Festival ale aims to make a splash (From Preston and Leyland Citizen)

Festival ale aims to make a splash

3:00pm Thursday 24th August 2006

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A drink named after an iconic image of a famous Prestonian has been making a splash as beer lovers raise a glass to the city's annual real ale festival.

The drink, known as Splash, is named after the famous photograph of North End legend, Sir Tom Finney, taken in 1956 at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge ground.

It is being served up just a few yards from Deepdale at Finney's Sports Bar, Deepdale Road.

"As Finney's is a Sports Bar and a pub committed to selling real ales, I was particularly keen to have beers with a sporting connection," said John Cotton of Finney's Sports Bar. "A friend of mine came up with the idea of Splash, and I was delighted when I found Moorhouses could supply it.

"It just seemed fitting that Preston's Real Ale Pub Festival had a beer with such a local connection."

The festival, which started yesterday (Wednesday) and runs until Sunday, September 3, features ten local pubs, all noted for their real ale.

It is organised by the West Lancashire branch of the Campaign for Real Ale, CAMRA.

Branch chairman Paul Riley said: "We are fortunate in Preston that we have a number of good pubs selling excellent cask conditioned real ales.

"The festival aims to promote real ale, good pubs that sell it, as well as the diversity of the pubs themselves. No two pubs are the same in the beers they may have on offer at any one time.

"Events in the pubs vary, from quiz nights or big screen televised sports to music to cater for a variety of tastes, not forgetting the traditional purpose of the English pub as somewhere to simply sit, relax, and have a chat."

He said the for the first time this year CAMRA members will be at the pubs to talk about the festival, the beers, or to provide guided tours of the festival pubs.

Pubs involved also include the Old Vic, Fishergate, Exchange and Fox and Grapes, Fox Street; Black Horse, Old Black Bull and Dog and Partridge, Friargate; Bitter Suite, Fylde Road; New Britannia, Heatley Street; and the University Tavern.

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