Hard work behind Falcon's Cask Marque award

July 2, 2009: A Thame pub is celebrating being awarded Cask Marque accreditation. The Falcon, a Hook Norton pub, which appears in the Good Beer Guide, is run by Paula Dimmock and Chrissie Harris, who are convinced their high standards have improved still further while working towards the Cask Marque tick.

	l Proud: Falcon co-licensee Paula Dimmock

“We are proud of what we have done in turning this pub around,” said Paula. “Before Hook Norton bought it three years ago and we took it on, it had a terrible reputation.

“But since then, the bar has been refurbished — it is wonderfully light and airy now. There is now a nice area out the front where people can sit and we are getting people coming in who say, ‘wow, this is the first time in 10 years we have been in this pub, it’s fantastic’.

“I won’t say it has been all plain sailing, but our hard work is beginning to pay off,” she added.

Hook Norton operations manager, Jo Hyde, said: “Working with and encouraging Hook Norton tenants to achieve Cask Marque accreditation is an important element of what we, as a brewer, do.

“The more our tenants understand the importance of quality and how it must run though every aspect of their business, beginning with the beer, the greater their likelihood of success.”

Paula said: “Earlier this year Hook Norton helped us to organise a beer festival, which was a tremendous success. In addition to their range of Hook Norton beers, Paula and Chrissie were serving 10 real ales from seven other craft beer producers.