SIX-HUNDRED beer lovers flocked to Guisborough’s 4th Beer Festival last weekend held at the Parish Hall on Bow Street despite competing attraction from the Grand National and Boat Race. The event was organised by the Rotary Club of Guisborough and Great Ayton in conjunction with the Cleveland Branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) and Guisborough and District Round Table. The event was also sponsored by over 30 businesses and individuals in the Guisborough area.

The Festival was visited by the new Rector of St Nicholas Church, Guisborough, Rev Alison Phillipson, when she drew the first beer from the pumps but the event itself was officially opened on Friday by the editor of the regional Now and Then magazine, Peter Cook.

There were 36 cask conditioned ales from across Yorkshire and the North East to try on offer as well as 7 ciders, and country wines made in Skinningrove. The event was also the scene for the Helmsley Brewing Company to officially launch their new beer, Striding the Riding, in conjunction with the North York Moors National Trails. The beer was specially brewed to commemorate the Cleveland Way, Britain’s second oldest National Trail which forms a horseshoe around the North York Moors National Park starting in Helmsley and finishing 109 miles later on the coast at Filey. The Brewery owner, Kyle Boote, came to the event and was pleased to see beer aficionados sampling his new ale and said, “The beer was brewed in relation to the Cleveland Way and the name depicts what the Cleveland Way does, it bestrides the Riding”. The beer itself, at 4% ABV, is described as a combination of hops to create a refreshing pale ale with hints of citrus and floral aromas.

Most visitors were fairly local but one enthusiastic beer lover was Ricky Barclay who had travelled from Redhill in Surrey specifically to visit the Festival, staying with friends at Redcar. The Festival was also visited by the prospective Parliamentary candidates for the local Guisborough constituency, Tom Blenkinsop for Labour, and Will Goodhand for the Conservatives.

The festival is an important fund-raising event for local charities and has already contributed over £15,000 to them. This year the Rotary Club will be making a donation to the Cardiac MRI Scanner Appeal at James Cook University Hospital, the Round Table ran a charity raffle, and Footprints in the Community, who provide much-needed support to local people and organisations, had a tombola stall.