York CAMRA were holding their 50th Anniversary Beer Festival last week, so I decided to head over to the city and check it out. Here's my reflections on what was a splendid afternoon there in a rather historic setting....
The first York Beer Festival took place at the De Grey Rooms in the city centre way back in March 1974. Times were very different back then; it was was the year that Richard Nixon resigned as US President in the wake of the Watergate scandal, there were two General Elections in this country, Leeds United won the First Division title (no Premier League in those days!), local team York City finished 3rd in the old Division 3 (Halifax Town were 9th) to gain promotion to the second tier for the first time in their history, the Volkswagen Golf made its debut, and a Swedish group called Abba won the Eurovision Song Contest with their song Waterloo. The real ale scene back then was also very different to how it is now. CAMRA had only been formed a year or two before, and at that time there were only 6 pubs listed under York in the 1974 Good Beer Guide, so by holding an Exhibition of Ales, as it was dubbed, the local branch were holding one of the first events in the country to celebrate real ale, which as well as featuring local beers included some from different parts of the country, much the delight of a host of curious and eager drinkers.
The previous time I'd been to the York Beer Festival was two years ago when it was held on the Knavesmire at York Racecourse; this time the venue was St Lawrence's Church, situated just outside the city walls near Walmgate Bar beyond the relentless stream of traffic on the city's inner ring road which makes crossing the road here a real test of patience. This was the second successive year that the festival had been held here in what is the second-largest religious building in York after the more well-known Minster. There has been a place of worship on the site since at least the 12th century and part of the old tower remains in the graveyard. The church was badly damaged during the Siege of York in 1644 during the English Civil War, but was rebuilt in the Restoration, before being demolished with the current building, which contains the font and various other artefacts from its predecessors, dating from the late 19th century.
I'd got a train over from Halifax late morning and was in York shortly before 1pm. I set off walking from the station and to break the 25 minute or so walk, I decided to call in the Blue Bell on Fossgate for a quick half, figuring that on a Friday this wonderful, timeless little pub would be pretty busy when I would be returning later in the day from the beer festival. The little room to the right by the entrance was relatively quiet, with just two older guys already, although neither this nor the room to the rear of the bar take much filling. They were were both sat, each with a pint on separate tables which meant it in order to maintain some distance I perched on one end of the table by the window. This was after I'd ordered a half of the Blue Bell IPA, the pub's house beer brewed by Brass Castle. As usual it was on great form (I have never had anything but great beer on my many visits here over the years), and was a fitting start to the day's proceedings (NBSS 3.5).
I resumed my journey down Fossgate, crossing over the little river which lends its name to this ancient street. The river surface was covered in a green algae, a lone duck swimming through clearing a path and giving a temporary glimpse of the water beneath, rather like an icebreaker smashing through frozen seawater. I passed the entrance to the Brew York taproom, situated in a yard off to the left. A few minutes later I came to Walmgate Bar, beyond which the tower of St Lawrence's was visible. After what seemed to take ages to get across the road, I walked into the churchyard, where a friendly posse of CAMRA guys were checking tickets and issuing wristbands. Duly processed, I walked up to the church through the churchyard with its intermittent carpet of autumn leaves with shades of gold. I passed a number of stands, a couple of marquees, outdoor seating, and food concessions. I walked in to the church, where the beers were sitting on gantries around the sides of this spectacular building with a few stalls offering CAMRA merch and magazines and the like. It was reasonably busy, with people milling around and studying what was on offer. I grabbed a programme, and set about planning my afternoon.
The programme stated that there were over 200 British beers and ciders on offer, with a number of beers from different parts of the country, ranging from Gloucestershire to Cumbria, Northumberland to Hampshire, along with a healthy number of local brews. And with a number of interesting keg beers on offer from the likes of Deya, Elusive, Kernel, Unbarred, and Pollys, there would be something to perk up my palate should I tire of drinking cask (I didn't). I decided to go for a half of Blunderbuss, a 4.2% session pale from Cheltenham brewery, Clavell & Hind, who take their name from two infamous 17th highwaymen. They were new to me, but I would have to wait a little longer to try it. I placed my order. Where's your glass?, the guy behind the bar asked me. Glass? I replied. So I can serve you your beer! It then dawned on me, what a plonker! I was at a Beer Festival where normal protocol involves paying a deposit for a glass as you enter! In my eagerness to get in to the festival I'd forgotten that and I'd walked past the place where the glasses were being dispensed. And very nice it was too, a special commemorative glass to mark the 50th anniversary.
