Real Ale, Real Music

I visited Bingley brewers Goose Eye last week and had a most interesting tour around one of Yorkshire's most popular traditional brewers. Meanwhile a few days earlier, by way of a contrast, I went to a Meet the Brewer event with one of the country's leading modern brewers, The Kernel. And so here's some thoughts on the brewing world.... The original Goose Eye Brewery originated in the small Pennine village of the same name a few miles from Keighley in the late 1970's, started by Brian Eastell in an old building close to the village pub, the Turkey Inn, which became the main outlet for the fledgling brewery. These days it would be classed as a micro brewery, but back then, its small scale meant it was something of a novelty. I remember making the trip a few times and braving the incredibly steep roads that converge on the village, but it was always worth the visit to enjoy the novelty of drinking a pint of Goose Eye in the Turkey Inn in Goose Eye! I also have vague memor...

This week I have been exploring fairly close to home, visiting some places in the area to the south-west of Leeds. A number of pubs were involved, as you might expect.... The Heavy Woollen District is situated across parts of the Kirklees, Leeds, and Wakefield metropolitan areas, the principle locations being around the towns of Batley, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, and Ossett, spreading out to the likes of Cleckheaton, Mirfield, East Ardsley, Morley, and Horbury. It takes its name from the main activities in the local textile industry which was traditionally the production of heavier woollen materials like blankets, and following the invention of a machine in Batley in 1813 that could process the left-over fibres, soft rags called mungo and hard rags otherwise known as shoddy . Whilst the local textile industry is nowhere near as big as it was, its legacy has meant that by and large each of these towns and villages has managed to retain its own distinct character, even though these days the...

As December comes round again to the background of the Christmas build up, ongoing price rises, and a wave of industrial disputes, I escaped with a mini crawl around Leeds the other evening which I'll tell you about, along with a few other bits of news of recent happenings.... It has often struck me that one of the best concentrations of quality pubs and bars anywhere in the country is in the immediate vicinity of Leeds railway station. Depending which way you approach it you could come out of the station concourse, turn left, cross over at the lights, drop down the hill to the Scarbrough Taps ( as everyone in Leeds seems to call it ), then go around the corner to The Head of Steam, then up Mill Hill to the Bankers Cat, cross over to Tapped, and then back to the station via the Friends of Ham and The Brewery Tap. Six quality pubs with only a few yards between them, with some excellent cask and keg beer on hand. If you want to eat, there are pizzas at Tapped, charcuterie and cheese ...

A brand new bar has just opened its doors in Halifax, whilst one of the town's most popular has just celebrated its 8th birthday. I've been along to both .... A new bar has just been opened in Halifax town centre by Vocation Brewery. For the brewery, based in Cragg Vale near Mytholmroyd, if you're local, or Hebden Bridge if you're from further afield, it is their fourth, following on from others they already operate in Hebden Bridge, Leeds, and Manchester. And ever since the news broke earlier this year that the former premises occupied by The Lantern and Alexandra had been acquired by Vocation, its opening has been eagerly awaited by many local beer fans. It is the first in the town to be opened by one of the modern breed of independent brewers. However, months with skips based outside on the cobbles of Alexandra Street, and signs and sounds of activity from within, and then spells of seeming inactivity had led to much discussion within the local pubs and bars Vocation...

Pub, football, pub. A typical Saturday for many. As a World Cup starts at an unfamiliar time of the year in a controversial choice of location where the options to get hold of a beer are extremely limited, I've been thinking about the routines around matchday somewhat closer to home... The 2022 World Cup finally kicked off last Sunday in the desert kingdom of Qatar. The event, the first to be held in an Arab nation, has been dogged by controversy ever since the country's bid to stage the tournament was accepted; allegations of corruption were rife, with 16 of the 22 FIFA executive members who were on the committee at that time subsequently being implicated or investigated for corruption or bad practice, the treatment of migrant workers building the stadiums for the tournament, the country's attitudes to the LGBTQ+ community, women's rights, and minorities, playing the tournament in the searing heat of the desert ( even though it had been moved from its traditional mid-y...

I hadn't been to Bolton for 30-odd years, and with the Manchester Christmas Markets kicking into action and the ensuing crowds I decided to venture a little further and check out this Lancashire town whose famous residents have included Peter Kay, Fred Dibnah, and Samuel Crompton.... I arrived at Bolton's extensive and somewhat oversized railway station around an hour and a quarter after leaving Halifax. I don't know if it had been subliminal messages getting through to me following Peter Kay's announcement a few days earlier he was going back on tour after an absence of 10 years but here I was in his hometown. Indeed, as I had been walking towards the station in Halifax, I even heard a bloke announce to his family as I walked past them that their booking to see the Bolton comic, who made catchphrases out of everyday mundanity like garlic bread and the big light,  had been confirmed. Much as I like Peter Kay though I was here to check out a few of the town's pubs. ...