At around 10.30 a.m., on Friday, February 4th, Hans and Ev picked up Chris. Shortly afterwards, Norman was added to the travelling party. It was a dull, gusty day, with lots of rain forecast. It was promising to be an extremely wet day. Fortunately, the rain held off, during our journey, so we had only the strong winds to contend with.

  We arrived nearly an hour too early for the beginning of the event, so we stopped in at a small cafe, the Honey Pot, in Church Street. We could not have asked for a better place to have our lunch; (Norman and Hans enjoyed an enormous all-day breakfast, Evelina the vegetarian version and Chris was delighted with his gammon).

  The event to which we had travelled was the White Cliffs Beer Festival, 2011, held at Maison Dieu (the splendid building, better known as Dover Town Hall). Norman, being a CAMRA member, was given entry after showing his membership card. Chris and Hans paid their entrance fee and, eventually, found a table with three empty seats. Norman joined with a glass each and some beer tokens which he had purchased. Evelina, having brought us safely to the venue, went off to enjoy a couple of hours exploring the Dover area at her leisure.

  In all, there were seventy-five different barrels to choose from. The first that we opted to try was called 'Hengist', produced by a local brewery, Wantsum. The three of us agreed that it was a good, full bodied taste - with Hans saying that he might have enjoyed a whole pint of this. For our second half-pinter, we continued with local brewers (Whitstable) Grafty Green and this ale was Kentish Reserve - another pleasant taste, agreed by all.

  For our third foray, Norman and Hans tried the darker Porter, produced by Suffolk's Cox and Holbrook. Chris stated an aversion to Porters, so he went for 'Sleeper Heavy', by brewers Beer Engine, of Devon. Our fourth drink was a much lighter, sweeter beer. This was 'B D Winter Ruby', by brewers Dorking, from that town, in Surrey. 'Ruby' was a refreshing taste, especially in comparison with the drier Porter; Chris and Hans thought it one of the best we had tried.

  The three of us were tempted, as was often the case, by the name of our next choice. We all opted for 'I Can't Remember', by the Triple FFF brewers of Hampshire. This was a mistake, as far as Chris was concerned, because it tasted just like his loathed Porter. He quickly passed his glass over for Hans and Norman to share. Instead, he elected to try 'Wobbly Bob', a beer from Manchester's Phoenix brewery.

  Usually, there are pictures giving a view of scenery, action or personalities. Hans took a couple of snaps, using his phone. These, however, appear to have disappeared into the ether. To the rescue, fortunately, came Evelina, who has provided a picture of the three CAMRAdes (and she hopes they approve of the sketch!).

  Whilst we enjoyed the convivial atmosphere, we met up with Tony, who normally worked at beer festivals, but on this occasion, was enjoying as a customer. We spent some time chatting with him, about the various qualities of the beers, and were very pleasantly surprised to hear that he, like us, was a bowler. He belongs to the White Oak Indoor Bowls Club. It would be great to meet up, again, or even arrange a match against his team, at some time in the near future. Cheers, Tony.

  During the afternoon, Hans and Chris decided that it would be a good idea to join CAMRA (the Campaign for Read Ale). Chris filled in his own application form, then completed Hans', too, so Hans was able to hand in both forms. The two were welcomed as new members. Great. Then, to his surprise, the Camra officer handed back the entrance fee for both of us. A good idea to join? A fantastic idea!