Just like the old days :-)

Hugh Jampton a écrit :

Well, I'm told teh York police chief doesn't grant childrens certificate, as a matter of principle.

Very nice those York Brewery pubs. But I can't say they stand out in York, where the "great pub" competition is fiercer than anywhere else I've ever been...

No shortage of "real pubs" in York, which for whatever reason is probably the best town for pubs in the UK (taking a balanced view across choice/quality of beers, architectural quality, general atmosphere).

Stockport isn't far off, though ;-)

York is mid league in my opinion. A bit too much York beer, or beer from the larger independents. And tourist prices.

Now Huddersfield is a different story. It has so many pubs (2 before you even leave the station buildings!) concentrating on small independent breweries, that I have now stopped going to beer festivals, simply because I can recreate my own in Huddersfield any time I choose.

For those interested: The Station Tavern (8 real ales), Head of Steam (8 or more), The Grove - newly opened (8, 6 constantly changing), The Rat and Ratchet (8, 4 from Ossett), The Star (6 or more), The Sair (up to 10 - all brewed on the premises), the Riverhead Brewery Tap at Marsden (6 to 8 all brewed on the premises), The Cherry Tree (OK, Wetherspoons, but with a reputation for using local brewers, up to 8 real ales), add to that the Commercial (Sam Smiths), The Albert Hotel, The Slubbers (Timothy Taylors and many others). And much in the price bracket £1.50 - £2.10 with the emphasis being under £2)

Well he would say that wouldn't he. :-)

And not very many unspoiled pubs (selling decent beer, I mean). The Maltings is a classic example of a ruined interior, and the Blue Bell (my personal favourite) one of a preserved interior.

Fair enough, but Huddersfield Beer Festival this weekend was well worth a visit. In fact, any Northern beer festival which goes to the trouble of taking a van south and bringing back casks of e.g. Goachers and Harveys is worth attending, IMO.

Agreed. If the pub company had had its way though, you wouldn't have been able to include the Albert in that list. Also, you missed the Rose and Crown at Golcar (brewery tap), which is closer to town than the Sair.

Sheffield (Northern Quarter principally) is another excellent drinking city within an hour of York (Fat Cat, Kelham Island Tavern, Cask & Cutler, Gardener's Rest, Hillsborough Hotel, New Barrack Tavern and the (new) Harlequin (formerly the Manchester Hotel) would appear to be the current Northern Quarter crawl).

After a bus trip over from Haworth, the ales at the Riverhead are wonderful. Be sure to walk up to the pub at the tunnel end, cause they have great brews too, then come back to the Riverhead for another before catching the bus back to Haworth ...

Wotta Day!

nick

Richard the Riverhead Brewery Tap at

I've never been to the Rose and Crown - it's now at the top of my 'to do' list. Might get there next Saturday after the Wakefield Beer Festival (ok I *do* still go to beerfests despite what I said earlier!).

Another couple of pubs worth a mention are the Nook at Holmfirth (although, like the Shears in Halifax and the Star in Belgravia, it's not easy to find.) And I understand that the Wharfeside at Slaithwaite is now a Copper Dragon pub, and although I've not yet been, Copper Dragon have a policy of allowing tenants to have guests alongside their own beers.

Absolutely!

Depends what you mean by 'far' - it's well over 70 miles away.

... ah... I'll get me coat.

SD

In message , Secret Drinker writes

How can the Maltings be a ruined interior, nothings been do to it for years

It used to be a multi-roomed classic town pub called the Lendal Bridge, where I used to play darts, amongst other things. True, the beer wasn't exciting, but that's not the point.

It's all been opened out and given a fake retro-look and renamed The Maltings. When that was done is irrelevant. I hate it.

(Oh, and you might want to respond to the post that you're referring to, rather than a follow-up one!).

I'm intrigued - how long ago was this? I've always known it in its present form and I'm the wrong side of 50!

Do you remember the Whitbread 'House of Horrors' look, when they adorned some of their pubs with various odds and sods, books, old sewing machines etc etc. I've often wondered what the message was meant to be and who it's meant to appeal to. (The Head of Steam in Hudds is getting dangerously close to being a bit twee with an over abundance of railwayana). Unnecessary.

In message , RichardInglis@?.?.invalid writes

Wasn't just Fizzbread. W&D did it too, with bric-a-brac everywhere (so did Mr O'Rourke, but then his pubs were always intended to have outlandish decor). I'm afraid I wondered about it too, so I can't give you any more insight. At around the same time there developed the idea that the more different patterns you could have between carpets, curtains and chair covers the more attractive the pub would be - again, to whom and why I've no idea. Counting the patterns when visiting a 'done up' pub for the first time has provided Herself and me with a fair amount of childish amusement over the intervening years! We've come to refer to the whole awful business as the 'Brewer's Nightmare' style. Unfortunately it's still alive and kicking in the West Midlands :-(

In the old days we'd also have 'no travellers'.

E.

So am I :-(

No, sorry, but I was an expat for most of the intervening years, so that would explain that.

MMV - I love railwayana in pubs.

And not that many years ago, especially in Scotland, "No women"

Ay, they were the days???

snipped-for-privacy@btinternet.com wrote in news:1160632688.268357.9840 @m7g2000cwm.googlegroups.com:

At least the Scots have now got 'no smoking'

E.

Ah yes, closely followed by "no customers" and then "no pub".

Interesting comment given that various pubs in scotland have reported