'Wild Side' beer: celebrating 10 years of Open Access!
20th Mar 2015
A new beer is celebrating 10 years of open access in the Peak District National Park and encouraging visitors to walk on the Wild Side.
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act saw the public’s right of access grow from 240 sq km to more than 500 sq km, opening up a new world to be explored inside Britain’s first national park.
The freedom to roam brought large parts of the Peak District’s wilder landscape within reach of walkers, climbers, runners and wildlife enthusiasts, allowing visitors to wander at will without keeping to public paths.
To mark the anniversary, Bakewell-based Thornbridge Brewery, which also celebrates its 10th birthday this year, has created a new pale ale, called Wild Side.
It was officially launched with tours of the Riverside Brewery on March 20th. Ian Rotherham, professor of environmental geography at Sheffield Hallam University, talked about the wilder side of nature in our wilder areas and guests were able to sample the new brew. A minimum donation of £10 was requested with all proceeds from the tour going into the Access Fund to further improve access in the national park.
Alex Buchanan, marketing manager at Thornbridge, said: “In 2005, when we started brewing in the grounds of Thornbridge Hall, little did we know that we would have grown to have a second brewery in Bakewell, have won over 350 awards, employ in excess of 40 staff and export our beers to 33 countries!
“We now regularly get visitors from across the UK and the world and one of the delights is sharing with them the Peak District National Park and the great countryside that surrounds and inspires us.
“When we heard of the anniversary of open access we were keen to get involved and decided to brew a beer to celebrate.’’