Thirdly, there was real ale in abundance -- never mind your usual two-varieties-of-Charles-Wells-and-count-yourself-lucky, we're talking about 12 different varieties including a very nice stout (Grantham Stout, IIRC), which is not bad for a mini-festival in a town hall.

There's an amazing real ale pub round the corner from my office in Birmingham which permanently has about 14 different ales on handpump. They have so many the bar staff can't remember what they're all called, so you order by number instead of by name.