Real Ale, Real Music

It doesn't seem five minutes since Cloudwater appeared to have turned their back on cask ale, but last week saw a welcome return to beer via hand pump from the influential Manchester brewery. Here's my thoughts.... The Cloudwater squad line up at The Sportsman.... It was back in January, 2017 when news broke that Cloudwater announced that they were abandoning the production of cask beer , citing the cost, limited financial return, and concern about how it was often kept in the cellar and served to the customer, and that henceforth their innovative and contemporary beers would only be available on tap and in can. But last week, just over 18 months later, they announced that Cloudwater cask would be available once again in selected outlets. And locally, the Sportsman in Huddersfield announced they would be having a night launching the beers on Tuesday, 13th November. So naturally, I went along for a nosey.... Four beers were being offered. Pale, a delicious easy drinking 4...

It was the 1st Round of the FA Cup, and the draw enabled us to pay a visit to a town which gave its name to its most famous son.... "Morecambe...will play...Halifax Town...." That's how the FA Cup Draw came out, and so it gave us a welcome opportunity to visit a relatively local, Northern side, in a season dominated by infeasibly long away trips to far-flung Southern-based teams. I hadn't been to Morecambe for at least 35 years, back when a gang of us from the NEGAS Sports and Social Club at Tingley went for a day out at the resort. We certainly weren't the first visitors to arrive in the town from Yorkshire; ever since the railway connection from there was completed in the mid-19th Century, Morecambe had been a popular destination for residents of the West Riding. For a time the resort attracted more visitors from the county than Blackpool, its more famous rival down the Lancashire coast, so much so that it earned itself the sobriquet 'Bradford-on-Sea...

An exciting new venture opened this week in the West Yorkshire market town of Elland, so naturally I went along to have a look. Here's what I discovered.... It had been a long time since I had enjoyed a teatime pint in Elland. Way back, in fact, to the days when I lived in the town and used to frequent the Barge and Barrel, which was at the time one of the top pubs in the area, although now apparently up for sale after years of dwindling sales. And so on Friday, when I called in at Elland Craft & Tap, it must have been the first time I had enjoyed an early evening pint in the town for almost 20 years. Anticipation had been building locally for a few months, ever since a planning application was lodged by Elland Brewery with Calderdale Council for a new bar in a former building society branch on Southgate. With Elland having lost so many of its pubs over the years, not surprisingly there was overwhelming support for the bar amongst the townspeople, with only one objection. An...

A couple of great finds in Newcastle, a wonderful brew-pub in County Durham, and, at last, a Wetherspoons worth writing home about.... It was sunny when I set off on my latest trip to the North East last week. Having enjoyed Rolling Blackouts the previous night at Leeds Stylus, I naturally stuck 'Hope Downs' on the CD player, and as their ringing guitars and catchy hooks filled the car, I made good progress as I made my way along the M62. All was good in the world...all, that is, apart from the fact that I'd woken up with a streaming cold! Mouse about Town..... So as I sneezed and streamed my way up North, I decided I needed to make a stop. I had hit County Durham in good time and headed off the A1 to Spennymoor. I needed some fuel, and from the petrol station it was only a couple of miles to the Frog and Ferret which, despite having a name like a Spoon's or one of David Bruce's former Firkin chain, is a "friendly, traditional family-run free house"...

It was the first-ever Halifax Festival Of Words last weekend...and what a wonderful occasion it was. Here's a look back at some of the events that took place.... Plenty of places up and down the country have festivals based around books and writing. Cheltenham Literature Festival is the grandaddy of them all, going all the way back to 1949. And then there is the annual Hay Festival, which since its humble beginnings in 1988 in the small Powys second-hand book shop town of Hay-on-Wye, has grown to become a massive international event and is dubbed the 'Glastonbury of Book Festivals'. And if crime stories are more to your liking, then head to Harrogate, where every July for the past 14 years the Crime Writing Festival has been held at the Old Swan, the hotel where Agatha Christie stayed under an assumed name when she disappeared from the bright lights of London for a short time. All of them have their own different angle. And so, when the idea of a Halifax Festival was firs...

It was the local CAMRA beer festival in Hebden Bridge last weekend, so naturally I went along to check it out along with a number of other special beer-related events that were taking place in the town.... A glass on its own.... I had a frustrating start last Friday. For one reason or another, I got myself behind schedule. Then I discovered that somehow the settings on my phone's camera had gone all weird, so I was faffing about trying to sort them out(which I eventually did). Then I stood watching as I mistakenly thought the incoming train at Halifax station was Huddersfield-bound rather than going through Hebden Bridge (which it was), resulting in a wasted half hour hanging around on the platform till the next train came along. Still, I was able to take advantage of the the sun beating down, belying the fact we were in the dying days of September. I finally arrived at Hebden Bridge, where I decided to have a quick pint at Vocation and Co. The board behind the bar was domi...

An excellent few days in the city of Brunel and Banksy, a most fascinating, vibrant, and welcoming place for a visit.... Bristol Marina A tortoiseshell cat greeted me as I walked into the pub. I went up to the bar and ordered a half of Forzai, from North Wales brewers, Heavy Industry. As I handed over my money, the cat was at my feet, purring. And as I went over to grab a stool, it beat me to it, but then vacated it quickly so I could sit down. I sat down, looked around, and I realised it wasn't the same cat. They were everywhere. There was one in a basket by the window. There was one on the bar. They were under tables, perched beside customers. There was also a load of house rules for on the chalkboard, peppered with some pretty colourful language! I was in the Bag O'Nails, a quirky traditional pub at the bottom of a steep road in the Hotwells area of Bristol. Love's 'Forever Changes' was on the turntable. Andmoreagain. A kitten skidded in from the back. The...