More tales written two blocks from the war zone that is, apparently, uptown top ranking Hamburg. Though I think the screams are from beer tourists realising the choice is Becks or the one with the heart on it. More tales praising Harrogate. As with Scarborough, a night in a B & B in the town is… Continue reading HAMMERED IN HARROGATE
BASS, BASS, GLORIOUS BASS
Well, a long dry run without Draught Bass came to an end in Harrogate last week, where I made a return visit to one of the town’s increasing number of classic pubs, tucked away between the Pump Room and the valley. Not an obvious Bass stronghold, but the Hales Bar is a real throwback to simpler… Continue reading BASS, BASS, GLORIOUS BASS
A COLNE COLOSSUS
I can lump Barrowford in with Barnoldswick, but Colne stands alone. The last stop at the end of the M65, a million miles from posh Skipton but a world way from “difficult-to-love” Nelson, whose only Beer Guide pub in recent memory was a (very good) Hungry Horse. Colne, like Darwen, is an undiscovered gem. Steep… Continue reading A COLNE COLOSSUS
WISTFUL MICROS FOR PENDLE WITCHES
Today we start #PrayForSi week, as BRAPA ventures into Cornwall with only a Good Beer Guide and the sure and certain knowledge that Newquay is a very bad base for tackling the county. To cheer him up, I found a programme (above) of a Hull Tigers match that, by my reckoning, he might well have been conceived… Continue reading WISTFUL MICROS FOR PENDLE WITCHES
A CLAYTON-LE-MOORS TOURISM BOOST
I’m writing this in Copenhagen after two of the great pub visits, which I really ought to be writing about instead of Clayton-le-Moors (which I always confuse with Clayton-le-Woods). But discipline is needed if I’m going to maintain any sense of chronology. As if to prove I’m abroad, Bing won’t let me show you the… Continue reading A CLAYTON-LE-MOORS TOURISM BOOST
TRAINSPOTTING IN RAMSBOTTOM
Not really of course. Trainspotting is, ahem, much too noble a pastime for the likes of me, but hopefully Tom will enjoy these pictures of noisy engines at Ramsbottom Station, where trains pretend to go to interesting places in Rossendale and Rochdale, ignoring the harsh reality that folk here really want to go to Accrington. Still,… Continue reading TRAINSPOTTING IN RAMSBOTTOM
JUNE ’17 STOCKTAKE
About time I did a quick review of June, as you’ll be wanting to know if “Table, Table” has won the coveted “New Pub of the Month” award. No. That goes to an estate pub in a Cannock suburb. New Pub of the Month – The Bridge, Hednesford A community melting pot, where folk of… Continue reading JUNE ’17 STOCKTAKE
HITCHIN CRAFT INVASION
I’d always thought the real sign of a craft breakthrough would be a bar with keg fonts on the back wall in the North Hertfordshire towns of my youth. Well, Letchworth suddenly has a modern brewery tap and a bottle shop to rival anything in Glossop. And now, from possibly the lowest starting point of… Continue reading HITCHIN CRAFT INVASION
JAIPUR @ OSCAR’S
A year into our campervan adventures, and we’ve stayed at Newark four nights already. This is partly because the nice people at Brownhills Motorhomes let us stay there free and give us vouchers for free pies and Chuckle Brothers tribute acts, but also because Newark is pretty special. We visited again last week while clever… Continue reading JAIPUR @ OSCAR’S
10pm, “TABLE TABLE”, NEWARK
I get to drink at some wonderful places and write about them on this blog; the King’s Head, Boar’s Head and North Riding are going to make June’s Pub of the Month selection as tough as the 1994 Matt le Tissier Goal of the Year contest. They were all overdue revisits, and finding new GBG… Continue reading 10pm, “TABLE TABLE”, NEWARK
