Planning a jaunt across the Pennines to Huddersfield on Saturday and
it's got me thinking.

Are there any towns in the UK with a greater choice of beer within
such a small area?

In no particular order, Ian Hayes up at the Grove has 18 different
beers, Bruce Travis at the Kings Head on Huddersfield railway station
had another 8, the Head of Steam has another 8 or more, as does the
Rat and Ratchet (4 Osset beers with an equal number of guests). Then
there's the Star (at least 6)  And now there's the Sportsman (another
6 I think). And then there's a Sam Smiths pub ( The Commercial) and
one or two other free houses (eg the Vulcan). And Wetherspoons.

I bet that, within 8 minutes of the railway station, there are at
least  60 different beers to sample  - and that's without any
duplication.

In article ,
   M Platting wrote:
> Planning a jaunt across the Pennines to Huddersfield on Saturday and
> it's got me thinking.

> Are there any towns in the UK with a greater choice of beer within
> such a small area?

> In no particular order, Ian Hayes up at the Grove has 18 different
> beers, Bruce Travis at the Kings Head on Huddersfield railway station
> had another 8, the Head of Steam has another 8 or more, as does the
> Rat and Ratchet (4 Osset beers with an equal number of guests). Then
> there's the Star (at least 6)  And now there's the Sportsman (another
> 6 I think). And then there's a Sam Smiths pub ( The Commercial) and
> one or two other free houses (eg the Vulcan). And Wetherspoons.

> I bet that, within 8 minutes of the railway station, there are at
> least  60 different beers to sample  - and that's without any
> duplication.

Well Sheffield perhaps has as good a choice of beer as long as you take the
tram from the train station and get off at the Wellington.

-- 
Christine Pampling
www.pandorasboxhealing.com

On Wed, 20 May 2009 21:05:51 +0100, Christine
 wrote:

>
>Well Sheffield perhaps has as good a choice of beer as long as you take the
>tram from the train station and get off at the Wellington.

Yes, Sheffield comes close with the Fat Cat, Wellington (Cask and
Cutler) , Kelham Island Tavern, Hillsborough Hotel and New Barrack
Tavern.. I still think Huddersfield has the edge.

I think you're probably right, at least in the area within which I normally 
travel.

Bradford is not too bad - you've got the Corn Dolly on Bolton Road , the 
Shoulder (sam smiths), a Lloyds No1 in the square, the Titus Salt behind the 
Alhambra, the Fighting Cocks on Preston Street, The Castle (that was 
Yorkshire small breweries at one time I think) The New Beehive (Bradfordian 
as was) and Haigys

Theres a few more a it further out such as Idle WM Club (what a superb name) 
The Prospect, etc there was a hogshead round the corner from rhe Interchange 
which had a  good few on at one time.

Plus the Rams Revenge and the Overdraught (now long gone) on Kirkgate
And the Biko Bar in the University when I think of it.


And you could round the whole thing off with a Karachi or a Kashmir for 
around £4

of happy days...,,  (or was it daze....!)

The Champion has to be Rugby , Warwickshire.

Two micro breweries, plenty of great pubs:
  The Merchants Inn ( 10 Ales ) The Raglan ( eight ) The Seven Stars ( 
six) The Alexandra ( six ) Weatherspoons ( up to eight ), The Squirrel 
etc etc I could go on and on...
Our local CAMRA group are confident that within walking distance of the 
railway station you could enjoy around fifty different beers.
Give it a try ?

Cheers .Rod

In message , 
MPlatting@?.?.invalid writes
>Planning a jaunt across the Pennines to Huddersfield on Saturday and
>it's got me thinking.
>
>Are there any towns in the UK with a greater choice of beer within
>such a small area?
>
>In no particular order, Ian Hayes up at the Grove has 18 different
>beers, Bruce Travis at the Kings Head on Huddersfield railway station
>had another 8, the Head of Steam has another 8 or more, as does the
>Rat and Ratchet (4 Osset beers with an equal number of guests). Then
>there's the Star (at least 6)  And now there's the Sportsman (another
>6 I think). And then there's a Sam Smiths pub ( The Commercial) and
>one or two other free houses (eg the Vulcan). And Wetherspoons.
>
>I bet that, within 8 minutes of the railway station, there are at
>least  60 different beers to sample  - and that's without any
>duplication.

