BRAPA - Liverpool

As a pub ticker, I always feel like a child in a sweet shop when I come to the excellent city of Liverpool, and Wednesday was no different.  I was expecting maybe 3 new pubs at most, 5 was a fantastic result matching my most productive football day ever at Arsenal.  And again, we played well and got a good draw, maybe I should do 5 pubs more often!

By 3:30pm, Dad and myself had checked in at our Lenny Henry Inn and had made the 1.2 mile walk across the city to our first pub .....

516 - PETER KAVANAGH'S - Being the furthest pub from the centre, this made a good place to start and wow, what an amazing pub!  So ornate, so much decoration and bric a brac adorning the ceilings, including a rather worried looking tiger in an American Football helmet which I hoped wasn't a bad omen.  Gargoyles were carved into the wood as we found a side room with amazing old murals painted on the walls.  The beer was pretty good too, I had a local cherry mild which helped my man-flu I was suffering with,  We weren's so sure the barmaid was a people person, plus she let a local old crone push in front of us to buy a lighter!  Christine and Chris Douglas soon joined us, confirming neither of them had visited either and all in all, we were very impressed.

Beautiful interior at Peter K's.

517 - BELVEDERE - With our travelling companions gone in search of food, Dad an I made the short 5 minute walk in one of Liverpool's prettier street areas (amazing large old houses) to a tiny side street pub which really screamed traditional scouse boozer to you.  Having said that, we were greeted with an early Christmas do of annoying people ordering complex cocktail drinks.  Though it took us ages to get served, the barmaid couldn't have worked any harder plus there wasn't any space for another staff member behind the bar anyway!  With local Scouse comedian wannabees filling up the main bar, and the Christmas do in the other room, we found the only hallway seat and settled down to a gorgeous pint of Thirst Quencher from Spitting Feathers.  I knew it from my Chester BRAPA day, and it slipped down easily.  We were almost tempted to stay, but we had places to go, people to see! 

Small things come in good packages - the Belvedere

518 - CLOVE HITCH  - I'd tried to come here on New Year's Day but like most places, it was closed as I stood drenched under a bus stop!  Happy to finally get the tick, Christine and Chris D had been shoe horned into a dining area where they were painstakingly waiting for two plates of Gnocchi.  Yes, this was a culture shock after the last two pubs.  A hipster bar in truth, all young bearded men with more craft beers than cask (3 pumps, one went off).  But good punk music, friendly trendy staff and a nice warm atmosphere, you couldn't really dislike the experience!  Most importantly, the ale was well kept and my Hop Beast from Liverpool Craft was predictably modern and full of flavour.  The report on the food was good, and explained to the others I liked the diversity of GBG venues - all old men pub may, just may get boring!  

A Clove Hitch is a knot, as I learnt on my visit here!

519 - THE FLUTE - And with that last sentence fresh in my mind, maybe I should have been careful what I wished for,  This was another very different kind of place.  The vast one roomed space, with "banging" tunes, drinks offers, Christmas lights and screens had me thinking "90's chain student dive when you didn't know any better".  However, the one big difference was quality ale, this time another local brewery Peerless, provided very strong Knee-Buckler IPA which was the perfect winter warmer before two hours stood in Goodison Park.  A strange guide inclusion, not really the kind of place I'd be dying to go back to, but as Dad said, this is the 'good beer guide', and you couldn't knock that.

Chris D strides for the entrance to The Flute

520 - VERNON ARMS - This made sense for our post match venue as it was on the street corner next to our Premier Inn and we all met up again, sitting with some friendly Everton supporting locals to tell them how lucky they were to get a point!  This felt more like a traditional pub you'd expect to see in Liverpool but it lacked the class, historic feel and ornate design of many similar pubs in this city.  Having said that, hard working friendly staff again served a fine range of ales, the always excellent Boggart Hole Clough Rum Porter a good way to end after another fine local beer in Blakemere Jewel.  Very impressed with range and quality in here.  Some locals told us a recent drama/soap called Liverpool One was filmed here and they paid them £80 to be extras, but our new found friends didn't get chosen!  As last orders sounded, they tried to freeze us out by holding the door open on a chain, but I guess it was good tactics.  It could spoil a superb afternoon, evening and night ticking pubs off in Liverpool.

Dad proves he's still thin enough to hide behind a lamppost at the Vernon Arms.

So, with a big day in Macclesfield tomorrow, I'm suddenly a bit less worried about the current "when will I finally get to Pontefract & Darrington?" conundrum, with next week also in jeapordy due with lots on and 5pm finishes at work.  I'll blame that "busy Christmas season" bah humbug!

