CAMRA's National Real Ale Pub of the Year, 2007

Welcome to the Old Spot Inn website.

Welcome to the April 2013 Newsletter ...

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Mike Ortmans (Rancid Whelk)
21 Dec 1952 - 07 Apr 2013

We have to say goodbye to a true pub favourite, a life long Rolling Stones fan & a very conservative left winger! Mike Ortmans, it is fair to say, was one of the lads. Parties at Boo & Mike's are the stuff of legend.

Mike & Boo moved to Dursley in 1986 having spent much of their formative years in south-west London. He frequented a number of watering holes around the area until 1993 when the Old Spot opened and Mike was one of the very first people through the door.

Most of his life, he was a truck driver but after a couple of years 'in the wilderness' when that ended, he was given a computer & developed a thirst for how it worked. He enrolled in a course in Stroud & after passing with a high distinction and an award for the 'Best Performing Student' at the age of 52, he was persuaded by his tutors to attend an open day At Glos Uni and enrolled on another course. In 2007, he received a BSc hons degree in Computing with Multimedia - at the age of 54!

Regrettably, a few years ago, he was diagnosed with cancer - and he met this with his normal good humour and a resolve that speaks volumes of the man. Everyone raise a glass to a character you may struggle to see the likes of too many times in your life!

The world will be a far duller place without him - he was loved and will be greatly missed by an amazing number of people and our thoughts are with Boo, his family, and his many, many friends.

Matt Nicholson, Martin Cooper & Stu the Brew

Celebrity Chef Reaches New Heights

Got to start off with a big thanks to Marg Tocknall and family for hosting the last Celebrity Chef Night, with daughters Julie and Laura playing second chefs, and Brian and son in law, Luke waiting on tables. We were treated to a true bonanza of Italian fodder, but Marg went one step further than just donating her time - she also donated all the food! With this inspiration, customers pledged extra cash and we managed to double our normal Celebrity Chef fund-raiser for Cotswold Care Hospice, and took it to over £500!

Dursley Male Voice Choir

More thanks the Dursley Male Voice Choir for an amazing night at Cheltenham Town Hall, hosted alongside Wynne Evans (the big guy from the Go Compare adverts). It felt like the whole of Dursley had turned out to support them! Cracking music, fab company, awesome venue and a God-awful hang over the next day!

CAMRA Glos PotY

Great news people ... we have again won Gloucestershire CAMRA Pub of the Year. This means we have another excuse for a party! The official presentation will be taking place on Wednesday 17th April and the unofficial knees up will be the 13th April when we will be having live music by Thrill Collins. Please join us for either or both - they should be some great nights.

More Thanks

More thanks, first off big thanks to Kellie Davidson for hosting our last Wine Tasting and Great Western Brewery for our Meet the Brewer night. Not forgetting Lee Roberts for being quiz master extraordinaire and his great little helpers, Linzi, Naomi and Emily. With the raffle we raised over £380 for Cotswold Care Hospice.

OS Meets WI

The Old Spot Wine Tasting Division (just made that title up) got a fantastic reception at the Ashmead WI earlier this month, where we got to talk about my second favourite subject (after beer) for a couple of hours. Thanks to the ladies for such a warm reception and for their fab nibbles. Oo-er!

Cheers!

Those that made the Old Spot 20 year celebrations were not disappointed. Short Elbow made their (almost) début appearance and were quite frankly fran-fricking-tastic! The retro bar with its 1993 prices ran out of beer after 75 minutes (strange that!) but the party never dulled. Here's to another 20 years!

Monday Night Suppers

Monday night suppers are still being served, an ideal time and location to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries or just a case of "what the hell"!

Cream Teas

Just a reminder that Cream Teas are still being served every Saturday and Sunday afternoon from March 'til September.

New Website

Over the next couple of weeks we will be launching the new website. Its going to be much more current and updated daily with beers, food specials and a what's on section, with links to Facebook and Twitter so you can be kept abreast of what's going on at your favourite watering hole. Big thanks to Stu the Brew for the last 10 years - you did an amazing job!

Teetotal? No Problem

With summer approaching, we have launched a wide range of low and non-alcohol beers for those that have the responsibility of driving. Ask at bar for more details.

Bank Holiday Quizzes

There are two more quizzes this year both on the next bank holiday Sunday nights. Kick off is at 7.30 but if experience is anything go by, it do get a tad bit busy!!!

DEAD DOG CIDER
Every 2nd Wed of the Month from 9.00 pm

Enjoy a pint at The Old Spot in an atmosphere reminiscent of times past with folk duo Dead Dog Cider playing an acoustic mix of folk songs and ballads. Mark (Vocals and Guitar) and Pru (Vocals and Bodhran) will entertain you for the evening with English, Irish, Scottish and American songs, some lively some quiet, all with stories to tell.

If you like folk music come and listen to the compelling beat of guitar and Bodhran with Dead Dog Cider every 2nd Wednesday of the month from 9.00 pm until closing.
Cheers, Pru.

Butcombe Brewery Visit

We will be making our way to Butcombe Brewery on Tuesaday 7th May to check out their brew plant, try a couple of their brews and no doubt the odd pub or two on the way home! Costs will be £15 each, to include a light supper. We are limited to 16 places so get in early.

English Gourmet Night

For those that have been asking about the English Gourmet Night see below. The Beer Flight will be added at a later date.

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That's all for now folks.

Cheers!
Steve Herbert
April 2013THE OLD SPOT INN

More News ...

The Old Spot was voted the Best Cask Ale Pub of 2011 at the Great British Pub Awards

The "Spot", described appropriately by the landlord Steve Herbert as "A Pub of a Thousand Locals", is set in the beautiful Cotswolds, actually on the Cotswold Way as it passes through the town of Dursley and is a popular watering hole for walkers. The Old Spot is friendly, deeply traditional and one of the must-visits of the county. This 100 year old free house, named after the Gloucestershire Old Spot pig, has been sympathetically restored by its owner, Ric Sainty.



Come inside the site and enjoy some of the flavour that makes this traditional little boozer what it is. The intimate atmosphere is enhanced by log fires and adorned with plenty of brewery memorabilia.



Better still, why not pay us a visit, you'll be greeted with courtesy and efficiency and it probably wont take you long to fit in amongst the locals as if you'd always been there.

 Ollie, Hayley, Steve, Tori, Brigid, Steve, Helen, Lorna, Nancy, Steve, Belinda, Tom
 
As well as Uley's Old Ric, named after the owner, we nomally have at least 8 guest Real Ales on at any given time, mainly from micro breweries, served in five separate drinking areas. We also have a good selection of fine Wines as well as our famous Whisky collection. If you're feeling hungry, try one of our home cooked meals or a light snack from our food menu and relax in the charm that graces this pub. The wholesome menu is available between 12pm and 3pm seven days a week.



The secluded garden offers a good sized covered and heated area and a separate patio area for those of you who'd like to take a breath air outside.



On the Cotswold way, this convivial local is the "CAMRA's National Pub of the Year 2007" and multi award-winner conveniently stands opposite a free car park.

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