GAZETTE & HERALD: FOR years the image of real ale drinkers has consisted of a group of bushy bearded, sandal wearing men with gargantuan guts supping pints of beer named Vipers tooth or Old Grumble Belly.

But it is testimony to the success of the Chippenham Beer Festival that this stereotype is slowly fading as real ale becomes increasingly accessible. Of course there were some who brought their own custom-made pewter flagons, but the 13th annual festival was more noticeable for the cross-section of people of all ages that flocked to the Olympiad last weekend to sample the vast array of cider, perry and ales.

Abi Newton, chairman of the West Wiltshire branch of CAMRA, which organised the festival, said local beer festivals have helped reverse the sliding fortunes of real ale. "It's not as big a crisis as in the 1970s but it could still die very quickly as an industry without public support, which is the whole idea behind the beer festival," she said.

Ms Newton, 32, of Cepen Park South, said the festival was sold out this year and attracted a record number of people with 1,800 pouring through the doors to sample the ales. Visitors came from far and wide, including a group from the Portsmouth Real Ale Travellers who came to Chippenham in the afternoon and headed to another beer festival at Farnham in the evening. Taxi driver Chris Bleach, 44, said the group of seven, who were travelling by train, had to make seven platform changes during the day, but he was confident they would all make it home in one piece.

American Betsea Parry-Williams, 52, of Greenway Lane, in Chippenham, has helped out at the festival for years, but admitted she was a bit daunted when she was asked to pour beer at her first festival eight years ago.

"They said 'don't worry there's nothing to it,' so I gave it a go," she said.

"I'm not a typical American, I'm a New Yorker and I don't like Budweiser or any of that other rubbish. I think what's great about this festival is that it caters for people who have never tried real ale as well as people who drink real ale regularly."

The huge variety of beers included the return of the popular green beer Sign of Spring (4.6%), which is bright green due to the addition of special herbs and is made by the Stonehenge brewery in Netheravon. And Madonna's favourite brew and twice champion beer of Britain, Landlord (4.3%), made by the Timothy Taylor brewery in West Yorkshire.

Some of the beers' names were pure genius, ranging from Pressed Rat And Warthog to Russian Stoat, Wallop and the cider Janet's Jungle Juice.

The festival's cellarman Ed Spearey, 54, of Bramble Drive, Chippenham, said his role is to prepare the beer in its casks, ensuring it is kept at the right temperature, and to help ensure visitors have a wide selection of ales and ciders to choose from.

"This is an opportunity for the people of Chippenham to try out a range of beers they wouldn't normally be able to get their hands on." he said.

The casks were positioned at 45 degrees on specially built steel racks at either end of the air-conditioned rear hall at the Olympiad.

Ms Newton said she felt the ongoing success of the festival was due to a winning formula of providing a wide range of local and national beers and ciders and live music in a location next to the river.

"We've never had any bother here," she said. "People just want to come and try something they have never tried before, meet new people and enjoy themselves."

She added one of the great advantages of real ale is the absence of chemicals, which she said helped save cash on the aspirin bill the day after.

Mechanic Danny Dewey, 53, from Warminster came to the festival with his wife Carol, 51, a cook, son Ross, 26, a mechanic, and his girlfriend Sarah Fitzgerald, 26, a sales woman.

"We've been before, but we love coming back because the beer is great and on a beautiful day like this it is fantastic by the riverside," Mr Dewey said.