Ales, ciders and live music lined up for return of Brixham pub's charity beer festival

An award-winning Brixham pub famed for its real ales is set for the return of its charity beer and cider festival following a two-year pandemic pause.

The Queen’s Arms at the top of Station Hill - which recently made it into the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Good Beer Guide for the tenth consecutive year - is gearing up for this weekend's festival.

Chris Simmonds has raised more than £27,500 for various charities since taking over as landlord at the pub 11 years ago.

And tomorrow (Friday, December 2) sees the start of the first Queen's Arms' charity beer and cider festival, with live music, since 2019.

The event is raising money for The Last Kiss Foundation, a Torquay charity that helps and supports families affected by the loss of a baby.

The event runs until Sunday, December 4, and includes more than 20 ales and ciders plus music from Still Life, Chris Thomas and The House Band, Soft Rock Cafe, DT's and Karina and The Slaves.

There will also be a charity raffle, an auction and hot food.

The Queen’s Arms has earned several awards from CAMRA with well over 400 different ales and more than 80 different breweries served to date.

In addition, the Queen’s Arms has raised a significant amount of money for various local charities and causes.

The last beer festival in 2019 raised enough money to provide a defibrillator outside the pub in an old red telephone box, prompted by the death of much-loved customer Phil Moores.

During the pandemic, Chris managed to keep in touch with regular customers via videos on Facebook and maintained the pub quiz and Friday meat draw also via Facebook, which kept regulars in touch with each other and brought a modicum of normality to a strange time.

There was even a charity auction on Facebook, during lockdown, for the families of two local fisherman who were lost at sea.

Chris also did bottled beer deliveries to customers' homes so that they could still enjoy their real ale experience while still supporting local breweries in troubled times.