Back in the 'Fax

In 2025 four beer aficionados from Oxford headed northbound to Wigan to explore the pubs, eat pies, and visit the beer festival.  As it was a rip-roaring success we decided to head out on our travels again in 2026 - Gareth, Tanya, and myself cruising up the M1 in Chairman John's shiny new motor, rock soundtrack in full swing, on our way to Halifax.

In 1858 Charles Dickens visited and declared it "as horrible a place as I ever saw".
I'm not sure for how many years the average visitor would have agreed with Mr Dickens, but more recently Halifax has morphed into a West Yorkshire gem.
Museums, an impressive list of big musical acts playing at the Piece Hall, a craft beer bar never more than a few minutes away...  All they need is for some Hollywood folks to buy the football team.

We arrived just after 2pm, dropped our bags off at the hotel, then set out to explore the town.

Starting in the Victorian Arcade where the charity shop will fill all those gaps in your Genesis VHS collection...

It's also where you'll find a Good Beer Guide-listed craft bar under the skylights...

Dukes (16-18 Market Arcade, Halifax: Town Centre, HX1 1NX)
Set over 2-floors, Dukes is colourful, with pot plants in some very tricky places to reach for watering, skateboards on the wall, and a couple of shelves constituting a spicy sauce shop. 
Seating is of the non-traditional variety with more cushions than some would appreciate...

The cask choice was porter or bitter from Weekend Project, pales from Two By Two or Rivington.  Plus lots of keg including an imperial stout that stopping me looking any closer lest sensibility go out the window at the first hurdle.
I stuck with the Weekend Project 'Talisker Bay East India Porter', just breaching the fiver mark at £5.10 a pint.

It was superb and served in great condition in Dukes branded glassware.  Extra points for bespoke beer mats too.
And what a soundtrack they had on - Richard Hell, X-Ray Spex, Babes in Toyland, Crass... it's enough to excuse that pink and green paint job.

Moving on from Dukes, we were heading to a second micro, but popped our heads into the Piece Hall first for the blue sky picture.

The Piece Hall opened on New Year's Day 1779 as a cloth hall where local weavers could sell their wares in one place.  It originally consisted 315 rooms over three floors surrounding the large open court yard.
Now Grade I listed and refurbished magnificently, it serves as a summer venue for an impressive line-up of outdoor gigs.  We were several weeks too early for Shed Seven opening the 2026 programme, so went to the pub instead.

Meandering Bear (21-23 Union Street, Halifax, HX1 1PR)
This micro has been open since September 2019 and is named after a local legend, the story etched onto one of the walls within the pub.
Back in 1913 a couple of bears escaped their enclosure at Halifax Zoo.  One of was quickly apprehended, whilst the second 'meandered' for an hour-and-a-half.
I wonder if it gave up having decided Halifax was as horrible a place as it ever saw?

The pub is set over two levels with the bar up a couple of steps to the rear.  Five hand pumps served a best bitter from Brass Castle, two options from Wishbone Brewery of Keighley, and two from Beartown Brewery, Congleton.

Plus plenty of tempting keg.  Here's the full list on the beer board:

A Beartown 'Kodiak' for me, the brewers' flagship pale ale, made with German hops and some nice biscuity malts, all making for a thoroughly pleasant pint served in top condition.
We grabbed seats on the high-backed cushioned bench at the far side of the smart room, a rare outing for Shuggie Otis on the sound system.

Glasses emptied and returned to the bar, we moved on to somewhere all of us were all looking forward to: the Halifax taproom of Hebden Bridge's Vocation Brewery.

Vocation Brewing Co. (13-17 Alexandra Street, Halifax, HX1 1BS)
Vocation are almost certainly the best known of the Calder Valley breweries, rapidly expanding from humble beginnings in an old chicken shed on the edge of the moors in 2015 to a current capacity of 55,000 barrels a year, their cans a regular sight on supermarket shelves.
Their Halifax tap opened in 2022, the site previously housing a music venue, The Lantern, killed-off by the pandemic, and a micropub called The Alex.  Prior to that the Art Deco building was part of a cinema.  Instinctively I'd rather be able to drink in a micro then pop next door to watch bands in a music venue, so Vocation better be good.

