Real Ale, Real Music

I made a return to the North East the other week, where I managed to re-visit some old favourite haunts as well as taking in some new places in and around the magnificent riverscape of the Tyne.... I had booked a Tuesday night away in Newcastle to coincide with Halifax Town's evening match across the river in Gateshead. It was my first overnight in central Newcastle since the back end of 2021, and so as my train speeded north passing the grandeur of Durham Cathedral, I was looking forward to a return visit to one of my favourite cities, which last time I had only briefly visited with our Tom the afternoon before a family do in the evening almost a year ago. The train crossed the bridge over the Tyne way down below just before pulling into the station, and minutes later I was walking those familiar streets with my rucksack on my shoulder and heading down the cobbles beside the castle towards the Quayside. As I walked down Side a familiar building came into view. Of course there was ...

A visit to a new area for me, taking in some fine beer, a walk through some beautiful countryside, and a new football ground. Read on for details.... The train rattled through the last throes of the South London sprawl, and shortly afterwards, we were passing through the increasingly attractive Surrey countryside. A stop at Leatherhead, and then we alighted at the attractive Box Hill and Westhumble station, complete with traditional red phone box. Apparently it was often seen in the introduction to many of Michael Portillo's train tours, prompting speculation that the dandy traveller may have actually lived around these parts. Back to today, and it seemed many of those who had got off the train with us had come to walk up Box Hill, the 224-metre (735ft) North Downs summit which overlooks the town of Dorking. It lies within the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with part of the hill owned and managed by the National Trust. Situated less than 20 miles from London, it a...

A first visit to London for a while included an evening wandering around the central areas of Hackney, where there are several excellent and varied pubs and other establishments with plenty of decent beer to be found.... My old friend Richard had kindly invited me to stay with him in London last weekend which coincided with Halifax Town's first-ever visit to Dorking Wanderers, and so on Friday I caught the mid-morning Grand Central from Brighouse and save for the constant chatter of a hen party from Pontefract who had hit the prosecco before we had arrived in Doncaster, it was a pretty uneventful journey, which ended when the train pulled into Kings Cross around a quarter to two. Following a late lunch and quick turnaround at Richard's place in Worcester Park, we got the train back into central London, and after alighting at Waterloo Station, we took the tube to Bank on the shortest of the lines, the Waterloo and City, which simply ferries passengers between the two stations, a...

One of our local micropubs recently celebrated its 7th birthday, and that set me off thinking about the growth of these small pubs and how they have became an integral part of the drinking scene over the past few years.... I called into the Market Tavern in Brighouse the other evening as the popular micropub, situated not surprisingly beside the town's market, was celebrating its 7th birthday. The place was busy, the beer was flowing, and the complimentary sandwiches and other bits of food on the bar were being eagerly consumed. I enjoyed a pint of both Goose Eye Chinook and Blue Bee Triple Hop, both spot on, and enjoyed conversations with friends, as I always do when I call in there. It doesn't seem that long since Snap and Debbie opened the town's first micro in a former storeroom for a nearby butchers, making it one of the first in Calderdale, following on from Calan's in Hebden Bridge, since when it has established itself as an indispensable part of the local drink...

This small town beside the River Wharfe sits on the doorstep of the Yorkshire Dales and I recently went back there for the first time in about 40 years to check out how the local pub scene is faring these days. Here's what I found... Back in the early 1980's I spent three years living in a bedsit in the Leeds suburb of Headingley. Despite the cramped living space, one of the benefits of living there was that it was easy to get to other places beyond the city; from the local station it was possible to catch the train to Harrogate, Knaresborough, or even York, whilst a 10 minute walk in the other direction to the Otley Road gave the opportunity of catching a bus to the eponymous Wharfedale market town. In those days before pubs anywhere could open all day, Otley's pubs could benefit from the town's market town status and open for longer when it was market day, which made taking a 30 minute journey there a worthwhile proposition. And away from the student suburbs of the ci...

The beer scene around Tyneside continues to flourish, as I found when I had a wander around Tynemouth and North Shields at the weekend.... The sun was shining and it was quite spring-like as I drove up the A19 towards Tyneside for my first visit there for almost a year. I had arranged to meet the family in Tynemouth for the afternoon, and had booked to stay over at the Premier Inn in North Shields, the cost of a stopover in central Newcastle on a Saturday night having climbed to ridiculous levels. But the fact that there were three entries for North Shields in the latest Good Beer Guide and I hadn't been in any of them before actually made staying there a decent choice. And North Shields seemed to be an interesting town. 8 miles to the east of Newcastle, it is a place which has its own distinct character. It was originally a fishing village, growing up around where the Pow Burn flowed into the Tyne and fishing still informs its character today. The town's location and geograph...