Carlisle is celebrating one hundred years since the beginning of the State Management Scheme this July, with events held across the city.

Twenty former state management pubs will be housing exhibitions about their history under the scheme, including Bookcase, the former headquarters.

Across the city there will be food and drink festivals, oral histories, and even an exhibition from Tullie House, which launches with a beer festival on July 16.

The festival will feature an afternoon of family games, special events and the opportunity to sample beers from the Carlisle Brewing Company.

Introduced at the height of World War I to reduce drunkenness among those in the arms industry, the State Management Scheme saw the nationalisation of the brewing, distribution, and selling of alcohol in Carlisle and its surrounding areas.

Whilst the scheme was ended by the conservative party in 1971, it’s had a lasting legacy in the city.

“There’s nowhere like Carlisle with a 50-odd year long history of state management” says Viv Dodd from the State Management Story.


“It’s had a great impact on drinking culture in this country, including introducing food to pubs, introducing games to pubs, and greatly influencing architecture through Harry Redfern’s designs”.

Harry Redfern was the head architect of the scheme, designing many pubs around the city including the Spinners Arms in Cummersdale, which is now also the site of Carlisle Brewing Company.

Alison Davis, who co owns the brewery, said “One of the reasons we bought the Spinner’s Arms in 2007 was because it’s so nice - it’s a classic Harry Redfern design, and we’ve done work over the years to rediscover original features which had been hidden over time.

“Despite being from Carlisle I’d actually never come across the scheme before, until we bought the pub. A lot of people haven’t heard of the State Management Scheme but it was such a massive piece of social engineering

“When we set up the brewery in 2013 it was a diversification of the pub. But everything clicked into place and we realised there hadn’t been a brewery in Carlisle for over 25 years.

“We don’t use State Management recipes because it would be impossible to completely replicate them, but a few of our beers are a nod to that, like Carlisle Best Bitter, Carlisle Nut Brown and the Carlisle Experiment - which is what the scheme really was!

“It’s a nice feeling to continue on the history and build on that brewing heritage.”

The News and Star is celebrating Cumbria’s brewing heritage all this week in our newsletters , where you can win beer from breweries including Carlisle Brewing Company.

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