4th April 2024
The Cross Keys, Thame has been been crowned Pub of the Year by CAMRA Aylesbury Vale & Wycombe.
CAMRA said: "We would like to announce the results of our Pub of the Year 2024 competition. We had a good response to our online poll and many thanks to the members who voted. The winner was the Cross Keys in Thame. The photo above shows Peter and Trudi from the Cross Keys being presented with the winner’s certificate on the 21st March by Mike Clarke and Simon Heap, Chair and Secretary of the local branch.
Many congratulations to the Cross Keys and the team there. We asked our members who voted if they’d like to give reasons for their decisions. One member said of the Cross Keys, it has an “excellent selection of both real ale and cider. The pub is very much aligned with CAMRA's aims and principles.”
The competition was very close with all five shortlisted pubs receiving a good level of support. We had two joint runners up – the Red Lion in Chinnor and the Rose and Crown in High Wycombe. Both have been presented with their certificates by members of the local branch.
The Red Lion in Chinnor was described by our members as “Chinnor's de facto real ale pub. Beer quality is always top notch…popular with locals and well-run by Nicola. Always interesting ales from usually local breweries. Good food trucks. Three generations of our family love it!”
The Rose and Crown in the centre of High Wycombe was described as “a traditional pub with a great atmosphere and serves quality real ale consistently.”
The Cross Keys will now move forward to the county round of Pub of the Year. It will be up against Mid-Chilterns winner, the King’s Arms in Tring, and North Bucks and Milton Keynes winner, the Victoria Inn, New Bradwell. Any branch member is welcome to judge in the next round of the competition but all three pubs must be visited. Please email [email protected] if you are interested and we will pass on details when they are available.
Congratulations also to the Royal British Legion in Marlow, which is once again our Club of the Year."
