Scope of Research
CAMRA is one of the major research objects in this study. This non-profit social institution has been campaigning nationally, regionally and locally for over 40 years with over 200 branches across the country. With the current membership stands at 130,000, CAMRA is the biggest single-issue consumer movement in the world (Protz, Introduction in CAMRA at 40, p. 7). With CAMRA campaigning for the past few decades, British pub and real-ale have gained proliferating exposure and awareness, as well as micro-breweries getting better exposure to go head-to-head with large-scale brewing conglomerates that produce relatively inferior quality beer to consumers.
Notwithstanding that CAMRA began as a preservation movement, nowadays it has also provided opportunities for new micro-breweries keen on innovation (Des de Moor, CAMRA at 40, p. 60), which encourage more diverse beer products and flavor to be developed. There are also more and more sub-campaigns trying to preserve micro-breweries and advocating the importance of traditional brewing skills for real ales, ciders and perries (e.g LocAle scheme in promoting local micro-breweries’ profile and a tied connection with local community pubs). What started as a merely anti-capitalisms movement against big brewing companies has now trespassed to something grand, in which CAMRA aims to bring back “the locals” and the act of distinctive taste-making through CAMRA’s own representation of pub tour and ale trail with the view to create an environment that is sustainable in production and consumption.
Another major research object in this study is the iconic British public house. The pub is a crucial social centre for the British and a focal point in communities, villages and cities throughout the UK, which have also been discussed in detail in the previous chapter. British pub is an extremely charismatic social institute and focal point that stands for vital and indispensable part
within a local community life. However, these cultural establishments are currently under severe threat and pubs are facing rapid closure, due to big conglomerate’s buyout or demolitions and conversions of other use such as supermarkets and convenience stores. In addition to real ale and micro-brewery revitalization, saving pubs from closure is also one of the major objectives and campaigns overseen by CAMRA.
British pubs are in significant decline due to inferior adjustment and passive attitude from the Government and powerless local communities failing to be up against capitalism and state control over pub policy and beer duty. Therefore, English public house is one of the research objects to disclose its essential cultural and historical value that are worth protecting for, as well as to discuss how CAMRA maps out several distinguished and characteristic pub routes and ale trails in guidebooks that further construct distinctive urban, suburban and community scenes, representing destination image locally and regionally.
Methods
a. Discourse analysis
The notion of discourse analysis was set out as a different means in contrast to the traditional to study social science and therefore is sometimes called social constructionism, constructivism or simply constructionism (Gill, 2000, p.173). To put it simply, discourse analysis is an approach to the study of texts, suggesting new way of interpreting and exploring how words and knowledge are constructed and put together to speak about and represent other possible intentions and actions behind. In CAMRA’s case, guidebooks are not just a means of ‘getting at’ something or ‘getting to’
a destination. CAMRA’s pub walk guides reveal one of the features of discourse analysis suggested
by Gill (2000), that discourse is often ‘action-oriented’ or ‘function-oriented. Discourses are taken as a social practice (Gill, 2000, p.175) that often pick up on more subtle features of actions and statements, indicating message behind the actual presentation in the guidebooks. Second-hand information such as leaflets, brochures and associated websites will also be included and used to support discussion in this study.
b. Case study method
Case study is a research approach that aims to capture the complexity of a single or sometimes multiple cases (Johansson, 2003). Case study should have a “case” or several which are objects of the study. A case should be “a complex functioning unit, able to be investigated in its natural context with a multitude of methods, and be contemporary”, according to Johansson (2003). It is about choosing cases that could reveal significant results, values and discussion in relevance with the study and associated circumstances.
Selection on Guides
With the proliferating interest and tendency toward tourism in the 21st century, fresh and up-dated information are in extreme high demand. Apart from the classic Lonely Planet, which only provides readers with general messages, there are increasing guidebooks that are specifically written in “theme” to cater to different readers that provide more alternatives and itinerary options.
Selected guidebooks for this study have been categorized into two sessions: general guides and specific guides. Lonely Planet: England is selected in this study to make comparison with CAMRA’s local guides. Lonely Planet is the kind of guide that encompasses strong authority and
institutional power that implies tourists should perform in particular ways (Edensor, 2001). It is often edited by several contributors and tends to be more objective, as most people would consider.
It also represents some kind of standardized measure as you could tell that destinations are written and sorted in a certain way, such as history, accommodation, activities, getting-there-and-around, entertainments and so forth. Lonely Planet is information-saturated but the coverage on British pub and beer are barely mentioned in detail.
CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide also represents a general look out on telling information of fine pubs and good beer on tap for those who are interested in holding a good pint in hands. Compared to Lonely Planet, CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide tends to draw attention on encouraging tourists to undertake a particular form of travel in a particular style to transmit a certain kind of identity (Edensor, 2001). However, even though the book is a theme-oriented guide, it doesn’t provide much of the historical or cultural aspect of the pub and beer industry, but simply offer information toward a great many pubs in the UK.
While CAMRA at 40: still campaigning for real ale and good pubs is chosen as part of the specific guides in result of its thorough and diverse perspectives from several contributors and organizations, providing insightful inclinations and tendency toward the current state and the future state of CAMRA.
Finally, two specific case studies selected for the research are CAMRA’s London Pub Walks and the Lake District Pub Walks. They are intentionally selected in virtue of being information-rich, revelatory and unique in showcasing their distinctiveness and localness compared to general guides mentioned above. The two are qualified considering their significance of local tourism value and popularity fond through British and worldwide travelers.
Figure 3.1 CAMRA’s London Pub Walks Figure 3.2 CAMRA’s Lake District Pub Walks
Plenty of books have been published about London pubs, but only a few London pub guides like CAMRA’s London Pub Walks actually takes you from one to another. Most of trails and routes suggested within take you to at least 5 or 6 pubs within different areas or neighborhoods in London.
The most distinctive feature of CAMRA’s London Pub Walks is that it informs readers to take full advantage of the Underground station or other public transport system, which provides easy access to every corner of the city, from north to south, east to west. Historical description and author’s personal experience and perspectives are also featured in the guide as it gives you more intimacy with the area, even though some may find it bit subjective instead of objectively written.
Following that, considering the Lake District is England’s largest national park and home to some of the country’s most stunning scenery, the lake has undoubtedly become one of the most popular travel destination in the UK and to all global travelers, and that would seem easy to
account for 15.5 million tourist visits in 2013
(http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/learning/lakedistrictfacts/factstourism/factstourismeconomy).
The Lake District is the very embodiment of nature and wildness, and tourism is practically
“rock” of the Lake District economy. Balancing tourism development, local community, and
maintaining natural beauty will always be a contested, struggled issue. In addition to being the ultimate paradise for adventure lovers, the area, in fact, also reveals multiple charms with other leisure alternatives catered to different markets, as Urry (1995) suggested, “the area had to be discovered; then it had to be interpreted as appropriately aesthetic; and then it had to be transformed into the managed scenery suitable for millions of visitors.” CAMRA’s Lake District Pub Walks creates a whole new spectrum for tourist experience. Most of the walks are rural that encourage visitors to discover, not just the popular sites, but more of the less-discovered outlying areas. The idea of pub scene is also ironically in contrast to the mindset people initially have about the Lake District, as it often sets off as a tranquil and serene image, while pub is a spatial venue where liminality and conviviality are performed to its fullest, regarding the atmosphere and lively vibe seen in pubs.
The purpose to select CAMRA’s guidebooks is to explore its difference aside from other guidebooks, regarding how much of “localness” can CAMRA deliver? How could we fully integrate “localness” into CAMRA’s pub and beer tourism? CAMRA’s local pub walk guides are manifested as an agent to disseminate wide range of knowledge relating not only to tourist attractions and renowned local pubs, but CAMRA’s philosophy, British local scene, cultural landscape and lifestyle. Guidebooks are signs and markers that function as silent reminders that point us along our way, and gives us the information we need to know, subtle clues that we are not lost. With a view to understanding the differences between “general” guides and “theme” guides in terms of their discourse and content revelations, Table 3.1 and Table 3.2 below categorize and differentiate the selected guidebooks based on their discourse disposition, as well as their coverage on British pub and beer.
Table 3.1 List of selected guidebooks: General guidebooks
pub crawl and
brewery tour. pub crawl in York to describe how to take on a nice pub tour; CAMRA’s beer festivals to promote local action and events;
thorough information on ales and process of production with a nice illustrated diagram and pictures.
Table 3.2 Lists of selected guidebooks: Specific guidebooks
This study aims to examine how London and Lake District pub scenes are constructed and portrayed in a spatial context via discourse and text, as well as writer’s way-in to describe two different pub scenes in two different spaces that “stage” and represent two different local destination images. Associated tourism theories will be applied to discuss visual representation, description style, cultural and social elements that compliment the portrait of London and the Lake District pub scenes. The next following chapter aims to focus on discussing how the campaign uses various platforms to disseminate its message and establish an alternative food culture via the