It is with great sadness that the Branch mourns the passing of Roy Denison, who passed away on Friday 13th November, aged 80, with his wife Mya and family at his side at his home in Goring-on-Thames.

Roy was heavily involved with CAMRA in its formative days in the early 1970’s, but colleagues in South Oxfordshire Branch will remember Roy as brilliant company with an exceptional knowledge of all things pubs, breweries, railways and indeed CAMRA. It was always a delight to be sat within earshot of him on one of our pub crawls or Christmas dinners where he would regale everyone with his great stories and anecdotes. He was a magnificent raconteur.

Roy moved to Goring in 1980 and joined in with the social side of the Branch and also often helped out behind the bar at the Branch’s real ale tent at the Woodcote Rally. He loved joining in pub crawls organised by the Branch, especially if they involved a train journey, and in more recent years he organised numerous Branch trips to London. These pub crawls often involved visiting several eclectic pubs, but all of which served excellent cask ale, and they always had a railway-themed component as part of the trip.

However, we must mention Roy’s earlier times in the early 1970’s as a pioneering force in CAMRA’s formative days. His lifetime’s career was on British Rail in various posts on Western Region then at London HQs. His two great pastimes were pubs/breweries and railways, which he extensively photographed, examples of which have been widely published. He travelled extensively to search out the remaining classic basic unspoilt (sitting room) houses. On joining CAMRA and whilst living in Sittingbourne, Kent, he soon became the Area Organiser for Mid-Kent, set up two of the local branches, and was very active in spreading the word about the benefits of real ale and the perils of the inferior pasteurised, filtered and pressurised keg interlopers. He encouraged drinkers to join up to CAMRA wherever and whenever anyone expressed an interest in beer. With thanks to Roy’s long-time colleague Roger Corbett, the attached press cuttings from Kent newspapers in 1972/73 attest to Roy’s passion and enthusiasm. Although great company, Roy had an acerbic wit and could be very forthright when something needed saying – as indeed these articles also reveal.

Coming back to his storytelling, one of Roy’s favourite yarns, and claims to fame, concerned an early meeting of the CAMRA hierarchy in a pub in the Fleet Street area of London, where there was much discussion about the Campaign for the Revitalisation of Ale being a naff name for the fledgling organisation and that it wouldn’t get traction with the population at large, let alone be pronounceable after a few beers! The audience was told that it was too late to change the name as the CAMRA ties had already been made and delivered! At this point Roy stood up and suggested they just simply rename it as the Campaign for Real Ale! The rest is, of course, history! Whether this is absolutely true or not, we may never know, but knowing Roy, we wouldn’t be at all surprised!

Roy – you were one of a kind, and will be sadly missed by everyone in the Branch who knew you. We raise a glass to you and say thank you.

Graham Hards – Branch Chair