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I’ll start this week with an update on my current situation as I ran out of room last week. *As it stands I’ve not been cleared of cancer. **PET scans are showing residual readings of cancer in my tonsil, but the physical recovery, internal check up and observational signs by the consultant seems to contradict this. *So they are unsure at the moment, hence I am being sent for a suite of scans and tests over the next few weeks. *My next D-Day is 1st April when I meet my consultant again to review the results. ***The right way will see the all clear, the wrong way will see a major operation. ***The way I am looking at the situation is that before this review I possibly had cancer still, after the review nothing has changed, the day of destiny has just moved a few weeks into the future. *You have to be positive in these situations else they will swallow you.
Anyway back onto pub related content, post the result of the above review me and my parents went on a session of some of my favourite pubs taking in the Brighouse pubs of Market Tavern and Commercial / Railway Inn followed by a taxi to the Cross Keys, Siddal to finish off the night. **This was the day before the Leeds trip I detailed last week so by the Sunday I decided to limit myself to a two or three pints over the day, two of those at a client meeting. *The Market Tavern is keeping its beer quality up to the usual high standard, Debs welcoming as always. *I decided to stay on Vocation Brewery Heart and Soul for my time here as it was in cracking condition. *My dad tried 2 or 3 beers and found them all in a similar state. *The more I go into the Market Tavern, the more I like it. *The ethos of “keep it simple, do it well” is what it endearing many customers to this pub as they discover the hidden gem near the market. *The atmosphere reminds me of Calans before the floods hit, and on a related note can’t wait to be haunting that pub again.
We then moved on to see Jason, Trevor and Sue up at the Commercial / Railway Inn. **A couple of nice beers here in the form of Copper Dragon Golden Pippin (one of the beers that got me into real ale originally) and Bosuns Bermuda Triangle, a slightly more citrusy beer I had a number of time before at one of my regular friday lunch pubs near work. **My dad partook of Golden Pippin and a Guinness, the music room giving the perfect place to chill out for an hour, whilst giving me the chance to catch up with Jason. **We decided then to head to the Cross Keys in Siddal, where a lot of my nights and days either start or end, often both, drinking wise. *A cracking trio of beers were sampled here, two of which were new to me. *Gold Bullion by Camerons Brewery, Lemon Dream by Salopian Brewery and Disintegration by the same brewery. *All of which were in great condition. *Gold Bullion is a golden ale with nice hoppiness and well rounded flavour. **Lemon Dream is heavily citrus flavoured beer (fresh lemons being added to the copper), this blonde beer is a regular refreshing tipple of mine. *Disintegration is a pale ale, sweet and hoppy in taste with a dry finish, a first time for this beer. **A very enjoyable afternoon and evening finished off in the company of Hugh and Ruth, the great hosts as always. *
I also bumped into Chris Dyson on my travels, always a good experience, who is celebrating two years of writing his blog, there are some cracking articles on there, I suggest you look him up online. *In recent weeks I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting up with Bloke from Hull aka David Litten. *There is a great community of beer enthusiasts around this part of the country and the quality of our real ale houses is what makes this happen, of which Calderdale have many, for which we should consider outself blessed. *I overran a bit last week causing the editor to have to use a smaller font to fit it all in, so I’ll let him go back to the usual one this week. *Till next week happy supping!



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