Real asset in fight for real ale

I have been drinking cask-conditioned beers for more years than I care to think about and can well remember some outstanding brands that have long since vanished from the scene. In some cases the name lingers on, but usually in a packaged format and bearing scant resemblance to the original.  Boddington’s Bitter, the Cream of Manchester, comes immediately to mind, a stunningly dry, hoppy and at the time, unusually pale brew, which enjoyed a fine and deserved reputation for value and quality.  It did not take Whitbread very long to put an end to all that once it acquired the company....