Real Ale, Real Music

A return to one of my favourite parts of the country, which included visiting a number of my favourite pubs and because of the weather, not much else. So off to a soggy Cumbria, and more specifically, Coniston in the Lake District, we go.... I'd decided to book a few days off work with the intention of going away for a couple of days, but I had held off booking anywhere as the arrival of the 2024 Good Beer Guide was imminent. If somewhere within reasonable striking distance had been awarded a slew of new entries, I wanted to be there to capture the action as they put up their newly-awarded We're in the 2024 Good Beer Guide stickers and adapted to their new lives as pub-celebs. Although as it was the period before the official publication date we'd have had to keep schtum about it or face retribution from the high lords at CAMRA HQ.... Anyway, it wasn't to be as the no-show of the guide continued, and I decided to just  go ahead and book somewhere as time was moving on...

Another brewery is due to close its doors, but this one is not some recent start-up brewing craft beer where the owners have called time. No, this is a well-established brewery which is being closed by its parent company due to market challenges in the name of consolidation.... News broke last week that Carlsberg Marstons Brewing Company (CMBC) were planning to close the historic Eagle Maltings in Witney, Oxfordshire, which has been producing beer since 1841, and which has been the home of Wychwood Brewery since 1990. The brewery has also been producing beers for the displaced Oxfordshire brewers, Brakspear, since 2002 when they were both owned by a company called Refresh, who were subsequently taken over by Marstons. Wychwood are famous for their Hobgoblin beers, which at one time used the memorable strapline to promote their original 4.5% dark ruby version  "What's the matter, Lager Boy, afraid you might taste something?" as shown above on an old tee shirt that I found ...

It's not all beer and skittles doing this blogging malarkey, you know. As I was reminded last Saturday when I headed up the Calder Valley to try out a couple of new bars in Todmorden before going to a gig at the Trades Club in Hebden Bridge.... On the face of it, it's all very simple. Plan where to visit. List some pubs. Head out on field survey. Go to first pub. Purchase drink. Drink said drink. Take a few pictures. Make a few notes about place/beer/ambience/service. Move on to next place. Do the same as at pub #1. And repeat, until list completed/enough material(or liquid) taken on board/time to catch transport home. Over next day or two, pull blog together with material from field survey, add any extra information from online research, edit where needed, and publish. And of course, it always goes to plan. You what? Of course it doesn't! That thought went through my mind when I visited Todmorden the other evening, prior to going to Hebden Bridge to see an eagerly-anticipa...

Back on the road watching football this weekend meant a more difficult than usual journey over the Pennines to Rochdale where we were lucky enough to see our team come home with all 3 points on a hot and sunny afternoon, bookended by some excellent watering holes.... An early start for a Saturday meant I left the house before 9 to catch the bus in to Halifax where, after a cup of tea at the Temperance Movement, it was off to meet some of the lads to catch the bus over to Rochdale, the queue already including a number of other Town fans. Normally we would have caught the train, which takes around 25-30 minutes, but industrial action on the railways meant that no service was operating. So it was about 9.45 when we arrived at the somewhat grandly-titled Interchange, which basically consists of a modest-sized bus station with the terminal stop of the tram nearby. Passing up on the opportunity to catch the soon-to-depart tram all the way to East Didsbury we headed instead to the Flying Hors...