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
The first available train to Alfreton on a weekday using a Derbyshire Wayfarer is the 9:06 from Sheffield. Alighting 25 minutes later at Alfreton Station it is a short bus ride into the town centre and then on to Ripley. There are 4 pubs in the Market Square including the Red Lion (CAMRA Good Beer … Continue reading Amber Valley
A South Yorkshire Day Connect ticket costs £6.60 from the driver for one day’s bus and tram travel throughout the area. Getting to Rotherham mid-morning allowed plenty of time for the short journey to Broom, arriving there just after 11am. The Stag (CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide 2018) adjacent to the roundabout of the same name, opens … Continue reading South Yorkshire
A mid-morning arrival at Huddersfield station (via Wakefield) allowed plenty of time for a cooked breakfast and a half of Clarks (now brewed at Castle Eden) English Pale Ale in The Vulcan before boarding the hourly train for the short ride to the attractive village of Marsden. Sitting outside the Riverhead Brewery Tap (CAMRA Good Beer Guide … Continue reading West Yorkshire
It had been quite a few years since my last visit to Ilkley, a picturesque little town very popular with walkers, situated at the southern end of the Dales Way route from West Yorkshire to the Lake District. I was treated to a day in Ilkley for my birthday, with real ale rather than rambling … Continue reading The Ales Way
It had been ten years since my last visit to this small town near Telford in Shropshire so another visit was planned to coincide with the 44th Beer Festival in the Crown. No cheap advance bookings were available on morning departures from Sheffield to Birmingham, so I opted to travel via Stockport instead. The hourly … Continue reading Oakengates