Real Ale, Real Music

New blogging territory for me as I went to North Wales last weekend for a little break and check out a recently-opened taproom by one of my favourite brewers. Here's what I found in what is a lovely part of the world.... It's not like Wales ( the North bit at any rate ) is that far away, and over the years I have visited it many times, but I have never got round to visiting on a beer-based trip. Which is a bit harsh on the Principality really, as there have been some pretty consistent long-standing entries in the Good Beer Guide. Leaving aside cities like Cardiff, Swansea, and Newport in the South and going for the closer parts, along the North Wales coast, Caernarfon, Conwy, and Colwyn Bay for example all have three pubs in the current guide, whilst Llandudno has five, so there are plenty of reasons to head over there. Further east and a little inland, Mold's three Good Beer Guide pubs have recently been joined by a new taproom run by local craft brewers Polly's, and h...

It was the May Day Bank Holiday and with the final National League games of the season taking place, we decided to head down to London to watch our team and visit a few pubs as well, this time in a different area.... We were going to London and back in the day, so it was an early start and late finish to the day. I ordered a taxi for just after 7 and then went to the Shay Cafe in Halifax to meet the lads and have some breakfast before catching the train. Our journey took us first to Leeds, from where we caught what was a pretty quiet train to London Kings Cross.  We arrived in the capital at just before 11.30, and with the kick-off at the regular time of 3pm, we had an hour or two to visit some pubs before heading off for the match at Wealdstone, who play their games at Grosvenor Vale in the leafy West London suburb of Ruislip. For our pre-match imbibing we had opted to go to the borderlands between two other leafy London suburbs, Notting Hill Gate and Kensington, which was kind of...

The warm weather continued as I made a first proper visit a nearby East Lancashire town to have a wander around and check out a few of the local pubs.... It is only 31 minutes on the direct train from Halifax to Burnley but despite its relative proximity, this was the first time I had got the train here. In fact my visits to the town have been few and far between since a short period in the 1970's when I would drive over to watch the odd First Division match on a free Saturday when Burnley were at home. But with 4 pubs in the Good Beer Guide - although two were way out in the suburbs and not really doable in the time I had - and plenty of others in the town centre it is certainly worth an afternoon's exploration. And as I found, this former cotton and mining town has a rich industrial and economic heritage and social history that can stand up against the majority of places up and down the country. And being a town that has brought us the likes of a diverse mix of people includi...

Or to be more precise a couple of hours, as I took a morning train to this historic market town and former textile centre beside the River Aire a few miles north west of Bradford and checked in to a few of the local pubs and bars before footballing matters took over later in the day.... I arrived at Bingley's railway station just before 11.30 on a sunny Spring Saturday morning. I'd caught the 1043 train from Halifax to Bradford Interchange, then walked through the expansive newly-pedestrianised streets of the 2025 City of Culture to Forster Square Station, where I was just in time to board a Skipton-bound train before it began wending its way up the Aire Valley. This hadn't been the original plan, but when I arrived at Halifax station I found that the train I'd booked on, the 1038 to Leeds, had been cancelled due to a fault with the train ( yawn ). So I had to hastily re-plan my route, but the fact that I managed to get to Bingley almost 20 minutes earlier than the rout...

Last weekend I went with a group of friends to Manchester for the annual Good Friday beer trip, and once again a good time was had by all as we visited a number of the city's finest pubs, bars, and brewery taprooms.... The day began for some of us with a decent breakfast at the Station Cafe in Brighouse, following which we caught the train from the adjacent railway station to Manchester Victoria, where made a beeline for the Victoria Tap  in order that we could meet up with other members of our party who had come in on different trains from from Bradford and  Huddersfield. Here I bought a pint of a 4% session IPA called Hot Lick from Green Arches, who brew close to Victoria at Red Bank, having been set up by some of the team who worked at the now-closed Beatnikz Republic brewery. Their beers are seen with increasing regularity in the pubs and bars in and around the city centre, and they seem to have a beer on the bar at the Victoria Tap every time I go in these days. It w...