Yep...not bad.
Busy with a Thursday evening post-work crowd, it has a light, high-ceilinged main room with modern decoration and friendly staff.
It boasts twenty-four beer lines, six of which are cask...all but one of those 24 pouring beer on our visit.  Tough to pick just the one, especially when I could see Jamaican stout, French farmhouse ale, and Belgian IPA alongside more familiar Vocation fare.
I was sticking with sub-5% cask - in this case the 'Victorian Porter'.

Those Victorians sure knew a thing or two about making dark beers.

I got around a reasonable number of pubs and bars during my last stay in Halifax in November 2021.  One place that demanded a revisit based on beer quality and choice was the Victorian Beer Cafe.  In fact, we liked it enough to rock up on their doorstep on each of our three nights in town.

Victorian Beer Café (18-22 Powell Street, Halifax HX1 1LN)
This stylish bar has been open since 2014 and has racked up a fair few awards over the years.
My dull exterior picture doesn't do the place justice.  Unassuming from outside, there are a warren of brown wood-panelled rooms within.  A wander around the corner from the bar reveals distinct areas on different levels with brickwork walls and bookshelves; corners with comfy armschairs in which to relax with your pick of the extensive range of beers on offer.

That vow to stick to beers under 5%?  Hmmm...the presence on cask of Thornbridge 'Imperial Stout' from the Union, weighing in at 7.7% scuppered that.
Technically, I reckon it's a couple of percent under what 'imperial' should really be.  Not to take anything away from a delicious smoky, chocolatey dark brew. 

I like curveballs on pub crawls, which is why I'm waiting in anticipation for Life After Football's next curated day out.
Meanwhile, Chairman John's curveball was a 'cask ale not available' city centre sports bar with an historic past...

The Old Cock (Old Cock Yard, Halifax, HX1 1DS)
It may not look it, but The Old Cock is one of the town's oldest pubs with bits of the building dating back to 1668.
It's notable for the fact that the Halifax Permanent Building & Investment Society were formed here in the meeting rooms.  They'd go on to become the Halifax Building Society, just about to disappear from our high streets if Lloyds get their way.

The Old Cock has had a modern makeover inside, detracting from the remaining historic features. Lots of TV screens, some garish wallpaper, too many light fittings, dreadful pop music.  None of which was putting off a decent evening crowd of folk.
With no cask on offer we settled on Caffrey's Irish Stout all round.

Right.  We needed a proper pub.
This looks like it will fit the bill...

Royal Oak (2 Clare Road, Halifax, HX1 2HX)
Hi-vis.
Cask hand pumps.
Busy pool room.  Darts on TV.
Cushioned bench seating.  That'll do!

The Royal Oak dates back to 1931 when it was built incorporating timbers from HMS Newcastle. It's a cracking pub and an antidote to anyone jaded with craft beer and micros.
I ordered a pint of the Wensleydale 'Dirty Deeds' (done dirt cheap?).
Photographic evidence also suggests I was impressed by the ceramic urinals in the gents.  Such photos are a side-effect of imperial stout. 

 

It had been a long time since a lunchtime pizza stop en-route in Ossett.  Peckishness led us to Wetherspoon's Barum Tap (17 Rawson Street, Halifax, HX1 1NX) where we ordered far too much food.
Did John really manage to get 18 onion rings, or am I imagining that.
My pint of Goose Eye 'Golden Goose' was okay (NBSS 2.5) - one more beer than I really needed on the first evening, but I needed something to wash the Curry Club fare down with.

I'll finish with daytime pictures of the Barum Tap, complete with the West Yorkshire constabulary at the door keeping their eye on Scunthorpe United fans arriving in the town.  

There were a few more venues in Halifax to tackle on subsequent evenings, whilst the plan for the days ahead was a trip to Hebden Bridge and a trip to Leeds.
You need a good Spoon's breakfast with extra beans, sat up on the balcony, to tackle big days out like that.

