Real Ale, Real Music

Here I delve into the world of pub names which throws up a fascinating insight into our history, culture, folklore, local features, industrial heritage, agriculture, and many other weird and wonderful things. Here's a few of the things I've discovered along the way.... I have often wondered how pubs got their names, particularly the unusual ones that I've come across up and down the country. Some of these date back for centuries from a time when most of the customers were illiterate so a sign depicting a familiar object, a coat of arms, the monarch, or something relating to a trade or activity would be used rather than a written sign. Add into this local names and legends and the pub names of the country started to build up. And whilst no doubt some of the names that have appeared over the years have simply being a case of opting for something familiar rather than for any other particular reason, the names of pubs can provide a fascinating insight into the history of the co...

Another venture into new blogging territory, this time to the South West of England, or Plymouth and Truro to be more precise. And once again it was football that led us to visit this part of the world, providing an event around which to base a weekend away. Here's what happened.... Before this season's National League fixtures were due to be released in July, one of the most eagerly-awaited fixtures, well by me anyway, was Truro City away. In a tight finish in last season's National League South, the Tinners had emerged as Champions on the final day of the season, which meant the Cornish side would become the first-ever side from the county to reach the National League. And as I had never been to Cornwall in my life, I was hoping the fixture list would afford me opportunity to both visit the county and tick off another new ground. The fixtures duly came out: Truro City v FC Halifax Town, Saturday October 18th. A pretty good date; the summer holiday season gone so theoretic...

As the weather has got colder and damper, and the nights have got longer, here is a flashback to the hot days of summer when a few of us visited the fascinating model village of Port Sunlight before crossing back over the Mersey to visit some fine pubs in the city of Liverpool.... I was going to bring this story of a fantastic day in Merseyside to you earlier, but subsequent trips to Cambridge, Southend, and Newcastle, plus the re-launch of Boddingtons in cask have all conspired to shove this piece off to one side. But finally, in the wake of all the wind and rain brought by Storm Amy over recent days which have caused misery and disruption, here's a welcome journey back to one of the hottest days of the summer, when a few of us headed over to Merseyside from West Yorkshire. We were off to Port Sunlight, which is situated on the Wirral between Bebington and New Ferry. Like Saltaire in West Yorkshire and Bournville in Birmingham, Port Sunlight is a model village which was built by a...

There were a few events over the course of this past week that somehow seemed to interweave. There was the end of the county cricket season which produced a wonderful finale, the official launch of the 2026 CAMRA Good Beer Guide, and then on Saturday evening I was in Manchester to see one of the stalwarts of the folk scene in what had been billed as his final tour.... 2025 has been quite a summer. Virtually wall-to-wall sunshine and warm temperatures which extended long into September until dewy darker mornings and diminishing evening light began to sneak in. This has enabled far fewer interrupted days play to occur during this year's cricket season which, amongst other things, featured a wonderful, competitive and enthralling test series between England and India, and an exciting finale to the domestic cricket season. I was at Headingly on Thursday for the evening session between Yorkshire and Durham, and having got the train from Leeds to Burley Park I then walked up to the stadi...

Another football-related venture in to new territory, featuring a visit to the Essex coast for the game, followed by a visit to some rather excellent pubs in an area of the capital where I had never been drinking before. Here's what happened.... I had never been to Southend. The Essex seaside resort much loved by Londoners and apparently a hotspot for jellied eels, whatever they are, was the destination for my brother and I as we set off on the train from Halifax after breakfast at the Shay Cafe on our latest football-related trip. Southend was an erstwhile large town that was granted city status as recently as 2022, having started out as a mere cluster of fisherman's cottages in the former village of Prittlewell. It wasn't until the 19th century and the construction of the railway from the capital that it began to increase in population, and Southend became a popular holiday resort with thousands upon thousands of Londoners visiting every year. As a reminder of those days,...