BATHAMS ACQUIRE ANOTHER PUB

Story added 10/04/2008

Bathams  has just acquired another pub – The New Inn at Wordsley

Full of the character Bathams pubs are known for, the pub stands at the centre of the village, on the main thoroughfare.  It is locally listed by Dudley Council as a building of special interest – earliest records suggest it became a pub in the 1820s, although the building is older and could even have been a farmhouse.

Buying another pub means Bathams are bucking a national trend: some figures suggest that as many as 25 pubs could be closing for good every week, and boarded up pubs around the Black Country tell their own tale. Pubs are an integral part of our British heritage, and Bathams pubs and brewery are an integral part of our local heritage.

Bathams intends breathing new life into this important pub with its mix of prize-winning beers, great value, friendly service and warm atmosphere. The new Manager will be Steve Hadley. Steve is already well known locally having kept other pubs in the Stourbridge area, and Bathams drinkers in particular will know him from his one and a half years at The Britannia in Upper Gornal. He is also a keen musician, having played in various tribute bands. As The New Inn benefits from a full music/late licence, this is definitely something to watch for in the future!

The New Inn reopened on Thursday, 10th April. There was a private reception for invited guests and Press from 6pm, and at 8pm the pub reopened to the public.

Matthew Batham, Director, said  “It is wonderful that, even in a difficult economy, the popularity of Bathams beers remains undiminished, and that at The New Inn we are able to create another Bathams haven for lovers of traditional beer and pubs.”

OPENING NIGHT AT THE NEW INN

Story added 10/04/2008

After lots of hard work, The New Inn was opened for business on Thursday evening 10th April, 2008.

The picture shows Matthew Batham, Director, raising a glass on opening night with Manager, Steve Hadley, amongst other staff and guests.

Matthew Batham & Steve Hadley	Matthew Batham & Martin Birch (Head Brewer)	Tim Batham (Director)
Mr & Mrs Batham (Proud Parents)	Steve & his daughter	Another pint on the way!

THE PERFECT COMBINATION

Story added 08/03/2008

Bathams Brewery has created the perfect combination for customers at The Unicorn Pub in Wollaston – their normal terrific pint plus the latest technology!

WiFi has just been installed at The Unicorn and regulars and visitors can now enjoy their favourite pint whilst catching up with the news, their emails, or even a bit of work on their own wireless-capable laptops and mobiles. They can enjoy browsing the Web, or maybe watching their ebay auctions in real-time, all in the comfort of their pub!

Landlord John Freeman said “Our customers could even leave work a bit earlier now and continue on their laptops over a refreshing pint!”

Installing the new technology has been the task of Tim Bailey of Stourbridge-based business techys2u. He said “We have been delighted to introduce this technology for Bathams Brewery, who were quick to realise the benefits a WiFi hotspot offers many of their customers.”

Amazingly, the service is free! To start using it is very straightforward: users simply come in with their suitable laptops or mobiles, create their own on-line account, which is almost instantly activated – and then just start! As this stage is done only once, regulars will be then be able to enjoy using the service whenever they are in the pub from there on.

Matthew Batham, Director, said “We are very keen to offer our customers such up to date technology as a free service that they can enjoy alongside a pint or two in a relaxed atmosphere. We are now planning to roll this out in many of our pubs over the coming months.”

BATHAMS CHARITY GOLF BASH

Story added October 2007

Bathams Brewery organised a hugely enjoyable Charity Golf Day at Cleobury Mortimer Golf Club on Wednesday 3rd October.

A total of 18 teams played, almost all drawn from Bathams own pubs across the region. The Lamp Tavern, Dudley, was the overall winner, and Chris Fisher from the same team was the Individual winner

A terrific £2100 was raised for charity on the day, and this sum has now been donated to the County Air Ambulance by Director Matthew Batham. He said “Whilst organising something like this is very hard work, it is so rewarding when we are able to to hand over such a good sum of money to such a worthy cause – and all have a great day as well!”

A FUTURE CHAMPION – The next step

Story added September 2007

The amazing tennis skills of local girl Elli Share see her take the next step on the long hard road to becoming a top player we may one day see at Wimbledon.

From the age of 5, Elli has shown not only huge talent, but also the total dedication that is part and parcel of becoming a championship player. Hard daily training, careful diet and constant travelling to tournaments, plus maintaining her excellent school grades, has meant a very unusual life for Elli and her parents.

Now 14, nearly 10 years on and countless trophies later, Elli is joining the prestigious Priory Club at Edgbaston. This is a Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) High Performance Centre, where Elli will be training every day for 4 hours each day.

For the last 2 years, she has attended and lived at the LTA Academy at Loughborough University, so will now be based back at home again in Coseley with proud parents Kevin and Monica Share.

Supporting their daughter and funding the increasing costs of Elli’s talent and progress is an ongoing battle. Dad Kevin said “The more she progresses, the greater the costs, plus she now plays in Europe as well as all over the UK.”

