LUCKY for some - that's the13 Fylde Coast hostelries listed in the millennium edition of the ale-lover's bible, the Good Beer Guide.

Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde members of the Campaign for Real Ale nominated their choice of the best locals to be included among 5,000 nationwide offering fine cask-conditioned beers.

In Blackpool the Bispham Hotel, Ramsden Arms, Shovels and Wheatsheaf make the grade, followed by Fleetwood's North Euston Hotel and Wyre Lounge Bar, while Kirkham features with the Swan Hotel.

Little Eccleston's Cartford Hotel (complete with its own Hart Brewery) has long been a favourite while Lytham merits two entries - the Taps and the local CAMRA Pub of the Year, the Hole in One.

Poulton's top tipple is at the Thatched House, St Annes' at the Victoria Hotel and even the little hamlet of Wharles features with the Eagle and Child, listed as an "unspoilt country pub boasting a thatched roof and lots of antique furniture."

Fylde Coast branch of CAMRA will be launching the 2000 Good Beer Guide, appropriately enough at a pub, the Shovels in Common Edge Road when it opens its 1999 Beer Festival on October 25 at 12.30pm.

Branch president Ray Jackson said: "We've tried to concentrate very much on quality in this year's guide. We're very choosy and you can be sure all these pubs are well worth seeking out for high-standard facilities and ales."

Though granted a possible 27 selections for their area, which stretches beyond the Fylde Coast - from Pilling in the north to the borders of Preston in the east and Freckleton in the south - they narrowed their chosen few down to 16.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.