Brampton inn The Howard Arms has been named the best pub of 2022 by Thwaites in an internal awards ceremony, which pitted them against more than 200 pubs all up for the same award.
The Howard Arms not only received the best pub award, but also an award called Perfect Principles, meaning the rural inn has bagged two awards that recognise its quality and resilience.
This was all part of the Thwaites Hospitality Awards 2022, an internal awards ceremony that awards trophies and accolades to Thwaites pubs across the UK.
The perfect principles award recognises excellence along various facets, such as customer service, ethos, presentation of the pub, and how Thwaites as a brand is portrayed.
Howard Arms owner Ruth Seggie explained her and her staff’s reaction to winning the two awards: ”We are slightly stunned.
“We were chuffed to bits, but we did not expect to get the pub of the year award.
“We are thrilled, we actually had the people that did the judging say that because our staff were so well trained, they want to be trained by them.
“It was definitely some achievement to win over all the other pubs.”
Recently, the pub saw a well-sized crowd visit and reach for their camera phones when Father Christmas arrived at the inn, being driven by Drummer and Thunder, a pair of beautiful black shire horses, which belong to Thwaites Brewery.
They were welcomed to Brampton by the town crier, Brian Pease, and the horses stood perfectly still as Brian rang his bell and proclaimed their arrival.
People of all ages were there, and the horses were receiving far more attention than Father Christmas who was sitting on the brewery dray waving and wishing everyone a happy Christmas.
For their hard work, the horses were rewarded with a pint of Thwaites beer which they seemed to enjoy, although most of it did end up on the cobbles.
Ruth thanked her staff at the inn for helping to get their team all the way to the win.