Real Ale, Real Music

Here's a word to the wise: if you go to Norfolk expecting any place with a suffix of 'next-the-sea' to be actually close to it, think again. I went to three examples, Holme, Wells and Cley, and none of them are what could be described as being beside it. They all have their attractions - Cley has its windmill (owned by singer James Blunt's family for many years), Wells has the bustle of its harbour beside the river and a great friendly pub in the Crown Hotel, and Holme is a sleepy village with one of those huge churches which seems to be obligatory for all the villages around these parts. So why the names? Well, originally they were by the sea but over time the coastline has changed significantly as the relentless North Sea waves have shifted the sands around and many former rivers and lagoons have become silted up, creating extensive areas of salt marsh. These are a haven for many species of birds, which in turn brings in masses of twitching and tweeting, binocular-w...

The essential guide to the pubs and bars that line the railways in the towns and villages of the beautiful Calder Valley in West Yorkshire, an area which has a lot to offer and captivate the visitor. Here's the latest, updated version.... The original Rail Ale Trail heads through the Pennines from Dewsbury through Huddersfield to Stalybridge, or vice versa, depending on your starting point. Made famous by Oz Clarke and James May on a TV drinking trip around Britain several years ago, it reached saturation point on weekends to such an extent that lager and shorts were banned by some pubs and plastic glasses introduced to the hordes of stag dos, hen parties, and fancy-dressed revellers that invaded the trans-Pennine towns and villages. There are some great pubs en route and whilst things have calmed down from a few years ago, they can still get very busy on a summer Saturday in particular. However, only a few miles away to the north, there is another trail possible which takes in s...