'Alf century and 'Uddersfield

Number 50: The Devonshire Cat - Sheffield - Acorn Brewery - USA Northern Brewer IPA

So with number 50 boxed off at the weekend, it was on to Huddersfield for a Tuesday night League 1 clash. After an excruciatingly slow train ride which seemed to stop at every village, hamlet, farmhouse and bus shelter between Sheffield and Huddersfield, we arrived. Due to the limited amount of time we had for ale consumption, I'd come prepared with a handy map: http://huddscamra.org.uk/local/local-pub-maps/

First off was the Head of Steam, which is part of the station.

As you would expect, it was full of railway paraphernalia: various signs, maps and few rail tickets including a few of the European rail ones (the reason why you're wearing a nice pair of Adidas on your feet). The ale was decent as well, I had one from Marston Moor called Cromwell. It wasn't what I asked for but it still slipped down pretty sharpish after the aforementioned train ride.

After a quick scan of the map it was off to The Grove.

This was well worth a visit, a great selection on offer - I plumped for a Darkstar American Pale Ale, and it was very nice indeed. Along with their Hophead, the American Pale has to be one of my favourite ales, top marks Darkstar.

There was also a very 'interesting' selection of bar snacks available. Now you may be thinking some Canadian Ham Seabrook, or maybe even some Cheese Moments. You would be wrong. On the bar snacks menu there were crickets (available in 3 flavours, including salt and vinegar) and larvae (also available in 3 flavours). It should be pointed out that both were served dead - I'd imagine trying to nibble on a plate of live crickets after a few would be quite a tricky business. I opted for a slightly less adventurous (but no less tasty) packet of South African Peri-Peri Biltong, which was basically dried/cured beef, very agreeable.

I also spotted this in The Grove - oof!

So after the excitement of The Grove we moved on to the highly recommended Rat & Ratchet (fellow suppers/Blades Remi and Gaz can be seen lingering in the doorway).

We were greeted with another wide selection - I went for Mallinsons Fox House as a nod to Sheffield & District. The ale was as wonderful as Sheffield itself, they also had a pinball machine which I gave a good working over, pinball wizard etc.

We had just enough time to make an appearance at The Sportsman before kick off.

I had a pint of Avalanche from the aptly named 'Fine Ales Brewery', and a fine ale it was too. The interior had a bit of an Art Deco feel to it as can be seen from the photo of the bar below (which Remi - twitter name: daremstar, also managed to get himself in).

A good little tour then, made all the sweeter by exiting with 3 points in our collective back pocket. Current count is 54 which is still slightly ahead, hopefully will be hitting the 100 mark around the end of March. Might do an update after the Derby Day extravaganza depending on what happens - UTB, keep on suppin'.

A few ales

Right then, I was aiming to get this started earlier but due to various obstacles (me being lazy and spending too much time in the alehouse), I've only just got round to doing it. The idea is that I'll visit 366 different pubs this year that serve real ale - you, the lucky reader, will get to find out all about it. I'd also aimed to get a few more photos sorted but only got a new camera the other week so they're also a bit thin on the ground. Great start.

So far I've been to 48 different pubs that sell real ale (and a few other that don't). I kicked off the challenge in the Red Deer in Sheffield on New Year's Day with a pint of Everards Sunchaser and have been to Manchester, London, Scarborough and, very briefly, York.

                                                           The first of many

Manchester is one of my favourite places to imbibe and a trip to watch Sheffield United at Bury provided the perfect opportunity to sink a few. The top end of the Northern Quarter was our chosen post-match destination with The Angel (Bob's Brewing Co - White Lion), The Marble Arch (Marble - Lagonda No 6) and the The Crown and Kettle (great jukey, Prospect - Blinding Light) all taken in. You can see the fine tiled ceiling of the excellent Marble Arch in the picture below (unfortunately some oaf has got in the corner of the shot). Anyone visiting Manchester should make the effort to locate this gem, great ales from Marble and a lovely interior.

The week after Manchester I found myself in London on another Blades away trip. Due to a slightly unconventional route down, pre-match opportunities were limited. We did, however, mange to visit The Charles Lamb. A lovely little backstreet effort round Islington way, and a nice pint of RCH Pitchfork to take in the surroundings.

A swift one in the Harlequin (Timothy Taylor's Landlord) was also boxed off before heading to the match (we were robbed!).

Around tea-time we headed to the London Bridge / Borough Market area. Had one in The George - fact fans will pleased to know the Charles Dickens used to bevvy in here. Felt nice to have a pint where Charles probably used to come and get smashed on mead or whatever they drank in those days.

After that we headed to the much celebrated Market Porter, a pint of Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter was consumed and we were on our way.

To round the day off, we nipped in the newly opened Euston Tap. They've built it in some sort of old sentry box (bit too big for that) or something, the ale was good (Thornbridge - Brother Rabbit) and I liked the compact feel of the place.

So that was London, a trip to Scarborough last weekend saw a visit to the homely Leeds Arms - great pub, shame about the name. Cracking pint of Copper Dragon Golden Pippin so I'll let them off.

If you're still reading this hats off, I'll be aiming to update this on a more regular basis so if you want to see and read more about ale, pubs and my attempt to visit and drink in lots of them, pop back. Cheers!