Walters named Pub Of The Year

By [fsalter]

A HULL pub named after an 1820s barber's shop has scoped a top award for its beer.

Walters, the former Venn bar and brasserie, has been named Hull Pub Of The Year by the Hull and East Yorkshire Campaign for Real Ale (Camra).

Accolades have been handed out for the best pubs in 2009.

Walters, in Scale Lane, takes its name from a barber's shop in the same premises in the 1820s and has been open for just two years.

Run by Alan Murphy and his girlfriend Chrissy Fleming, it is described by Camra as a "haven" in an area of the Old Town "over-populated by fashion bars".

Responding to the accolade, Mr Murphy said: "We are over the moon with the award because it is given by an organisation that really knows what it is talking about.

"Many people associate cask ale with spit and sawdust pubs, a lot of old drunks in a dark and dingy bar and dirty toilets.

"Our aim with Walters is to bring real ale to a different, younger market in a contemporary environment."

He added: "At least 50 per cent of our clientele are people you wouldn't expect to be drinking cask ale."

The winner of the Village Pub Of The Year for the second year running is the Plough Inn in Hollym, near Withernsea.