Real Ale, Real Music

With a football-free Saturday and no time for a longer trip, I took the opportunity to re-visit a couple of nearby railway station bars along with a classic town centre pub.... The West Riding Refreshment Rooms at Dewsbury railway station are something of an institution. Since 1994 this Grade II-listed part ivy-clad former railway building has been delighting travellers and locals alike with its real ale, food, and welcoming atmosphere. It was opened by Mike Field, one of the original 'Gang of Four' behind the former West Riding Brewery, and who subsequently set up the Anglo Dutch Brewery based in Dewsbury with Dutchman Paul Klos in 2000. The West Riding aimed to restore the former station buffet bar to its former glory, with some of the inspiration coming from one of the country's few remaining examples based further down the trans-Pennine line at Stalybridge. The building was sympathetically restored, with real ale front and centre in the offering, and the place still re...

A first-ever visit to Cheltenham, an elegant town in Gloucestershire, famed for horse racing and numerous festivals. It's also home to plenty of pubs and one of the country's most important breweries.... The train was pretty much on time as it pulled into Cheltenham Spa station on its way to Bristol Temple Meads, its station name reflecting one of its prime attributes. I had only once called here for a quick stop for fuel on my way to Gloucester a few years ago, whilst I had also been nearby when I'd been to the racing at the famous course on the edge of the Cotswolds, but we'd not come in to the town itself. Cheltenham grew up as a spa town and tourist resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, becoming fashionable and succeeding in attracting the well-to-do who would come here to take the waters. The town often claims to be the finest Regency town in the country, with many of the elegant buildings and parks that are spread around parts of the town such...

I recently re-visited a local historic pub for the first time for a while, and it got me thinking about some of the other historic pubs that we are lucky to have here in Yorkshire. Here's a small selection of some classics.... I recently paid a visit to the Big Six , which is situated about a mile and a half from Halifax town centre, close to the distinctive landmark of Wainhouse Tower and the wide open spaces of Savile Park. One of the best-known pubs in Halifax, it is unusual in that it is situated in the middle of a narrow terraced street, Thomas Street, and whilst it is not a listed pub, behind its unassuming outer walls lies an attractive interior of historic importance. It was built in 1857 as a beer house in the middle of a row of back-to-back cottages and was known back in those days as the Bowling Green Inn. However, from the early1900s it was often called the 'Big Six' by locals due to the brand name of the mineral water and hop ale company which operated on the p...

Another football away trip weekend featuring a first-ever visit to an award-winning CAMRA pub in a Midlands town I had only visited once before. Here's what happened.... It was a cold and grey morning as we waited at Halifax railway station, having first met up for breakfast at the Shay Cafe, just down from the Shay football stadium, home of FC Halifax Town. We were heading to the Midlands to see Town take on Tamworth FC in the televised teatime game in the National League, which had been moved back from the regular 3pm kick-off time due to the demands of the TV schedule. That fairly recent decision hadn't really affected our plans, though; we were stopping over to join one of the lads in celebrating his birthday so the only inconvenience if you could call it that was having to spend up to 4 hours in the pub before the game rather than a more manageable and practical hour and a half. The train took us to Leeds where we had a few minutes to wait for a Cross Country train heading...

A midweek afternoon visit to Manchester taking in some amazing art with a pint or two in one or two of the city's pubs that I don't get too very often.... I was in Manchester the other Wednesday afternoon to catch David Hockney's immersive art show Bigger & Closer (Not Smaller & Far Away) which had been getting some very positive reviews over the previous few weeks. The show was on at Factory International, a new venue to me on the former Granada Studios site on Water Street, off Liverpool Road on the far side of Deansgate. And as a bonus, as with my visit earlier in the month, this gave me another opportunity to try out some of the pubs in a part of the city I don't get to very often. I was running a little late due to a few slight delays on the train over to Manchester. I eventually arrived at Victoria and reckoned that if I got a move on I could fit in a couple of pubs and be able to make it to the 4.30 show that was the time on my ticket. It was a cold grey...