Morpeth micropub wins award for seventh year in a row

The Office has won the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) annual award for south-east Northumberland.

Landlady Andrea Johnson, who was presented with the award by Mayor Jade Crawford, said: “We’re very proud to have won.

"There’s a lot of tough competition so hopefully this shows we’re doing something right. We’ve got a really strong community here.”

The winner is chosen by the 1,600 members of the Tyneside and Northumberland branch of CAMRA.

Paul Hillhouse, branch chairman, said: “It has certainly proved popular with the members since it opened and it’s not hard to see why,

"While our members may put the quality and choice of cask beer high on the list of priorities The Office goes beyond that has become a very welcoming part of the community.

"The pub has a communal cheese night where regulars bring a cheese each and create a great selection for everyone, they have regular pub quizzes as well as golf days and even bus trips to other micropubs around the North East. It is a real community around the pub.

“The micropub has also made some tremendous charitable efforts, including collecting donations for food banks.

“But of course, for the Campaign for Real Ale, the beer is often the deciding factor and there is a line up of well-kept and mostly local cask beers supporting local businesses, They even collaborated with Flying Gang brewery from Ponteland to create a house beer late last year.”