-- 
Rod Perkins

On 21 May, 06:46, rod perkins  wrote:
> The Champion has to be Rugby , Warwickshire.
>
> Two micro breweries, plenty of great pubs:
>   The Merchants Inn ( 10 Ales ) The Raglan ( eight ) The Seven Stars (
> six) The Alexandra ( six ) Weatherspoons ( up to eight ), The Squirrel
> etc etc I could go on and on...
> Our local CAMRA group are confident that within walking distance of the
> railway station you could enjoy around fifty different beers.
> Give it a try ?
>
> Cheers .Rod
>
> In message ,
> MPlatting@?.?.invalid writes
>
>
>
> >Planning a jaunt across the Pennines to Huddersfield on Saturday and
> >it's got me thinking.
>
> >Are there any towns in the UK with a greater choice of beer within
> >such a small area?
>
> >In no particular order, Ian Hayes up at the Grove has 18 different
> >beers, Bruce Travis at the Kings Head on Huddersfield railway station
> >had another 8, the Head of Steam has another 8 or more, as does the
> >Rat and Ratchet (4 Osset beers with an equal number of guests). Then
> >there's the Star (at least 6)  And now there's the Sportsman (another
> >6 I think). And then there's a Sam Smiths pub ( The Commercial) and
> >one or two other free houses (eg the Vulcan). And Wetherspoons.
>
> >I bet that, within 8 minutes of the railway station, there are at
> >least  60 different beers to sample  - and that's without any
> >duplication.
>
> --
> Rod Perkins

I've only managed a couple of brief visits, but Derby is no slouch...

Derby CAMRA Annual Beer Census Results 2008
More Real Ales per head than any other City

The recent Derby CAMRA Annual Beer Census saw the City try to
recapture the title of 'Beer Capital of Britain', which it has held on
numerous occasions throughout the years. However, we came up slightly
short of our bigger City neighbours, Nottingham and Sheffield although
per head of population we definitely have more different ones
available than any other City in the Country.

The ABC crawl (as it has become known) has developed into one of the
best social nights out of the year with members young and old crawling
around most of Derby's pubs in the name of Beer Science and a pint or
three. Meeting up at the end of the evening for a right good knees-up,
a swapping of tales from the night's activities and of course the all
important result announcement.

This year's event saw 79 pubs visited with the idea being to determine
how many different Real Ales were available in the City on any one
given night. The results again proved startling but fell slightly
below last year's total by 4. However this in itself is still quite
impressive for a cold wintry night in February with less pubs being
visited than last year.

With no Real Ale available in 10 pubs and 4 Closed, the 275 Real Ales
recorded (147 different ones) came from just 65 pubs, an average of
over 4 per pub. These Ales came from 70 different breweries throughout
the Country. 7 Real Ciders & Perries where also found.

Star pubs of the night included the Flowerpot with 28 Real Ales
followed by the Babington Arms with 25 and the Brunswick with 16.
Marston's Pedigree is still the most dominant brand in the City
available in 40 pubs easily beating its nearest rival Draught Bass
which continues its steady decline and is now only available in 16
pubs compared to its position of power a few years back. Greene King
Old Speckled Hen - 8 pubs, Wells & Youngs Directors - 8, Wells &
Youngs Bombardier - 7 and Greene King Abbot - 7 make up the next
nearest rivals.

The average price of a pint was noted but this was recorded before the
last budget increase and City Centre price hike. Anyway, on the night
itself the average price of a pint came out at £2.38 (6p up on the
previous year) making Derby probably the most expensive place to drink
in the East Midlands. On a slightly worrying note though the beer
quality throughout was generally found to be average with only a
handful of pubs (mostly Derby's Good Beer Guide entries) serving good
quality ale.

So there you have it, a few stats to bear in mind while crawling
around 'Beer City' sampling one or two of the many different beer
styles and tastes available. We may have failed to take the title back
but Derby is still a haven for Real Ales and long may it continue!!!

