Real Ale, Real Music

It was the start of the new football season, and despite a feeling of concern about our team's prospects for the season, four us had decided to visit our first game, away at Forest Green Rovers, who are based in the small Gloucestershire town of Nailsworth, near Stroud. Following that we were stopping over in Gloucester itself. Here's how the trip unfolded.... Saturday morning started early, with a customary breakfast at the Shay Cafe just down the hill from the home of FC Halifax Town. I was there first, and had virtually finished my dustbin-sized sausage sandwich - well, as much of it as I could eat - when my brother arrived, with the other two arriving a few minutes later. We were going by car, but there were plenty of guys coming in who were going on the Shay to B supporters coach, which sets off from here. There was an air of anticipation for the first match of the season, not all of it positive after a close season which had seen a change of manager, the departure of play...

I recently revisited one of my favourite towns in the Midlands where there are 5 pubs listed in the 2026 Good Beer Guide within its attractive and fairly compact town centre, making it an ideal spot for a leisurely Saturday afternoon wander.... The journey started out mid-morning in Halifax, which was a bit of a miscalculation on my part  as I was catching the Grand Central which was going through Brighouse, meaning I could have set off from home later and not have to rush out without any breakfast, never ideal on A BIG DAY OUT. Still I did have time for a Greggs bacon sandwich on my way down to the station once I got into Halifax. The train was a minute or two late and with my ticket being of the rather dismissive Sit-in-any-unreserved-seat type , never ideal on a Grand Central, I hung around at the end of the platform on the basis that there are sometimes unreserved seats in the end carriages. I got on and found a seat, reserved of course, the train was so far pretty quiet, so no...

With a mere two weeks to go before the 2026-27 National League season kicks off a few of our group of Halifax Town supporters went on an away day to discuss our prospects and sample a few beers in a wander around a number of pubs on the fringes of Manchester's Northern Quarter.... We were arriving on a number of different trains, so as I was due to arrive earliest I said I would see everyone in the Victoria Tap, which is not just a great meeting place due to its location at the eponymous station, but always worth popping in for a beer and its discerning, eclectic soundtrack. It does have a regular churn of visitors and there is always the chance of seeing into someone you know here. And on this occasion as I waited for the boys to arrive as I nursed a pint of Coleys Pub Ale (NBSS 3) I bumped into a guy who used to work at the Buffet Bar in Stalybridge a few years ago who has since moved on to be a schoolteacher in Stockport. Always nice to catch up with people you haven't seen ...

CAMRA have brought out a new, words-based, beer scoring system, about which I have my doubts. But alongside that I have just enjoyed what has been almost certainly the best weekend of music in my life. And what's even better is that it was close to home in Halifax. ... Regular readers may have spotted that I often  refer to scores in terms of quality for the beers that I have been drinking on my travels, a numeric system that CAMRA have been using for years. Whilst it is of course going to inevitably be subjective, they have recently come up with a new words-based system which to me seems a bit too simplistic. I would always qualify my scores under the old style with words, but I am not sure if the new scheme is maybe a case of dumbing down too much. Anyway, here it is for you to decide for yourselves.... It also reminded me that adjectives these days are often used differently to how they were in years gone by, or different ones are used to what was normal a few years ago. Ha...