THE champion Gooseberry grower was crowned during a beer festival at a Goostrey pub.

The Crown in Goostrey held an open-air beer festival for locals and visitors to the village on August 31 and September 1, showcasing 29 beers and ales from popular local breweries including Tatton, Weetwood and Dunham Massey.

Visitors were treated to a lively weekend of family-friendly entertainment and food cooked fresh from the barbecue courtesy of Crown chef Bob Hamilton.

Live music was provided on Saturday from Janice Lacey.

On Sunday, September 1 the eagerly-anticipated Gooseberry ‘Champion of Champions’ winner was announced, as for the first time two of Kalton and Barlow’s pubs went head to head to see Goostrey Gooseberry Show winner, Peter Goode, reign victorious over Peover Gooseberry Show champion, Les Stanier.

Peter’s gooseberry came in at 29 pennyweights seven grains, while Les’ measured in at 24 pennyweights nine grains.

Peter was presented with a bottle of Champagne and Kalton and Barlow’s ‘Champion of Champion’s’ trophy, with worthy opponent Les walking away with a bottle of wine and a kind-spirited wooden spoon trophy.

The beer festival helped to raise £150 for East Cheshire Hospice, which attended the event on the Friday to show its support.

Ten pence in every pint sold throughout the weekend was donated to help the hospice provide expert and compassionate care for people with life-limiting illnesses and offer support to their families.

Jennie Barnes, community fundraising officer for East Cheshire Hospice, told the Guardian: “At East Cheshire Hospice, we have to raise more than £6,000 every day to keep the hospice running.

“We couldn’t do this without the support of our local community.

“We are delighted The Crown decided to use this event to support us, and we are pleased to see the event was a real success, helping us to raise the money we need to keep our doors open.”

Zoe Naylor, joint manager at The Crown with Matt Blythe, said: “We always aim to bring together the close-knit community of Goostrey, holding regular events here at The Crown.

“Being champions of local cask ales and offering a range of quality local ales and lager we thought a beer festival would be a great celebration for the community.

“The north west have many artisan breweries, so there is a fantastic range of local ales that we wanted to celebrate and introduce to our locals and visitors.

“Congratulations goes to our local Peter Goode and to Les Stanier for a fantastic Champion of Champions.

“We look forward to seeing if Peover village can come back next year to equal the score.”