On 20 May, 20:32, M Platting wrote:
> Planning a jaunt across the Pennines to Huddersfield on Saturday and
> it's got me thinking.
>
> Are there any towns in the UK with a greater choice of beer within
> such a small area?
>
> In no particular order, Ian Hayes up at the Grove has 18 different
> beers, Bruce Travis at the Kings Head on Huddersfield railway station
> had another 8, the Head of Steam has another 8 or more, as does the
> Rat and Ratchet (4 Osset beers with an equal number of guests). Then
> there's the Star (at least 6)  And now there's the Sportsman (another
> 6 I think). And then there's a Sam Smiths pub ( The Commercial) and
> one or two other free houses (eg the Vulcan). And Wetherspoons.
>
> I bet that, within 8 minutes of the railway station, there are at
> least  60 different beers to sample  - and that's without any
> duplication.

Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool are probably too big to
count as fair competition.

Chester has 2 or 3 superb pubs and  a lot of nice ones.
Derby, Norwich and Nottingham abound in pubs and microbrewieries.
Reading, Salisbury, Oxford, Cambidge are all pretty good.
St Albans, Bradford, Peterborough, Salisibury...

On 22 May, 15:59, 1Z  wrote:
> On 20 May, 20:32, M Platting wrote:
>
>
>
> > Planning a jaunt across the Pennines to Huddersfield on Saturday and
> > it's got me thinking.
>
> > Are there any towns in the UK with a greater choice of beer within
> > such a small area?
>
> > In no particular order, Ian Hayes up at the Grove has 18 different
> > beers, Bruce Travis at the Kings Head on Huddersfield railway station
> > had another 8, the Head of Steam has another 8 or more, as does the
> > Rat and Ratchet (4 Osset beers with an equal number of guests). Then
> > there's the Star (at least 6)  And now there's the Sportsman (another
> > 6 I think). And then there's a Sam Smiths pub ( The Commercial) and
> > one or two other free houses (eg the Vulcan). And Wetherspoons.
>
> > I bet that, within 8 minutes of the railway station, there are at
> > least  60 different beers to sample  - and that's without any
> > duplication.
>
> Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool are probably too big to
> count as fair competition.
>
> Chester has 2 or 3 superb pubs and  a lot of nice ones.
> Derby, Norwich and Nottingham abound in pubs and microbrewieries.
> Reading, Salisbury, Oxford, Cambidge are all pretty good.
> St Albans, Bradford, Peterborough, Salisibury...


Opps..left out a personal favourite, Stockport.

"1Z"  wrote in message 
news:f2800ee2-c9b8-4d0b-9b56-183a45477391@b1g2000vbc.googlegroups.com...
> On 20 May, 20:32, M Platting wrote:
>> Planning a jaunt across the Pennines to Huddersfield on Saturday and
>> it's got me thinking.
>>
>> Are there any towns in the UK with a greater choice of beer within
>> such a small area?
>>
Rugby has 3 pubs, Raglan Arms, Merchant, Victoria (Atomic Brewery tap), with 
9 ever-changing ales each, most from micros.
Also Alexandra, with it's own brewery, The Squirrel, Rupert Brooke (Spoons), 
Seven Stars, in all of which I've had interesting brews.

On 22 May, 15:59, 1Z  wrote:
> On 20 May, 20:32, M Platting wrote:
>
>
>
> > Planning a jaunt across the Pennines to Huddersfield on Saturday and
> > it's got me thinking.
>
> > Are there any towns in the UK with a greater choice of beer within
> > such a small area?
>
> > In no particular order, Ian Hayes up at the Grove has 18 different
> > beers, Bruce Travis at the Kings Head on Huddersfield railway station
> > had another 8, the Head of Steam has another 8 or more, as does the
> > Rat and Ratchet (4 Osset beers with an equal number of guests). Then
> > there's the Star (at least 6)  And now there's the Sportsman (another
> > 6 I think). And then there's a Sam Smiths pub ( The Commercial) and
> > one or two other free houses (eg the Vulcan). And Wetherspoons.
>
> > I bet that, within 8 minutes of the railway station, there are at
> > least  60 different beers to sample  - and that's without any
> > duplication.
>
> Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool are probably too big to
> count as fair competition.
>
> Chester has 2 or 3 superb pubs and  a lot of nice ones.
> Derby, Norwich and Nottingham abound in pubs and microbrewieries.
> Reading, Salisbury, Oxford, Cambidge are all pretty good.
> St Albans, Bradford, Peterborough, Salisibury...

