History

Initially formed as an introduction to some of the pubs in Maidstone, Worth a Butchers (W.A.B) was formed in 2013 by a group of young pub enthusiasts to see where in Maidstone would become a regular second home and win the best pub in Maidstone.

Basing the pubs on five categories; Real Ale, Friendliness of Staff, Facilities, Value for Money, and Atmosphere, every pub within one mile of the Queen’s Monument was visited in one standard trading day, and all ranked out of a total of 500 points (100 points per category).

The pub with the most points would win the competition, whilst awards would be distributed for winners within each category.

The visit was such a success that this pub competition was repeated a year later and the Worth a Butchers competition was truly born.

Since it’s inception there has been a few minor changes including the introduction of the highly commended award, and set criteria for entry requirements, but most of the competition remains the same today as the original competition.

2017 marked the competitions half decade, and a record with over 50 participants taking place. This was fantastic to see so many people return to Maidstone although we must admit a lot of the pubs did find it hard to serve 50 customers in around 30 minutes!

2018 marked the first time a pub had retained the award with The Rifle Volunteers storming to victory. They would go on to win it for a third year which is currently the most times a pub has won the award consecutively.  

Following Ben Clark’s passing, the Highly Commended award was renamed the Ben Clark Highly Commended award in 2021 to pay tribute to one of the original founders of the competition.

2022 marked another milestone for W.A.B as the 10th competition took place. This year also saw the inception of a new shield for the competition.

Since the original competition was formed, most of the founding members have since left Maidstone, but they return to partake in the competition each year.

We have also sadly seen many pubs close down since the first competition including the first winner, although we are pleased to see a few pubs open up which are welcome to join the competition.

The Maid Inn holds the unique record of being the only pub in Maidstone to open and close in-between competitions meaning that W.A.B were unable to ever visit as part of the competition.