Real Ale, Real Music

The first football trip away of 2026 which once again took me to a new town and a new ground, with an excellent night in a busy historic part of the capital following on. Here's what happened.... It was an early start. The taxi dropped me off at Halifax railway station just before 7.30, and not much later my brother joined me after walking there from home. Our train arrived, a couple of minutes late, and soon we were starting our long journey, first to London, and then on to the Hampshire town of Aldershot where FC Halifax Town were playing this afternoon. For a change we were going via Manchester and then into Euston, as this was a weekend of engineering works on the East Coast line south of Peterborough. We duly arrived in Euston, a delay at Rugby having scuppered the chance of a pint in London. We headed down to Southwark where we had booked early check-in at our Travelodge, whìch was handily close to the tube station. Bags dropped off, we went back to Waterloo, from where we ca...

Welcome to this latest blog, in which I celebrate the return of a couple of historic city pubs under new ownership and direction, and lament the apparent passing of one of Leeds' best-known and long-established pubs.... It was another weekend where trains that would normally be going through Huddersfield from west of the Pennines were being re-routed via the Calder Valley, this time due to ongoing repairs to the Standedge Tunnel following a recent fire. This meant there were up to 5 trains an hour in either direction stopping at Brighouse and most of the services going east were only stopping at Dewsbury on the way to Leeds meaning journey times were 20 minutes or less. So with that in mind I decided to head over there to visit a couple of former Tetley pubs that have reopened after some serious refurbishment. The weather was quite mild for the first day of February, the clouds had lifted, and a weak sun was doing its best to consign the gloom of January to a distant memory. The bi...

I've just paid a visit to the attractive market town of Skipton, often referred to as the Gateway to the Dales, where there had been a few changes on the local beer scene since I had last visited. Here's what I found this time.... As is often the case these days, I was later setting off than I'd intended and when I arrived at Halifax railway station at about 2pm I did wonder about changing my plans from going to Skipton and going somewhere a bit nearer to home, but as I deliberated I bumped in to a guy I know from the Grayston Unity who said it sounded like a good idea. And so in the end Skipton it was. I caught the train to Bradford Interchange and walked along the pedestrianised streets towards Forster Square, from where my next train departed. But I had time for a quick pint first, so I popped into the Exchange where I enjoyed a pint of Ticket to Ride from the Escape Brewery who are based in Westhoughton. Despite the fact they have been around since 2019 this was the fi...

In which I return to this proud Lancashire city after a gap of a few years to check out the state of the local beer  scene, and at the same time have a wander around what is a very interesting and friendly place.... It takes just over an hour on the direct train from Halifax to Preston, and an early morning dental appointment meant I was well-placed to get away early. And so I duly arrived via an unexpectedly quiet Blackpool-bound train at about 11.40. I walked up the concourse to Fishergate, where across the road the Old Vic was already open. Once across the always busy road, I popped into this popular, no frills free house and got myself a half of Moorhouses White Witch, which I nursed for half an hour or so whilst I made my plans for the day. As I sat there with the January sun streaming in through the windows, there was a steady flow of early drinkers; the old guy calling for a leisurely pint or two with his pals, the couple calling for a bite to eat, the triumphant shopper wi...