Drinking the North Sea (Part 1)

Over the past 12 years my friend Keith and I have taken a long weekend to cycle consecutive sections of the North Sea Cycle Route, a 6,200 kilometre/3,700 mile long distance route.  When it was devised – by a masochist who cycled it in both directions- it was the longest continuous route in the world.……

Macropubs and Micropubs in Clitheroe

Clitheroe is a handsome, rather old-fashioned Lancashire town with a population of around 15,000.  The well regarded New Inn has typically been its solitary Good Beer Guide entry but the town’s beer scene has been undergoing quite a transformation. Two years ago the Ale House micropub opened in a former estate agents. If the trade at 5pm on……

Sinking the Titanic on the Mull of Galloway

In a laboured attempt to force a connection with my previous post, I pose a question.  What do New Towns, upmarket hotels and caravan parks have in common?   With a few exceptions, it is a lack of access to well kept cask beer. It has always been a puzzle why expensive hotels often – though not always-……

Watering the New Town Beer Deserts

Over a quarter a million of people in Scotland live in new towns – 1960’s creations built to architectural designs and standards loved by few, apart from dedicated fans of brutalism.  Whilst East Kilbride has attracted blue chip stores by developing outer rings of upmarket owner occupied houses, most of Scotland’s five new towns have……

All Wight Now

Camra’s Isle of Wight branch has a habit of sneaking new entries into the Good Beer Guide, meaning trips there have become virtually an annual requirement.  Fortunately, as a quite densely populated island (140,000 people) it is accessed by a wide variety of routes and means. Our previous trip had not been very successful.  The Sportsman’s……

Road to Nowhere

Plymouth is a city with a dominant nautical heritage and a good mix of pubs.  I wandered around the backstreets looking for the Nowhere Inn, thinking how much I dislike stereotypes, when I bumped into a salty old seadog and asked the way.  He sucked on his clay pipe, tugged a beard yellowed by smoking 60 Capstan……

Banned in Exeter

Exeter is a very pleasant city with some good pubs but the three new Good Beer Guide entries are a mixed bag. Our visit to the New Inn at Cowley Bridge caught it a low ebb with only Rev James on tap and a messy post lunch environment.  We had higher hopes for the Pig……