pub” national winner plaque and trophy, as well as a year’s supply of dog treats, delivered directly to the pub, which I’m sure Lord Dobbington and friends will appreciate immensely.

Click here to find pooch loving pubs near you.

Week 1

Saturday 4^th November

Japan v Australia

International Stadium, Yokohama

5:40am

Barbarians v New Zealand 

Twickenham, London – Live on Sky Sports

3:00pm

Week 2

Saturday 11^th November

 Italy v Fiji

Stadio Angelo Massimino, Catania

2:00pm

 Scotland v Samoa

BT Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh – Live on BT Sport/BBC

2:30pm

 England v Argentina

Twickenham Stadium, London – Live on Sky Sports

3:00pm

Wales v Australia

Principality Stadium, Cardiff – Live on BBC/S4C

5:15pm

Ireland v South Africa

Aviva Stadium, Dublin – Live on Sky Sports

5:30pm

France v New Zealand

Stade de France, Paris

7:45pm

Week 3

 Tuesday 14^th November

France v New Zealand

Parc OL, Lyon

6:30pm

Saturday 18^th November

Italy v Argentina

Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence

 2:00pm

Wales v Georgia

Principality Stadium, Cardiff – Live on BBC/S4C

2:30pm

England v Australia

Twickenham, London – Live on Sky Sports

3:00pm

Scotland v New Zealand

BT Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh – Live on BT Sport/BBC

5:15pm

Ireland v Fiji

Aviva Stadium, Dublin – Live on Sky Sports

5:30pm

France v South Africa

Stade de France, Paris

7:45pm

Week 4

Saturday 25^th November

Italy v South Africa

Stadio Euganeo, Padova

 2:00pm

 Scotland v Australia

BT Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh – Live on BT Sport/BBC

2:30pm

England v Samoa

Twickenham, London – Live on Sky Sports

3:00pm

Wales v New Zealand

 Principality Stadium, Cardiff – Live on BBC/S4C

5:15pm

Ireland v Argentina

Aviva Stadium, Dublin – Live on Sky Sports

5:30pm

France v Japan

U Arena, Paris

7:45pm

Week 5

Saturday 2^nd December

Wales v South Africa

Principality Stadium, Cardiff – Live on BBC/S4C

 2:30pm

 

Please note: All kick-off times are shown in GMT

The Autumn Internationals return this week with the home nations’ first fixtures scheduled for Saturday 11th November. For those of you who will not be making it to the games we have put together some handy lists of all the pubs within a 2-mile radius of the 3 stadiums, so you can still soak up the atmosphere while enjoying a pint.

First up, Head Coach Gregor Townsend will oversee his maiden home tie as Scotland welcome Samoa in game 1 of 3 to be held at Murrayfield. Scotland have won 8 of the 10 meetings between the two teams, the latest being last year’s narrow 36-33 test match victory. For pubs near Murrayfield click here.

The 3 o’clock kick-off sees England take on Argentina having beaten the South American side 27-14 during last year’s Autumn Internationals. This will be the 23^rd test match between the 2 sides with England taking 17 wins and 1 draw. The game will be the first of 3 in the Old Mutual Wealth Series at Twickenham. For pubs near Twickenham click here.

Finally, Wales contest the first of four games to be played at the Principality Stadium in the Under Armour Series. They will challenge Australia for the James Bevan Trophy – created in 2007 to celebrate 100 years of rugby between the two teams. Of the 40 test matches played to date, Wales have won 10 and drawn 1, meaning Australia have an impressive 29 victories under their belt. The last win for Wales came back in 2008 at the Millennium Stadium. For pubs near the Principality Stadium click here.

Week 2 fixture info:

Scotland v Samoa – 2:30pm, Murrayfield Stadium – coverage: BT Sport/BBC

England v Argentina – 3:00pm, Twickenham – coverage: Sky Sports

Wales v Australia – 5:15pm, Principality Stadium – coverage: BBC/S4C

For all fixtures and TV coverage click here.