Liverpool CAMRA has I think described their fair city as "the real ale
pubs capital of the UK".

If the OP's question is "which town/city is the Beer Capital?" then to
me, it's open to any place, big or small.
cheers
MikeMcG

On Sat, 23 May 2009 15:38:42 -0700 (PDT), Mike
 wrote:

>On 22 May, 15:59, 1Z  wrote:
>> On 20 May, 20:32, M Platting wrote:
>>


>>
>> > Are there any towns in the UK with a greater choice of beer within
>> > such a small area?
>>

>
>Liverpool CAMRA has I think described their fair city as "the real ale
>pubs capital of the UK".
>
>If the OP's question is "which town/city is the Beer Capital?" then to
>me, it's open to any place, big or small.
>cheers
>MikeMcG

Yes perhaps I should have been more specific - but then I wasn't quite
sure of the question myself! I think the 'withinin such a small area'
is the key -  I was thinking of someone arriving at a railway station
for a day out, and being able to walk to a selection of pubs and back
again to the station.

Perhaps a half mile radius from the principal railway station would be
a reasonable yerdstick (which in Liverpool's case would include the
Baltic Fleet - so that's ok!)

On 26 May, 08:41, M Platting wrote:
> On Sat, 23 May 2009 15:38:42 -0700 (PDT), Mike
>
>
>
>  wrote:
> >On 22 May, 15:59, 1Z  wrote:
> >> On 20 May, 20:32, M Platting wrote:
>
> >> > Are there any towns in the UK with a greater choice of beer within
> >> > such a small area?
>
> >Liverpool CAMRA has I think described their fair city as "the real ale
> >pubs capital of the UK".
>
> >If the OP's question is "which town/city is the Beer Capital?" then to
> >me, it's open to any place, big or small.
> >cheers
> >MikeMcG
>
> Yes perhaps I should have been more specific - but then I wasn't quite
> sure of the question myself! I think the 'withinin such a small area'
> is the key -  I was thinking of someone arriving at a railway station
> for a day out, and being able to walk to a selection of pubs and back
> again to the station.
>
> Perhaps a half mile radius from the principal railway station would be
> a reasonable yerdstick (which in Liverpool's case would include the
> Baltic Fleet - so that's ok!)


And the Northern quarter is easily accessible from
from Machester Victoria.

Just returned to the US from a trip around West Yorks
and up into The Dales. We stayed in Holmfirth (reasons
are obvious??), but did drive up into Huddersfield.

Gotta say ... WOW!!!

Parked in the big lot at the top of the town and
walked to bunches of pubs with loads of real ales.
Think we liked the Rat and Ratchet best, 'cause
they were doing their Mild festival. But there's
two pubs just over at the station, and there's the
Grove right by where we parked. Then there's the
Star as well.

The day we were there, across all the
pubs we looked into, betcha we counted over 60
different real ales on the pump.

"sam"  wrote in message 
news:gvhghp$7ae$1@news.eternal-september.org...
> Just returned to the US from a trip around West Yorks
> and up into The Dales. We stayed in Holmfirth (reasons
> are obvious??), but did drive up into Huddersfield.
>
> Gotta say ... WOW!!!
>
> Parked in the big lot at the top of the town and
> walked to bunches of pubs with loads of real ales.
> Think we liked the Rat and Ratchet best, 'cause
> they were doing their Mild festival. But there's
> two pubs just over at the station, and there's the
> Grove right by where we parked. Then there's the
> Star as well.
>
> The day we were there, across all the
> pubs we looked into, betcha we counted over 60
> different real ales on the pump.

Next time, you'll have to do the Sportsman as well, just a stone's throw 
from the station - Taylor's Landlord, Black Sheep Golden Sheep and 6 guests, 
mostly Huddersfield-brewed ales. Cheers!

