Pub Awards
Each quarter, the branch awards a Pub of the Season (PotS) in both Town and Village categories. The eight Pub of the Season winners then make up the shortlist for the branch Pub of the Year (PotY), which is judged in the new year.
You can nominate a pub at any time via this form.
Below is the write-up of each presentation, taken from the branch magazine Pints of View, in which it was featured. Please note that all information applies to the date at which it was written and is subject to change. Please check camra.org.uk/pubs for up-to-date information regarding the availability of real ale, opening hours, etc.
The rules of both competitions, previous and current, can be found here.
Previous Winners
2025 | 2024 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001
2026
Gary and Vicki accpting the award
Spring 2026 Town Pub of the Season - Stella Taps, Mansfield
Stella Taps is your Spring Town Pub of the Season.
The micro, which takes its name from the street on which it stands, was taken over in March by Gary Morley. Gary is no stranger to branch awards, having won two Pub of the Season awards at his other pub, the Market Inn in Huthwaite. After taking over the pub, Gary decided not to try to fix something that isn’t broken, as the previous landlord, Roland, had steered the micro into the Good Beer Guide before retiring. Instead, there were just a few tweaks here and there and a little personalisation.
This hasn’t gone unnoticed with regulars: nominations for the pub read “Since the new owners have been in place, the pub has continued to serve a variety of high-quality real ales” and “Cosy pub with a good atmosphere. Cask ales are always well-kept”.
The pub is the branch’s most recent addition to CAMRA’s LocAle scheme, accredited in May during our branch meeting, so you can be guaranteed a pint of something local, should you wish. On our visit, Pine Strike from Red Dog Ales (now produced at Lenton Lane Brewery - 14.1 miles) went down nicely, followed by Moonshine from Abbeydale, which also gets in at 19.4 miles. The ever-popular Bass was the third ale on during the evening.
So, the future looks stellar for Stella Taps in Gary’s hands. The pub will be a contender for our branch Pub of the Year, judged in the winter, and also in our LocAle Pub of the Year, which will take place in the Autumn (see LocAle feature). I wish Gary and all of the staff all the best in both.
Caroline accpting the award
Spring 2026 Village Pub of the Season - Horse & Groom, Scarcliffe
Our Village Pub of the Season for Spring 2026 is the Horse & Groom, Scarcliffe
Since returning to Mansfield & Ashfield branch in Autumn 2024, this is the second Pub of the Season award for the Horse & Groom after its first win in the Winter 2024/25 quarter. No surprise, since the pub has been consistently well run by the same family for over a quarter of a century – and it also deservedly returned to the 2026 edition of CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide (published September 2025) too.
Expect to see up to seven ales on the bar (usually five during the week with two more at weekends) from local, regional and national brands, including one ale from Welbeck Abbey and regulars such as Bass, Abbot and Black Sheep, plus varying guests. There’s generally something for most tastes, although cask stouts and porters are rare here, as in this pub, they certainly know and cater for what their clientele likes!
We visited on a Tuesday evening to find six ales available: Bass, Abbot and Black Sheep, plus Leeds Pale from Leeds Brewery, Kaiser from Welbeck Abbey and Over The Bar from Castle Rock – but as I was driving, I only got to sample the last two, both of which were in fine condition and very enjoyable. However, I was assured by colleagues who came along for the presentation that the others they tried were in very good form too.
Despite her camera shyness, we managed to get a picture of landlady Caroline accepting this latest award, to a round of applause from me, branch members and customers on the night. Despite winning plenty of CAMRA awards, the lack of space means they aren’t currently displayed, which I think is a shame – but with their proven track record and loyal customers, they don’t really need to trumpet their achievements.
Not the easiest pub to get to for me unless I drive - so I don’t visit as often as I might like - but I’ve always felt very welcome when I do, and often see and chat with people I recognise. The Stagecoach 53/53A Mansfield to Sheffield bus stops right by the pub, and it’s roughly every two hours in each direction – and it runs every day, with the last return service to our area at just before 10 pm, apart from Sundays when it’s two hours earlier.
There’s parking in front and to the rear of the pub - where you’ll also find the substantial beer garden and a large dog-friendly conservatory (as dogs aren’t allowed into the two main rooms inside). Popular with walkers, those with muddy boots are also requested to use the conservatory (with a serving hatch to order your beer), please – but most importantly, should you plan to visit yourself, please remember that it’s cash only here!
Read both features in the Autumn 2026 edition of the branch magazine, Pints of View.
Branch Pub of the Year 2026
Beth Jono Lina and vice chair Dick
Congratulations to Damann, Jono and Matt and all the staff at the Brown Cow, who are Mansfield and Ashfield’s Branch Pub of the Year 2026.
Another issue of Pints of View and another edition celebrating The Brown Cow, who only last season picked up the Pub of the Season award, which entitled them to be judged for Pub of the Year, alongside the other Pub of the Season winners.
The fact that you are reading this, of course, meant that they won the overall Pub of the Year, and in late March, it was time to present them with the award. On the night, there was plenty of beer to choose from, with most in attendance giving Banana In The Tailpipe, a Chocolate Banana Stout by Bang The Elephant a try.
Since the last issue, The Brown Cow have been as busy as ever, with Beth, daughter of landlord/part-owner Jono, heading down to Leicester to Everard’s to brew an International Women’s Day collaboration beer with several other Everard’s-owned pubs, as well as Nottingham-based group, ‘No Half Measures Collective’. The resulting beer was Lalahon, a keg-only 5.6% ABV New England IPA (NEIPA), and it is great to see the team taking part in another successful brew day.
Not to mention that on the 17 - 19 April, the Brown Cow hosted their first beer festival of the year, with some members of the branch staffing the upstairs stillage bar. As always, it was a great success, with us selling out of more beer than we have at any previous festival, and we loved getting to chat with so many of you who came along!