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Four days into June and still no sign of a blog post,although there's a couple of drafts in various stages of preparation. There seemsto have been an absence of anything worthy to write about, although that couldchange next week, when the Bailey clan head off to the land of the Tykes,otherwise known as “God’s own country.” We’re actually setting foot in the north country for afamily funeral, the deceased being Mrs PBT’s Aunty Kathleen. She was a lovely,quietly-spoken lady who passed peacefully away a couple of weeks ago; just twomonths shy of her 100th birthday. There must be something in the airup in “them thar hills,” as she always looked hale and hearty, so in an attemptto find that secret of eternal youth, we’ll be spending a few days in the areabetween Bingley and Keighley.
It’s been five years since we were last up that way, anddespite the sadness that surrounds a funeral, it will be good to catch up withthe northern branch of Eileen’s family. I’ve drawn the short straw with thedriving again, despite Matthew having acquired a new car. I don’t tend to dothat many long-distance road trips these days, the last one having been a shortholiday to Barry Island, last September. Instead, I much prefer travelling bytrain, but that’s not really practical for a stay that will necessitate havingthe flexibility that only a privately-owned car can bring.
As far as beer and pubs are concerned, I shall just playthings by ear, and go with the flow. I am aware we’ve been invited for a familymeal on the evening after the funeral, and the venue will be the AiredaleHeifer, an extensive roadside alehouse, with its own brewery (Bridgehouse),situated in a building behind the pub. We enjoyed a meal there, with Eileen’sYorkshire relations, on our last visit, so we know both the food and the beerare of a high standard. There is the issue of driving there, as even thoughit’s only a 10-minute walk from the Premier Inn we’re staying at, Mrs PBT’sdoes have a few mobility issues these days. I shall probably order a taxi forher, and walk there myself, as that way, I can sample a few of the Heifer’shouse-brewed ales.
I mentioned earlier that there wasn’t much to write about,but on reflection that isn’t quite true, as there’s been a couple of “good news”stories that have broken recently. The first story has an appropriate Tykeconnection, as it relates to the embattled Black Sheep Brewery of Masham, NorthYorkshire. After calling in administrators at the start of last month, BlackSheep has been acquired by London-based investment firm Breal Capital and willcontinue to trade under the same name. Breal has a proven track record ofsuccessfully transforming and growing the businesses it acquires, so fingerscrossed they can turn Black Sheep’s fortunes around.
A spokesperson for the brewery said: "This marks the nextchapter in the history of Black Sheep as we look to grow the business in asustainable way. Our team will continue to produce great beers from ourlandmark brewery in Masham, North Yorkshire and we also look forward towelcoming customers and tourists to all our retail sites.”The other good news story concerns major brewer and pubowner, Greene King, as this summer the company will be the first major caskbrewer to offer its beers in 4.5-gallon casks, or pins. With the pub sectorstill feeling the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, and consumers makingfewer visits to their local pub, GK believe that the introduction of pins will havea tangible effect on the cask ale market. Containing just 36 pints, half thesize of the industry standard 9-gallon casks, pins will ensure a fasterturnover of each cask, thereby enabling licensees to deliver a range of fresh caskbeer to customers, whilst at the same time minimising wastage.

As proof of their commitment to this scheme, Greene King aremaking a seven-figure investment in order to bring it to fruition. CAMRA havebeen advocating this type of initiative for many years, so it will beinteresting to see how it pans out, but on that note, I shall call it a day, asthe work I’ve been performing outside needs my attention. It involves sortingout both our shed and our summerhouse, and is one of those long-overdue, “must-do”tasks. Fortunately, it’s nearing completion, but it did involve a bit oftime-consuming, construction and repair work. That, gentle reader is the mainreason why posts haven’t been as frequent as they might otherwise have been,but there is something virtuous in ticking this particular task off from myextensive list of jobs.

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