In article
,
   1Z  wrote:
> On 26 May, 08:41, M Platting wrote:
> > On Sat, 23 May 2009 15:38:42 -0700 (PDT), Mike
> >
> >
> >
> >  wrote:
> > >On 22 May, 15:59, 1Z  wrote:
> > >> On 20 May, 20:32, M Platting wrote:
> >
> > >> > Are there any towns in the UK with a greater choice of beer
> > >> > within such a small area?

[Snip]

Been to all of those, mostly several times, and vote for Huddersfield!

-- 
Chris de Cordova (West Cumbria & Western Lakes) www.westcumbriacamra.org.uk
Whitehaven Beer Festival: 20th & 21st Nov 2009 (www.whitehavenbeerfestival.co.uk)
www.cumbrianbreweries.org.uk for good craic on our beers!

Ever wonder if illiterate people get the full effect of alphabet soup?

Now everyone knows that real ale can solve all the world's problems so it 
were all only a matter of time....

Over 20 years ago (1986 I think) it was a well known fact in Heavy Metal 
circles that:-
"everybody knows the centre of the universe is Huddersfield"
http://www.kovideo.net/lyrics/i/Iron-Maiden/Sheriff-Of-Huddersfield.html

Prophetic words methinks

Let Huddists rejoyce for the word is spreading far and wide.....


"sam"  wrote in message 
news:gvhghp$7ae$1@news.eternal-september.org...
> Just returned to the US from a trip around West Yorks
> and up into The Dales. We stayed in Holmfirth (reasons
> are obvious??), but did drive up into Huddersfield.
>
> Gotta say ... WOW!!!
>
> Parked in the big lot at the top of the town and
> walked to bunches of pubs with loads of real ales.
> Think we liked the Rat and Ratchet best, 'cause
> they were doing their Mild festival. But there's
> two pubs just over at the station, and there's the
> Grove right by where we parked. Then there's the
> Star as well.
>
> The day we were there, across all the
> pubs we looked into, betcha we counted over 60
> different real ales on the pump.

My vote goes to Halesowen/Lye

In article ,
   Brett...  wrote:
> My vote goes to Halesowen/Lye]]have you sung praises?

Havent seen., if so!


give some details to make me spend some of my summer hols here ....

-- 
Chris de Cordova (West Cumbria & Western Lakes) www.westcumbriacamra.org.uk
Whitehaven Beer Festival: 20th & 21st Nov 2009 (www.whitehavenbeerfestival.co.uk)
www.cumbrianbreweries.org.uk for good craic on our beers!

A bicycle can't stand alone because it's two tyred.

Obviously I'd be OT and we all (I trust) want good news; but has anyone  
encountered the opposite  - that is a Real Ale desert? or maybe just a  
dull monopoly town?

I'd have mentioned Merthyr Tydfil in dishonourable dispatches, but it has  
a Spoon and (saving grace) a (the?) Rhymney brewery outlet.





-- 
Siggy played guitar

In article ,
   Chris de Cordova  wrote:
> In article ,
>    Brett...  wrote:
> > My vote goes to Halesowen/Lye]]have you sung praises?

> Havent seen., if so!


> give some details to make me spend some of my summer hols here ....

I'm not sure it's really a "summer holiday" type of place...

Chris (who comes from 3 miles up the road!)

-- 
Christine Pampling
www.pandorasboxhealing.com

On Sun, 07 Jun 2009 11:38:07 +0100, Christine  
 wrote:

> In article ,
>    Chris de Cordova  wrote:
>> In article ,
>>    Brett...  wrote:
>> > My vote goes to Halesowen/Lye]]have you sung praises?
>
>> Havent seen., if so!
>
>
>> give some details to make me spend some of my summer hols here ....
>
> I'm not sure it's really a "summer holiday" type of place...
>
> Chris (who comes from 3 miles up the road!)

I spent a summer holiday (a week? long time back) touring the Dudley area,  
sampling Holden, Batham, Sarah Hughes, Plant Holt& Deakin, (that'll date  
it to mid 80's) etc beers
.
Came back quite tanned; shocked work-colleagues by my answer to the "where  
did you go for your hols?"!
>


-- 
Siggy played guitar

Esra Sdrawkcab wrote:
> 
> has anyone 
> encountered the opposite  - that is a Real Ale desert? or maybe just a 
> dull monopoly town?
> 
Oh yes, I have ... West Drayton.
Against the good advice from this group, we spent a night
there waiting for a Heathrow flight.

