As reported in issue 128 of Durham Drinker, our annual Pub and Club of the Year award-winners have been chose, and we’ve been out and about presenting certificates. Naturally, we took the opportunity to make a night of such presentations.

The Three Horse Shoes at Leamside, our Country Pub of the Year, marked the occasion by having a special brew from the adjoining Working Hand brewery on tap. Produced to celebrate a 60th birthday, Angry Baby IPA weighed in at 6% and went down very well, with some of the visiting CAMRA party doubting its stated ABV! With the range and quality of ales on offer, this could well be the first of many CAMRA awards for the Three Horse Shoes.

The Victoria, in Durham, took the Town Pub of the Year prize, and the fires in the snug were stoked up to keep us warm as Chairman John Collinson and Pubs Officer Dave Thornton handed over the certificate to landlord Michael Webster. This was the umpteenth CAMRA award collected by the Vic over Michael's 40-odd years at the helm.

Meanwhile, Kay Drummond collected the Club of the Year certificate on a charity fundraising night at Tanfield Lea WMC, at which a packed club raised over £6,000 for prostate cancer research. Buying raffle tickets from someone doing a sponsored silence was interesting...