December Calling....

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 at Friends of Ham, for example, but food is available at most if not all the places mentioned above. Of course, if you wanted some Indian street food with a pint or two of craft beer, you could pop into Bundobust, just across the road from Head of Steam.

As it happened, when I was in Leeds the other evening, I approached it from the other angle. The Brewery Tap has just returned to the CAMRA Good Beer Guide for the first time for a few years, so with an hour or so to kill after my train arrived in Leeds before meeting some colleagues for our Christmas do, I decided to check it out. Set on the curve of a corner a few hundred yards from the station entrance, it has always been a busy pub. Its location helps of course, but it has always attracted plenty of visitors to the attractive downstairs bar. Upstairs there is further seating and a function room, and a roof terrace. The decor features brewing memorabilia and old photos. It was busy with a Friday teatime crowd seemingly boosted by Christmas partygoers and the large glass frontage was steamed up due to the numbers as I approached. I made my way through to the bar, where I ordered a half of Leeds Pale from a cask range consisting of several Leeds Brewery beers plus a number of guests. 

I found a corner shelf on which to perch my drink. It was my first encounter with a Leeds beer for a while, and to be honest, I found it rather thin, lacking in flavour, and a little soapy even, the best I could give it was a score on the NBSS scale of 2 - 2.5 max. Which was a shame. Leeds Brewery started out in 2007, and created quite a buzz, particularly when Tetleys brewery was closed, meaning for a time they were the only brewery in the city. Quite quickly they built up a small estate of good quality pubs mainly in the city of its name, although there was also one in York. The Brewery Tap was one of them, and others included the Midnight Bell (also the name of one of the beers) in Holbeck and the Lamb and Flag near the Minster. However, a few years ago the company decided to concentrate on brewing and a deal was struck with Camerons to acquire the pubs, with an agreement to continue to supply them with Leeds beers. The company is fairly low profile these days compared to most of those that have grown up in the city in the years since Leeds started such as Kirkstall, North Brewing, and Northern Monk. They have invested in state-of-the-art equipment though and moved into a new brewery in recent years, and supply beers to a wide area stretching as far as Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, and the North East, as well as closer to home. 

 

It is a few doors down to Friends of Ham and as I walked into what was a much quieter bar, a young guy approached me and asked if I had a table booked. No, I hadn't, as I only wanted a quick half. He said they had a lot of bookings for the evening, and they weren't allowing standing at the bar at the moment, although the presence of a trio of middle-aged suited guys stood with half-consumed pints resting on the bar seemed to contradict that statement. He sensed I might be about to have a whinge about it, but I let it go, and was so pleasant about that it surprised me as much as him! No worries, I said, I know how it is, and I'll come back another time when you're less busy, I said, to his obvious relief. And I meant it. I did after all have only a limited amount of time.

So, with about half an hour left before I was to meet my colleagues, I went to what is rapidly becoming my default place to call in Leeds, the Bankers Cat. It was really busy, probably the busiest ever when I've called, and after ordering a pint of Thornbridge Galaxia, I eventually found a spot to plonk my glass round the back of the bar where a large box of sauces, condiments, and cutlery already wrapped in napkins was resting before next being called into action. The beer was great, pale and very refreshing, single hopped with Galaxy, with an ABV of 4.5%. In terms of quality, it was a very worthy NBSS 4. The crowds just kept on coming in, many passing through to use the additional seating downstairs, with the portraits of eminent characters from bygone days looking down on them as they used the stairs. The Christmas party season was finally getting started after two years of restrictions

I finished a most enjoyable pint and headed off to meet my colleagues. We were meeting at the second Head of Steam in Leeds, a huge, cavernous place on Park Row. It is a modern building, geared up to serving large groups and weekend visitors. It was loud and busy, although there were still plenty of empty tables. To be fair, amongst a clear commitment to cocktails, there were several hand pumps and plenty of keg fonts for the beer drinker to go at. I ordered a keg Northern Monk beer based on the strength but hadn't realised from the font badge that it was a dark beer. It was ok, but I got back on the right track subsequently with a pint of Faith. And there I will leave you, as I went with my colleagues for a most enjoyable curry at the Tiffin Rooms a little further up Park Row. 

************

And now a few other items to report, starting with the bad stuff. In Elland, the Barge and Barrel pub down by the canal has sadly closed in the past few days, with latest owners Admiral Taverns having put it up for sale. It was an incredibly popular pub back in the nineties when I lived in the small West Yorkshire town. As I have written previously it is a pub which holds some special memories for me, where I made some lifelong friends, and enjoyed some excellent beer in what was, despite its size, a real community local. It got a lot quieter over the last few years, and without any serious investment it was inevitable that this day would eventually come along. Unfortunately, I didn't get chance to pay the place a final visit before it closed, my last visit having been in the summer with the guys from Elland Brewery. It is a sad event for those who drank there over the years, for the town, and it would seem to be yet another pub that will end up being converted to flats or some other use.

The Barge and Barrel, Elland: A once iconic pub, now sadly closed

More sad news to report with Bruce Travis, the landlord of the Kings Head in Huddersfield, passing away recently after being ill for some time. Bruce, who was a former solicitor, had taken on the Station Tavern at one end of Huddersfield railway station from the legendary Wilbert Cock, and in the late 2000's changed its name to the Kings Head, the king as depicted in the signage being a certain Jimi Hendrix. Bruce oversaw the transformation of the Kings Head, a refurbishment involving the removal of a suspended ceiling, and a tasteful redecoration into the place it is now. The bar always featured a good range of cask ales, many from local breweries, which were always in excellent condition. Live music, predominantly blues rock, attracted the crowds on a Sunday afternoon, whilst on Saturdays it attracted Huddersfield Town fans and ale trailers. It is a place that I always call in when I am in the town, but it wasn't often that I actually saw Bruce. He was a quiet man, but always pleasant when I spoke to him, and was very well-respected in the pub trade, both locally and beyond, and by the many customers who had got to know him over the years. He will be much missed.

The Kings Head, Huddersfield

Meanwhile, it has been announced in the last few days that two breweries have ceased trading and called in the administrators. One of those is Warrington-based Twisted Wheel, whilst another casualty is the Somerset brewery Wild Beer Company whose 4.2% pale ale Bibble was always a welcome sight on any bar. The demise of both these breweries is yet another reminder of the difficult trading conditions the industry is facing, and unfortunately is a foretaste of the fate likely to befall several of their erstwhile peers in the coming months.

And finally, a positive story on which to draw things to a close for this time. Over in Halifax, landlord Hugh Kirby has just completed 10 years at the Cross Keys in Siddal. It is no exaggeration to say that he has completely transformed what had always been a pretty humdrum local with no decent beer into a real ale mecca and proper community pub which attracts regulars from near and far. Live music on a Sunday afternoon draws the crowds in, whilst an extremely popular beer festival takes place every year. A warm welcome is always guaranteed from Hugh, Georgie, and the team, whilst Poppy the dog will wander round to see if you are ok when not sprawling out in front of the stove! Various improvements have been made to the building over the years, including a new snug and toilets, whilst the beer garden has been covered by a huge marquee and the outside stage has similarly been covered to extend their use. I hope to get along there again soon, but in the meantime, I would just like to extend my own personal congratulations and best wishes for the next 10 years to Hugh, Georgie, and the rest of the team!

Follow me on twitter: @realalemusic