Real Ale, Real Music

You left me in Liverpool leaving Doctor Duncans undecided as to whether to go straight back to my room at the Travelodge or head for a nightcap at the Ship & Mitre (which I did). Day 2 sees me wandering around and filling in a few more gaps in the city's Good Beer Guide pubs that I'd not previously visited. Here's what I found.... Monday morning came around, and I was up early enough considering it wasn't a working day. Well, I was doing some research for the blog, so I suppose it was in a way. A shower, clothes on, pills taken, a scroll through Twitter ( or whatever it's called these days ), and I was ready for some breakfast. Google threw up a few options nearby, so I headed out of room and down the stairs, exchanged greetings with Reception, and I was out on the street. I immediately came to one of Google's suggestions, Lovelocks Coffee Shop , which was on the lower floor of the same building as the Travelodge, and I decided to give it a try. Despite its ...

A last-minute bargain Travelodge deal led to me spending a recent Sunday night in Liverpool, enabling me to call in to some cracking pubs that I had never previously visited, in particular within the area of the city around Dale Street.... Rain had given way to a hesitant sunshine as the train pulled into Lime Street station. I got my bearings, and set off for my hotel which was only 5 minutes' walk away. Fortunately, I was walking in the right direction so I was able to get checked in, bag dropped off, and order a pint in the first pub within 20 minutes of arriving in Liverpool. Mind you, I was in a good spot. I could see the Excelsior from my hotel room and if it hadn't been for a tree, I would have been able to see another one too, and it was to that one that I'd headed first. The Ship & Mitre , which takes its name from its former names, the Flagship and the Mitre, has a striking 1930's art deco exterior. Situated at the end of Dale Street opposite to the entran...

I returned to Manchester the other day with the intention of revisiting a number of traditional pubs that for various reasons I have overlooked somewhat in recent years. And despite the ongoing building projects and massive changes in the city around them, I found them all to be busily resisting the tide and carrying on in their own individual ways.... It had been a good few weeks since I had last visited Manchester, and on a lethargic, humid afternoon with the prospect of thunder very much in the air, I took myself over to Huddersfield and caught the train from there, my usual route via the Calder Valley blighted by the dreaded replacement buses. It was very busy when I arrived at Piccadilly after just over half an hour on the journey from Huddersfield, and likewise on the walk up to Piccadilly Gardens where it appeared some festival or other was in full swing. I braced myself for the hordes on Market Street, and then did a left on to the quieter Brown Street, where I dived into Fopp ...

A while back I read about a micro pub that had opened up in Leeds that made its own pies. And then a few months later a work colleague was extolling its virtues. Suitably intrigued, I pencilled it in for a visit some time and so that is why, dear reader, I found myself on a tour of the Kirkstall Road last Saturday afternoon.... I'd got the train over to Leeds, and then on to Burley Park, a few minutes' walk away ( or so I thought ) from Kirkstall Road, where I had earmarked three places of interest that I wanted to visit including the afore-mentioned micro. It wouldn't have been so bad if I'd turned right at the top of the station steps and gone down Cardigan Lane , but instead I turned left and then right down Cardigan Road , which meant I probably did about an extra 20 minutes more walking than I needed to. Three years living nearby in Headingley, assorted friends and a couple of girlfriends who'd lived in the area, countless visits to the cricket, and gigs at the...