Si

 

BRAPA : the archives (51-60)

I've decided that when I have reviewed all these historical BRAPA ticks, I'm going to put them into a spreadsheet and sort them into date order so I can allocate each one a definitive number.... not that I'm an OCD pub ticking geek or anything, oh well, okay then!

51 - WHO'D HA'THOUGHT IT, Rochester - My second and final Rochester pub of my 5/10/13 trip to Queenborough, this place was almost as good as Man of Kent in my eyes.  I'd misjudged the length of the walk, but glad I carried on as I found a very friendly pub, full of talkative staff and locals keen to know who I was and what I was doing there.  I sat in front of a huge Sky Sports News screen as watched Hull City tortuously hang on to a home 0-0 with some fairly decent team from what I can remember, as the barmaid and locals shared in my joy when the final whistle was announced, even offering to put the volume up so I could hear Matt Le Tissier "describe" the game, an offer I politely declined.  The ale was good, Hopdaemon Gold Braid or something, and another from what was a fairly interesting range.

52 - OLD ELM TREE, Durham - Here we go.  A famous Durham real ale establishment long before my 2002/03 visit with John, and still going strong.  I remember enjoying it at the time, getting it slightly mixed up with the Half Moon, am sure I must have been in a lot more recently, but cannot remember any details.  Built in 1600.  Two ghosts.  Surely I can do better, if you are reading John, give me a clue!  Next time I'm going through Durham for a village pub ticking trip, I'll pop in.

53 - HOLE IN THE WALL, Southsea - Friday 19th March 2010 and this was the local pub of the year at the time, but didn't open til 5pm even on a Saturday so I took advantage of staying overnight and decided to come for tea here.  Took a while to get a seat as it was a very small pub, great though with lots of bric-a-brac around, and once a group of large American women left, I squashed into a seat and ordered a suet pudding from the barmaid I'd be trying to flirt with, until her scary boyfriend arrived.  A combination of him grabbing her bum and the suet pudding finishing me off, found me slightly resenting the place, but having visited several other Pompey pubs, I can see why this would be considered amongst the elite.

54 - BRIDGE BIER HUIS, Burnley - New Year's Eve 2011 was my first visit to this place, notably mainly for the fact I felt disloyal to my old favourite Ministry of Ale by coming here, plus also I was wearing a deliberately horrific Timmy Mallet style shirt as I was going straight to an NY summer themed party later that night.  I could see why "the Bridge" was so highly thought of in the Burnley real ale circles, as it combines a good range of local well kept ales, with comfort and simple food and a multi-roomed proper pub feel.  It was no different on a much more recent November 2014 visit, excellent pie n peas and a great range of ales.  It was a bit too busy, but we soon got used to it - getting in early is probably the key here pre-match.  Great pub.

Background Burnley fans about to celebrate a victory on my most recent BBH visit.

55.  SHOVELS, Blackpool - BRAPA ticks couldn't have been further from my mind as our punk rock festival gang killed a few hours pre Big Blue Hotel check in, August 2007, with a a crazy experience in this pub a 10 minute walk from Blackpool South station.  A pint of Cotleigh ale (so bird themed in some way) was enjoyed outside at the front patio as it was a ridiculously hot Thursday afternoon.  I'd already quizzed the barmaid on the mock-up newspaper headline behind the bar, something about the landlord of the pub which proved to be a fake.  Next came defining punk festival moment as the 'Buzz bus' pulled up outside, out stepped a few young people including a guy we termed "sexual Jonathan Greening"  and offered us all free sexual health checks on the bus.  When we explained that we weren't locals, they admitted their embarrassment and they shuffled along.  It's not happened in a GBG pub since.

56. SOUTH WESTERN ARMS, Southampton - Despite a long walk from my hotel where I was accosted by the Gooligans looking for a pub that had closed years ago, I ploughed on through the misty rain on the night of 29th Nov 2011 to find this excellent split level pub, where I met Ben, Mark and Chris D for a couple of pints before they decided they wanted to move onto somewhere less good.   This pub garden is right on St Denys station but we still walked instead of using this fact to our advantage.  We sat in the raised area of this wooden boarded corner pub, and there was an impressive range of 8 or 9 ales on from memory.

57. THATCHED HOUSE, Poulton-le-Fylde - 28th September 2013 and the letter "P" A-Z day never really lived up to expectations.  A painful, delayed train journey after sitting for ages at Preston on a hot day was too much to bear as I was less than fresh from recently returning from Inverness!  Poulton as a town didn't really inspire, and the pubs were okay if not spectacular.  This first pub had all the hallmarks of a good real ale venue, proper no nonsense pub and me and travel companion Jig were gagging for a pint of one of the many Keswick ales on the bar.  We went for Thirst Gold, which was perfectly serviceable in an average way.  I remember the only other man in the same room as us kept falling asleep, snoring, waking up, sipping his beer and falling asleep again.  The landlord chuckled and shook his head, we rolled our eyes, and that was that! 

