The Robin Hood (AND) Little John in Arnold is the Nation’s best cider pub!
The votes are in and the result has been announced; Arnold’s oldest coaching inn has been nominated the best cider pub in the UK by members of the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA).
The pub was voted the best in Nottingham in March this year, then the best in the East Midlands in August 2015. As a regional winner, The Robin Hood (AND) Little John went into the finals during September and has been awarded the prestigious title, ‘CAMRA National Cider Pub of the Year 2015’.
The Robin Hood (AND) Little John has an established history in Arnold being one of the oldest inns dating back to 1750, making 2015 its 250th anniversary. The building was purchased by Daybrook based ‘Home Brewery’ in October 1940 for £8,700, becoming part of Scottish and Newcastle after their purchase of the brewery in 1986. Scottish and Newcastle was acquired jointly by Heineken and Carlsberg in April 2008, with the company’s assets being split between them. The pub sadly closed its doors for over a year in 2013 but had new life breathed into it in August 2014 through a partnership between Nottinghamshire’s Lincoln Green Brewery and Leicestershire’s Everards Brewery, under their ‘Project William’ scheme.
Landlady and Landlord, Lorraine and Mark Swain offer a rotating selection of eight real ciders, dispensed from their ‘Cider Wall’ behind the bar. They take time to source ciders from the main cider producing regions in the UK, looking to support smaller producers whenever possible. Ciders have appeared from Dorset, Somerset, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, together with more local ciders from Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.
Lincoln Green Brewery Director, Anthony Hughes, says “I’m delighted that The Robin Hood (AND) Little John has won this amazing award and would particularly like to thank Ray Blockley, of Hucknall based Torkard Cider, for the support and advice he’s given us over the last twelve months in all things ‘apple’- I know that much of our success is as a result of the little things we’ve implemented after many discussions with Ray and we are very grateful to him”.
