CAMRA Games & Collectables

Campaign for Real Ale

Campaign for Real Ale

National Breweriana Auction

CAMRA's 38th National Breweriana Auction - we'll be back again!

Saturday 19th October 2024

Thanks to everyone who came along to our 37th event. We are back again in October 2023, at the Burton Town Hall, for our 38th event. Timings as last year (see below). We are intending to have an interim catalogue online. If you would like to be notified when this is available, drop an email to: moc.kooltuo@enyrc.c.

For those of you who have never been to a Breweriana Auction, read on about our 2023 event!

Ever fancied owning a slice of brewing history? Then this Auction is just the thing for you. Run by the Campaign for Real Ale, the National Breweriana Auction returns to Burton on Trent’s Town Hall to celebrate its 37th event on Saturday 21st October. It will have circa 150 interesting auction lots; everything from mirrors to trays; advertising signs, water jugs, flagons, bottles, books, brewery mirrors and pump clips as well as a few more unusual items. Plus we expect there will be a number of stands selling brewery memorabilia adding to the atmosphere in this wonderful Victorian venue.

There are all sorts of items from all over the country to decorate your home. Included in the brewery signs are two from London. The first is from Fuller’s of Chiswick, which was set up in 1845, although it is believed there has been brewing on the site for over 350 years. Although Asahi took over the brewery in 2019, brewing still continues. The second is Watney Combe Reid brewery commemorating the Stag Brewery in Pimlico, which was originally founded by William Greene in 1641 and taken over by James Watney in 1858 and then by Grand Metropolitan in 1972 who closed it in 1979.

But it isn’t all items from the south. Items from the midlands included a 1937 coronation ashtray from Offiler’s. This Derby brewery was set up in 1876 and once owned 238 pubs. It became a subsidiary of the Charrington United Breweries group in 1965 and closed the following year. There is also a book, priced at two shillings, and described as ‘A pictorial anthology of town and country inns of character’ in the North Midlands.

As usual, we'll have a number of items from Burton such as a Worthington advertising card and the classic Worthington mayor. There will also be a Bass clock and a mirror. Founded in 1777, the beers, of course, are now brewed by Marston’s, and there will be a lovely little “half a cup” featuring a monk sitting on a barrel.

And that isn’t the only unusual item. What about a Guinness radio or a Youngers Tartan Beer jacket? Set up in 1749, Youngers merged with McEwans in 1931. The brewery was close in 1986 and taken over by Heineken in 2008 who subsequently sold the brand to Charles Wells.

If you have never been to the National Breweriana Auction before, the auction is great fun to take part in and is an opportunity to get some great bargains plus many of the items on sale can appreciate in value. And, of course, like any CAMRA event, there is some good beer on sale all day (from a local brewery).

]Burton on Trent is easily accessible by train and the Town Hall is just a short walk from the railway station. The event starts at 10.30am with the opportunity to view the lots and browse the breweriana stands that will also be there. Bidding starts at noon and is normally finished by 3pm, giving a chance to have a final perusal of the stands before visiting some of Burton's iconic pubs and heading home. Entrance is by catalogue (£3.00), available on the day, or £4.45 (includes postage) in advance, by post from Bill Austin: 07789 900411 or moc.tenretnitb@1591nitsuab. If you can’t get there, postal bids are accepted, just contact Bill. Wheelchair accessible. For more details see: www.gandc.camra.org.uk.





Please read the following section for details and guidance if you are thinking of attending or submitting lots.

DETAILS FOR THE DAY AND INFORMATION

10.30am Auction items available for viewing.
10.30am-4pm Collectors' fair, a number of stalls selling a range of breweriana.
Noon-3pm Auction of over 150 lots of brewery related items including commemorative bottled beers, pump clips, books, display signs, trays, beer mats etc.
There is a small bar selling beer, soft drinks, crisps etc throughout the day. Feel free to bring in your own food.