58.  SNUG, Carnforth - 14th December 2013 and suddenly, we discovered that changing at Carnforth to get to Ulverston had it's compensations, with this new micro-pub having popped up since I was last here the previous September with Jig.  And what a treat it was too, okay so we only had time for a half but then a man came in with two flavours of gorgeous home made pasties and passed them round, the curry ones were especially good (shame I'd ordered an already spicy ginger ale!).  No seats available but we were happy to prop up against the bar.  This really was a modern day "brief encounter" (geddit?) but with Jig as Celia Johnson and JW2 as Trevor Howard.  Excellent.  Hang on, does that make me Stanley Holloway?  Ooh 'eck.

Plenty of spice but no space at Carnforth's excellent Snug

59.  HOP INN BIER SHOP, Ormskirk - 14th Sept 2013 and the new GBG had just been published and to my horror, most of the previous year's pubs had now been "exited" with the one remaining one, Farmers, looking rather bland with one hand pump on serving Hobgoblin.  We didn't stay.  With me wondering with my whole letter "O" A-Z day was going to be a pointless exercise, my good friend Krzb Britain told me the GBG was overrated and we could find good real ale pubs using his instincts!  This had backfired for him at Northallerton a few weeks before but he got it spot on today, after a nice central old skool one to start, we wandered into this European bar style place, with lots of illuminated old jugs and bottles in little crevices in the wall making it feel a bit like a museum.  However, it was modern with young pretty staff serving from a decent range of 4-5 ales to supplement the interesting bottles and Euro keg shite.  It felt nice enough and I'm not surprised to see it in the guide a year later - well done Krzb but don't get big-headed.

60. BLACK HORSE, Preston - Oh yes!  In my formative real ale drinking years, I regarded this as one of my favourite pubs in the country.  When my sister decided to inconveniently go to Uni on a Saturday afternoon (and thus missing a cracking 3-2 late home win v Southend so Sept 2003.  I left the family to go "shopping" which was code for, pluck a cheap video of Nick Hancock's Football Hell out of a bargain basement basket and explore the real ale pubs.  This was the original and the best, for a few years at least.  Down to earth, friendly locals helped me pick a Robinson's beer, I tried to put money in the free jukebox and settled down to untouched, tiled, old fashioned pub splendour.  The word ornate is made for places like this, yet back then with smoke wafting around as the sun gleamed through the windows, I could have been back in the 1920's.   I've been back in since, with family pre-Preston away, with Dad on an evening, on my own, with Lu and her crazy uni friends (there's a non real ale bar upstairs for "young" people so I used to be the only one coming downstairs for a pint, which seemed to impress the old locals back in the day when most young people drank lager).  I met my sister's ex Ric here for the first time, walking around in a weird hat before disappearing, then reappearing at regular intervals.  As time went on, my illusion shattered slightly,  Sometimes, the staff could be a bit shirty and my Mum got told off for moving a barstool from one room to another (a BRAPA first).  I also tired of the Robinson's range a bit as I regularly visited my sister, and cast the net further afield to other Preston ale outlets as we'll see in future editions.   

I've temporarily postponed my Pontefract trip due to having to stay late at work, therefore missing my bus (I didn't feel great anyway).  But I needed something to fill the BRAPA void, so hope you've enjoyed this latest installment.  More from Lancs, Hants, Leics and Lincs in our next edition......

Si

BRAPA - More from Manchester

It was my birthday last time we went to Manchester.  On that day, I had a fairly productive pub ticking day (despite Ben's best efforts to sabotage things / get pre-emptive ticks - delete as appropriate) followed by a spineless defeat at the hands of Man Utd, so it was almost reassuring to see how little can change in the space of six months.

Like at Burnley, the main result of the day was two new BRAPA ticks.....

513 - Wharf, Manchester - My first venture to the Deansgate area of Manc was much needed, as this is where the majority of the remaining pubs are.  Along with travel companions Tom and Dad, we eventually negotiated our way across the canal without swimming(!) and dodged some angry Canada geese to find our way into this modern, clean, airy conversion of a huge warehouse type thing - you'll all be familiar with the kind of place I mean.  A huge range of beers was served by youthful trendy staff, though most of the customer's at this time were gnarly middle aged Manc men.  My Liverpool Styrian Organic didn't quite hit the spot, didn't seem totally fresh but I could have been suffering "first pint of the day" syndrome.  Upstairs were loos and a non real ale bar, outside a huge patio area by the main entrance.  Though I enjoyed my brief stay on the whole, I shuddered to think what it would be like on a balmy summer's Friday night.

