Rail Ale Rambles 30th anniversary bus at Knights Templar

Sometimes now used as a generic expression in the United Kingdom for a day tour of pubs and/or breweries by train, in search of "

real ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for ale that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous ca ...

" (cask-conditioned beer), the marketing name Rail Ale Ramble was originally conceived by Gerald Daniels, who runs an English tour company, Crookham Travel. In October 1977 he ran the first "RAR", a chartered train with 596 passengers from London to

Bath, Somerset Bath (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, Bristol, River A ...

and

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. At that time traditional cask-conditioned beer was rare in London, but the

Campaign for Real Ale The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. History The organisation was founded on 16 ...

(CAMRA) was beginning to have more impact in regional centres where there was a greater range of traditional breweries still supplying this "living" beer. More than thirty years later Crookham Travel still runs several Rail Ale Rambles each year as well as longer trips to explore surviving regional and local breweries and the increasing number of new microbreweries throughout Britain and beyond. Meanwhile, the term Rail Ale has been adopted by organisations such as the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership, who promote rural train routes in the English West Country as rail ale trails.

References

* * {{cite book , last = The Centenarian , title = Rail Ale Ramble no. 100 brochure , date = 6 October 2001
"About Crookham Travel"

External links

Crookham Travel

Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership
Rail transport in Great Britain Beer culture Alcohol in the United Kingdom

See also

References

External links