A Year Of Beer 11 : The Blake Hotel, Sheffield

The Blake Hotel, Blake Street, Walkley, Sheffield

Friday 26 June 2015

I can just about remember this back street pub from when I lived in Sheffield thirty or so years ago. I can certainly remember Blake Street which rises with almost Everest ambition from the valley bottom. These days the Blake Hotel has been transformed into a remarkably good real ale pub that is a delight to visit. Add to that the fact that it is my son and daughters' favourite local and it means you have good views, good beer and the best of company. To get back to their house afterwards you have to climb up another near-versicle hillside which means that the pub deserves sponsorship by the Cardiovascular Service of the NHS. To tackle the walk home I took on a fair amount of anaesthetic and I am a little confused as to what kind it was! I think it was Acorn Brewery's Blonde, if I am wrong, I apologise to the wronged beer. Whatever it was, it helped me get up the hill home.

A Year Of Beer 10 : The Plasterers Arms, Winchcombe

The Plasterers Arms, Abbey Terrace, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire

Wednesday 24th June 2015

The books say that you cannot miss the Plasterers Arms in Winchcombe as it stands on the busy main road. When we called there, they had dug the main road up and to get to the pub you had to fight your way through belching tarmac spreaders and bobbing JCB diggers. It was worth it, however (in truth, few pubs aren't), as it is a friendly enough place with a range of real ales and non bank-breaking dishes. The "Arms" referred to - and reproduced on the inn sign - are the coat of arms of the Worshipfull Company Of Plaisterers and a plaisterer was nothing more or less than a plasterer (albeit a posh sounding one). The Worshipful Company go back to the sixteenth century and the old inn to the seventeenth. The thoroughly enjoyable pint of HPA (Hereford Pale Ale) probably only went back a few weeks but was none the less refreshing.

A Year Of Beer 9 : The Old Lodge, Minchinhampton

The Old Lodge, Minchinhampton Common, Stroud

Tuesday 23 June 2015

You can have a meal in the dining room of the Old Lodge, which is stuck in the middle of Minchinhampton Common, sat in a large dining room with plate glass windows overlooking the common where cows and horses wander freely. If you are having a steak - which I was - a cow can graze its way right up to your table and pass the time of day with its Auntie Mabel. With that kind of experience you need a decent pint of beer and the Tom Long, which comes from the local Stroud Brewery, is more than decent. And who, I can hear you asking, was Tom Long? Well he may or may not have been a local highwayman who may or may not have been hung from a scaffold at the crossroads on Minchinhampton Common. Who cares?

A Year Of Beer 8 : The Cat and Custard Pot, Shipton Moyne

The Cat and Custard Pot, The Street, Shipton Moyne, Gloucestershire

Tuesday 23 June 2015

Lovely country pub in the middle of a lovely country village, serving lovely country food .... well, you get the idea. It's the kind of place that you would want to take a visitor from overseas to let them experience what they think an English pub is like (although I am not sure that it is what an English pub is typically like). It would be nice if the name stretched back to antiquity but it was the idea of a Brewery marketing department back in the 1920s. But the building is real enough, and so was the beer. It was a pint of very refreshing Wickwar Bob : there is no better word for it - lovely.

A Year Of Beer 7 : The Gaskell Arms Hotel, Much Wenlock

The Gaskell Arms Hotel, High Street, Much Wenlock, Shropshire

Saturday / Sunday 20/21 June 2015

An old coaching inn, bits of which date back to the seventeenth century, although the current frontage is late eighteenth century. It has still got a bit of a coaching inn feel to it, situated at a busy crossroads in this lovely old town which, somewhat bizarrely, claims to be the birthplace of the modern Olympic movement. We spent the night there and after a pint or three of Wye Valley Butty Bach I wasn't sure if I was going to wake up to find my Toyota Auris in the car park or a coach and team of six. It was, I am pleased to report, the former rather than the latter.

A Year Of Beer 6 : The Loggerheads, Shrewsbury

The Loggerheads, Church Street, Shrewsbury

Saturday 20 June 2015

What a delightful old pub this was - real pub, real ale, real atmosphere. The building dates back to the second half of the seventeenth century and it has been a pub since the 1780s. It has gone through more names than is good for it - The Greyhound, the Horse and Jockey, The Lord Hill, The General Lord Hill (a promotion, no doubt), and the Shrewsbury Arms - before adopting what had in fact been its nickname for centuries - The Loggerheads. It would appear that the name comes from the three leopard heads that appear on the coat of arms of Shrewsbury, but you will believe anything you read after a pint or two. The pint in question was Boondoggle from Ringwood Brewery.

A Year Of Beer 5 : The William Wilberforce, Hull

The William Wilberforce, Trinity House Lane, Hull

18 June 2015

One of the two ubiquitous Wetherspoon houses in the centre of Hull which shares all the features of so many Wetherspoon pubs such as the sympathetic conversion of a fine building and the supply of a great range of real ales. In this particular case the building used to be a branch of Barclay's Bank. It has been named after one of the most famous people from Hull, the anti-slavery campaigning MP, William Wilberforce (1759-1833) whose house - now a museum - is less than a mile away from the pub. I raised a glass of Tom Wood's Best Bitter in honour of his historic campaign.

