Real Ale, Real Music

Last Friday, March 20th, all pubs, clubs, theatres, cinemas, and other places where people congregate were ordered to close due to the Covid-19 virus whose impact is extending far beyond the disease itself.... A few people have asked me in the past week or so if I am going to continue to write my blog. I can see where they are coming from; after all, I write about beer and pubs, music and gigs, so in view of recent events the opportunity to enjoy these has been seriously compromised. But I have said to them all that of course I will. Writing isn't an option for me; it's something I need to do, to communicate and express myself and hopefully provide something that people enjoy to read. And in these strange times it is more important than ever to stay in touch. The subject matter may wander around a bit, I just don't know, but the blogs will keep on coming! Over the last couple of weeks, the Government had put out advice about what to do, and what not to do, some at od...

'When you have lost your inns, drown your empty selves, for you will have lost the last of England'. Hillaire Belloc. The sad news last week that Great Heck Brewery had ceased trading, following the demise in January of Summer Wine Brewery, not forgetting the 20 or so pubs that shut down every week, serves as a reminder that it is not all beer and skittles in the world of pubs and beers. And that's without the current threat posed by the Covid-19 virus which could potentially damage large swathes of the wider economy and our very way of life for quite some time. This last weekend, a Saturday, I had a fairly routine sort of day. I called in to pick a prescription up from my chemist. I popped into the Tesco local and bought a few bits. I went to get my hair cut. I collected some dry cleaning. I stopped to have a chat with a friend. I popped in to the Market Tavern for a quick pint and a chat with whoever was in there. I called in at the local fish shop and got a fish butt...

There is now a direct train service from Brighouse to Wigan, which came in handy for enabling a first-ever visit to the town's beer festival and taking in a few of the local pubs.... Wigan. Home of the so-called Pie-Eaters*. Home of Uncle Joe's Mint Balls. The location of the former Empress Ballroom, which in the 1970's morphed into Wigan Casino, the spiritual home of Northern Soul. A town whose famous people include George Formby, Stuart Maconie, Andy Gregory, Kay Burley, and Georgie Fame. A traditional rugby league town. A former mining and mill town. The inspiration for George Orwell's  The Road to Wigan Pier, in which he highlighted the poor living conditions of Britain's working class. A historic town, with many old buildings, incorporated as a borough following the issue of a Royal Charter by King Henry III in 1246. There are a lot of different sides to Wigan. The town also has a good number of pubs and several small breweries. And this last weekend, it ...

I had an unscheduled evening in Bury the other day, followed the next day by a visit to a town boasting two micro pubs and the last original temperance bar in the country.... I arrived at my hotel in Bury from work in Hyde after a very frustrating drive which took over 2 hours  and involved several detours following a serious accident which had closed the M60. The impact was dramatic; all the roads around Ashton-under-Lyne and beyond were snarled up, so that there was nothing you could do but grit your teeth and go with the flow. Or not, in this case. I was staying in Bury as I was going to see Sunderland indie maestros Field Music at The Dancehouse Theatre, a couple of years after I'd seen them at Gorilla, and having been unable to see them in Leeds last weekend due to a trip to North Yorkshire. Due to the ridiculous price of Friday night hotel rooms in Manchester, I reasoned that a £30 night at the Premier Inn in the centre of Bury, and then catching the tram into town from...

I had a great trip east last weekend courtesy of Halifax & Calderdale CAMRA to visit Brass Castle Brewery in Malton and North Riding near Scarborough, followed by a visit to a few pubs on the coast at Filey.... The trip was organised to present certificates to Brass Castle and North Riding breweries for their beers that had won awards at last September's Halifax & Calderdale CAMRA Beer Festival, and so, on a blustery but sunny Saturday morning I joined 20-odd other CAMRA members and boarded a coach at Halifax Bus Station for the journey to North Yorkshire. An hour and a half or so after leaving Halifax, we arrived in the market town of Malton. My visits over the years to the town have been very sporadic, and I don't think I'd ever appreciated what a bustling little town it is. We got parked up near the town's market and walked through narrow streets to the Brass Castle Taphouse, behind which lies the Brass Castle brewery. The Taphouse is a lovely, welcoming...

A couple of days in the Lake District this week gave me the chance to re-visit a few old favourites.... I have always liked to visit the Lakes out of season. The chance to wander around when it's less busy, an opportunity to take in the outstanding scenery, lovely villages, and excellent pubs without the crowds that flock there for so much of the year is an attraction. So when I decided to go for a couple of days this week, even though it was half-term, with   the weather forecast not being particularly good in the wake of Storm Denis, I didn't anticipate that it would be too busy. I was wrong. OK, you could still drive around the area easily enough, provided you carefully negotiated the puddles and streams that seemed to be everywhere, but there did seem to be a whole lot more people than a couple of years ago, when I had also visited in February. And like last time, I had booked to stay at The Sun Hotel in Coniston, and whilst it was quieter later on, when I checked in...

The weather this last few days has been pretty challenging to say the least, with areas of the country struck by high winds and heavy rain, resulting in some severe flooding and devastation for many. One of the areas worst affected was the Calder Valley, where once again the heavy rains and the swollen River Calder took hold of communities up and down its length.... Last Saturday, the weather was kinder than had been forecast. All the previous week we had been warned to expect severe winds and rain, but the sun was out and the day was pleasant as I met a group of friends from Brighouse at Halifax station. We were heading off to Sowerby Bridge, where we were celebrating the birthday of one of the gang, Janette. The train from Halifax takes 6 minutes, and less than a minute's walk away was the first place on our tour, the Jubilee Refreshment Rooms, housed in a building that was once part of the grand old building that was once Sowerby Bridge Railway Station. It is run by brother...