Stroud Pub of the Year 2025 – Ale House, Stroud

The Ale House is Stroud CAMRA’s Pub of the Year for 2025. And on a sunny recent afternoon, Stroud CAMRA presented landlord Nigel Crofts with a framed certificate recording the pub’s triumph, writes Tim Mars.
The presentation took place at 3pm on Sunday, March 2nd, with the service of the pub’s famed Sunday lunch winding down, and in the afternoon lull before the regular weekly ‘Sado-Masochistic Quiz’ at 8.30pm. But the pub was still busy with diners, regulars and CAMRA members there to celebrate the Ale House’s success in the ballot for Pub of the Year.

The result of the ballot was:

1 Ale House Stroud (61 points, 23 votes)
2 Carpenters Arms Westrip (33 points, 15 votes)
3 Butchers Arms Sheepscombe (18 points, 8 votes)

‘Points’ is because people’s first choice scored 3 points, their second choice 2 points, their third 1 point. The result would have been the same with a first-past-the-post system, where only people’s first-choice votes were counted.

Thank you to everyone who took part.

The Ale House now goes forward to the next round, to compete with Gloucestershire CAMRA sub-branch nominations from Cirencester (Drillmans Arms, Stratton), Dursley (New Inn, Woodmancote), Forest of Dean (Dog House, Coleford) and Gloucester (Pelican Inn) for the title of Gloucestershire CAMRA Pub of the Year 2025. The winner of that round goes on to compete for the prize of CAMRA South West Pub of the Year—and so on until one pub out of a shortlist of four is crowned national CAMRA Pub of the Year for 2025.