retiredmartin

23rd January 2020

This post is a bit pointless, as Duncan beat me to the press with his write-up of the magnificent Idle Draper, set in Bradford’s best named suburb.

As Duncan notes, I’d done a trial run of his West Yorkshire pubs the day before, walking from Greengates up the hill to Idle (both ways) to be greeted with, well nothing.

One of those 7 comments would have been me five years back, saying “GET BACK TO WORK YOU IDLERS”, but retirement brings a zen like harmony with the micro world, and gave me a day to look forward to its reopening.

We arrived at 3.30pm, having passed a sea of places with Idle in the title, one of which would have to entertain us for half an hour.

But as Duncan stared through the curtain, a lady popped her head out the back.

“Can’t you read the sign. 4 pm and not a moment sooner”.

“HELLO. COME IN. WELCOME”

What a welcome, and by 3.45pm Duncan had his tick courtesy of some decent homebrew.

I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Rows of gin, BrewDog signs,

and a comfortable but tiny room.

But Jim and Louise were the friendliest publicans I’ve ever met, and I hadn’t seen half of it yet.

“Come and see the brewery, COME ON!” said Jim.

“Am scared of breweries, all beer should come from Wolverhampton” I mumbled.

“COME ON !” demanded Jim.

Look at Duncan’s blog for the pics, all I’ll add is the cinema/brewery/community room is a stunning piece of design. Even if the Tiki Bar didn’t serve Bass.

The attention to detail in the old Draper’s shop is stunning.

“We wanted a place that would appeal to everyone” said Louise. Good grief. In 2020.

Rarely have I enjoyed a trip to a pub more, that Labour Club in Malta apart, and they surely weren’t prepared for the visit of the Pubmeister.

Just THINK what they’ll put on for BRAPA.