Approaching the Wharf, a solid if not spectacular additon to the Manc GBG scene

514 - Knott Bar, Manchester - Some pub ticks are real 'monkey off the back' stuff for me, and this was a good example of that.  Our friends the Andrew's have been raving about this for as long as I've been stuck in Briton's Protection, and despite my initial reservations about the frontage (but it calls itself a bar so I can't complain), I could now see what all the fuss was about.  Location is a big thing, certainly for pre-match pubs, and it's handiness for Deansgate (and therefore Oxford Rd) make it a great bet before Man Utd.  And what's more, it had no footbally element other than ourselves.  Another wide but more exciting range of ales were served by friendly, polite staff.  My beer from innovative local brewer First Chop was coffee and passion fruit IPA heaven, my Brother Rabbit from Thornbridge top quality and slipped down easily, and my Ginger Marble warming and wholesome.  Despite the layout and 'bar' style, it was very warm and homely which isn't always the case, and although food was on offer and being ordered en masse by the middle aged clientele, it didn't dominate.  Yes, all in all, an excellent Manchester real ale establishment.  

Dad and Tom enjoy some ale and blackcurrant action in Knott Bar

Had I known how delayed my train home would be well in advance (or indeed, got out of Old Trafford at anything like a sensible hour), I'd have easily got a post match tick or two but it wasn't to be.  Three now remain in Manc - Molly's House between Piccadilly and Oxford Rd, the Soup Kitchen near Piccadilly and Cask Bar near Deansgate.  The two Salford pubs look quite handy too.

For now, I will focus on a hectic start to December with a bit of Pontefract style action tomorrow, hopefully a few new Liverpool ticks on Wednesday, before an exciting 6 pub day in Macclesfield on Saturday.  Bring it on!

Si

BRAPA : the archives (41-50)

As people keep asking me what my first BRAPA pub tick was (an impossible question because I've been visiting pubs since 1997 and drinking ale since 2001), I am doing my best to find the answer by going through all the 2015 GBG pubs which I did in the long, distant, and sometimes, more recent past......

41. LOUNGE, Plymouth - Visited some time after 12 noon on 9th December 2006, this could be the earliest example of a pre-emptive tick.  I'd had a very jolly experience in the very local Artillery Arms and the locals recommended me this place, so I thought despite it not being in the new 2007 guide, I'd give it a try pre-match.  It was very lounge-like as a matter of fact, a little too geared up for food and diners, who never really arrived.  I drank the only interesting guest I could see, a well kept Late Red by Shepherd Neame before a new bunch of Plymouth fans took me under their wing, and on to a pub which didn't even sell cask beer, but at least had a screen showing a live match.  Very friendly bunch, one of many superb experiences in Plymouth.

42. MARKET TAVERN, Durham - How many times I've been in here I cannot be sure, but it featured on my initial 2002/3 crawl with John, when his Greek-crush Jacinta randomly popped up in the town with her friends, and a more recent experience where I have vague recollections of loud hen type women, and barrel shaped tables impossible to sit at full of torn up beer mats, sticky old beer stains, and people ordering food in a chaotic manner.  In fact, beer aside, I always found it a bit like the latter experience and cannot say it is my favourite pub in this fine town with a cathedral (city you might argue).

43. GOLDEN EAGLE, Southsea (Portsmouth) - 22/11/2008 and one of the craziest travelling days in history as a replacement bus was required to take us from York to somewhere further south but worse on a freezing 6am start.  Luckily, we met our friends in Victoria station and there was much beer on the train meaning i wasn't too strung up about being late for pre-match pubs.  As it was, we changed our plans to go to a pub nearer Fratton Park (this one) and I was quite worse for wear when we got there.  Dad later told me the pub had a very aggressive atmosphere so I'm glad I was unaware, as we sat in a far corner and enjoyed what we could of a shortened pre-match session.  This may also be the pub we went back to post-match when it was busy and the landlord told me "no hats allowed".  It had been raining so I protested I'd only just got in, his reply "well you are inside now so hat off!"  Unimpressed, I took my ale outside and phoned my Mum so I had someone to sound off to, before a similarly chaotic journey home involving top trumps and Billy the tiger mascot hiding a sleeping Chris Irvin's contraband beer.  All in a days work!

