Now that smoking has been defeated, booze is becoming the next target of health campaigners and politicians.
The Economist sketches the battleground (‘Plastered for a pound‘) and includes a graph of alcohol consumption in Britain since 1900. Surprisingly (to me), beer consumption is as high now as at any time since the First War. It was at its lowest in the middle of the last century – a period I’d always associated with pubs (think of those Oxford authors meeting in the Eagle and Child, and of John Major’s Orwell-inspired elegy ‘long shadows on county grounds, warm beer… old maids bicycling to holy communion through the morning mist’).
Wine has of course grown rapidly since the 1980s, but the volume consumed is still much lower than beer. Spirits are holding steady, with cider and alopops growing. The figures are harder to analyse because beer is much lower in alcohol than wine.
Here is my personal response to the problem of cheap booze:
- Restrict beer drinking to the pub – where it’s very rarely cheaper than the proposed minimal pricing.
- Prefer quality to quantity, and be willing to pay for it.
- Choose lower alcohol beers (up to 4%) where available.
- Restrict your days for drinking: I’m currently up to three dry days a week. (Good for health; good for cash flow).
Mulled wine on the range
This pub doesn’t ever disappoint, not in summer nor in winter.
After a cold, clear and very snowy walk over the fells, where better to warm up than beside the range at the Craven Arms.
The steaming cauldron contains mulled wine, which went down well (though I chose Moorhouse Black Witch as my winter warmer).
Investigation into the connection between geology, geophysics and beer drinking in Wired Magazine: Why geologists like beer.
Sun Inn, Norwood, North Yorkshire
Once or twice a year the next door Sun Inn turns into the snowed in.
NB: the geese are pets, not for Christmas dinner.
Drinkers at The Old Bell
Here’s an image to please CAMRA. They’re so keen to broaden the appeal of real ale that they often use photos of (invariably young) women in their publicity.
My image (taken with permission) was no airbrushed setup. Just a delightful group of women enjoying each other’s company and several glasses of beer (though one of the group – hidden from view in my picture – was keen to tell me she was sticking to coffee).
The picture was taken at the Old Bell Tavern in Harrogate at lunchtime today. A framed picture on the wall nearby shows Bill Clinton popping in for a pint. It’s an outstanding pub, and perhaps everyone was happy to be taking refuge from Christmas shopping today.
My life in pubs
Which would be my ‘desert island pubs’? Which would I dream about if incarcarated? This list is different from those I’ve spent most time in: it’s a list of those I dream of spending more time in. My preference, as you’ll see, is for rural locations and all of my choices have historic resonance.
From south to north:
- The Square and Compass, Worth Matravers, Dorset. The Isle of Purbeck does retain its distinctness from the ‘mainland’; Corfe Castle is the main tourist attraction, but this pub is unique. Simplest of menus, beers from the barrel, Jurassic fossils in the attached museum; views of strip lynchets to the sea; the chip chip of sculptors at the front living up to the pub’s name. Special.
- The Carew Arms, Crowcombe, Somerset. I’ve been there sporadically over the last twenty years, and it’s always a special place (the drive over the Quantocks to Nether Stowey may be short but it’s outstandingly special, especially in the crowded soutern half of our island). Last time I visited, a bar had been converted to a tea room. Enterprising.
- The Turf Tavern, Oxford. Just finding this hidden gem along medieval Oxford alleyways is memorable. Being there does not disappoint: it’s a true real ale house, with space inside and out. Shame that health and safety rules have ended the braziers. Students and locals may take it for granted; for visitors, it’s like experiencing a scene from Jude the Obscure.
- Wig and Mitre, Lincoln. I was struggling to find anywhere in the Midlands to nominate; this pub/restaurant wins it for its position at the top of Steep Hill. Yes, Lincoln has a dramatic hill – crowned by the castle and cathedral. I always drink Batemans when in Lincoln: ‘Good Honest Ales’.
- Craven Arms, Appletreewick, North Yorkshire. I often write about this pub, and it never disappoints. OK, it’s the one that’s most local to me, but it’s also currently my favourite. The history here is blatant (and surprisingly recent). Gas lights, old bakelite phones, and the newly-built ‘medieval’ thatched cruck barn. It’s a special experience, with beer as the centrepiece.
- Queen’s Head, Troutbeck, Cumbria. Lots of choice in this part of the world, but the Queen’s Head gets my vote for its atmosphere (stone flagged floors; bar made out of a four poster bed; open fires) and position in the quieter eastern part of the Lake District. People come for here nature, not architecture, but the long walk through Troutbeck to the National Trust house at Townhead presents a spectacular display of vernacular architecture. And don’t miss the church with its William Morris glass, or fail to look up at the hills.
This list reminds me that I need to spend more time in Wales and Scotland (and also Cornwall and Northumberland). But favourite pubs aren’t discovered overnight; they grow on you over years and decades. So I don’t expect to update this list until my dotage.
What else to do on a rainy Sunday in winter? Sit by the fire in The Craven Arms (close to the river Wharfe) and enjoy some local ale.
Ilkley’s just downriver, but I’d never even heard of the Ilkley Brewery until today when I was able to shut out the weather with a pint of Mary Jane. How else to describe it but as a classic Yorkshire pale ale?
Checking the website, the brewery was only established in April so I’ve not been too slow on the uptake.
My title (Wharfed ale) is borrowed from a specialist beer shop in Otley which sadly closed this year.
I’ve popped in three times since Saturday to the Friend at Hand just off Russell Square in Bloomsbury (it’s been a busy week). The Young’s bitter has been good and not too expensive for central London. But before this becomes a habit, I’ve no plans to be back in the area until the New Year. Shame.
The Betjeman Arms in the restored St Pancras station has become my usual regular in this area. Appropriately, since Betjeman visited Cornwall and is buried there in St Enedoc’s church, there’s always a Sharp’s from Rock available. This is is an expensive gastro-pub, but it always has a pleasant buzz and was fun tonight with Arsenal fans gathering before the Champions League fixture. We have Betjeman to thank in large part for the survival of St Pancras station and the rehabilitation of this style of high Victorian architecture.
When you usually serve eight real ales, it seems odd to host a real ale festival. But that’s what Wetherspoon’s are doing (at a pub near you from 28 October to 15 November). More beer, for lower prices (£1.69 a pint).
The accompanying booklet’s an interesting read; the festival is part of the company’s 30th anniversary celebrations, so everything is linked to a 1979 theme. To give a flavour of this, Bateman’s have brewed a new beer – Iron Lady- to celebrate Grantham’s Margaret Thatcher who became our first and only female PM that year.
I hope to catch Adnam’s Pale Champion Ale, Clark’s Resurrection Ale, Davenport’s Last Minute among others. Not sure what’s available where, though.
I visited Wetherspoon’s newly-opened Bank House in Cheltenham this evening. Here’s what I didn’t like: swirly carpets; Wi-Fi not working; the menu not all available; the Goff’s Jouster being flat.
But here’s what I did like: the staff were well-trained and eager; the Mad Goose pale ale was sensational, and it’s a good space and location. Did I mention the Mad Goose? Sensational.
