Real Ale, Real Music

The announcement last week that the energy price cap was going up by 80% for domestic users from October has caused widespread panic and alarm, but what are the implications for pubs and other businesses, who are offered no cap on their bills. With a host of other pressures on their running costs, there is a lot to be concerned about.... A few people have come up to me since I published last week's blog, commenting on the fact that I'd revealed I had paid £2.70 for a half of Boltmaker in a Timothy Taylors pub on the Yorkshire moors. Now, as I mentioned at the time, that was in a pub which is more food-focussed, but it did invoke a sense of shared outrage and disbelief from those who spoke to me about the price I had been charged. Sadly though, that sort of price and beyond is likely to become the norm over the coming months as our breweries and pubs brace themselves for the impact of higher energy bills that will make the average domestic bill look like loose change. According ...

Whilst I live close to the area made famous by the Bronte sisters, it is not somewhere I have visited very often in recent years. But last Saturday, with the trains not running and football miles away, I decided I would take a trip over there.... Situated to the west of Bradford and centred on the village of Haworth, near Keighley, is an area of the countryside between the South Pennines and Yorkshire Dales that has become known as Bronte Country, after the famous literary sisters who were brought up in the village. The sisters, along with their brother Branwell had been born a few miles away in the hilltop village of Thornton, near Bradford, but the family moved into the Parsonage in Haworth in 1820 following their father Patrick's appointment as curate there. Inspired by the experiences and adversity the family had faced - losing their mother, difficult school years, unhappy work experiences - and each with a vivid storyteller's imagination developed when growing up, the sist...

I visited York twice in a week recently, firstly to watch some cricket, then with a follow-up trip a few days later to take in a number of the city's pubs.... York, like most of the rest of the country, has been basking in sunshine over the past couple of weeks, and so both my visits over that period were greeted by blue skies and high temperatures. First up, it had been a visit with some friends to the York Cricket Club where Yorkshire were playing Lancashire in the One Day Cup. The ground is situated a little way out of the city centre in the suburb of Clifton, and whilst there were buses a-plenty heading in that direction, we made our way on foot, walking beside the River Ouse through an increasingly rural backdrop. We took a turn through some fields, and the ground came into view, cricket nets, marquees, and trees ringing the field of play. We got seated in a temporary stand erected for the matches Yorkshire were playing there that week, and as the players emerged to applause f...

I spent a sunny afternoon in Huddersfield and the Colne Valley settlement of Slaithwaite last weekend, my trip including a visit to one of the several breweries that are based in the area as well as calling in the odd pub or two.... I had decided to head over to Huddersfield way at the weekend with a loose plan to visit Empire Brewing in Slaithwaite who were having an open day and then call in an assortment of pubs in the village, time permitting. However, when I arrived at Huddersfield station, I was stopped at the entrance by one of the staff who asked where I was going. He explained that due to construction work at the station, no trains were heading in and out of there, and so it would be the dreaded rail replacement bus to Slaithwaite and everywhere else, for that matter. My plans thrown into confusion, I didn't panic, and did what any rational person would do when faced with such a problem and 40 minutes to wait, namely repair to the Kings Head next door for a pint. Plenty o...

I paid a visit to Elland Brewery recently to meet the new team there who are aiming to build on the brewery's heritage and develop the business. Based in the West Yorkshire town of the same name, here's what I found..... There is a buzz about Elland Brewery these days. That was evident when I called in to see the team recently to find out some of their ideas for moving the brewery forward over the coming months and beyond. The brewery, much loved both in the local area and beyond, had been the subject of speculation over recent months as added to the fact that the erstwhile owners had gone their separate ways, other members of the team had left, consequently setting off rumours about the business's future.  The roots of Elland Brewery can be traced back to the Barge and Barrel pub, across town by the side of the canal. In the 1990's a brewery had been set up by the avuncular John Eastwood in the former children's playroom, where he developed beers such as Nettle Thr...