44. JUNCTION INN, Southampton - 29/11/2011 and you can generally rely on the southern supporters to pick a good pub for themselves (though they are rather smug so I'd never admit it publicly) but this wasn't a great example.  We'd been having a lovely cosy session in the South Western Arms and whilst I understood Chris Douglas wanting to join his buddies, why Mark and Ben felt the need to follow to this Greene King only pub left me bewildered.  Anyway, we did so for BRAPA purposes, it was a good move.  The barstaff were friendly although Mark's "I'm a Northerner conquering the south" attitude alienated him a bit even if he was trying to be tongue in cheek.  I stayed in the far bar away from the SS, it was a very nice pub in many ways but GK + SS stopped it being as good as the previous one.

45 - KINGS FEE, Hereford - My imagined utopia that was Hereford on my little jaunt probably in the spring of 2007 really saw come down to earth with a bang the second my train arrived.  It wasn't helped that amongst the grey leaden skies and concrete on a busy main road was this identikit 'Spoons house.  The plan was to visit this pub first as I'd need some tea.  I sat on a high stool in the centre of the pub as it was 'chucking out of work time' and it felt too busy on my own to order some food, so I supped my standard 'Spoons pint and made a mental note that I'd need to eat later.  End of story!

46 - THREE HATS, Milton Regis - 5th October 2013 saw the infamous letter "Q", a crazy sojourn down to Kent and the longest of all A-Z days.  Having negotiated Queenborough and Sheerness, I found myself alighting the train at Sittingbourne and a mile or so walk later, I was in the little suburb of Milton Regis where I stumbled upon this excellent little pub.  Not a CAMRA member at the time, the landlady encouraged me to "lie" about it so I received the discount, a lovely Portobello Pale from that northern outpost of London!  When Mr landlord started chatting to me about ale, I didn't know whether I had to keep up the CAMRA member pretense so I did but felt guilty.  The locals were squashed against the bar so I couldn't see all the ales on, they were watching some sporting event of little interest.  The rest of the pub seemed to have to negotiate boxes and general clutter but rather than feeling it was untidy, it just made it feel like a chaotic front room.  There may also have been a dog that kept trying to escape, though I could have made this bit up.

A perfect, discounted pint in the Three Hats, but shhh don't tell anyone!

47,  SPORTSMAN, Croxley Green - Ahhh, Watford away.  So often the scene of our gang struggling to find somewhere decent to drink in the vicinity.  This was one of our more outlandish attempts and really wasn't worth it in my opinion.  Stuck in the Met Bar at Baker Street, we lost Tom I think until we got here.  Despite a chilly day, the pub lacked comfort so we sat outside anyway but even then, my Tring "Side Pocket of a Toad" was poor quality and interestingly, I've never had it since despite seeing it on many occasions because of this experience (having "Toad" in the name doesn't help).  Only some top bus work from our gang (I think Ben mainly) got us into Watford for kick off,  20th Oct 2007 was the probable date for this one.  

48. LOWER RED LION, St Albans - Sat 29th Apr 2006 and Chris Irvin encouraged Dad and myself to join him and Tom in a St Albans overnight trip before a Watford game on the Sunday lunchtime which, like all good Watford away games, finished in a hopeless 0-0 draw.  What Chris hadn't mentioned, there was a beer festival on in said pub that night!  Did he really know?  Was it also a coincidence when he encouraged our friends from Barton to stay over another year, there was also a beer festival on here?  Or just that we always play Watford at the end of the season when this pub hosts beer festivals?  It didn't matter.  A chaotic experience ensued.  Dad and I had already done two St Albans GBG 2007 pubs which I maddeningly can't remember before we were sat in the sloping garden here (I woke with grass stains, mud and beer all over my trousers!)  We then were coaxed into a loaded game of monopoly by a right weirdo.  Dad reckons it was fixed anyway.  But he was more drunk than me, hence his 'orange juice' session in the Estcourt Arms the following day! 

49.  WEST HERTS SPORTS CLUB, Watford - A rare example of Watford away going well!  I had my doubts in the build up, as I always do with these 'clubs' where you have to be signed in as a guest.  It all worked out well, Mark Bainton was at his ambassadorial best and we were soon mixing with locals and staff, gorgeous weather meant sitting out on the green area where people played cricket and ball games with dogs, we drank a green coloured real ale (something about spring lambs) and got very much sunburnt to boot, especially poor Ben who was multi-coloured by the train journey home.  A Watford experience never bettered,  I think we are talking 9/4/11.  Did we return the following season?  If so, I cannot quite recall it anywhere near as well. 

