Real Ale, Real Music

There has been a lot of talk and speculation this week about pubs re-opening as two brewing giants agree to join forces.... The Government hinted the other week in one of their infamous daily briefings that from July it may be possible for some establishments in the hospitality trade to begin to open, particularly those with beer gardens or some other outdoor drinking area. Under strict guidelines of course, and maintaining social distancing protocols. But how? Suggestions have included no drinking at the bar, plastic screens between tables, single use glasses, contactless payments, table service, time limits customers could spend there, staff deployed to clean and uphold social distancing, one way systems, etc, Plenty of thoughts have been circulating over the past few days about how it could all work. Whatever form it takes it is almost inevitable there will be financial implications. The social distancing rules as they currently stand seriously limit how many people could be on...

The weather has been very good recently, and for those of us who have had the opportunity, it has been great to get out walking. But there has been one vital ingredient missing.... One of the great pleasures of going for a proper walk has always been finishing off with a proper pint in a proper pub. Sadly, at the moment of course, this is off the agenda, and whilst you can grab a refreshing drink when you get home from your government-prescribed walk, it's not the same as when you have come down from a day high on the Lake District fells, or the Yorkshire moors, or completed that long, canal side trudge. The pub and the prospect of that first pint is what kept you going for those last few miles, a deserved reward for all the effort you've put in. You've earned it. Of course you could always go home and have a drink there, but it's not the same. Unless you've been walking with someone from the same household, you can't enjoy that post-walk collective wind-...