A Tutbury Beer Research Trip

Mid-April saw seven pub researchers descend on the East Staffs village of Tutbury on a Tuesday lunchtime.  
According to a quick search, Tutbury "has much to interest the visitor; from a ruined castle to a famous coaching inn, from handmade jewellery to a wide range of antiques."

Arriving on the 11:26 train from Derby, I accosted Retired Martin at the station and we set off to explore the sights.  It took us twenty minutes, although to be fair the castle is shut and we skipped the jewellery and antiques.  
Peering over the wall from a mound in the churchyard is as close as I got to the castle.
(See Martin's blog for better pics and an AI view of the castle which I thought I could steal having waited so long to write-up this trip, but decided I couldn't get away with).

Never mind.  The church looked nice from the outside...

We called by the Cask & Pottle micro to see if we could make sense of the opening times, which were unclear.
5-9.30 said Google. 
Noon-2.30 said CAMRA.
'This site can't be reached' said the link to the pub webpage.
No times on the door, so we were none-the-wiser, and Martin was barked at by the guard dog for peering too closely through the window.

More of the dog later.

Declaring tourism of the town as done, we headed into the first pub at noon.
It's a rickety timber-framed beauty... 

The Dog & Partridge (33 High Street, Tutbury, DE13 9LS)
Unfortunately, less-so inside.
The original front door looks like it's been bolted shut a fair few years, entrance now via the car park at the back.  Which is never a good sign.
The bar and much of the seating is located in a more recent extension to the side, with deep leather sofas and table clutter including cocktail deals and promos for matcha coffee and spring soirees.

Four hand pumps to pick from...oh...

The 'London Glory' was passable, if unexciting, although possibly a better pick than a reportedly tired Abbot.

A bit of intrepid wandering took me to the wooden beamed rooms in the historic bit of an inn that dates back as far as the 15th century.  Definitely intended for dining and private functions this bit.

The arrival of the next train saw our numbers swell to seven.  On a Tuesday!
Stafford Paul had made an even earlier arrival than us on home county bus routes; Martin and Will had made the trip down from Sheffield; Shawn from Leicester; Graham from York; and Jon tackled the most intrepid journey from Frome, bravely spending over 2 hours+ on Cross Country Trains.

We moved on to pub number two on the itinerary - a Black Country Ales outpost.

The New Inn (31A Ludgate Street, Tutbury, DE13 9NG)
The New Inn became Black Country Ales' 50th pub.  Something which deserves a plaque...

Perhaps they marked #50 with a radical change in style and just one handpump on the bar?
Nope...

The usual colours, checked fabrics and patterned carpets, with added darts board in pride of place.
Fast asleep on the bench under the window is the micro pub dog.  Had we known that was the owner of the Cask & Pottle we could have checked the opening times and saved freaking him out with our early arrival later.

Twelve hand pumps on the bar included two ciders and four of their own ales, alongside options from Milestone, Salopian, Lenton Lane and Welbeck Abbey and a couple of 'new beer coming soon' clips.  I ordered myself a cherry and vanilla 'Twist & Stout' by Nottingham's Lenton Lane Brewery - an acquired taste that I'm not quite sure I acquired before the end of the pint.  Plus the essential cheese and onion cob.

It wasn't far at all to the next pub on the itinerary.  We were moving from number 31 Ludgate Street to number 32, although somehow they've managed to squeeze two buildings inbetween.

The Vine Inn (32 Ludgate Street, Tutbury, DE13 9NG)
The front porch provides a choice of heading right into the L-shaped bar or left into the lounge.  I'm suspect the lounge was empty, whilst all the action was in the bar, busy with an impressive number of locals for a Tuesday afternoon, dominos in full swing.

I love the menu in the Vine: Chips £2, Cheesy Chips £3, Chip Cob £3, and for the adventurous, Southern Fried Chicken and Chips £5.
What more do you need?
Cask-wise, the choice was Marston's Pedigree or Courage 'Directors'.  Again, what more do you need?
The Directors was quite superb...