50. MAN OF KENT, Rochester - "In Rochester my dear, where the UKIP do sit" to slightly paraphrase a song by one of my favourite bands, the Singing Loins, who are local to the Medway region.  This was the reason for my visit on letter "Q" day and buoyed by a good experience in Milton Regis, I got chatting to two Gillingham fans off to a match who gave me the lowdown on Rochester's real ale.  This came highly recommended and was pub of the day, and to be honest, one of those real standout pubs.  If I visited better in my A-Z, I cannot recall.  It was a quiet afternoon but friendly barman helped me choose from the exciting range of ales, I loved it so much, I stayed for an extra half and read a bit of my PG Wodehouse book, exchanging a few pleasantries with the locals.  The pub was one of those no nonsense, non foody, wooden boarded serious drinkers places, but comfy too.  Basically, the perfect hubbub and atmosphere. 

Locale pint of Silver Top from the Old Dairy brewery in The Man of Kent

Well, thanks for staying tuned.  50 archive pubs down, plenty more where they came from.  We'll be delving into Lancs and Leics next time out.  But now to get some shut-eye pre-Man Utd defeat.

Si

BRAPA - Cas Vegas and North Feath'

West Yorkshire midweek pub ticking doesn't get much better than this, after a wonderful evening in the Castleford area.  Despite people at work telling me the town was rough, scary or just plain cheesy, I found the locals friendly in a down-to-earth, no nonsense way, and the pubs, excellent.

Another top poster from the BRAPA team - note the Cas Tigers colours.

After a short train ride from that mystical Leeds platform 17A, I was soon at Cas and hadn't bought a ticket on principle having seem a York 'artist' effortlessly ticket dodge the previous evening and I was still smarting at how the guard let him get away with it, and his boasting afterwards.  Luckily, my Leeds-Cas trip was free as I wasn't gripped at either end! And no, I didn't feel guilty.

A 'white-knuckle' bus ride followed, the kids at the back treated it like a rollercoaster, an old man with a 4 step ladder muttered to himself, I was just plain terrified.

510 - Bradley Arms, North Featherstone -  You might think, is Featherstone really big enough to have a 'north'?, well I can inform you that it does, and that it seems to be a place in it's own right far removed from actual Featherstone.  It also houses a cracking two roomed pub with great historical significance, the first ever talk on workers rights was held here.  After an awful day at work, it seemed fitting.  Only two guest ales were on but the friendly, characterful barmaid helped me decide on the Thunderbridge Stout with the warning "don't blame me if you hate it!"  It was superb, and from a new Yorkshire brewery called Small World(?)  I was sat in the area which can be best described as 'sports bar', the other two locals glued to boring Zenit St Petersburg v FC Porto - the weather was the only link to North Feth' that I could see.  I bonded briefly with the duo over the amount of yellow cards administered, but it was time to move on.

Power to the workers!  Bradley Arms, excellent pub

Strangely, the daytime bus service between Cas and Feth stops about 6pm but the evening 177 service doesn't kick in until after 7pm.  I was stuck in this hour, unwilling to wait, so it was taxi time again.  My driver was a knowledgeable chap as far as local pubs went, even if he did tell me I was too posh and "broken" was pronounced "brokken".  You'll see why next Monday.....

511 - Glass Blower, Castleford - You know you are having a good night when a Wetherspoons turns out to be a cracker, but this one did!  After some recent average 'Spoons experiences in Brighouse and Huddersfield, I was fearing the same identikit pub but a warm homely atmosphere in this former post office helped, plus another great Elland beer, called "Catch the Rainbow", served rather fittingly by a trendy, camp young barman.  In fact, all the staff seemed excellent.  I found a booth in the raised area and read how the people of Castleford used to like glass blowing, hence the pub name.  My comment to this effect was favourited by the 'National Glass Blowers Association' on Twitter.  It really was one of those nights.  The beer quality was as good as you could ever expect anywhere.

High quality 'Spoons in Cas?  You'd better believe it!

512 - Junction, Castleford - A 5 minute walk took me to Cas's most celebrated real ale outlet, the Junction which many people had raved about to me.  In the recent Beer magazine, landlord Neil had even been featured as he serves local ales directly from wooden casks, or "the wood" as the experts say.  Only 2 of the many handpumps were in use on my visit, but the 5.7% Coda from Ridgeside was warming and powerful.  I needed warming as the pub was freezing, save for two real fires.  I huddled around one with three elderly men, the oldest one Jim is apparently the best "proddler" in the business, which means he was good at keeping the fires going.  There was some murmurings that the landlord was lazy in this department.  A young man came in, and his elders asked him about the modern obsession with tattoo's as he had plenty.  His response (and quote of the night) "they are like marmalade, you either love them or hate them!"  And on that note, it was time to get the train back to York, via Leeds of course.

Warming fire at the Junction thanks to Jim the Proddler.

