...fields of dreams

That is Sheffield, Dronfield, Wakefield, Huddersfield (and Dewsbury - there's always one…)

Anyway, last weekend saw some of the summer holidayers (and T…) visit Yorkshire in the continuing quest for the perfect pint.

First to arrive were Howard and Tracey, who managed to visit the usual Sheffield haunts, and the Coach and Horses in Dronfield, before the next arrival (me!). Sadly, they managed to find out that the Fat Cat was out of Pale Rider (HH1 - just one of the many things that made this a truly horrible holiday!).

Despite this disappointment, we were at least able to sample PR at the Devonshire Cat before returning to the FC and meeting the weekend's surprise guest, Steve. We then ended the evening at Kelham Island Tavern, meeting the rest of the group (Hector, Craig and Yvonne), and chatting to a member of the Sheffield Pipe Band!

The purpose of the trip, however, was not to revisit the pubs of Sheffield, but to go on a bit of a rail crawl. Leaving nice and early, we arrived at Wakefield at 11.20 (only to find out that the Fernandes Brewery Tap opened at noon (HH2). Even worse, when it opened, somehow the beer pumps worked in reverse, sucking the beer out of the glass (HH3)!

Once this was sorted, we had a pint or 2 before heading to Dewsbury station, meeting Dr Stan and Tony Taylor at the West Riding (on the platform), where Scotland's first half performance against Macedonia was being shown (HH4!), driving us away to Huddersfield.

For those who have not been there, Huddersfield station has 2 decent pubs on the main platform. Some of us went to the Head of Steam, where the excellent beer was somewhat let down by the attitude of the food 'manageress' (HH5) - Howard is on the case though…

Our last pub was the Grove - 18 real ales, various foreign beers on draught and a bottled beer menu that has to be seen to be believed. With all this choice, I stuck to Jaipur IPA, although the others were more adventurous… The only problem was having to return to Sheffield - even Craig, our resident trainspotter, did not enjoy the journey along the Penistone line (HH6).

The lightweights went straight home, leaving Hector and me to finally sample PR at source (the Fat Cat) - sadly, it's still not the beer it was, although it is improving again. We were, of course, last out of the pub…

We will return soon…

PS - photos thanks to Hector

PS2 - T is quite right - they did come to the Fat Cat - but their visit was so brief it hardly counts!