A Year Of Beer 4 : Ye Olde Black Boy, Hull

Ye Olde Black Boy, 150 High Street, Hull

18 June 2015

Said to be Hull's oldest pub, and it might well be one of the oldest buildings, although it has served a number of purposes over the centuries, including a tobacconist, a coffee house and a brothel! It is unclear as to whether the name derives from a tobacconist's sign or from some long-forgotten waiter in the days it was a coffee house. The term "higgledy-piggledy" could well have been coined to describe its internal layout of passages and rooms which make for a delightful drinking experience. And the drink in question was a pint of Wye Valley Brewery's Hereford Pale Ale. Very satisfying if a little on the light side.

A Year Of Beer - 3 : The Sailmakers Arms, Hull

Chandlers Court, 159 High Street, Hull

18 June 2015

A courtyard pub that hides away behind the facade of a firm of solicitors. It has no reason to be so shy, as it is a pleasant enough place which not only serves a good variety of real ales but provides a decent lunch as well. My lunch was fish and chips (what else can you eat in one of Europe's great fishing ports?) and my drink was a pint of Leeds Pale.

A Year Of Beer : 2. Ye Olde White Harte, Hull

Ye Olde White Harte. 25, Silver Street, Hull

18 June 2015

Ridiculously old courtyard pub - the kind of place that in any other country would have a visitors' centre and a whole tourist infrastructure constructed around it. But in Hull it still sits half-hidden away, the wood-panelled rooms waiting to entice you in from the busy shopping street at the end of the passage. Endless tales surround the building, some of which have more than a fair share of imagination added. The English Civil War was supposedly plotted in the upstairs room (when it was the house of the Governor of York),  a mysterious skull is on display in one of the bars, and, of course, there is the obligatory collection of ghosts. In some ways it was sad to see such a fine old inn so quiet, but the peace and quiet made it much easier to soak up the atmosphere. In addition to the atmosphere, I managed to soak up a pint of rather tasty Flying Scotsman beer from the Caledonian Brewery.

A Year Of Beer - Near Misses : 18 June 2015

3. The Masters Bar, Hull

38, South Street, Hull

Built in 1903. As far as I can discover, it was built as a public house. Now Grade II Listed

4. The Punch Hotel, Hull

Queen Victoria Square, Hull

The first Punch hotel was built on this site in 1845. The present building -0 which is Grade II listed - was built for the Hull Brewery Co. in 1895.

5. The Manchester Arms, Hull

7, Scale Lane, Hull

The pub is supposed to date back to the 16th century, although much of it has been rebuilt several times. A ghost - called Beryl - seemingly walks through the cellars.

6. The Lion And Key, Hull

48, High Street, Hull

First opened as a pub in the early nineteenth century but then - in a story familiar 200 years later - it was converted into offices. Returned to its beery roots at the end of the twentieth century.

7. Ye Olde Blue Bell, Hull

Market Place, Hull

Busy market pub situated down a passage next to Trinity Market

8. Ye Olde Corn Exchange, Hull

1, North Church Side, Hull

Located in the shadow of Holy Trinity Church, it was known as The Excise Coffee House back in 1788 and adopted its current name in the early nineteenth century.

9.  The Hull Cheese

Paragon Street, Hull

Formerly known as The Paragon Hotel (which gave its name to both the street and the station) the current name is a reference to an old phrase meaning beer - "hull cheese".

10. The Sandringham, Hull

85, Paragon Street, Hull

Narrow, town centre pub that has seemingly opened and closed a few times over recent years. Currently open but for sale.

A Year Of Beer - Near Misses : 17 June 2015

1.  The Old Ship Inn, Brighouse

32, Bethel Street, Brighouse

Sadly, I did not have time to call in - but I have called in before - SEE MY BLOGPOST ON THE OLD SHIP - and I hope to go in again well before the end of my year's odyssey. But a photograph will have to do for the time being.

2. The Black Bull, Brighouse

Thornton Square, Brighouse

Another pub I am familiar with and another pub I have written about before - SEE MY NEWS FROM NOWHERE POST ON THE BLACK BULL. I am pleased to report that the Bull is still going strong. This is another case of a pub which I am determined to promote to the main list before the year is out.

A Year Of Beer : 1 The Richard Oastler, Brighouse

It is my birthday today and, yet again, I found myself musing on that great paradox one has to face as one gets old - so many pubs unvisited and so little time left. With this in mind I have decided to keep an on-line log of all the different pubs I can manage to visit before my next birthday. In addition to the main category (where I can claim to have actually visited the pub) there will be a subsidiary listing of "near misses" - pubs I have only managed to pause at long enough to take a photograph rather than sample the fare. There is nothing in the rules to say that at some stage I cannot translate a near miss into an actual visit. What is the point of all this you may ask? The answer, of course, is there is absolutely no point at all - the common denominator of all great ventures. I am starting on my birthday with one of the nearest pubs which is just down the road from where I live. We will pause to assess my progress a year from now.

A Year Of Beer : 1. The Richard Oastler, Brighouse (17 June 2015)

A wonderfully converted Methodist Church with all that you will expect from a Wetherspoon house - great real ales, cheap food and drink, and the atmosphere of a works canteen. I have already written a little about the history of this fine building - SEE MY LISTING UNDER GREAT YORKSHIRE PUBS - so I will not repeat myself here. However I would like to note in passing a well-kept pint of Exmoor Gold ale, and the always pleasant company of my Good Lady Wife.