So, the letter "C" is now complete (Cullingworth done back in the summer)  and we move swiftly on to "D" and in particular "Darrington" as soon as next Monday.  This means a trip to Pontefract so I'm staying in the same area.  Can it match Cas night?  It'll do well if it gets close.

Page 551 of the 2015 GBG complete - all going to plan.

Before that, 2 or 3 pub ticks in Manchester pre the Hull City game on Saturday.  December is looking like a predictably busy month with xmas nights out, football, funeral etc etc so the BRAPA trips may have to be shuffled around a bit.  January is even harder to plan due to one thing, the FA Cup.  A third round tie at home to Ipswich and I'll be gallivanting off to some BRAPA venue or other, but Concord Rangers away and I am practically there!  Please let's get knocked out early this year.

Si

BRAPA - the Nidderdale day.

"Once more unto the BRAPA breach I go", as Shakespeare nearly said, as I arrived in Harrogate on a foggy but mild Saturday morning awaiting my bus up through Nidderdale.   Firstly, there was time to stock up on pork pies to get me through the day and watch the tail-end of a children's christmas choir, but as we sing at Hull City "you've only got one song!"

506 - Royal Oak Inn, Dacre Banks - After a trouble free journey on the number 24 bus, I was at my first venue and was surprised to see how busy it was with locals and walkers alike, having a drink, whilst some staff planned some kind of "pub strategy" business meeting on a laptop in the same quiet room that I had discovered.  This was a nice homely pub, cosy with a great fireplace that two walkers complained "should be in at this time of year, very stingy" though it was warm enough to me.  It had a separate food area called the 'green room' or something ominous, all these North Yorks country pubs seem to have these food areas.  My pint of Rudgate Viking was good though wish I'd spotted the two guest IPA's a bit sooner.  An elderly couple chatted to me about BRAPA and declining beer quality of standards such as Deuchers, Pippin, Guzzler and the like.

A busy, bustling start to the day in Dacre Banks

507 - Wellington Inn, Darley - A mile and a half walk followed including the obligatory "no pavement" section, included obviously just to annoy me.   As one of the only 'non-diners' in the pub, I wasn't allowed to enjoy the splendours of 'baronial hall' style room with huge fireplace (this time, the fire was in).  However, with the sun streaming through the windows of the front bar, a bit of Inspiral Carpets on the jukebox, my extortionate £3.45 Golden Pippin was almost enjoyable, plus the landlady started talking to me a bit which was nice as I always get a bit paranoid that people who come into pubs like this with the sole intention of drinking are treated like second class citizens!  The free wi-fi added a bonus point, but the lack of phone reception found me walking about a mile to the end of the huge carpark to finally ring for a taxi.  I really regretted not just walking into Darley for a bus, what was I thinking as this particular firm fleeced me for the fare.  

What is that comin' over the hill, is it a GBG pub?

508 - Station Hotel, Birstwith - My mood lightened as soon as I walked into this lovely little place.  Despite being recently refurbished into what seems to be a fairly light, modern style, it retains it's separate drinking areas and I sat in a kind of library, games room type place with a really nice feel.  This was also my favourite ale of the day, a Rudgate Pumpkin Ale which also had lots of clovey, nutmeggy elements to it, The staff and locals seemed friendly through the little contact I had, I'm sure I recently read about a murder in this village, surely not!  I had ages to wait for my bus and wasn't prepared to taxi it again after the last total waste of money, so I nursed my pumpkin ale and walked slowly, very slowly to the bus stop.

Amazing pumpkin ale in a light, friendly pub.

509 - Harrogate Tap, Harrogate (obviously) - Well, this place certainly wasn't here last time I came to Harrogate, but what a fine addition.  Very much like Sheffield Tap of all the taps out there, it has an entrance directly onto the platform to York but also as a two minute walk from the bus station.  I wish all BRAPA ticks were this easy.  It was busy and very female predominated, wish always scares me about every time I come to Harrogate, making me feel like Dougal in Father Ted - "women!" "where??"  The beer range was typically interesting and vast, my Outlaw passion fruit flavoured ale was wonderful, and a big group left in the side room just as I arrived, stopping me from getting piles off the very hot radiator.  There's plenty of very good pubs in Harrogate but you'll do well to get further than this.

Another top Tap, quite a revelation.  

I'd considered getting another bus up to Ripon where I need 5 pub ticks, but with a heavy Thursday just gone and Boroughbridge coming up (which I can combine with Ripon), I left it and was so sensible, I didn't even have a post-BRAPA York Tap pint.

It has been a good November in terms of pub ticking, it could have been even better, but with Castleford on Tuesday and a couple of new Manchester ticks on Saturday all being well, we are not finished yet! 