Not a real ale to be found.

On Sun, 07 Jun 2009 12:43:12 +0100, sam  wrote:

> Esra Sdrawkcab wrote:
>>  has anyone encountered the opposite  - that is a Real Ale desert? or  
>> maybe just a dull monopoly town?
>>
> Oh yes, I have ... West Drayton.
> Against the good advice from this group, we spent a night
> there waiting for a Heathrow flight.
>
> Not a real ale to be found.

Ah, I had to cycle out to somewhere between some ponds to find a pub that  
sold Courage Best. Not a great experience all told.

-- 
Siggy played guitar

In article <4a2933be$0$18246$da0feed9@news.zen.co.uk>,
   Mark  wrote:
> "everybody knows the centre of the universe is Huddersfield"

got a night there this friday!!  Staying at the George - but not
drinking there!

anyone around to meet up?

-- 
Chris de Cordova (West Cumbria & Western Lakes) www.westcumbriacamra.org.uk
Whitehaven Beer Festival: 20th & 21st Nov 2009 (www.whitehavenbeerfestival.co.uk)
www.cumbrianbreweries.org.uk for good craic on our beers!

Black holes are where God divided by zero.

In article ,
   Chris de Cordova  wrote:
> In article <4a2933be$0$18246$da0feed9@news.zen.co.uk>,
>    Mark  wrote:
> > "everybody knows the centre of the universe is Huddersfield"

> got a night there this friday!!  Staying at the George - but not
> drinking there!

> anyone around to meet up?

I wish... have a great time!

-- 
Christine Pampling
www.pandorasboxhealing.com

On Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:09:10 +0100, Chris de Cordova
 wrote:


>got a night there this friday!!  Staying at the George - but not
>drinking there!

How did your visit go? Did you manage to find your way through the
maze of wire fencing to the King's Head!!??

There are rumours spreading that the Sair at Linthwaite is currently
only offering Copper Dragon beers. Anyone got any first hand
experience?

In article ,
   M Platting wrote:
> How did your visit go? Did you manage to find your way through the
> maze of wire fencing to the King's Head!!??

haha! Yes but they had already called last orders!

WE had real trouble finding a drivable route into the square - kept
seeing it but not being able to get to it! 

(Scream!!!)

Even phoned the hotel saying we can't get in, are now facing up
towards the bus station, with railway street blocked off on our right
(having come down with it on the left already) asking which way to go.
One way systems seems to have been reversed (see google maps) and
every other way in closed off. Couldn't find any signs for railway
station either.

The girl on reception couldn't tell us.

Scream again.

Found a way in eventually - unsigned from the direction we were
travlling in.

Then relaxed!

Sportsman, Spoons, Rat & Ratchett, and the other one near it, the
Grove. Good company and great beers!

Can't wait to go again!

But each time we go, we are amazed that the works are still ongoing!!
Is that a side effect of recession? Spin the jobs out?

-- 
Chris de Cordova (West Cumbria & Western Lakes) www.westcumbriacamra.org.uk
Whitehaven Beer Festival: 20th & 21st Nov 2009 (www.whitehavenbeerfestival.co.uk)
www.cumbrianbreweries.org.uk for good craic on our beers!

The severity of the itch is proportional to the reach.

In article , Chris de Cordova
 writes
>But each time we go, we are amazed that the works are still ongoing!! Is 
>that a side effect of recession? Spin the jobs out? 

Sadly it's the sign of a bloated, incompetent council run by idiots,
today's local paper says it could go on for months yet, Kirklees is an
abomination which should be disbanded immediately.

Glad you liked the pubs, at least some people here can organise a
drinking session in a brewery unlike the council.

Mike

-- 
Michael Swift           We do not regard Englishmen as foreigners.      
Kirkheaton              We look on them only as rather mad Norwegians.    
Yorkshire                                       Halvard Lange