Blowy walk, not beer festival, left me feeling ale ’n hearty

‘TIS the season for beer festivals, and we are spoilt for choice.

The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway threw a four-day spectacular. A more modest celebration of English ale filled the village hall of nearby Cononley.

As a real ale loony, your diarist has to endure these experiences. So it’s up to Oxenhope, terminus of the KWVR line, on the Hebden Bridge bus – one of the finest rides in the county, which is saying something. Next to the station, the engine shed had been cleared for the event, with a bar running for a hundred yards. I counted 44 pumps before giving up.

Crowded in the lee of a Stanier 2-8-0 goods engine (No 48431, since you ask) the drinkers, mostly men, and mostly of a certain age, were tucking into pints of bitter from dozens of different breweries.

To be honest, I found it a bit too much, so made my excuses and left. The bus back wasn’t for another hour, so I hiked up the steep valley side and walked back into Haworth along the top.

Forty minutes of fresh, blowy air in the Yorkshire sunshine. Can’t beat it! I should have worn something less heavy, though.

What a contrast in neighbouring Cononley, where the tenth beer festival was on a more modest scale: nine beers in the village hall.

But it was a hugely-successful community event, packed with families. At my table were four lads from faraway Bacup, Lancs, (though men have been known to go further for a pint).

Sadly, the only beer I couldn’t get was the one I’ve been drinking for years: Naylor’s, from our village. The brewery has closed, a victim of the pandemic. Let’s hope it will restart!