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...