The Chalford Sports & Social Club is once again Stroud CAMRA Club of the Year—for the sixth year running. Ali and Rob Brady were duly presented with a certificate recording this achievement at a presentation ceremony and celebration on Sunday 29 March. It was, as always, a very enjoyable occasion, writes Tim Mars.
While nothing much seems to have changed on the outside at the club, appearances can be deceptive. There has been continuous investment in the fabric of the building and its facilities, fixtures and fittings. The clubhouse remains an unprepossessing flat-roofed, concrete-block bunker, but the roof has been renewed and garnished with solar panels backed up by battery storage. There are new curtains in the lounge, with new blinds to come in main hall where the skittle alley has pride of place. The chairs in the lounge have been reupholstered. And the skittle alley, the jewel in the club’s crown and which, according to Rob Brady, is the biggest earner and on which 10 teams play, has been renewed and resurfaced at a cost of £6,500.
There was a good turnout of Stroud CAMRA members and locals, many lured by the promise of a game of skittles. We always arrange the presentation for when the alley is available.
Skittles is a sadly endangered species in pubs these days, and one of the distinctive features of pubs (and clubs) in the southwest of England and south Wales. Any pub closure is to be regretted, but it is always particularly saddening when it involves the loss of a skittle alley—as with the closure of the Kites Nest Inn at Lightpill on the Bath Road, where the skittle alley has disappeared under a terrace of new houses. And Shunters in Stroud, where the pub is now Sorrento’s, an Italian restaurant, and the skittle alley has succumbed to a cramped courtyard of new flats.
Many Stroud CAMRA members are enthusiastic players, including me. So, to find a pub or club with a well-maintained and supported skittle alley is a boon.
We played an energetic game of skittles with Ben Green winning for the club, leading to further speculation about Tony Hill’s future. Alas, we had no time to play Killer, a fast and furious game, which is usually the high point of our visit.
The beer range was imaginative and eclectic, confirming the Chalford Sports & Social Club as worthy winners of the Club of the Year accolade. There was Cereal Killer, a so-called ‘session IPA’ (3.8%) from Newport’s Tiny Rebel, Big Cat (4.5%), a beefy stout from Stroud Brewery, and Juicy IPA (4.8%) a punchy gluten-free English IPA flavoured with New World hops from Rude Giant, a new Wiltshire brewery. So a good range of tastes, strengths and styles was catered for. All but the Big Cat were new to me and probably to most other people, making for an adventurous tasting session.
The Chalford Sports & Social Club sits right at the top of Chalford Hill with a glorious southerly aspect across its own tennis courts. The club is the sporting and social hub of the village, with over 500 members. It is an astonishing resource at the heart of the community, offering a wide variety of social and sporting opportunities, from craft clubs to skittles, fitness classes to sport on TV. It is a warm and welcoming place, very family-orientated and where children are always welcome.
The club is justifiably proud of its sporting prowess. With youth and adult football teams, two cricket sides and no less than five tennis teams, with their top players battling it out against the best in the area in the premier division. The club boasts five floodlit courts, including two synthetic clay ones.
The clubhouse may be externally unprepossessing, but it proves to be an Aladdin’s cave when it comes to the range of facilities and activities within. The main hall is big enough to accommodate 150 people and is a popular choice for wedding receptions, parties, concerts and family events. It is also used for short mat bowls, with several sessions each week. There is a dartboard in the main hall and another one in the comfortably furnished lounge.
But skittles is at the heart of the club, with 10 teams, regular competitive and social events throughout the winter and a weekday league in summer.
Ali Brady became manager in March 2018 and from that point on it was all change on the beer front. In came the handpumps and on came the real ale, and overnight the club changed from serving only pressurised keg beers to an oasis for real ale, courtesy of the Good Beer Company, run by Ali’s husband Rob Brady. Rob is solely a volunteer at the club but takes care of beer ordering, line cleaning and also serves behind the bar.
The Chalford Sports & Social Club now goes forward to the next round—to compete for the title of CAMRA West Central Club of the Year. And so on until one pub out of a shortlist of four is crowned national CAMRA Club of the Year for 2026.
