Beard Liberation Front
7th January
Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266
Hackney’s Cock Tavern voted Beard Friendly Pub of the Year
The Beard Liberation Front has said that a special vote for the Beard Friendly Pub of the Year (The Professionals) has seen Hackney pub, the Cock Tavern, shave the opposition.
Tom’s Tap and Brewhouse, a brewery taproom in Crewe, was second.
The Cock Tavern achieved 57.4% of the vote to 38.9% for Tom’s Tap with over 1,500 votes cast in an on-line poll over 5 days.
It was decided not to run the usual annual vote for the Beard Friendly Pub of the Year at the moment as pubs are closed with COVID-19 restrictions. Rather it will be held in August 2021.
One of the key aims of the Beard Friendly Pub of the Year Award has been to motivate people to visit pubs in one of the quietest times of the year.
Visiting pubs is not currently possible. However in order to publicise the welcoming and community positive aspects of pubs, the BLF determined to run a Beard Friendly Pub of the Year (The Professionals) vote.
The four contenders were pubs who have either won or been runner-up in Beard Friendly Pub of the Year votes in recent years.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, pubs have had a lot of criticism recently, often from people who seem quite unaware of the essential community role they can play. We focused on four of the most beard friendly, and hence welcoming community pubs, in this one-off special vote. Well done to all involved but particularly to the Cock Tavern and Tom’s Tap. They remind us of how important pubs are in our society. No doubt as restrictions ease, people will visit, safely, once again.
Beard Friendly Pub of the Year (The Professionals)
The Bumble Inn, Peterborough
The Cock Tavern, Hackney
The Three Horseshoes, Bradford on Avon
Tom’s Tap & Brewhouse, Crewe
The criteria for the Award include:
Beard Friendly Pub: a pub that welcomes the hirsute and often, when open, has a significant number of hirsute customers, including but certainly not confined to those with modern styles of beards.
Beard Friendly Ambience: a pub that may have fewer hirsute customers but is welcoming to the hirsute with some bearded bar staff and beard friendly beers, plus has a generally relaxed atmosphere for all.
The campaign group says it welcomes diversity in both appearance and drinking. The truly beard friendly pub will have a genuine mix of customers not just a load of old blokes grumbling about life.
Leave a Reply