We suffered a pub fail at planned stop no.4, The Leopard.
Members of the group who hadn't loitered on the way from the Vine discovered an absence of real ale at this 3pm opener.
A disappointment as this was supposed to deliver our first pint of Bass of the day.

So, onward we trekked.
Three of us set off on foot for the mile walk to neighbouring Hatton.  And pleasingly beat those on the bus to our destination across the county line.

When we reached it, The Tavern didn't look to be brightly lit and fears of a wasted journey arose when Martin tried the front door and declared the pub shut.
Luckily someone had the good sense to search out another way in from the car park.

The Tavern (Station Road, Hatton, DE65 5EH)
Once we'd all made it in, this was a delightful pub.
There were a handful of mid-afternoon punters, included a couple of chaps who got chatting to us having recognised us as "that lot again" from the New Inn.
The Tavern consists of one open-plan space which extends into a conservatory with pool table.  The bar area has a fairly traditional feel to it, with the except for those excessive fairy lights.

Cask ales on offer were Pedigree or Bass.
One half of the couple who've run the pub since 2021, a young lady named Hayley, came to chat to the oddbods with seven pints of Bass in front of them.  Obviously a very enthusiastic and keen licensee, Hayley took pride in serving a good pint and was rightly smug about anticipating demand for National Bass Day - the excuse which had been provided at the Leopard for the lack of cask.

Leaving the Tavern, we made the trek back across the railway lines for a return to Tutbury and an assault on the micro pub.

Cask & Pottle (2 High Street, Tutbury, DE13 9LP)
Whilst the door was open at 4pm, I'm beginning to wonder if that 5pm time on Google may have been correct after all.  The owner seemed quite put out by our arrival and mumbled about people not usually coming in so early, opting to rearrange beer mats rather than serve us.

This was a proper micro of the original Kent variety with high benches around the sides, chunky tables, no music or TV, and no bar counter.
Beers were fetched from stillage in the ''Apparatus Room'.  You needed to walk around that room and past the considerable worktop clutter to reach the single WC which wasn't about to win any Best Pub Toilet award.

Here's Graham from York, getting his bearings...

Here's the pub dog...

And here's the beer range...

The Green Duck beers make it down to Oxford in The Grapes and Blenheim fairly regularly, so I picked the lesser-seen 'Piffle Snonker'.  Which sounds like something I should be looking up in my Collins Book of Birds.
This was a fine, well kept, pint of pale ale from Birmingham's Froth Blowers.

To be fair, once we all had pints in front of us, the owner got chatting and became quite hospitable in contrast to the dubious welcome.  Bringing out tasters of the two Dutch beers he had on draft led to several members of the group ordering halves of these and staying longer.

Myself and Sheffield Hatter strode on ahead to the Crosse Keys up the hill...

The Crosse Keys (39 Burton Street, Tutbury, DE13 9NR)
The side entrance led to a sizeable and deserted rear extension - a decent number of customers all located in the more traditional front bar.
Bass or Thornbridge 'Bother Rabbit' available on cask, along with craft keg from Glasshouse, Weekend Project or Northern Monk - a selection I wouldn't have expected based on the location and my initial impression of the pub.
 
By this point pub pictures were reducing in quality.
Dog...carpet...that'll do...

We only had time for a half of Bass in the Cross Keys - served in good condition.  Although that half was tackled at a much more sensible speed than by those who caught up us with us having stayed for Dutch IPA in the micro.
Martin led us down a short cut in a quick march to train station. 

Tutbury comes with the jeopardy that there is no footbridge, so if the barriers came down whilst we were on the wrong side of the tracks we'd be stuck.
Probably best not to prance around taking pictures of fence post decorations by the allotments, then.

We made it in plenty of time, disembarking in Derby and heading into the Victoria, remaining pub researchers having varying time to spare before homebound trains.

"One pint too many?" asked Martin.
I thought I was telling the truth when I responded 'no' and insisted I was walking to the Creaky Floorboard micro when I finished my Leatherbritches 'Dovedale'.
Turned out it absolutely was one pint too many (how did he know?!).  I never did make it to that micro.