Real Ale, Real Music

A trip out to enjoy the sunshine and beers in Hebden Bridge.... The Easter sunshine continued to smile on us as the 14.55 from Brighouse pulled in to Hebden Bridge, a place I normally visit regularly, but aside from a couple of visits to the Trades Club to see Kathryn Joseph and Michael Chapman, this was my first visit this year. Earlier, I had popped in for a quick pint at the Commercial/Railway next to Brighouse Railway Station, where there is always a friendly welcome at this ever-popular local's pub. Vocation and Co, Hebden Bridge There were plenty of people about as I made my way to my first destination in Hebden Bridge, Vocation and Co, where all the outside seating was taken up. All this Easter weekend they were hosting a takeover of a number of the taps from the innovative Swedish brewers, Omnipollo - the name being a combination of 'omnipotence' and 'pollo', the Spanish word for chicken. They are unusual in that have no brewery of their own; indee...

The traditional Good Friday Grand Tour with a group of friends from Brighouse has just taken place, with the pubs and bars of Manchester's Northern Quarter bearing the brunt.... A typical Good Friday began with a group of us meeting as usual for breakfast at the Station Cafe in Brighouse. Duly fed and watered - although in my case, not as fed as I would have liked, a lapse in concentration when ordering meant I ordered a smaller breakfast than intended - around a dozen of us wandered around to the station for the 10.55 to Manchester Victoria. It was a beautiful, warm and sunny spring morning, the platform was busy, with a number of people possibly staying on the train after Manchester to visit the recently-added location of Southport. An hour later, we were pulling into Manchester Victoria. A splinter group decided they would head over to the Piccadilly Mile to visit the Cloudwater Brewery Tap (it was shut) and the Track Brewery (so was this). Those remaining walked the few yard...

It's that time of the year when we can get four seasons in one day, and this year has been no exception. And, whether it's that welcome first drink outdoors, or a dash inside to avoid those April showers, it is a great time of year to enjoy a beer.... A couple of weeks ago, I took a day off work with the sole intention of getting on with some much-needed jobs at home. But a trip out on an errand in the morning soon scuppered that plan! It was a beautiful, sunny spring day, and after the recent gloomy weather we'd had, I decided there and then I was going to spend the afternoon outside. The jobs would have to wait.... ...And so, an hour later I set out walking out from home, down the valley to Brookfoot, and then picking up the canal to Elland. It was wonderful to be out in the late March sunshine. The birds were singing happily, the odd butterfly fluttered by, the sky was blue, the sun was warm - even the anglers were cheerful.... Perfect late March afternoon.... I t...

Another UK brewery has been snapped up by a hungry multi-national conglomerate. And this time it is close to home. Here are some thoughts following Magic Rock's acquisition by Australian brewers, Lion.... News broke the other day that one of the most influential brewers in the country, Magic Rock, based just down the road from me in Huddersfield, had become the latest to be taken over by a large multi-national concern, thus following in the footsteps of traditional brewers, Fullers, and craft breweries like Beavertown, Camden, and Meantime. This time the beneficiary is Australian company, Lion, whose biggest brands are Aussie favourites XXXX and Tooheys, and who in turn have Japanese owners in Kirin Holdings. And whilst a brewery like Magic Rock might seem an unlikely target for a volume, mass-market brewer, this is the second strike Lion have made on the UK craft beer market recently following their acquisition last year of Bermondsey brewers Fourpure. So what are Lion gett...

The trains are running again on Saturdays, and so I have decided I will make up for lost time and get out and about as much as I can this year. And so the other week I took a trip to deepest South Yorkshire.... I had never been to Elsecar before. For those who don't know, Elsecar (pronounced ' Elsica ') is situated a few miles south of Barnsley and can be reached via the rail service that runs between Huddersfield and Sheffield, or alternatively Leeds-Sheffield trains pass through. Why go? Well, there are a couple of pubs in the Good Beer Guide, but there is also a Heritage Centre there as well. All around the village, as befits a former pit village which also produced steel, there are plenty of reminders of its industrial past. I caught the train at Huddersfield, and after passing through the suburbs of Lockwood and Berry Brow, the train soon hits some of the attractive and somewhat underrated countryside to the south of Huddersfield. Hidden valleys appear, the od...

I went to Saltaire last Friday to visit the Bradford Beer Festival and Ossett Brewery's gleaming new flagship venture, Salt.... Salt bar and brewery.... I had missed the Bradford Beer Festival last year, but decided that I would go again this time as it is always worth a visit and you always bump into lots of people you know. I sort of knew that after the heights achieved by  Manchester   it was a big ask to hope it would be as good, but Bradford is a different kettle of fish anyway, more, well, traditional. And on a Friday lunchtime, with free entry for CAMRA members, it had drawn a large contingent of the old guard to the beautiful Victoria Hall. Victoria Hall, Saltaire It wasn't exclusively oldies though. A large number of younger ones had taken the day off work  to be here(I suppose I fell into both camps....), and the main hall was pretty busy when I caught up with some of the lads I had arranged to see there. And then a bloke I know from Leeds whom I onl...

Another much-loved pub which has played a big part in so many people's lives over the years has recently closed its doors.... News broke the other week that The Red Rooster, at Brookfoot, near Brighouse, was to close at the beginning of March. With the rent being increased by an incredible £935 a week , landlord Eddie Geater decided that it was simply not viable to keep the popular free house open. And it is sad news, as the Rooster has been at the forefront of the area's pubs for most of the last 30-odd years. And it is a big deal. Before it opened as the Rooster there were hardly any free houses in the area as we know them today where there was a truly wide and unrestricted choice of beers. Prior to being the Rooster, the pub had been a Webster's tied house, The Wharf, which had been built in the early 20th century to cater for workers from the nearby wharf from where local coal was transported via the canal network. And to this day, three former wharfmen's cotta...