Somerby pub The Stilton Cheese grabs the limelight again with second distinguished award

Melton CAMRA chairman Kevin Billson (right) presenting the award to landlords Jeff and Carol Evans and their daughters Lynn and Claire at a special celebration evening attended by a large group of members and some of the pubs locals PHOTO: Supplied

The Stilton Cheese has won this latest accolade only a few months after being named pub of the year in the Melton district for the third time in five years.

Jeff and Carol Evans, who have been the owners of the Stilton Cheese for 25 years and run it as a family team, together with daughters, Claire and Lynn, and grandchildren, Sam and Lewis, are absolutely delighted to be recognised again.

The Stilton Cheese was built in the same year as the great fire of London, 1666, and in the three hundred and fifty three years it has been open, it has built an excellent reputation for food and drink, offering a wide choice of traditional and unusual dishes, with two regular real ales and three guest beers.

CAMRA’s National Pub of the Year is an annual competition to find the very best cask ale pub in the UK. The competition helps to showcase quality pubs around the country that are worth seeking out and visiting.

The Stilton Cheese was judged best overall in Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire, with a perfect mix of the essential characteristics which make a great pub: atmosphere, decor, welcome, service, value for money, customer mix, but, most importantly, quality real ale.

The timing of this award could not be more serendipitous, as it has occurred in the same month that Jeff and Carol celebrate their golden wedding anniversary, having spent twenty five years of their fifty years of marriage, at The Stilton Cheese in Somerby.