Fortunately, local businessman Matthew Batham of Batham’s Brewery was very impressed when he read just how hard Elli works and how talented and successful she is and was keen to support and sponsor such an important talent. He said “ As a local business we wanted to help Elli, a local girl with exceptional ability, where we could. We feel we have a real winner in the making.”

Elli has just returned from the Belgium Event, reaching the semi finals, and, with another British girl, won the Argayon Cup Doubles event, beating the Number 1 seeds in the final.

Matthew Batham added “We are now looking forward to following Elli’s progress at the Edgbaston Priory Club and think the Black Country can look forward to its own future champion!”

GRAND OPENING Of the GARDEN LOUNGE

Story added June 2007

the new sanctuary for smokers and their companions

At last! A celebration for the smokers amongst us! On Thursday 14th June 2007, at their Unicorn Pub in Wollaston, Stourbridge, Batham's Brewery held the Grand Opening of its first Garden Lounge, created for the comfort and convenience of those who enjoy smoking, for their friends and family, and indeed everybody who would simply enjoy the garden ambience.

The new Garden Lounge at The Unicorn was created from the former bowling club changing room, overlooking the lovely garden. Whilst complying with the Government's requirements for smoking shelters, the Garden Lounge has all the home comforts such as heaters, lighting, pictures and comfortable furniture which ensure that those smoking can do so in comfort and without the sense of being 'banished' from the pub.

At the Grand Opening, a Jazz Band, free snacks and a free drink for anyone dressed as Famous Smokers ensured everyone enjoyed themselves. Winston Churchill, Marlene Dietrich and Groucho Marx were amongst those who attended!!

At the opening ceremony, Director Matthew Batham cut the ribbon, and declared the Garden Lounge 'Open'.

The Dream Job

Story added June 2007

We don't all get our dream job, but Martin Birch certainly has!

Martin has recently joined Batham's brewery in Quarry Bank, taking over the brewing of Batham's beer when the last brewer retired recently after 40 years.

Martin is, in fact, a Master Brewer. Born in Quarry Bank, a stone's throw from the brewery, Martin started his brewing career with Watney's in 1978. He studied for his Diploma of Management Studies at Kingston Business School, and in 1984 passed his Master Brewer Examinations for the Institute of Brewing. He later became Head Brewer at Hansons and then held several senior management positions with Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries. Until recently he worked for Unilever as a Technical Consultant within the brewing industry, travelling the length and breadth of the country.

Married to Lyn, they have a daughter Katherine, 27, and a son Daniel, 24. Martin still lives not far from Batham's Brewery, so he has manged to stay close to his roots and a loyal Batham's customer!

Martin takes over the brewing from Ken Smith, who retired earlier this year after 40 years at Batham's Brewery.

Martin said "I still have to pinch myself when I think how lucky I am to be brewing Batham's beer. It must be every local man's dream!"

Director Matthew Batham said "Now that Ken Smith has retired, all Bathams drinkers will be relieved to know that the brewing continues in the safe hands of a local connoisseur!"

Bathams use F1 Tecnology.

Many thousands of gallons of "hot liquor" have finaly taken their toll on our 60 year old bronze Sparge arms; the start of the brewing process. A refurbishment was the only answer, but who could be trust with such a precious piece of equipment?

Firstly, Evans and White of Stourbridge carried out essential silver solder repairs to the sparger. Once all the leaks had been patched the sparger went to Revolvo of Dudley who turned a new bearing plate in stainless steel. They finished the job off by supplying silicon nitride ball bearings as used by the Williams Formula 1 race team!

The Sparger is now sparkiling like new and running very smoothly indeed, hopefully ready for another 60 years service.

French Chef shows local men how to cook up beef with Bathams

French chef, Cecile Loubaud recently paid a visit to the Community Learning Centre at Pendeford near Wolverhampton where he showed the men (and women!) how to cook a Flemish Beef Stew.

The recipe for (shown below) Carbonade Flamande was rounded off nicely with a bottle of Bathams Special Strong Ale, which Cecile felt enhanced the meat perfectly.

Bathams donated 20 bottles to the class, allowing all students to enjoy the recipe to it's fullest! Pictured is the group of men learning to cook better meals - including Michael Kirk, award winning Wolverhampton butcher.

Click here for the Carbonade Flamande recipe - It's a bit of alright!

Y Giler Arms

What better way to enjoy a break in beautiful North Wales than by staying at The Giler Arms. With great food and of course Batham's famous draught ales on tap, you can be assured of a satisfying time. The pub has several well appointed rooms, and has it's own sensitively landscaped one acre lake, which offers all year round fishing for guests.

We now have 5 electrical hook ups available for campers and caravaners.

For more informationor to make a booking, please call our friendly manager Kim on 01690 770612. Alternatively, take a look at The Giler's website at:

www.giler.co.uk

We look forward to seeing you soon!