Rainhill village pubs celebrated for excelling with CAMRA awards

With CAMRA's prestigious awards handed out to the best pubs, clubs, and breweries that have a focus on real ales, four Rainhill venues were celebrated for their commitment last week.

Making it six CAMRA awards on the bounce, Skew Bridge Ale House was awarded the Pub of Excellence' award, while Rainhill Recreation Club was named the 'Club of Excellence.

The Commerical Hotel, on Station Street, and the Coach & Horses, on Ritherup Lane, were also commended with a 'Committed to Cask' award.

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The Coach & Horses were presented with a 'Commitment to Cask' award (Image: CAMRA)

With a dream to open up a pub in Rainhill and get it into CAMRA's 'Good Beer Guide', Phil Speakman fulfilled his teenage ambition after launching the Skew Bridge in 2016.

A cosy venue that is all about beer and conversation, the Dane Court micropub is one of the few St Helens venues that has been named in the national 'Good Beer Guide' for each of the last six years.

Phil wanted to bring a Real Ale pub to Rainhill since being a teenager (Image: St Helens CAMRA)

Speaking about the award, Phil said: "When I was 18 or 19, it was my ambition to bring a new pub to Rainhill and get it into the Real Ale pub guide, and we've succeeded with that for the last six years.

"What we are committed to is the quality of our product, and people will come and spend money with you if you do that.

"We're also very pleased that the pub has helped to transform the village and Dane Court, as the space can become very busy at weekends and at the village gala.

"With the help of other businesses, it seems that people are happy to spend money in Rainhill and have a nice day out here."

Phil said he is proud of the way Dane Court has improved since launching the pub (Image: Skew Bridge Ale House)

Another Rainhill pub that received a coveted CAMRA award is the Commerical Hotel, which is the first accolade that owner Mark Woodward has received since taking over the venue in 2020.

Taking over the pub during the stop-start difficulties of the pandemic, Mark said he has witnessed a great change in fortunes for the pub and its cask ale scene over the past three years.

Mark with the 'Commitment to Cask' award (Image: Mark Woodward)

Mark, who has worked in the pub industry for the past 23 years, said: "We try to make the most of the pub by keeping two permanent and one guest cask ales, so to be mentioned in the same league as the Skew Bridge who focus on that, is great.

"We have really hit the ground running since reopening the pub after lockdown, and we've really exceeded our expectations.

"The locals have all been brilliant, and we work closely with other pub owners in our 'Pub Watch' scheme. We have just started pedestrianising Station Street at the weekends too so I can't complain!"

Rainhill Recreation Club were named as CAMRA's 'Club of Excellence' (Image: CAMRA)