As I write this, Poppy and I are three months into our trip, just about the half-way point before we head back to Sheffield for the festival in October. Everything sounds like it’s coming along nicely and it should be another fantastic event this year! We arrived in Lithuania, the last of the three Baltic … Continue reading Hopping Around: Lithuania →

First up I’d like to thank everyone who has managed to check out our blog so far, we really appreciate it and hope you’ve been enjoying reading! If you haven’t managed to have a look yet, you can find it at hoppingaround.co.uk. So, after three weeks exploring Estonia we headed down towards Latvia. After successfully … Continue reading Hopping Around: Latvia →

Today’s day out again made use of the Derbyshire Wayfarer ticket. A leisurely train ride to Derby, bus into the bus station and then the Trent Barton 6.2 service deposited me in Belper in time for the 11am opening of the George & Dragon on the main road through Belper for their St. Georges Beer Festival. … Continue reading A Grand Good Friday Day Out →

It only seems like yesterday that I wrote my letter stepping down as editor of Beer Matters but here I am having spent the last few weeks in Estonia with Poppy, making a great start to our journey through Europe. In Estonia we have discovered a country with a burgeoning craft beer scene, from macro-breweries … Continue reading Hopping Around: Estonia →

A year since the much-discussed revitalisation vote and the formal approval of ‘good beer,’ the annual CAMRA Members weekend took place recently. Held in Cairns Hall, Dundee, this was the first AGM since the new beginning. Following the Friday social evening, the event commenced with Jackie Parker chairing her first, and last, AGM. Nick Antonia … Continue reading Two Days in Dundee with CAMRA →

In the company of the two best available Belgian beer books, the Good Beer Guide Belgium and Around Bruges in 80 Beers, two of us recently used a BeerJunkets Bruges Beer Festival package to visit Belgium for a long-weekend. We first visited Bruges in 2009, finding an earlier edition of Around Bruges an essential companion. … Continue reading Bruges →

After an early morning shopping trip to Crystal Peaks Shopping Centre, the plan was to catch the 09:36 non-stop Stagecoach service 72 from there back to Sheffield Interchange ready for 10:24 train service to Derby. However, the bus made such good time that I was able to get the earlier 10:00 departure to Derby, allowing … Continue reading Derbyshire (and just over the border) →

Having spent Christmas at different ends of the country, myself and Dom decided a few nights away before New Year would be the perfect opportunity to visit a city we had both heard great things about, but never properly visited. Although admittedly a little far for a day trip, our pre-booked returns from Crewe to … Continue reading Glasgow →

I arrived in Leeds with the intention of having breakfast in the Wetherspoons at Leeds Station before getting an onward train. However, as the pub was heaving I decided to forego breakfast and take the train to Todmorden and have a pizza at the Wetherspoons adjacent to the station. This was much quieter even though … Continue reading Calder Valley →

A visit to Munich’s annual Oktoberfest is on the bucket list of many beer lovers around the world and this year we were lucky enough to be able to make the pilgrimage. This is the world’s largest beer festival, with more than six million people attending every year and around 13.5 million pints of beer … Continue reading Oktoberfest →