Si

BRAPA - Huddersfield and Brighouse

New pub ticks have not quite been has prolific as I'd have liked over this past week but on the good side, I achieved two in Huddersfield before Friday's gig and two more tonight in Brighouse.  I took pity on Dad last Saturday (he's been doing a lot of Bridlington travelling recently) so Sheffield was cancelled was favour of an enjoyable (but barren) local York crawl.

502 -  CHERRY TREE, Huddersfield - My view here is that for a 'Spoons pub in the wonderful real ale town of 'Uddersfield to get in the GBG, it must be good.  This was hard to fully put to the test on a busy Friday evening, but I was impressed with the barmaid serving 4 people at once (might be a record) and remembering how much change i needed.  I'd forgotten my 50p off CAMRA vouchers, that might really have bamboozled her.  The beer quality was excellent and they had a real emphasis on the new American craft craze but at least many of these were handpulled.  My Mordue Americana was black in colour but still too powerfully hopped.  Overall, this was pretty standard Spoony fare but with my sister's train delayed, it was time to take advantage of my spare hour.

The Cherry Tree (honestly!)

503 - HDM BEER SHOP, Huddersfield - HDM stands for Hand Drawn Monkey, one of the more exciting new breweries I've discovered over the past two years, and luckily for me, their brewery tap in Huddersfield was a new addition to the 2015 GBG, and what a good one too.  The bar was one of the highest I've ever seen, not good for a short arse like me, and two of their beers plus two guests and a ridiculous amount of bottles made for a mouth watering feast.  The barmaid (who seemed to be wearing her Dad's sweater) was nice and quirky with her "Movember didn't work for me" gag.  There were some stools round here but it was the left hand side of the pub that had settees and comfier seats.  Food in cabinets like special hot dogs looked tempting, there was also a degree of hipster student about the place with art competitions and the like advertised on clipboards, but it stayed on the right side of pretentious.  I would go back.

HDM Beer Shop - quirky, fun and great hand drawn ales

It'd be nice to think the The Parish, where I saw the bands, could be a pre-emptive pub ticks with great ales on like Tim Taylor Landlord, Golden Pippin and Magic Rock guests plus usual a music themed one (i.e. a collaboration between a brewery and a famous band).   The ale was good, so come on Huddersfield CAMRA, give it a chance.

Me blending into the furniture at the Parish.

Tuesday night saw me back on the West Yorkshire BRAPA trail with Brighouse next on the A-Z list having completed Bradley last time out.  This was only a two pubber so even though I wavered with an additional trip to either Hipperholme or Kirkstall, I remained sensible and got back in time for the pointless England v Hull City's reserve left back friendly match.

Another top poster effort which didn't get the social media recognition it deserved.

504 - RED ROOSTER, Brighouse - Technically half a mile north of the town in the area of Brookfoot, I walked along a canal/busy main road to get here.  This was built in 1900 for the local wharf men who ferried coal around and such like.  Whatever the details, I was soon reaping the benefits over 100 years later with a stunning range of ales.  I chose a Welsh beer with a New Zealand flavour, not what you'd expect to find here.  It was a quiet locals pub on my visit, barman was functional but the locals lacked that friendly spark I'd seen in say, Denholme, but then with my green action man jacket on again, it was probably just as well.  I joined two less locally local men in watching a bit of Sky Sports News, but this was otherwise a very traditional pub.  Worth the short walk from the town.

It's a Cock-a Doodle-Doo from me at the Red Rooster

505 - RICHARD OASTLER, Brighouse - Back in the town centre, my foot having finally proved it's fitness after a more sustained recovery spell.  Although some young lads were being escorted into a police van just outside on my arrival, it didn't affect my entry to my second new Wetherspoons in 5 days.  The blonde bubbly barmaid served me an excellent local ale from Elland based on the 90's rave scene, but did I spot a hint of hatred in her eyes as I passed her my 50p off CAMRA voucher?  Probably not.  Downstairs, this 'Spoons was the kind of unremarkable lacking in any real character place, similar to the one in Ryde IOW slagged off by the 2014 GBG I visited in May.  However, this was a former Methodist chapel and there was a stunning circular top level area, which still has the original pews.  Sadly, the general public aren't allowed up there.  What a waste!

I was home nice n early for fish & chips and the boring football, but I was so close to hopping on a Headingley train to get my final Kirkstall trip.  It is an easily attainable one though so I'm sure I'll get lots of opportunities.  

Attention now turns to Saturday's North Yorkshire outing with Birstwith the main reason for my trip up to the Nidderdale area, including Harrogate, but I'm looking for 5 or 6 new pubs but only have 4 at present.  So a bit of 'book-work' is needed before then.  More archives coming soon....

Si