Pubs Galore crawls 2020

[sheffield hatter]

Here's a summary of the discussion of the suggested venues for our crawl in the north next spring:

Getting back to the point, any other suggestions apart from Lincoln and Macclesfield?

North of a line from roughly Aberystwyth to the Wash:-

Burton upon Trent, Newark, Preston, Chesterfield, Beverley, Bolton, Leeds to Todmorden railway (Bradford, Halifax, Sowerby Bridge, Hebden Bridge, Tod'), Halifax, Harrogate, Southport, Stafford.

I'm assuming Lancaster, Darlington, Stockton and Middlesbrough are too difficult travel wise, ditto any places off the rail network.

I have done Halifax, Hebden Bridge, Todmorden all by train from Wales with a Camra branch. It was a very good crawl.

Yes, but a flipping long way from the south - 3 hours plus each way.

Surely Tod to Bradford inclusive is too much? I would have chosen just Sowerby Bridge and Hebden Bridge. It might be easier to get a bus between the two.

Wakefield is quite good, as is Preston. I wouldn't bother with Warrington to be honest.

I don't really know Warrington but have never got the impression there's much there. Wakefield has some great options but are there enough? Considering the size of Preston I'm not sure it's that great. I don't think Wigan's that bad but if Wigan Central was absent then I'd probably write it off.

Preston is definitely better for a crawl, no idea about Warrington and I don't mind Wigan but I doubt there's enough good pubs. It has 7 in the GBG that are central and several of those are a bit small.

From the options suggested in this thread so far, I like the sound of Preston, Macclesfield, Bradford and (geography permitting) Lincoln.

Absolutely nobody has provided any arguments for going to Halifax, and yet in the poll it is a tie between Halifax and Preston. In the run off, Halifax has already got three votes and Preston none. Do we know who is voting for Halifax? Is it Vladimir Putin? If so, I will definitely be there. (In previous polls we could see who had cast their votes for which option, but in this one it seems to be hidden. No probs, Vlad.)

Travel information: Preston is on the west coast main line; Halifax is a tough journey from (to take a random example) Bristol; and it's similarly much longer from London to Halifax compared to Preston. (Lancaster was thought to be too far, but is only 15 mins further than Preston; Halifax is a good hour more than Preston.)


Anyway, I've no particular axe to grind, as I've been to Preston twice recently and Halifax not long before, so I don't mind where we go, just so long as everyone is fully informed. So here's a comparison:

Preston is pretty good, but there's quite a long way between pubs. I was there in August with a crew from Beer and Pubs Forum - see this thread: my post on 13 August has itinerary and walking distances, to save you reading the whole thing. Their suggested lunch stop in the Wellington was pretty awful, despite being in the Good Beer Guide, so in the interest of research I also visited Hogarths (cheap beer but good condition), the Princess Alice, the Wellfield and the Plug & Taps microbar (standing room only at tea time). My idea of the best of Preston based on this visit would be as follows:

Continental
Old Vic
Hogarths
Old Blue Bell
Guild Ale House
Moorbrook
Vinyl Tap
Market Tap
Black Horse
Plug & Taps

Others that may be worth a try: The Orchard, Plau, The Northern Way or even the (no longer Mad) Ferret.

Of recent reviews of Halifax pubs, these are possibles:

The Grayston Unity
Kobenhavn
The Lantern
Meandering Bear
Ring o' Bells
The Royal Oak
Square Chapel Bar
The Three Pigeons
The Upper George
Victorian Craft Beer Cafe
Yates's (see also https://whatpub.com/pubs/HAL/1251/yatess-halifax).

(I haven't checked WhatPub for all the others, so I may have missed something.)

• Maybe not much to choose between the two possible venues beer-wise.
  
• Halifax is perhaps more compact. (Haven't analysed this - just an impression.)
  
• The difference travel-wise may be off-putting for some. (Not me. )