The LocAle scheme was created here in the Nottingham Branch in 2007. The catalyst was the buy out and subsequent closure of Hardy & Hansons by Greene King. They then started brewing various H&H beers at Bury St. Edmunds and transporting it all the way back to Nottingham. This led to thinking about the miles that the beer was traveling. Hence we coined the phrase”Beer Miles”.
Locale accredited pubs should always stock at least one real ale brewed at a brewery no more than 20 miles from door to door (this rule may vary in other CAMRA branch areas). A list of breweries that are “LocAle” to Nottingham branch pubs can be seen here. LocAle brewery List
Encouraging pubs to sell local beer reduces the “beer miles” thus benefiting the environment. In addition;
- It ensures more variety and diversity to the consumer, and hence better sales for the pub.
- It helps sustain the local micro brewers.
- It benefits the local economy.
The Nottingham branch now has nearly 150 pubs signed up to the scheme. Though initially the scheme was only in the Nottingham area it was then rolled out nationally, and now most branches have adopted the scheme and you can see LocAles up and down the country.
Each year a competition is held to find our “LocAle Pub of the Year”, click here for more details and a list of past winners.
You will find that participating pubs will display appropriate stickers in windows and doors, visible from outside.


You will always know a LocAle because most will have a topper attached to the pump clip.
LocAle Pub List
The Nottingham CAMRA LocAle scheme works by accrediting pubs that always stock at least one beer from a brewery within 20 miles of the pub door. Please click on the drop down list below for the current list of LocAle pubs in our Branch.
Last Updated 12th Sep. 2024
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LocAle Brewery List
The breweries listed below are all within 20 miles of at least one pub in the Nottingham Branch area but not all of these breweries will be LocAle to every pub, given the distances across our boundaries. For example any pub in Radcliffe on Trent is less than 20 miles from Grantham and so can include the Grantham Breweries within their LocAle suppliers but the pubs in the Nottingham City Centre can’t as Grantham is more than 20 miles away from them.
For a full list of current LocAle Breweries, please click on the link below to download the details:
LocAle Pub of the Year
Nottingham CAMRA has nearly 150 pubs accredited to its LocAle scheme and each year a competition is held to award one of them the accolade of “LocAle Pub of the Year”.
The competition is run over two stages. Firstly, each edition of Nottingham Drinker features a selection of the pubs, based on geographical location, and the public are invited to nominate two pubs from each area to produce twelve finalists.
For the second stage , volunteer judges visit the twelve throughout July and August awarding scores for the quality and the range of locally produced beers and ciders. Typically over 100 separate surveys are undertaken before an overall winner is declared.
The competition was inaugurated in 2012 and the winners to date have been as follows;
2012 – Flying Horse, Arnold
2013 – The Gate Inn, Awsworth
2014 – Hand & Heart, city Centre
2015 – Lincolnshire Poacher, City Centre
2016 – Horse & Jockey Stapleford
2017 – The Star, Beeston
2018 – Tap & Growler, Eastwood
2019 – The Star, Beeston
2020 – Miners Return, Kimberley
2021 - No Award
2022 - Byron's Rest, Hucknall
2023 - Old Green Dragon, Oxton
2024 LocAle Pub of the Year
The Old Green Dragon

2024 Nottingham “LocAle Pub” of the Year – WINNER:THE OLD GREEN DRAGON, OXTON (again!)
The annual Nottingham “LocAle” Pub of the Year is now in its thirteenth year and the 2024 winner is The Old Green Dragon, Oxton
In the Nottingham area there are over 150 pubs that have been awarded “LocAle” accreditation (they are required to stock a locally brewed beer or cider and the beer/cider must be of good quality).
Over the course of the year the public are invited to nominate pubs from geographic areas within the Nottingham branch and this produced the following finalists:
• Bird Hide, Attenborough
• Byron’s Rest, Hucknall
• Cock & Hoop, Lace Market
• Harley’s Lounge
• Johnson Arms, Lenton
• Mist Rolling Inn
• Old Green Dragon, Oxton
• Old Volunteer, Carlton
• Organ Grinder, Arnold
• The Star, Beeston
• Tap & Growler, Eastwood
• Vat & Fiddle, Nottingham
13 Judges visited the pubs during the period 12 July to 11 August awarding scores for the quality and the range of locally produced beers and ciders. The judges visited the pubs on different days and at different times to ensure that scores were a true reflection of each pub.
“As one would expect the finalists were all high-quality pubs – having already won through from the preliminary rounds and the winner therefore had to be outstanding” said Andrew Ludlow, Nottingham CAMRA LocAle Officer. He added “The Old Green Dragon is to be commended having won the award last year it has shown that it has continued to offer high-quality beers and ciders”
The 2024 Nottingham LocAle Pub of the Year award was presented to the Old Green Dragon, Oxton on Tuesday 3 September. The pub ensured that there was plenty of local beer and ciders available on the night and customers were treated to the following choices:
• Blue Monkey – Hop Air Baboon
• Lenton Lane – Escape
• Pentrich – Box of Tricks
• Beestonia – Pale Rider
• Sneinton Cider – Fifth Element
• Sneinton Cider – Number of the Beast
• Thirsty Farmer – Farmers Fear
Congratulations therefore go to Marc & Cloe and the team, with special mention for Drew the cellarman, for becoming the 2024 Nottingham CAMRA LocAle pub of the Year. It should be noted that by winning the award this year the pub became the first ever to win the award two years running – will there be a hat-trick in 2025?
On being told that the pub had won, Cloe Brailsford, Landlady said
“The Old Green Dragon are thrilled to have won the locale award for a 2nd year running. We are very lucky to have such amazing breweries in Nottingham and we will continue supporting as many as we can.”
Picture above shows Paul Davies, Vice-chair, Nottingham CAMRA (far right) presenting the award to Cloe (centre), Mark and the team.
In keeping with the local theme visitors to the pub were treated to some rather fine Traditional Stilton and Shropshire Blue from the Colston Bassett dairy. www.colstonbassettdairy.com
Judges commended Byron’s Rest and the Cock & Hoop for their promoting of LocAle