The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 150,000 members, it is the largest single-issue consumer group in the UK, and is a founding member of the European Beer Consumers Union (EBCU).
CAMRA logo on a bar towel
First National CAMRA Beer Festival held at Covent Garden, London, 1975
The CAMRA office building in St Albans
Great British Beer Festival 2004
A pub is a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in the late 17th century, to differentiate private houses from those open to the public as alehouses, taverns and inns. Today, there is no strict definition, but CAMRA states a pub has four characteristics:is open to the public without membership or residency
serves draught beer or cider without requiring food be consumed
has at least one indoor area not laid out for meals
allows drinks to be bought at a bar
A thatched country pub, the Williams Arms, near Braunton, Devon, England
A city pub, the World's End, Camden Town, London
The Ale-House Door (painting of c. 1790 by Henry Singleton)
Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in St Albans, Hertfordshire, which once held the Guinness World Record for the oldest pub in England