After hearing about a new micropub in Durham, we had to take a look. The Holy GrAle is definitely worth a visit; a really decent range of cask and keg.
And a pretty lovely Marble imperial stout, 10.5%.
Since we were in the area, we also called in the rather excellent Station House.
And the Waiting Room.
Unfortunately, the dog experienced her first delayed train (waiting for an ambulance).
After her ordeal, she needed gin in Newcastle.
I’ve only been to Nottingham a couple of times in the past, so our eBay purchase of a van front end created the opportunity for a third visit.
It made sense to drive down yesterday and pick up the rusty lump up today. That gave us a chance to fit in some decent pubs, starting with the Doctor’s Orders, a pretty cool micropub I’d found on Mansfield Road the last time we were there.
It’s everything a micropub should be; decent prices too. Also discovered last time was the Crafty Crow, also run by the Magpie Brewery.
Naturally, we had to visit Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem, allegedly the country’s oldest pub. I knew that the beer wasn’t going to be the best, but the building’s a real experience.
There were one or two other pubs, but I didn’t take pictures.
One minor negative was the £25 dog surcharge at the hotel, the highest of the three hotels accommodating the dog this year (£10 and £20 at the other two). So we made sure that the dog made the most of the facilities.
This morning, we collected the van front end. Fortunately, we managed to squeeze it in without resorting to the angle grinder I’d taken.
Yes, it has holes. But I love it. We’ll attempt to remove it from the van in the morning.
Arch 2 in Ouseburn has a great approach to dogs. They’re very welcome and even have their pictures taken to add to a dog wall. Now, this didn’t work very well in Harriet’s case, since she doesn’t show up very well in any picture taken in a dark bar (three pictures and pretty much invisible). But the idea’s great.
The Cluny seem to have adopted the same idea. This evening, the dog is not only visible-ish, she’s posing in the background.
The guys from One More Than Two brewery dropped this off with a cask today.
A mad but so funny thing to do.
Went on a micropub pub crawl in Teesside yesterday.
I don’t actually remember how many micropubs we visited, in Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Stockton.
The day didn’t start too well, with some pubs poorly stocked. I’m not being critical; it’s understandable that small businesses are wary of taking risks such as stocking up with products (cask ale) with a short shelf life.
But the day ended well, with revisited pubs and new discoveries.
Some of our group did miss the last train home though.
When I had a proper job, even though I worked long hours, I used to enjoy an hour or two just sitting in the garden on a summer evening.
So it was lovely to get away tonight before closing time. Yes, we do live in a town, but we also have the cutest little garden.
An additional bonus too; time to enjoy a nutritious meal.
Me and the hound had a day off today.
The sky may have looked very blue, but it was a pretty cold day.
This is quite possibly the nicest beer ever.
Several years ago, a mate and I set off on an adventure to Holland. A festival in Holland. Arriving in Calais, we decided to buy cheap beer rather than pay Dutch prices.
This involved a lengthy wait for a wine warehouse to open, since we’d arrived at a ridiculously early hour. Which meant we were pretty tired by the time a warehouse opened.
The choice of wine was impressive. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take glass bottles to the festival and only one brand of beer was on sale for a sensible price.
And that brand was Wanka. It was incredibly cheap and only a month or two out of date. Concerned about our schedule and the possibility of illness due to outdated beer, we left the Wanka beer and continued on our way.
We ended up buying overpriced beer from a Lidl in Belgium, shortly before entering Holland. During our time at the festival, we often talked about Wanka beer, wondering whether we could have avoided the medical tent had we purchased out of date beer.
We did have a great time at the festival, despite having to drink overpriced beer.
Tonight, while in our local corner shop, I spotted some cans of Wanka beer. Except it wasn’t. After telling many people over the years about the Wanka near miss, I now realise that tiredness had led to us mis-reading the can lettering in Calais.
So there’s no such thing as Wanka beer.
