I’ve just heard that the Stockport CAMRA Pub of the Year is the Blue Bell, a Sam Smiths house in Levenshulme. This fills me with joy. Elselwhere, micro pubs and brewery taps mop up the awards, and the bulk of the GBG attention, including yet another Micro Pub in Bramhall. Bramhall is as posh… Continue reading AIRPLANE CRASH BANTER IN BRAMHALL
SPENDING THE SPOONS VOUCHERS IN SOWERBY
I’ve no idea why I popped in Sowerby’s Spoons. It’s been opened 4 years and studiously avoided the Beer Guide, so it was hardly a pre-emptive tick in a well-pubbed town. But you know how it is when you’ve got a new quarters’ Spoons vouchers burning a hole, and a curious desire to test how… Continue reading SPENDING THE SPOONS VOUCHERS IN SOWERBY
SOWING THE SEEDS OF A SOWERBY REVIVAL
Nice place, Sowerby Bridge. A touch of Hebden quirkiness set alongside the grittiness of west Halifax, and a proper canal town. Any town with a passageway like this one from the station can’t be bad. You emerge to the market, and this gem, which has been selling WKDs and Woo-Woos to the youth of Sowerby… Continue reading SOWING THE SEEDS OF A SOWERBY REVIVAL
BBC DRAMA & CHIP SHARING IN t’ROYD
I didn’t really want to write up Mytholmroyd, mainly because I always spell it wrong and have to keep looking at Bing Maps. Why can’t places be called easy-to-spell things like Llandrindod Wells and Balaruminmore ? The other advantage of my central Halifax hotel was proximity to the station, with a cheap day return to… Continue reading BBC DRAMA & CHIP SHARING IN t’ROYD
MORE CRAFT CAPERS IN CALDERDALE
Calderdale produces an excellent weekly “Pub Paper” listing all the beers at the local pubs, an excellent way of finding out about potential pre-emptive ticks for the likes of BRAPA and Pubmeister, though sadly giving no obvious outlets for the Draught Bass fan. Prompted purely by curiosity, I made for the Alexandra, stopping only… Continue reading MORE CRAFT CAPERS IN CALDERDALE
THE GRAYSTON UNITY
Last time out in Halifax, the Victorian Craft Café and the Gundog both had that “Wow !” factor you get in 1 pub in a 100, either because a place just looks astonishing or you spot the rare v18 Cloudwater DIPA for £2.95. The Pump Room looked an excellent modern micro, suffering only through being… Continue reading THE GRAYSTON UNITY
HALIFAX – THE FINAL PIECE IN THE JIGSAW ?
Dick and Dave are keen to see my Halifax piece, which makes three of us then. The last time I visited, to drop my parents off at a wedding near the Big 6, I was rather blown away by Halifax. 25 years ago, the year the Shaymen first dropped out the League, it felt… Continue reading HALIFAX – THE FINAL PIECE IN THE JIGSAW ?
ISLEHAM RESISTS THE HUMOROUS GUEST BEER
Now Mrs RM is working in Melrose (her blog posts to follow, no doubt), I’m only allowed a couple of nights away from home a week. So occasional days have to be spent in and around Cambridge ferrying old folks (not a euphemism) about to Tesco and the Day Centre, and reminiscing about “The… Continue reading ISLEHAM RESISTS THE HUMOROUS GUEST BEER
DERBY PROVIDES A REAL CHOICE
There’s a lot of nonsense written about choice. In the good old days you could exercise choice by walking between pubs selling Bass or Robinson’s or Holts or Hydes, rather than expecting the pub to spread it’s custom between 6 pumps and do the work for you. I choose pubs on the quality of their… Continue reading DERBY PROVIDES A REAL CHOICE
BRIGHOUSE EMBRACES CHANGE
I was delighted to get back on my UK travels on Friday night with an overdue return to a town that ought to be twinned with Florence at the very least. Stunning as the Grand Canyon is, it’s no match to the view of Calderdale to your right as escape Leeds on the M62 to… Continue reading BRIGHOUSE EMBRACES CHANGE
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