Real Ale, Real Music

Last Friday, March 20th, all pubs, clubs, theatres, cinemas, and other places where people congregate were ordered to close due to the Covid-19 virus whose impact is extending far beyond the disease itself.... A few people have asked me in the past week or so if I am going to continue to write my blog. I can see where they are coming from; after all, I write about beer and pubs, music and gigs, so in view of recent events the opportunity to enjoy these has been seriously compromised. But I have said to them all that of course I will. Writing isn't an option for me; it's something I need to do, to communicate and express myself and hopefully provide something that people enjoy to read. And in these strange times it is more important than ever to stay in touch. The subject matter may wander around a bit, I just don't know, but the blogs will keep on coming! Over the last couple of weeks, the Government had put out advice about what to do, and what not to do, some at od...

'When you have lost your inns, drown your empty selves, for you will have lost the last of England'. Hillaire Belloc. The sad news last week that Great Heck Brewery had ceased trading, following the demise in January of Summer Wine Brewery, not forgetting the 20 or so pubs that shut down every week, serves as a reminder that it is not all beer and skittles in the world of pubs and beers. And that's without the current threat posed by the Covid-19 virus which could potentially damage large swathes of the wider economy and our very way of life for quite some time. This last weekend, a Saturday, I had a fairly routine sort of day. I called in to pick a prescription up from my chemist. I popped into the Tesco local and bought a few bits. I went to get my hair cut. I collected some dry cleaning. I stopped to have a chat with a friend. I popped in to the Market Tavern for a quick pint and a chat with whoever was in there. I called in at the local fish shop and got a fish butt...

There is now a direct train service from Brighouse to Wigan, which came in handy for enabling a first-ever visit to the town's beer festival and taking in a few of the local pubs.... Wigan. Home of the so-called Pie-Eaters*. Home of Uncle Joe's Mint Balls. The location of the former Empress Ballroom, which in the 1970's morphed into Wigan Casino, the spiritual home of Northern Soul. A town whose famous people include George Formby, Stuart Maconie, Andy Gregory, Kay Burley, and Georgie Fame. A traditional rugby league town. A former mining and mill town. The inspiration for George Orwell's  The Road to Wigan Pier, in which he highlighted the poor living conditions of Britain's working class. A historic town, with many old buildings, incorporated as a borough following the issue of a Royal Charter by King Henry III in 1246. There are a lot of different sides to Wigan. The town also has a good number of pubs and several small breweries. And this last weekend, it ...

I had an unscheduled evening in Bury the other day, followed the next day by a visit to a town boasting two micro pubs and the last original temperance bar in the country.... I arrived at my hotel in Bury from work in Hyde after a very frustrating drive which took over 2 hours  and involved several detours following a serious accident which had closed the M60. The impact was dramatic; all the roads around Ashton-under-Lyne and beyond were snarled up, so that there was nothing you could do but grit your teeth and go with the flow. Or not, in this case. I was staying in Bury as I was going to see Sunderland indie maestros Field Music at The Dancehouse Theatre, a couple of years after I'd seen them at Gorilla, and having been unable to see them in Leeds last weekend due to a trip to North Yorkshire. Due to the ridiculous price of Friday night hotel rooms in Manchester, I reasoned that a £30 night at the Premier Inn in the centre of Bury, and then catching the tram into town from...