Take 2. I returned to the bar and finally got my beer. And it was very good. Decent pub quality, in tip-top condition, it made for a very strong start to the festival. And my next beer, from another Cheltenham brewer, Cotswold Lion was also very good. And so it continued through the afternoon. I tried 9 different beers, and all were in good or very good condition, which is not something you can say about every beer festival, where for various reasons often down to the type of venue it can be more challenging to serve a pint that's as good as in the best pubs. I won't list all the beers I tried, but along with the breweries above, I drank beers from several new breweries to me - Goffs, another one from Gloucestershire, Dorking from Surrey, and two from Cumbria, Gan Yam from Kendal and Logan Beck from Duddon Bridge. I tried one I hadn't had for years, Selby Ale, from Selby Middlebrough, which is an old name but it seems this current iteration is as a small batch brewery who re-commenced brewing in 2022, but I can't find any more information than that. I also tried the special beer brewed for the Festival's anniversary by Yorkshire Heart brewery, which was a 5% golden ale called Aurum - which is the Latin name for gold - and it was a very enjoyable, well-balanced beer, featuring Challenger, Mosaic, and Citra in the brew, which was then dry-hopped with Simcoe and Cryo Pop. And it went down well with the tasting panel too, being awarded Bronze in the overall beer of the Festival. Incidentally the winner was another local-ish beer, Roosters of Harrogate striking Gold with their strong IPA, Baby-Faced Assassin. My own favourite of the day? It was a tie between the first beer I had, the afore-mentioned Blunderbuss from Clavell & Hind and the 4.7% hazy delight of Azacca Mosaic from Two by Two.
There are a couple of pubs in the Good Beer Guide very close to the church on Lawrence Street, one that I had never been in before, whilst I had visited the other one before but not for several years. So I decided to pay them both a visit. The one I hadn't been in was the Waggon & Horses, situated across the road from St Lawrence's. An attractive multi-roomed traditional pub, there were a few people sat in the room with the bar when I arrived. On the bar were 7 hand pumps, with Batemans XB and Oakham Citra normally on plus 5 guests, which on this occasion included beers from Ossett and Titanic. I waited as some older guys, I assume who like me, had just left the festival, went through ordering a half each and paying cash for them separately, which is always frustrating for anyone behind in the queue. When it was my turn, I ordered a pint of Batemans XB, which I hadn't had for a while. A friendly couple at the bar who I'd been chatting to as I waited asked if I would keep an eye on their pints as they went to check in to their room (the pub has a number of rooms), so I hung around the bar as they disappeared as the guy behind the bar went to show them to their room. A group of old guys (not the half pint brigade) were sat in a corner discussing the weekend's football in between watching snooker that was showing on TV. My beer was very good - I'd been a very lucky boy today - a well-balanced malty bitter clocking in at only 3.7% but with a lot more body than many a stronger beer (NBSS 3.5). I liked the pub and based on this showing I can certainly recommend a visit when in this part of York.
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| The bar at the Waggon & Horses |
The other CAMRA-listed pub in this part of York is situated back across on the same side of the road as the church, so after another long wait for the traffic lights to change I was able to get across so I could call in the Rook & Gaskill, which I had visited a couple of times before but not for a few years. In the time since I'd last been it had been acquired by Nottingham's Castle Rock Brewery, although apart from the odd beer from them it isn't too obvious, not that I have an issue with Castle Rock! It has an attractive three storey exterior with pale green painted clapperboard and an attractive floral display. The signage describes it as a beer house and it serves up to 8 cask and 20 keg beers, and an onsite brewery has opened here this year. I walked in and the pub was very busy, with just one guy behind the bar serving. That said, he was doing a splendid job as the numbers were increasing as more people called in from the beer festival, and it didn't take me too long to get myself a beer, and I even managed to find a spare table in the room beyond where I could sit to enjoy it. I'd gone for a half of Ice Cream Porter from North Riding Brewery, and this 4.5% rich dark beer had delicious chocolate and vanilla flavours (NBSS 3.5). This pub, which also serves food like burgers and pizzas, was continuing to get busier as I left, and it seems it is popular with locals, students, and the like. Another pub that is worth a visit in this great city for beer.
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| Rook & Gaskill, York |
I headed back up Walmgate in the general direction of the station with a plan to get some food for tea to soak up the day's liquid intake before I left. I decided to try a Nepalese restaurant that I'd noticed over the years, almost opposite the Blue Bell near the top of Fossgate. I walked in to a fairly quiet restaurant, but as I was there it became obvious by the numbers coming in that it was a popular spot. And if everything is as good as my Lamb and Potato Curry, cooked in Nepalese spices, which I had with basmati rice, washed down with a large bottle of Ghurka beer, I am not surprised. I will definitely be going back to the Everest Ghurka Restaurant when I am on future trips to York.
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| What's for tea? A rather excellent Nepalese curry |
And so to conclude, back to the Beer Festival for a moment. York CAMRA should feel very proud of what they achieved in this 50th anniversary event. Based on my two and half hours or so there it was well-organised, the staff were very friendly and welcoming, and the beers I tried were all in excellent condition, well up the standard that you would expect in the best of the city's pubs. Add in the stunning location which moved the event on to a different level, and I am sure that most visitors will have left like I did looking forward to visiting again next year....
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