Wolverhampton CAMRA was officially founded with the inaugural meeting of the Wolverhampton branch of CAMRA at the Clarendon Hotel, Chapel Ash, on Thursday 25th November 1976, following attempts to create a new branch for the town at the Wolverhampton Fiesta of 1975 (West Park) and the Wolverhampton Real Beer Festival at the Wulfrun Hall in 1976. The latter event heralded some success, and a taster meeting was held at the Clarendon Hotel on Thursday 14th October 1976, followed by a further informal meeting for prospective members to get to know each other at the Swan, Compton on Thursday 4th November. Some of our earliest elected committee members were Sue Rostance, branch treasurer (she only retired from this role in 2021!) and Phil Evans, our first chairman.

We’re busy building the history of Wolverhampton CAMRA and we’ve been lucky enough, over the years, to have members who have documented it and retained records. The likes of Jim Laws and John Nightingale are the stuff of legend, and recently a founding member, Dave Clare assisted by Dave Rostance and Andy Beaton, provided a three part history of Wolverhampton CAMRA from our 1976 foundation until the 1990s. This can be found in detail in Beerwolf issues 36, 38 and 39, all available here.