The Victoria wins CAMRA Pub of Year Withington, 2026

Key Points

• The Victoria pub in Withington has been named “Pub of the Year 2026” for the Stockport and South Manchester branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).
• The award was announced in May 2026, following branch voting on local CAMRA‑recommended pubs.
• The Victoria is operated by Hydes Brewery and managed by husband‑and‑wife landlords Alyson and Paul Mitchell, who have run the pub for 14 years.
• The pub has appeared in the national Good Beer Guide for several years and is praised for its high‑quality beer, community engagement and charity work.
• The Victoria has supported the Mero’s World Foundation, established by Kelly Brown in memory of her son Rhamero West, who died after being stabbed in 2021.
• Staff‑led fundraising has underpinned projects such as the installation of emergency “bleed safety” cabinets in Greater Manchester, including a cabinet on the pub’s exterior credited with helping to save a life.
• Customers also raised £1,000 through the pub to fund a community defibrillator hosted outside The Victoria by the Withington Civic Society.
• CAMRA’s branch officials have highlighted the pub’s welcoming atmosphere, strong customer care and role as a civic hub alongside its beer offering.

Withington(Manchester Mirror)May 07, 2026 – A popular pub on Wilmslow Road in Withington has been named Pub of the Year 2026 for the Stockport and South Manchester branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), marking a significant local accolade for a venue long regarded as a community institution.

Reported by Manchester Wire journalist Bradley Lengden, The Victoria, 438 Wilmslow Road, Withington, has taken the award following a competitive vote by members of the Stockport and South Manchester CAMRA branch. Writing in the same week, The Manc’s Danny Jones noted that the prize is “not an easy regional award to win given how impressive the competition is,” underscoring the weight of the recognition.

What makes The Victoria stand out to CAMRA?

Aligning closely with CAMRA’s core focus on quality real ale and community‑centred pubs, The Victoria has consistently featured in the national Good Beer Guide under the 14‑year tenure of husband‑and‑wife managers Alyson and Paul Mitchell. Manchester Wire reports that the pub’s reputation rests on a mix of “diverse appeal, community focus and extensive charity work,” elements that branch officials say sit at the heart of the award decision.

In comments quoted by Manchester Wire, CAMRA Stockport and South Manchester treasurer Jim Flynn described The Victoria as

“an extremely friendly pub where exemplary customer care and community relations seem to be in its very DNA.”

He added that the pub’s quality of beer is central to the honour, recalling that he personally had “my best pint of 2025 in the pub last April.”

How did the pub secure ‘Pub of the Year’ in 2026?

The award follows a more narrow miss in 2025, when The Victoria finished second in the same category behind The Crown in Heaton Mersey. According to The Manc, this year’s triumph came by “some distance,” with the Hydes‑operated pub overcoming a strong field of local venues.

The Hydes Brewery branding underlines the pub’s ties to a long‑established Manchester‑area brewer, with both outlets noting that Hydes sites regularly feature in CAMRA awards across Greater Manchester. The Victoria’s 2026 win is therefore framed as a consolidation of an existing reputation, rather than a surprise victory.

What has the landlord team said about the award?

Reacting to the award, Alyson Mitchell, manager of The Victoria, said in remarks reported by Manchester Wire: “We are so proud to win this award and it is a real honour to be named the best pub in the region by CAMRA.” Her statement was echoed in The Manc’s coverage, which quoted her saying:

“We’re so proud to win this award, and it is a real honour to be named the best pub in the region by CAMRA.”

In both versions of her quote, Mitchell emphasises the role of staff, Hydes Brewery and customers, saying the team “love what we do, but we couldn’t do it without our amazing team and the incredible support and top‑quality ales we receive from Hydes.” She also highlights the pub’s mix of clientele, describing it as a place for “students to our local regulars,” and notes that winning “after coming so close previously proves that our collective hard work has really paid off.”

How does the pub support the local community?

Both Manchester Wire and The Manc place the Victoria’s community work front‑and‑centre in explaining why CAMRA members chose it for the 2026 title. The pub is deeply linked to the Mero’s World Foundation, a charity founded by Kelly Brown in memory of her son Rhamero West, who died after being stabbed in Manchester in 2021 at the age of 16.

According to both outlets, the foundation aims to combat knife crime and support young people through educational and outreach initiatives. The Victoria has supported these efforts over several years, raising funds via New Year’s Eve ticket sales, raffles and endurance challenges undertaken by Paul Mitchell, including marathons and an upcoming sponsored bike ride and a swim of a distance equivalent to the English Channel.

What tangible projects has the pub helped fund?

Among the most visible outcomes of this fundraising is the installation of emergency “bleed safety” cabinets across Greater Manchester, which contain materials to control severe bleeding in emergencies before emergency services arrive. Manchester Wire notes that the pub has a knife‑wound safety kit mounted on its exterior and that this kit has already been credited with helping to save a life during an incident near the premises in 2025.

In addition, The Manc reports that Victoria customers helped raise £1,000 to enable the Withington Civic Society to install a community defibrillator outside the pub. Together, these projects illustrate the pub’s role as a practical civic hub, supplementing its function as a social venue with direct, life‑saving infrastructure.

How does CAMRA view the pub’s wider impact?

Jim Flynn’s comments, as reported by Manchester Wire, stress that “for us, it sells really excellent beer,” but that the pub’s community‑centred ethos is equally important in the eyes of CAMRA members. Both outlets frame the award as a celebration of “proper boozers” that combine good beer with active local engagement, rather than focusing solely on atmosphere or commercial success.

The Manc further describes the Wilmslow Road site as a “cornerstone of the community,” where Hydes’ regular cask‑ales lineup, sports coverage and charity‑linked events have helped embed the pub into the daily life of Withington and nearby Fallowfield.

Background of the CAMRA Pub of the Year award at The Victoria

The Pub of the Year scheme is part of CAMRA’s long‑running drive to recognise and reward pubs that excel in beer quality, customer service and community spirit at the local‑branch level. Each branch compiles its own shortlist of recommended pubs, often drawn from venues that already feature in the national Good Beer Guide, then votes on a winner for the year.

The Victoria’s inclusion in the Good Beer Guide over multiple years gave it a strong base from which to build its 2026 campaign, while its fundraising links with the Mero’s World Foundation and the Withington Civic Society provided tangible evidence of community impact. In 2025, the pub’s second‑place finish behind The Crown in Heaton Mersey signalled that it was already regarded as a top contender, paving the way for the more decisive win in 2026.

Prediction: How this award may affect Withington residents and visitors

The 2026 CAMRA Pub of the Year title is likely to reinforce The Victoria’s status as a destination rather than just a local pub, attracting more customers from across South Manchester and beyond who seek venues with strong beer reputations and visible community credentials. For Withington residents, this could mean higher footfall on evenings and weekends, but also continued or expanded support for the Mero’s World Foundation and other local initiatives as the pub leverages its profile to raise further funds.

For visitors and tourists interested in CAMRA‑recognised pubs, the award positions The Victoria as a reference point when exploring the Stockport and South Manchester area, potentially boosting the wider Wilmslow Road corridor if the pub’s success encourages other venues to invest in real ale and community‑focused programming. At the same time, the pub’s role in hosting emergency‑care infrastructure such as bleed‑control cabinets and a defibrillator may act as a model for other local pubs considering how to combine social function with civic responsibility.