Cask Ale: Intangible Cultural Heritage

Samantha Niblett Excerpts

Tuesday 27th October 2026 Westminster Hall

[Samantha Niblett (South Derbyshire) (Lab)]

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I thank my hon. Friends and constituency neighbours, the Members for Burton and Uttoxeter (Jacob Collier) and for Derby South (Baggy Shanker), for securing this important debate.

Full disclosure: back in the early noughties, in my early twenties, I went to work for a company selling wine and spirits. I did a Wine and Spirit Education Trust advanced qualification, but not long after, we merged with the Beer Cellar at Chesterfield, and I had the great pleasure of learning all about cask ales. My patch covered Nottingham city, Derby city, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, and I would frequently work with incredible landlords running fantastic pubs on pulling together their beer festivals. It was always a highlight of the year. Whether it was the beer festivals or going to pitch guest ales each month, it was always a joy to see what new beer mat might be on the tables that month. So this plays deep to my core, and I am really grateful for this debate being secured, because it means a heck of a lot to the people of South Derbyshire as well.

When I knew the debate was going to happen, I put a shout out to Facebook—because that is where the real communication happens in South Derbyshire—asking people their favourite ale and the best place to buy and drink it. They were not backwards in coming forwards. I will refer to some of the recommendations they made in a moment, but I want to give a particular shout out to Tollgate brewery, the current owners of which have celebrated having it for 10 years. They have The Milking Parlour, a lovely venue that my hon. Friend the Member for North West Leicestershire (Amanda Hack) and I visited together in the summer. They have two ales that are well beloved in South Derbyshire: Ashby pale ale and Hackney blonde, which my hon. Friend and I are hoping to get into Strangers Bar.

Having put that Facebook post out, I was invited to the Melbourne rugby club’s beer festival over the weekend, by a brilliant local parish councillor, Andy Dawson, who is co-chair of the club. There, I got to meet the master brewer of Leatherbritches, a very small brewery based at the Tap House in Smisby, whose formal name is Edward Allingham but who is known colloquially as “Mad Ed”. He was telling me all about the history of Leatherbritches and where the name comes from. I would encourage everybody to google “ale connors” to learn a trick or two about how we used to tax ales back in the day.

Talking about Melbourne, it would be remiss of me not to give a huge shout out to The Spirit Vaults, which came up time and again, as a pub that brews some of its own beer on premise. The Reverend bitter came out loud and proud as a big favourite. Another small brewer that came out loud and proud was the 3Ps brewery at Woodville—3Ps standing for pits, pots and pipes, which speaks to our heritage in South Derbyshire.

While national brands were mentioned and places to drink them, like Pedigree at The Freehold Tavern in Newhall, and having a pint of Timothy Taylor’s Landlord—one of my favourites, actually—at The Robin Hood in Overseal, or a pint of Theakston at The Wheel Inn in Ticknall, there was one ale in particular that came out time and time again as a favourite. I do not know whether it is because of our close proximity to Burton that it is so very special to the people of South Derbyshire, but that is Bass. On the best places to get a great pint of Bass, people were not quiet in coming forward. Whether it is The Miners Arms in Church Gresley, the Swadlincote Constitutional Club, the Thorn Tree or The Crown Inn in Newhall, the Chequers Inn in Ticknall, The Bull’s Head in Rosliston, The Malt in Aston, The Harrington Arms in Thulston, The Coopers Arms in Weston, the Green Man in Willington, The Admiral Rodney in Hartshorne, The Brookfield in Barrow, The Hawk & Buckle or The Spread Eagle in Etwall, or The Colvile Arms in Lullington, Bass came out overwhelmingly as the people’s choice in South Derbyshire.

It was also very obvious to me that mainly men like to drink cask ale; they must work some magic because the average bladder can contain 400 ml, but the average pint of course is 568 ml, so I am not quite sure where they hide it. That is the one thing that prevents me drinking pint after pint of cask ale, I have to say.

The important thing about cask ales and the pubs that serve them is the sense of community they help bring. The excitement of guest ales is a joy but the consistency of a good pint of Bass is one thing that seems to bring real joy to the people of South Derbyshire.