Real Ale,Real Music

Work and a pint at the end of the day have been inextricably linked for centuries, and still are to this day. Here are a few thoughts.... This is not the first time I have written about the connections between work and drink.
Last time, back in the early days of blogging - it was actually the 4th one to make the cut - I mentioned how much I loved a pint after work. And the piece I wrote,  A Pint at Teatime, was a brief homage to, in my opinion, the best time of the day to enjoy a pint.
And 5 years on, my opinion hasn't changed. After a busy day and your head is mashed, you need to seek out a place where you can unwind. A place where anything goes apart from too much talk about the dreaded W-word, a place where you can talk rubbish with impunity, catch up on the latest gossip, discuss the events of the day, even maybe learn something. The other night at the Stalybridge Buffet Bar we were trying to come up with the names of different champagne bottle sizes. And then list them in ord…

A lot has been going on in the local area recently, including a new bar opening with another to follow....
It was the annual Indyfax Festival in Halifax last weekend, and once again it was a great way to spend a bank holiday weekend. The festival is run over a number of bars across the town - the Victorian, Grayston Unity, Alexandra, the Lantern, with the former Pump Room previously being involved - and this was its 3rd year. If you enjoy great beer in some excellent bars, you couldn't go wrong. And whilst I didn't come across a beer this year that stood out as much as the stunning pint of Arbor Zero Zero that I had at the Victorian last year, there were still some mighty fine ones to sample!

And what helped this time was the opening of a brand new bar. We said - well, we would if we spoke Danish - velkommen til København - brought to you by Simon and the team from the serial award-winning Victorian Craft Beer Cafe located just a few streets away. And as a complete contrast to…

The Tan Hill Inn is the highest pub in the country.

At 1,732ft above sea level it stands in splendid, windswept, isolation beside the Pennine Way, miles from anywhere. The nearest village is Keld in Swaledale, around 5 miles to the south, whilst a similar distance but a world away to the north the busy A66 ferries vehicles between Yorkshire and Cumbria,.

Leaving the A66, the Tan Hill is approached via a narrow road which winds its way through open moorland, switching one way and then the other until you pass a derelict farm building at the bottom of a dip, and then reaching the brow of the hill, a building appears on the horizon. A Yorkshire flag flaps in the incessant wind.

Beside the building is an encampment of camper vans and cars, whilst beyond on the other side, down a slope below the pub is a camp site. And along with those who have arrived on foot, via the Pennine Way, the place is busy, a hub, a destination, a welcoming respite from the wind and whatever else the weather dec…

It was the Great British Beer Festival at Olympia last week, and by all accounts, visitor numbers were down quite significantly on last year's figures. But when you think about it, holding a festival in central London in the middle of summer is not the best idea, with the cost - and time - required to get there, accommodation, and meals, and that's before you even sip your first beer, enough to put a lot of people off.

And when you have a great beer festival on your doorstep at around about the same time, why would you bother traipsing all the way down to London? The festival I am talking about was this year's Cross Keys Beer Festival, at Siddal, near Halifax, which was held last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and where scores of happy people drank some great beers and ciders, ate, chatted, laughed, and listened to some excellent music during a memorable weekend at the friendly and popular pub.

Some people had though travelled a good few miles to be there; one of the first…

A meeting in a village pub, followed by a visit to a brewery tap....
The White Hart is situated in the lovely hilltop Saddleworth village of Lydgate, an imposing 18th century building opposite the church. It is a very popular pub and restaurant, with rooms and function suite, and with sweeping views over the neighbouring hills and beyond towards Manchester, a very desirable location for weddings, prom nights, and other events. 
It was raining when I pulled into the car park, navigating around a number of imaginatively-parked sprawling 4x4's. As I approached the entrance, I noticed that the appendage 'at Lydgate' was tagged on to the name. This has always seemed to me to be a pointless affectation, pretentious to say the least. You don't get the pubs of Manchester or Wakefield or Derby getting up to that trick!

So as I entered, my route to the busy bar blocked by a human corridor of old guys, I had low expectations. But, you should never pre-judge. The guys readily made…

A couple of timeless classics converge deep in the Pennines....

Twenty Years Ago, Lucinda Williams released the album, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.

Blending country and rock in a style we now call Americana, it was not only the breakthrough release for the singer-songwriter from Lake Charles, Louisiana, but a hugely-significant album that has had a major influence on so many artists. With a stellar line-up of backing musicians including the likes of Steve Earle, Buddy Miller, Ray Kennedy, and Roy Bittan, it is an absolute classic, a favourite of many, an album that even now rewards with something new on every listen.

Last Thursday I was one of the privileged few hundred souls who descended on the Picturedrome in Holmfirth to catch Lucinda Williams reprising the album at one of the few dates on a short tour of the UK which only comprised additional gigs in Brighton, Bristol, and Birmingham. So it was a massive coup for the former cinema in the picturesque town a few miles south of Hudd…