Driffield, Beverley, and Hull

A trip on the train from Hull to the market towns of Driffield and Beverley, leaving ourselves just enough time at the end of the day to get lost in a Hull housing estate looking for a way across the A62 for one last pint.

We hopped aboard the Hull>Bridlington train and made the 30-minute trip to Driffield, home to just over 13,000 people in the middle of the Wolds.

Our destination was the Butchers Dog, midway up the main street.

The Butchers Dog (57 Market Place, Driffield, YO25 6AW)
This is a pub that upset the usual PropUptheBar scheme of things.  At just gone midday I'm used to finding pubs and bars bereft of customers, making staff jump by appearing at the bar much earlier than they expected to see anyone.
Not so the Butchers Dog, bustling with cheery punters at an early hour, whilst a chap with a guitar set up in the corner to provide afternoon entertainment, and three dogs took it in turn to provide trip hazards.

This pub has been the Butchers Dog since 2021, having had several other identities prior to that.
And I thought it was great.  A mixed crowd of punters, mostly all on the cask, with a fine selection of six beers to chose from including Great Newsome, Wantsum, Bosun's and the Butchers Dog home brews.
A top-notch Wantsum 'Black Pig' Baltic porter was my pick.
And the pub also provided an addition to the ongoing mild smut in the gents WC collection...

By my count there are another 8 pubs in Driffield so I feel a pang of guilt that we didn't explore further.  But we had a fair few pubs to visit in Beverley, 15-minutes away by train on the line back to Hull.  

Beverley was wet.  And busy.
I was here at Easter when I called in to the Dog & Duck, White Horse, and Atom, which I mention by way of explaining why I excluded these this time around.
Our first port of call faced the market square and looked as though it would be a good option for lunch.

Green Dragon (51 Saturday Market, Beverley, HU17 8AA)
And lots of other folk in Beverley had had the same idea.  We just managed to grab the last available table, whilst other groups wandered the length of the pub forlornly and proclaimed they'd 'just have to go back to Wetherspoon's'.  We found ourselves sat in the middle of the front room, prime position for the fire place and TV above it showing darts from Ally Pally.
Darts is one of those sports that I rarely pay attention to, but put me in front of TV with it on and I'm hopelessly hooked.

The Green Dragon is an historic coaching inn, although most historic touches seem to have been wiped out over the years during the creation of a tourist-friendly dining pub.
A traditional selection of cask ales adorned the bar: Tetley, Black Sheep, 'Landlord', and 'Wainwright'.  I don't think the Tetley Cask makes it any further south than Coventry, so that's what I picked - easy to drink and doing the job of washing down lunch.

With the rain having stopped outside and the darts finished, we strolled down to the visit the Minster, then called into the nearby Monks Walk Inn.

Monks Walk Inn (19 Highgate, Beverley, HU17 0DN)
This was our most historic pub of the day - a 13th century merchants warehouse, becoming a pub known as the George in the 17th century and once having their own brewery attached.

The main doorway takes you into a passageway which runs through to another street to the rear.  Left off the passage is a pool room, right is a choice of two doors leading to rooms either side of a central bar.
I hadn't expected the Monks Walk to be open this early in the day, let alone packed to the rafters.

Ossett 'Butterley', Sharp's 'Atlantic', Half Moon 'Lunar' and Jolly Boys 'Jolly Collier Porter', were the cask choices along the bar, once you'd squeezed your way through to get there.
We managed to fit on the end of the table of a card-playing family where I enjoyed the quality Jolly Boy porter.  I may have enjoyed it more if I had a cosy perch in the corner, but felt rather in the way where we were sat and was ready to move on after a swift half.

The Chequers Micropub (15 Swaby's Yard, Beverley, HU17 9BZ)
Situated in a a quiet square off the pedestrian walkway, the Chequers opened in 2013.
Without enough floor space to stand and loiter at the bar it's table service (still sending 2020 shivers  down my spine) although it's well done by a friendly attentive member of staff looking after a handful of tables on two levels.
I did get the chance to peruse the pump clips close-up and make a fine selection of the 7% IPA, 'Modern Love' by North Riding Brewery. 
Just as well, because the beer menu on the table was confusing at first glance...

A super list with lots of good beers lined up.
Foolishly, I ordered a second beer, having spotted the Azvex 'Stocking Filler Nostalgia' on the keg list.  You don't win any awards for common sense picking 12% Imperial Stouts in the middle of the afternoon, but - WOW! - it was absolutely superb.

A great place.  And they'd put up the Hook Norton signage to ensure we didn't feel homesick for Oxfordshire.

Moving on, in a remarkably straight line considering the ABVs of the last two beers, we headed through the darkening streets of Beverley to my final GBG 24 tick in the town.

Royal Standard Inn (30 North Bar Within, Beverley, HU17 8DL)
This was a traditional town boozer just to the north of the market square, with a small front bar and more spacious lounge area to the rear.  We settled on cushioned bench seating in the front room which is where all the rest of the custom was at the time.
A no-nonsense cask selection - Black Sheep, Wainwright or Doom Bar.
The Black Sheep 'Best Bitter' was...hmmm..okay.  Perhaps I'd been spoilt by the fine ales in the Chequers.

Everyone from that front bar left whilst we were there - I don't think it was anything I did or said.  So a promising pub visit that turned out to be a little bit dull by the time we returned glasses and said goodbye to the landlord.

There was an unwise stop at Atom on the way back to the station for an imperial stout and festive themed loaded fries - neither of which I really needed.
Then a short train ride back to Hull where we set off eastbound from the station.

My sense of direction to get to the Alexandra Hotel was perfect - if only we hadn't been scuppered by the un-crossable four-lane A62 where we needed to find a bridge or underpass.  Several alleyways through the housing estate and we found a way to the southern side of the main road, the pub looking gloriously welcoming... 

Alexandra Hotel (69 Hessel Road, Hull, HU3 2AB)
The Alexandra was built for the Hull Brewery Company in 1895 by local architects Smith, Broderick & Lowther.  It's a striking Victorian building with some ornate brickwork, the old Bass pub sign swinging in the wind, and a mosaic floor in the entryway sporting the name of the hotel.

A big curving bar offered four handpumps with Thornbridge 'Jaipur', Front Row 'Pause' porter, Great Newsome 'Frothingham Best', and Linfit 'Nelson Sauvin' available on our visit.

There's a tall decorated ceiling, extending the feeling of spaciousness within the pub.  We settled on comfy fixed seating along the wall beyond the pool table, entertained by one of the locals doing a stunning job of knocking out a medley of contemporary tunes on the piano.
The Linfit pale ale went down a treat and I was most content to end the evening in this incredible pub.

The Alexander Hotel has limited opening of Thur-Sun 4pm-11pm, so isn't the easiest place to tie into a visit to Hull.  But, if you get the chance, do make the trek down Hessel Road to visit it - you won't be disappointed.

That brought this trip to Hull to close.  It's only since I got home that I realised we really needed twice as long there to visit all the great looking pubs which I missed.  Oh well, it's always nice to have something to look forward to next time.