Real Ale, Real Music

The County in Huddersfield has just been taken over by the Beerhouses Group, whose other pubs include the West Riding Refreshment Rooms in Dewsbury, the Buffet Bar in Stalybridge, and the Sportsman, also in Huddersfield. So one evening last week I went over to check it out and look in on a number of other places in the town.... The County is situated in a quiet area of Huddersfield, just off the precinct below Wilkinsons and opposite one side of the town hall. It is one of those places that has never been on the real ale circuit and has just quietly seemed to have got on with its own business over the years. I had certainly never been in it before and so I had absolutely no pre-conceptions of what to expect when I visited. The County is blessed with a narrow frontage at the end of a solid row of buildings on a slightly sloping street. The Beerhouses livery is on the signage, with freshly-painted white steps, and an old John Smiths lamp by the door and the Magnet design etched in the wi

More from my recent trip to Cumbria, this time re-visiting a few old favourites as well as stopping off at a couple of new places.... The road off to Coniston off the A5092 at Spark Bridge winds through delightfully-named settlements like Water Yeat and Blawith, passing attractive wooded scenery and then, for a mile or two, you pass beside Coniston Water, the Cumbrian mountains tantalising with their distant appearance. You then head away from the lake, with the road twisting and turning until it meets the A593 at the village of Torver. Here, more or less directly opposite the junction, is The Wilsons Arms, set slightly back from the road beyond a grass verge, where I stopped off for a quick pint and comfort break. I had been before, and it has been in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide in the past (last time in 2015). The pub, which also has rooms, acts as a bit of a hub for the village, operating a shop out of one end of the building. It was very much as I remembered it when I walked in, wit

I re-visited some old haunts in Cumbria last week, where in and amongst the old familiar places, I found some interesting pubs and bars that I hadn't previously visited. Here they are.... The improving early Spring weather had prompted me to book a couple of days away in the Lake District, where I was stopping at Coniston. But away from the familiar places there I tried some new places in South Lakeland. I stopped off on my way up at the picture postcard village of Cartmel, smack in the middle of farming country a few miles north of Grange-Over-Sands. Many will be familiar with the name as it is the home of Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding. And along with its attractive old buildings, charming square, 12th century Priory, food shops, and pubs, it would be a draw for visitors anyway. But add in a National Hunt racecourse right in the village and a 3 star Michelin Restaurant, and it soon becomes apparent that this is no ordinary place. I parked up at the racecourse, and went for a walk

Last Saturday, I caught the train from Huddersfield passing through the attractive countryside and villages along the Penistone Line to Barnsley, a town I hadn't visited often before. I found a friendly, interesting town with some good beers and pubs and bars.... The train pulled into Barnsley's Interchange about 3, and unsure of which way it was to the town centre, I left by the nearest exit, and it soon became apparent I had made the wrong choice. A closed off path over a bridge and, with no way apparent from this side through the bulk of the Glass Works development, I had to retrace my steps and return to the station, where I went up some steps which took me on to a walkway over the railway line and bus station. Out on the other side at street level, I crossed the road, and set off walking past some fine old Victorian buildings, many home to offices, my eye drawn to a white building with a clock tower at the top of the street. Barnsley's Town Hall is a spectacular sight.

On a bright and sunny day, I made a long overdue return visit to one of Calderdale's best known pubs. Here's what I found there, plus a few other bits and pieces from here and there.... After the gloom and wet weather of the past couple of weeks, we finally had some fantastic weather this last weekend. The sun was out and it was one of those perfect days you sometimes get in February which makes you realise that Spring is just around the corner. I turned off the main A646 Halifax to Burnley road at Luddenden Foot, and followed the road up the hill through to the village of Midgley, passing its former pub, The Sportsman, which is now a house. The road left the village and took me past farmland and then trees and once through them, skirted the edge of the moors and offered glorious views over the surrounding countryside and distant hills. I parked up at one point to take it all in and got out of the car. The air was stll and fresh, there was a distant warmth in the sun, a couple