‘It’s absolutely fantastic’ - 136-year-old Mirfield club named second best in Yorkshire by CAMRA
A Mirfield club renowned for its real ales has been named as the second best in Yorkshire by CAMRA.
The Knowl Club, formerly Mirfield Liberal Club, was named as Yorkshire Region CAMRA Club of The Year Runner-Up 2024 by the prestigious Campaign for Real Ale organisation.
2024 has been a double success for the 136-year-old club having been named Club of the Year for the local Heavy Woollen CAMRA branch.
It has also marked five consecutive years in the famous Good Beer Guide, while the club was displayed on the front cover of the Summer edition of Real Ale Talk, the quarterly magazine of the Heavy Woollen CAMRA branch.
Sarah-Jane Moon of the Knowl Club said: “It’s absolutely fantastic. I’ve been wanting us to get the local CAMRA club of the year for quite some time so when we got that this year I thought that was amazing. We were buzzing.
“Then they said they were going to judge us for the Yorkshire region and I thought we had no chance of that. We had already done great this year.
“But they came on four different occasions, they had a pint and they were really nice, and they walked away really impressed. We didn’t hear anything for ages and then my other half, Paul, the steward, said we came runner-up. I thought he was joking.
“It’s just absolutely fantastic. It’s great for the club, it’s great for the members and it's great for Mirfield.”
She added: “We have a great bunch of locals. Everybody can come in, there’s somebody to speak to and everyone speaks to each other. You can chat to me or Paul, it’s nice.
“There’s never a bit of bother and there’s never a cross word. It’s such a nice atmosphere. We are really, really lucky.”
On the hopes for 2025 for the club which, alongside serving a range of cask ales, helps to raise money for local charities, including Kirkwood Hospice, Sarah said:
“We’re just aiming to get into the Good Beer Guide again, that is always our first thought. Maybe one day we might win the Yorkshire club of the year.
“But to even get considered is just amazing. To top it, it will be quite hard. Winners of that have gone on to win it nationally, so watch this space!”
There is still one major event left for the club though in 2024 - its annual beer festival in November.