Brown Ale Pub Company was formed as a family business by father David Brown and sons Ollie and James, all with a passion for good pubs. Having originally sold their family pub, the Dead Poets in Holbrook, to Everards back in early 2000, the relationship has grown through support from the Project William programme and has enabled the Brown Ale Pub Company to take on management of three unique pubs in the East Midlands.
As announced earlier in June, The Final Whistle in Southwell was awarded Nottinghamshire CAMRA Pub of the Year 2025. The pub, based in the Newark branch, beat the other regions entries, which included the Firerock in Sutton in Ashfield, The Mallard in Worksop and the Horse and Jockey in Stapleford, to secure the award and go through to the East Midlands region selection.
The Final Whistle has had an interesting journey to get to this point. Originally built in the 1860s as a hotel, it quickly turned into an Inn for the nearby railway station, which at one stage had a 24-hour licence.
The last incarnation located by the now disused railway line was the Newcastle Arms, however through the support of the Everards Project William programme, it underwent a significant refurbishment in 2010 and was renamed as the Final Whistle.
This comfortable, multi roomed pub has a railway theme and is teeming with memorabilia. The courtyard garden has been laid out like a mock station and also has a separate bar and function room called ‘The Locomotion’. The main bar has 10 handpumps which always includes a stout or porter. Quiz nights are Sunday and Tuesday. Various quality bar snacks are available including pies and cheese boards.
The award ceremony took place on Saturday 14th June, where Branch members and the pubs regulars got together to celebrate the achievement, with Newark Branch Vice-Chairman, Richard Trafford (far right), presenting them with the award. Landlady Jojo Hultum (far left) commented, “We are incredibly proud and happy we have won this award. We have always dreamed of winning this incredible accolade since we arrived at the Whistle 11 years ago. To finally achieve it is our proudest moment. A huge thank you to CAMRA and especially Newark CAMRA and Everards’ brewery for all their support and belief. We can’t thank our incredibly hard-working staff enough that they love and care for the pub as much as we do, making everyone’s experience at the whistle a memorable one”
In addition to this success, their sister pub in Beeston, The Crown Inn, also picked up an award in the earlier Nottingham Branch category. This pub is well known across the Branch membership having consistently featured in the Good Beer Guide since 2011, and being regularly involved with LocAle and Beer Trails.
Offering 11 handpumps throughout the year, during the Spring/Summer months, the recently renovated outside bar is also open at the weekends, with a further 4 handpumps featuring rotating guest ales.
The weekend opening is also supported by specialist local catering companies who set up in the car park.
On a lovely sunny Friday evening with Marble Brewery beers on the outside bar, the award for the Nottingham Urban Pub of the Year 2025 Runner-Up, was presented to Alan Walton, Manager (centre) by Nottingham CAMRA Branch Membership Secretary, John Blankley, (far left).
Alan commented “The team at the Crown work incredibly hard to make everyone feel welcome and provide a consistently high standard of customer service. We pride ourselves on the quality of our cask and keg beers and it’s great to receive local recognition for our efforts. Being in the heart of Beeston, there is a lot of choice for the local drinkers, so the Crown is constantly innovating with different event themes, hence the development of our outside bar and also the very popular Burger Van nights on a Wednesday.”
To complete the round up of the regional Brown Ale Pub Company family, we should also mention their most recent addition, The Five Lamps in Derby, which they took on in late 2022. Whilst not recognised in the recent Derby Branch Pub of the Year awards, it is a Good Beer Guide 2025 entry and with an extensive range of rotating handpumps and offering traditional bar snacks, it’s well worth a visit.
It was recently included in a list of the Top 15 pubs in Derbyshire, as selected by beer writer Will Hawkes. The article was published on the 6th of July in the Derby Telegraph, see link below to read it:
So, whilst all pubs need your support, if you’ve not yet visited a Brown Ale Pub Company venue, please give one a go!
