Blackburn town centre’s Rock Box, across from the old town hall on King William Street, has brought in a special discount for Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) members. On production of a current valid membership card, 20p will be knocked off the price of a pint of real ale.
This is part of the CAMRA Real Ale Discount Scheme (RADS). It was set up following a request by licensees across the country as a way of promoting their real ale to card carrying CAMRA members. It gives them a discount off the price of a pint, or half, of cask beer. This means the price of a pint of real ale will be less than £3 in the Rock Box for CAMRA members.
Founded in 1971, the Campaign for Real Ale is one of Britain’s largest and most successful consumer groups. It has over 150,000 members. CAMRA not only fights for making real ale available in pubs and clubs, but for the promotion and protection of pubs and clubs themselves, along with breweries.
CAMRA members already receive £30 of beer tokens as part of their membership subscription. This in effect means CAMRA are actually giving you £1.50 to be a member of their campaign. But in Blackburn the only place you can redeem your vouchers off a pint of real ale is in our local Wetherspoon’s, The Postal Order. For reasons best known to themselves, not all CAMRA members wish to frequent Wetherspoon’s pubs. At least now they can get something back on their membership by calling for a pint in the Rock Box.
The Rock Box has been open nearly four years, since Andy and Karen Joss bought the former cocktail bar: Tiki Monkey. In that time they have established their pub as a fixture in Blackburn town centre, especially for lovers of classic rock music. They have also championed the cause of real ale with three hand pumps of cask beer being made available to real ale drinkers. Along with being able to watch classic rock music on the large TV monitors, there is also a dart board and pool table in the pub’s upstairs room. So if you’re a CAMRA member, why not call in with your membership card and get 20p knocked off a pint. In these times of austerity – every little bit helps.
