Real Ale, Real Music

A tour of a few pubs in Liverpool, a city I have only visited occasionally, but on this showing I won't be leaving it too long before I venture back.... The last time I had visited Liverpool was back in 2017 when a group of us stopped in the city for an hour or two on our way to see Halifax Town get hammered at Tranmere Rovers across the Mersey in Birkenhead. We had called in a few pubs, one of them being the Crown, whose gloriously-decorated exterior beckons you as you emerge from Lime Street Station. On this occasion, I resisted temptation, and walked along Renshaw Street, until I arrived at the Dispensary, another pub we had visited on that last trip. I remember it being excellent, not least because of the quality of the pint of Jarl I had. As a bonus, I bumped into fellow beer blogger Mark Johnson who was in town to watch his team, Huddersfield Town, meet a similar fate to us just up the road at Anfield. As I approached the pub I noticed the lights were on inside, although neit...

A Saturday afternoon visit to the Merrie City, as Wakefield has traditionally been known. And with its large number of pubs and bars, there certainly are some absolute belters to choose from. Here's where I went that afternoon.... Tall trees flickered by the window as the train gathered speed on its way to Leeds. Above, a steely grey sky was threatening more rain. The weather fitted my mood, a kind of numb neutrality after we'd had my mum's funeral the day before. No doubt the occasion and several pints of Salopian Lemon Dream in the Hollins Mill in Sowerby Bridge in the ensuing wake had something to do with it, but it had led me to seeking out somewhere busy but where I could be anonymous, the comfort of humanity without explanation. I had decided to go to Wakefield, its many pubs making it a fine place to disappear. After a quick transfer in Leeds, I was soon alighting at Westgate Station, complete with recent makeover and shiny new entrance. It does make it a slightly lo...

My more regular visits to Leeds over the past few months have enabled me to re-acquaint myself with several of the city's fine old pubs. There was however one place I had kept passing that always prompted me to make a mental note to call in but it had so far been elusive. Well, guess what, I have finally made it, and here's what I found, along with a few other bits and pieces from around West Yorkshire.... The Grove is a Leeds institution. Situated amongst the office blocks and swanky apartments in the Leeds suburb of Holbeck, and in the shadow of the ginormous 367ft-high Bridgewater Place, this solid-looking white-painted pub is somewhat at odds with its surroundings. With all the development that has taken place in Leeds over the last few years and which continues at a pace, it is remarkable that The Grove is still standing. But like the  Adelphi not far way, it has managed to survive, and indeed thrive, and to step inside is to be taken back to a different time. The pub w...

A trip to that London, 'the smoke' as it used to be called in those black and white TV cop programmes back in the 1960's. The reason? Well football, with the prospect of a new ground and hopefully another 3 points in the quest for promotion. Of course, some beer was likely to be involved.... This wasn't my first trip to London this season. A few months ago, four of us set off on the Grand Central from West Yorkshire to Kings Cross with high hopes of at least a draw, and the prospect of a few pints as well. We arrived on time in the capital, and not long after we were on the tube to High Barnet on London's outer fringes to see Halifax Town play at Barnet. All was well, as a few spots and then little streams of rain garnished the outside of the carriage as our tube seamlessly emerged from underground to over ground. We arrived in High Barnet looking forward to the first pub that had been earmarked for a visit. A friend on his way back from France was due to join us, s...