With the greatest charm offensive since, well since Hector persuaded The Chaps and Chapattis to spend New Year in Ulverston, I managed to muster ten of twelve for an extra night away from home. One cannot drive towards the M6, see the signs for Bradford and not drive over the motorway to the A65. Curry may be the attraction, however Ricky may feel that he too is a Bradford attraction.
Howard and Tracey had their own plans. Driving straight to Bradford they checked in, took the train back to Huddersfield, visited The Grove, returned for a Bradford Curry then retired. They are not in this saga any more.
With Craig and Yvonne once more in the rear seats, Hector and Marg took the scenic route towards Haworth, a detour via Pendle meant we approached Haworth from the south past the reservoirs.
Our passengers were escorted to the station and they purchased round trip tickets to Keighley. Somebody likes steam engines. Jonathan dropped ?Stan!, Mags and Robin and they bought single tickets to Keighley. The Boltmaker’s Arms and Taylor’s Landlord more or less at Source was the attraction.
Hector and Marg walked back up towards the famous cobbled Main Street and began our ritual. This usually involves Marg visiting a certain outfitters and Hector’s bank balance diminishing. We decanted to Gascoigne’s where once again I failed to sample their Ale at Source. My day will come.
Re-united with our charges we sped off to Bradford where the Hilton Hotel was desperate for our business. It was the deal that convinced the ten to stay over.
Haigy’s was the first port of call, the Four Pioneers arrived by foot minutes before it opened, how quaint English pub hours can be. The next chap in asked if we knew ?Stan!, this was Mick, another local CAMRA stalwart. ?Stan! was meeting up with Ricky and a bus was the means of transport the very short distance to Manningham. Introductions were completed and with Mick and Ricky we were ten again.
The Elland Brewery’s Beyond the Pale was the nearest thing to our perfect choice. At 4.2% this was a bit low after the joy of the last few days. The Munich Malt was lost on our palates which had become saturated by New Zealand Hops.
Some of us were watching the clock, Hector’s real Bradford purpose was looming. The phone rang, Lord Clive was home. He asked if anyone called Dave and Allison were in the pub. They were not hard to spot. Having ribbed them over their Leeds FC scarves that were parked in full view of Ricky, it could only be them. It is good that the people of Yorkshire come out to meet their Scottish visitors.
Six of ten went for a magnificent Curry at the newly re-opened Sheesh Mahal. With perefect timing we united the group next door at The Beehive Inn. Here Saltaire’s Cascade Pale Ale was our chosen Ale, sadly it did not impress as much as it did a month before when we were last down in Bradford. At 4.8% this was closer to the mark however.
We were joined by Geoff, the wonderful Chap Ricky, Marg and Hector had spent a day with last September. I think he did stop to breathe at one point in the evening. There was a coal fire, Marg had to be restrained.
We moved on to the main attraction of the pub world in Bradford, the Fighting Cock. Hector’s magnanimous gesture of not arriving first and being served first cost him a taste of what may have been the best Ale on offer in Bradford today – Ossett’s Winter IPA at 5%. Instead Durham’s White Amarillo at 4.8% kept the majority of us amused for the next hour.
A bottle of Belgian Bier magically manifested itself before Yvonne, this changed everything. Hector studied the fridge – Delirium Tremens (bottled) was calling. This Bier called Robin, Mags, Jonathan and eventually Yvonne too. Now we had a party.
For some the night was coming to an end, six of us went for a Curry, for Ricky and Hector this was for the second time this evening, and why not?
The Pubs and Brewery Tap visited today:
Gascoigne’s (Haworth Steam Brewery) – 98 Main Street, Haworth, BD22 8DP
Haigy’s – 31 Lumb Lane, Manningham, Bradford, BD8 7QU
The Fighting Cock – 21 Preston Street, Bradford, BD7 1JE
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