Cornwall Branch had its regular two-monthly business meeting at the Driftwood Spars at Trevaunance Cove on Saturday 28 October. The Driftwood is our Pub of the Season - Summer for 2023, see Cornwall CAMRA Pub of the Season - Summer - Presentation to the Driftwood Spars at Trevaunance Cove.

The weather was wet and windy, although in the "calm" period between storms Babet and Ciarán. It was also full moon and high tide so there was no beach or harbour to be seen.

Lou Treseder, owner of the Driftwood, kindly provided us with a room for the meeting and coffee. Downstairs in the main bar were a delectable range of Driftwood and guest beers. I enjoyed Blue Hills Bitter, Stippy Stappy IPA and the redoubtable Alfie's Revenge.

The meeting went well, with announcements of future socials, recent pub news and reports on what the committee have been doing. The highlight was the voting on the next Branch Pub of the Season - Autumn 2023. Nine worthy pubs had been nominated and after six rounds of voting the Blisland Inn at Blisland emerged as the winner. There will be a presentation to Gary and Margaret Marshall in November.

After the meeting, we decamped downstairs where there just happened to be a beer festival going on! It was the Driftwood's Halloween Beer Festival with a selection of four cask beers on gravity (in addition to the main bar range), plus nine keg beers and six bag-in-box ciders. We packed in and had a whale of a time until the march up the hill for buses. My last beer was Driftwood Ore - a superb 6% milk stout.

Some members took advantage of the Driftwood Brewery Shop and stocked up with beer to take home (on their electric bikes)!

Cheers, Steve Barber