Raising a glass to pub’s achievement

A PUB campaign group has praised a landmark Saddleworth inn which is set to join a select list in a “drinkers bible”.

At a ceremony this weekend, The Cross Keys Inn, Uppermill, will receive an accolade for appearing in the Campaign for Real Ale’s “Good Beer Guide” for 40 consecutive years.

Peter Alexander, chairman of Rochdale, Oldham and Bury Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), said: “Very few pubs in the country have managed such consistency and it speaks volumes the Keys has done so. Well done — we are very proud of it.”

Currently, there are only six pubs in England sharing this accolade and Mr Alexander declared: “The Cross Keys is an excellent pub in every way.”

The Cross Keys Inn was built in 1745 on the Old Marsden Packhorse route and first opened as a tavern in 1763.

Ken Holt, CAMRA’s branch social secretary who lives in Saddleworth, added: “The award is a truly outstanding and remarkable achievement.”