To ‘Ull and Back

A trip to Hull to see the Tigers play Nantes at an unusual venue (Hull Kingston Rovers rugby ground) provided some quaffotunities. Nothing required in the Good Beer Guide but helpful (and unhelpful) tips from fellow pub bloggers Simon and Martin were vigorously pursued. Though it was actually Tony, the new landlord of the well……

North Sea Cycle Route (Part 3)

An opportunity to clock up another 117 miles of the North Sea Cycle Route down Scotland’s east coast was taken last week.  An evening train to Montrose allowed a couple of hours in a town where real ale has never been fully embraced. There were only two handpumps in the place – one in the……

Hawkshead Revisited

I am breaking from the tyranny of chronology to share ten things learnt on a day trip to the excellent Hawkshead Brewery Beer Festival in Cumbria. 1. Trains to Staveley – where the brewery is located – do not always connect with mainline trains to Oxenholme, nine miles away. A wait of an hour or……

Lund Calling

The last stop on the Swedish leg of our trip was to the lovely university town of Lund, near Malmo. The impressive cathedral provides a central focal point together with Lena Lervik’s SkyddsmantelMadonnan (2015).  The boldness of the art is matched by this modern diocesan architecture. Apart from a rather fine bakery the other attraction……

Stockholm Syndrome: Cask and Craft

CAMRA’s recent Revitalisation exercise illustrated members’ sharply divided opinions on the future direction of the organisation.  Some were adamant that the sole purpose should remain the promotion and defence of cask conditioned beer (and cider), and that the rapid growth of (imprecise term) craft beer should not form part of its remit. Others have been……

From Scotland to Gotland

Gotland is a large island in the Baltic Sea, a three hour boat journey from south eastern Sweden and a popular high season holiday destination for Swedes.  This summer the island hosted the 18th Island Games, a kind of Olympics for islands, and the opportunity to visit nine different football grounds was too good to……

Liking Leek a Lot

  An allocation of three Good Beer Guide pubs for a town of 20,000 people would normally be more than sufficient.  But Leek, in Staffordshire, could justify at least twice that number and the newest entry, the Earl Grey is arguably the best of the lot. Run expertly by two young beer afficionados, it seemed……