After the event, there are lots of great pubs in Burton on Trent to visit including Devonshire Arms, Coopers Tavern and Roebuck. Further afield is the Burton Bridge Inn (Brewery Tap) and Beeropolis. The closest pub to the venue (and not miss your train) is the Weighbridge. See advert at the bottom of the page for more details.


Please note that items may be paid for at the two breaks and at the end. No payments can be taken while the Auction is taking place.

Admission to the Auction/Collectors' Fair is by catalogue £3.00 on the day or £4.29 in advance.


We have a limited number of slots available for lots to be auctioned on a commission basis. Contact Bill Austin as above. Items must be delivered to the CAMRA Warehouse or CAMRA HQ, both in St Albans, before Thursday 7th October or to the Burton Town Hall before 11.30am on Saturday 9th October.

The commission payable to CAMRA for each item will be either 15% of the sale price or £3, whichever is the higher.
Reserve prices may be set but these should be realistic and any items not sold must either be taken away at the end of the auction or otherwise collected from the CAMRA Games & Collectables Store in St Albans.

Postal bids, sent to Bill Austin at 18 Malden Road, Watford, WD17 4EW, or to moc.tenretnitb@1591nitsuab, are welcome, but must be received by Friday 8th October giving clear details of the item, lot number, amount of bid, and name, address and telephone number of the bidder. There is no buyer's commission, and no VAT addition.

THE CATALOGUE

The 2023 catalogue is here: 2023 Catlogue and the photos here: Catalogue photos 2023. If anyone wants to see a more detailed photo of any item, please contact Bill.


We try our best to make the catalogue and the descriptions as accurate as possible. However, it is impossible to give full details of some items and these should be verified on the day of the sale. In order to give an idea of the condition of the lots, we will indicate those items which are in excellent condition with 'XX', and those in good condition with 'X'. Unmarked items are in poor condition and those marked with an O are unseen. Some of the lots are being auctioned on behalf of third parties and some of the descriptions are attributable to the sellers. As this designation is a very subjective matter, particularly given the age of some of the items, we strongly recommend that the items are viewed on the day of the sale.

As we expect a number of articles to be offered for sale after the catalogue has been printed, a number of spaces have been left. A list of 'late arrivals' will be available on the day of the sale.


We reserve the right to include further lots, withdraw lots, or to make available duplicate items without prior notice.

PURCHASE OF LOTS

To reduce the need for items to be paid for individually, we propose to keep a record of each purchase so that all lots bought can be collected and paid for either during the breaks or at the end of the auction. In order for this to work smoothly we would ask that each attendee registers and obtains a bidder number. All lots must be paid for and removed from the auction room by 4pm on the day of the auction.

Cheques will only be accepted by prior arrangement. We are also able to accept payment by Visa/MasterCard credit cards and by debit cards.

There are 'reserves' on various lots in the auction: if the bidding fails to reach the reserve amount the item will be withdrawn. Items withdrawn will be available for purchase during the intervals and at the end of the auction.

GUIDE PRICES

We are again providing a guide price for those lots where such a figure is above £10. These appear in red at the end of the item's description. The lower figure of the range shown is not less than the reserve price of the lot, and may be higher.

OPERATION OF POSTAL BIDS

One person (plus a reserve person) will act on behalf of a postal bidder as though such a bidder was in the room. That person will sit in front of the auctioneer in a reserved seat each time a lot is auctioned for which there has been a postal bid. The nominated person will bid in incremental steps as proposed by the auctioneer for the lot until either the bid is successful or the stated postal bid amount is reached. If a bidder in the hall makes a final bid of the same amount as the stated postal bid, the lot will be sold to the bidder in the hall.

DONORS OF LOTS

CAMRA Games & Collectables would like to thank all those individuals and CAMRA Branches who have contributed lots to the auction.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Reference documents that were consulted included:

- Various CAMRA Good Beer Guides
- Century of British Brewers by Norman Barber (Brewery History Society)
- The Brewing Industry edited by Lesley Richmond and Alison Turton
- British Beermat Collectors' Society (BBCS) list of beer mats

Thanks to everyone who has assisted in the organisation and helped publicise CAMRA's National Breweriana Auction.