Exploring the Pubs of Carlisle

An Inaugural Post

I had the best intentions of keeping a journal of my ale-travels for many a month, but somehow never got around to starting it....
I'm no good at creative writing to describe beers I drink: 'floral undertones', 'toffee malt aftertaste' and such like. So instead I'll concentrate on writing, un-creatively, about my travels, from continent-wide brewpub hunting to a trek through the fields to a local pub.I fully expect my readership to consist of one person (and she'll probably get quickly fed up reading my rambling diatribes).

When better to start than on a trip northwards, which finds me on a pleasant May evening in Carlisle.

First stop here was the Kings Head Arms (31 Fisher Street, CA3 8RF) a pleasant enough multiple winner of CAMRA's city pub of the year award, which serves up local Yates ales amongst several other Cumbrian brews. I sat in the peaceful rear of the pub with a pint of 3.9% Yates Golden Ale, thoroughly deserved after the 5 hour journey here from Oxfordshire.

For an excellent selection of the best the region has to offer though, next stop Moo Bar (5 Devonshire Street, CA3 8LG) really does the job. It's typical of modern craft beer bars, mismatched furniture (a huge wooden throne in front of a makeshift pallet crate table, for instance) and a bar with a spectacular row of hand pumps and keg taps set into a stainless steel wall at the back. The selection was probably a bit depleted with it being quiet at the start of the week, but I still could've stayed and tried the lot. I settled for a blonde ale from Fell Brewery at the southern tip of the Lakes, followed by a single-hop Summit pale ale from Northumberland's Allendale Brewery.

Next on my list for the evening was a short trek across the railway lines and river to the Milbourne Arms (150 Milbourne Street, CA2 5XB).

This pub was built in 1853 to serve nearby textile industry workers - little remains of the factories now, but the pub is owned by Linton Tweeds, the last remaining textile producer in the city. The single hand pump serves up a changing ale from Allendale again, 'Penine Pale' on this occasion, which was the best pint of the evening. And this friendly comfortable boozer had one of the best pub dogs I've ever found!

The Milbourne was one of Carlisle's state-managed pubs between 1916 and 1973. This fascinating scheme saw the Government take over brewing and selling of ale in Carlisle in order to prevent drunkenness in seedy 'drinking dens'. If visiting the region it's well worth reading up on the history of this and checking out the pubs at: www.thestatemanagementstory.org

Finally I went off on a bit of a mad one....seeing that the Carlisle Brewery had a tap at Cummersdale, I set off along the riverside paths into the outskirts of Carlisle. This route is lovely, on a nice evening, although luck rather than judgement took me off the path at the right spot for the pub. My recommendation would be to take a map and allow plenty of time if you're planning on walking from the centre of town and back.

The Spinners Arms (Cummersdale, CA2 6BD) was busy with local darts teams on this evening and stood out as a pleasant local spot with good beers on offer.

And that's where I had to leave my Carlisle pub crawl, making sure to take the footpaths back to the centre before dusk, rather than floundering in the dark, tumbling over and potentially ending in the River Eden - Ha! I do learn from past mistakes after all.