Real Ale, Real Music

It is just over 4 years since this old guy started pulling a few pints behind the bar as opposed to just being served and drinking in them. Here's a few reflections.... I have not worked behind a bar for that long, really. Until recently I'd only had few stints helping out at beer festivals over the years, but even that was very intermittently. So when, a few years ago, I mentioned to my good mate Michael Ainsworth who runs two bars in Halifax that I had retired from my full-time job and he asked if I wanted to join the team, it would be more or less the first time I had worked in a pub or bar. And I wasn't certain at first, as whilst I was a regular particularly at the original bar, the Grayston Unity, I knew all the staff, had got to know many of the customers, and I had helped out at various events over the years, I wasn't immediately sure if it was for me. That said, I had always been a bar hanger so I suppose it was only one step beyond. Eventually though I said I ...

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...