Rick Pickup

Personal Introduction

Born at an early age, I've lived all my life in Blackpool. Why would anyone want to live anywhere else? Why I wanted to be a scientist, I ended up working in IT for nearly 20 years before taking a year out which lasted quite a lot longer.

What inspired you to join the branch committee, and what are you most looking forward to achieving in your role?

I've actually been involved in CAMRA nationally a lot longer than I have locally. Time constraints and family commitments finally allowed me time to get involved initially at beer festivals and then as a member of the branches Social Team before joining the committee as Social Secretary, followed by before becoming a Pubs Officer, Beer Festival Organiser, Vice-chair and eventually Chair in 2019 nicely before Covid shut us all down! As Chair, it's my role to move the branch forward, to ensure that all the mundane jobs that people don't realise need doing get done and to keep a happy ship. There's a lot of changes coming over in the next few years within CAMRA, it's my job to ensure that the branch is in a fit state to react to them. We also have to address the here and now and look for new opportunities. By the way, did I mention to ensure people have fun?

Can you share a bit about your background and experience with Real Ale, Cider, or Perry?

Like quite a few people, my drinking experience really started at university. That's where the bug really hit me. I got really interested in breweries, their history and searching out their beers. It quickly became an obsession as every weekend I'd be at beer festival or two all over the country. I started to become known on the scene as someone who had all this of knowledge in my head. Then in 1998 CAMRA released an edition of the Good Beer Guide that was riddled with errors. At a beer festival, I quipped that I could do a better job that CAMRA in collating that information. So, using my IT skills, I set up a website, a Directory of UK Brewers. I think I won that argument as I've been name-checked in every GBG since 2007, 2005 actually using an alias, and am now Chair of the CAMRA working group that does just that.

What do you see as the biggest opportunities or challenges facing the branch in the coming year, and how do you plan to address them?

This year is a bit of a strange one. As I've said there are a lot of changes coming within our area that may present some great opportunities. Will they be this year, probably not? It will be a year of small gains I believe. The biggest challenges are getting people involved. Too many members join the Campaign for Real Ale discount club, only interested in the 50p off a pint. We need to get more of them involved. It's a national problem too. But without active volunteers there won't be a branch, or a CAMRA discount club.

Outside of your involvement with CAMRA, what are some of your interests or hobbies?

There's life outside CAMRA? Thinking about it, I remember that years ago!! To be honest, I'm not a normal volunteer, CAMRA does take a lot of my time. But CAMRA is a fantastic social organisation, I have friends all over the country through it. Being serious however, I like visiting places (but it'll generally ends up in a pub). I like socialising, I was told I'm a social butterfly but I've never seen a butterfly my weight! You might find be out on my bike, got to burn those beer calories off somehow. I like cricket, only watching, but it's usually raining. And then there's all the usual stuff like food and drink (amazingly water sometimes!), reading, relaxing. On occasions, you might even find me running, if it's 100% necessary!

If you could raise a pint with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and why?

Questions first. A pint of what? Am I meant to drink it, or can I pour it over them? That's a difficult one, but if I have to share a pint of a good cask conditioned beer with someone, it'll have to be someone who will appreciate it. There are too many obvious answers and too many people who are going to scrutinise the answers when you come up with people like Isaac Newton, Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill and the historical greats. My answer is far more profound that, it's the next new friend. Whoever that may be. It could be you?