Just for Kentish Paul, your Pelican of the Day; February 2024. Cambridge. Pub 2 of “Just a couple with Will in Cambridge” and a real wander into the backstreets towards Newmarket Road, well away from the post-graduate Mill Road set to a real (and increasingly rare) survivor. The backstreet boozer, the community pub with big… Continue reading A LOAD OF DOBBLERS
“Meet you at the Geldart”
February 2024. Cambridge. Unwisely, but I’m not sure on whose part, I agreed to meet Will in Cambridge “just for a couple”. How did I/he not learn our lesson from Leeds ? This is Will’s future exhibit in the Museum of Pubbing. Ooh, quite a lot there, Will. We said we’d meet at 5 just… Continue reading “Meet you at the Geldart”
LAST 5 STANDING. No. 1 – THE QUEEN’S HEAD, NEWTON
February 2024. Newton. Cambridgeshire. It looks like this; The Good Beer Guide is 51 editions old, and in many way I reckon it’s one of the very best (though the omission of those Dutch pubs from the ’80s is a shame). More basic one beer boozers than I can remember, an iconic cover, and genuinely… Continue reading LAST 5 STANDING. No. 1 – THE QUEEN’S HEAD, NEWTON
ALDER – THE (KEG) BASS HAS GONE, THE THRILL REMAINS
February 2024. Sheffield. It’s Sheffield Beer Week, in the self-proclaimed “real ale capital of the world“. Judging a city on the number of breweries and different beers produced is plain daft, and I’d be the first person to tell you that Sheffield does beer quality and Proper Pubs better than anyone else. But number of… Continue reading ALDER – THE (KEG) BASS HAS GONE, THE THRILL REMAINS
LEEDS BEER SCORES SPECIAL
February 2024. Leeds Pub Crawl. You left me in Whitelock’s, admiring the furnishings, and forcing a second half of Old Peculier on our group. Yes, a real of Gang of Four, at home like a pub tourist as the song goes. Oooh, a pint to finish, excellent work, and great company from Andy and Caroline… Continue reading LEEDS BEER SCORES SPECIAL
GREAT PUBS REVISITED No. 8 – WHITELOCK’S, LEEDS
February 2024. Leeds Pub Crawl. Nearly there now. Our gang of four* pub tourists were due to meet up again in the most famous Leeds’s most famous pub, if we could find it after six pints. Bing Maps can’t provide a route to Whitelock’s, tucked away down Turks Head Yard, and Will has asked me,… Continue reading GREAT PUBS REVISITED No. 8 – WHITELOCK’S, LEEDS
NO BASS TODAY, BUT THE PALACE JOINS LEEDS PUB ROYALTY
February 2024. Leeds Pub Crawl. Just a half in the Duck and Drake, very sensible now (too late, too late) as Will and I made a penultimate stop on our curated exploration of heritage hostelries. Down behind the Minster, sits the Palace, no longer a GBG regular since the days when I popped in here… Continue reading NO BASS TODAY, BUT THE PALACE JOINS LEEDS PUB ROYALTY
THE DUCK AND DRAKE
February 2024. Leeds Pub Crawl. 11:47 – Brew Society 12:43 – Cardigan Arms 13:37 – Dave’s Pies & Ale 14:39 – The Templar Good, solid, almost sensible progress. Be a shame to go awry now. But it sort of did, as Will and I scooted off towards the Kirkgate markets, arriving at the Duck and Drake bang… Continue reading THE DUCK AND DRAKE
TOP 100 PUBS – THE TEMPLAR, LEEDS
February 2024. Leeds. Part 4 of Four Do Leeds. Reader, I took a bus from Dave’s to the centre of Leeds. It wasn’t too bad, and the short work takes you past a reminder of Leeds twin city, the endless cranes, and the Victorian arcades, some of them more convincing than others. The Templar was,… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – THE TEMPLAR, LEEDS
GOING OFF-PISTE TO DAVE’S PIES
February 2024. Leeds Pub Crawl. 11:47 – Brew Society 12:43 – Cardigan Arms 13:35 – Time to catch the bus into Leeds for the Templar. Good progress, and as long as we stuck to Will’s elaborate plans (mainly Heritage pubs), we’d be fine. And then someone said “What about Dave’s Pies ? It’s virtually next… Continue reading GOING OFF-PISTE TO DAVE’S PIES
