Durham Lumiere 2011

We though it would be a good idea to attend the last night of the, Durham Lumiere 2011, a city centre wide art installation. We would park by the river, have a walk round the sights and have a couple of beers.

 Well that plan didn't work, even though we were there early, there was nowhere to park and the traffic was solid from the motorway all the way into the city centre. So we gave up but not completely, we drove to a pub in a village just out of town and had a beer, while we waited for the traffic flow to change direction. I had a Blacksheep but it was expensive, so only the one and then set off back into Durham.

The traffic was still mad but we managed to get down to the rowing club and walked in from there. We intended to pop into the club on the way back, to book some nights there in the van (See here).

We walked in along the river to Elvet Bridge but could not cross, as there was a one way system in operation, so we had to walk back to the market place. The crowds were at a standstill there, all trying to get the the cathedral but getting nowhere.

So we went to Framwellgate Bridge, where we though we could walk along the river to the cathedral but there was also a one way system that way as well, with both sides of the river going the same way.

We gave up trying and went to see the rail viaduct, which was also lit up. This detour was just long enough to let the crowds die down somewhat, so we tried again to get to the cathedral.

It was still hard going but we moved steadily along until we where outside the cathedral, the light show there, although very good, it was too dim to get a good photo. The queue to get into the cathedral after the show, was the biggest of the night by far, so we walked round the side.

Where there was a one way system in operation again, so even though I didn't want to walk the long way back to the market place via the river, that's what we had to do. Through the gate around the side of the cathedral, there looked to be a very good light display out back but we where not allowed in, because of another one way system.

At Prebends Bridge we had some luck, the steward shouting to everyone to stick to the one way system, mentioned that we could turn left instead and head back a quicker way. This turned out to be a very good choice, as we had to pass next to the artificial waterfall from Kingsgate footbridge.

  

From there the path came back out onto Elvet Bridge and we went straight into the Swan and three Cygnets, for a pint Smiths Old Brewery Bitter. Refreshed we did the long walk back along the river to the rowing club but unfortunately it as closed, so we finished the night early.

Not a photo from the night but I may as well review Old Brewery Bitter.

Samuel Smith's, Old Brewery Bitter, from England



4.0% dark brown colour with a good lasting head, fruity aroma, very nice smooth fruity but bitter taste, very good beer, now an all time favourite of mine.

Spooks Ale

Saturday gone, we had the last of the beers we had that were brewed for Halloween, I suppose the Christmas beers will be out soon.

Shepherd Neame, Spooks Ale, from England.



4.7%, deed red colour with a thin head, caramel malt aroma, nice toffee malt taste, not bad.

Football Beers

On Saturday we had a couple of new beers with the England v Spain friendly match. England apparently, had no chance of winning against the best team in the world but we did anyway 1 - 0.

The first beer, was only made for last years World Cup but there are still a few kicking about.

Shepherd Neame, 4-4-2, from England



4.0% gold colour with a poor head, citrus hop aroma and taste, slightly too much hop, for me. Not the best beer in the world, more just a gimmick for the tournament.

The next one was only slightly better.

Shepherd Neame, Autumn Blaze, from England



4.0% deep amber colour with a thin head, caramel malt and hop aroma, caramel malt taste.

Bonfire Night Beers

We booked the motorhome in to the Caravan Club site at Stockton for bonfire night, that way we didn't have to bother with all the traffic, before and after the event. We arrived early and had a walk into Stockton centre where we bought lipstick (well Dot did). While trying to find the Boro match on my phone radio, I realised that it was the late game and on TV, Sky Sports 2. I always take the satellite dish away with us, but as we were only away for one night I didn't bother, how stupid can you get. However you can now get Sky on your phone or laptop, so I had to pay for extra internet access at the campsite, to get it on the laptop.

Jonathan, Lorraine and the boys arrived at half time and we had sausages, beans and baked potatoes, while we watched the second half, before setting off to see the display. Much warmer than past years and I saw much more than I usually do, as I didn't try to take photos for a change. A very good display, a big thank you to our local authority for still supporting things like this.

Then it was back to the van to finish the beers we had started with our supper, the first was an old favourite but bought for £0.69/bottle. I got it on offer from B&M Bargains, when asked how many I bought, I said all of them, Jonathan had done the same in his local B&M. I had eleven bottles, Jonathan had nine bottles, I won, the beer in question is,

Grolsch, Premium Weizen, from Holland



5.3% cloudy gold colour with a thin head, smells like and tastes like a good German Hefeweizen, banana in the aroma and that wonderful yeasty wheatbeer taste, strange that it's Dutch then, well done Grolsch.

The Grolsch was that good we only tried one other beer, a new one for us, and it was also on offer at £0.79/bottle,

Joseph Holt, Fifth Sense, from England



4.3% amber colour with a thin head, floral aroma, slightly sweet fruity taste, not bad.

Lynx Beers

While we were out on Halloween, I popped into a small shop near the Royal Oak in Great Ayton. I had just said to Dot, "I bet they don't have a beer I haven't had" and immediately spotted two I hadn't had.

Bavaria Brouwerij, Lynx Premium, from Holland



5.0% gold colour with a no head, usual lager aroma and taste, drinkable and reasonably priced, better than I thought it would be.

Bavaria Brouwerij, Lynx Super, from Holland



7.9% gold colour with no head, sweet sugary aroma, very sweet alcohol taste and a strange bitter aftertaste, dreadful beer.

Halloween

We drove to Whitby for a day out on Halloween, a good place to be on such a day, the scene of the original Dracula story. We had a good day, it was warm and the sun was out, great for the last day of October. At the end of the pier, we even paid the £1.20 each to climb to the top of the old lighthouse (something I wouldn't do before), some good views from the top. It was part of Goth week so there were even more people in costume than would normally be expected at Halloween in the UK. As well as the Goths there were Steam Punks and also lots of Pirates, I know about the Goths and Steam Punks but when did people start dressing as Pirates.

Didn't have a beer in Whitby but we did stop off at the Royal Oak, in Great Ayton and there was a Halloween beer on draught, it was very good, so I had two. Dot was driving after that, the Royal Oak seems to be a very nice and friendly pub.

Caledonian, Trick or Treat from Scotland



4.4% deep gold colour with a good head, toffee aroma, mild toffee and hop taste, I got no ginger at all but I did like it a lot.

We then moved on closer to home and had another Halloween beer in the Ship at Wolviston.

Nick Stafford’s Hambleton Ales, Ghostly Glory, England



4.0% deep gold colour with a good head, fudge aroma, some toffee in the taste, nice.

Wetherspoons York

We have been to York for three days, although for a while it didn't look like we would make it. The day before we left, I pulled a muscle or trapped a nerve in my back and couldn't move, well not without a lot of pain anyway. The pain had eased on the afternoon of the day we were going, so we decided not to cancel the trip and see how it went.

After we got settled in, we walked into town and had a beer in the Kings Arms but I felt sick (probably caused by the constant dull pain in my back) and we left to walk back to the van.

A note on the Kings Arms, it is probably one of the friendliest pubs in the world and even though we only visit York four or five time per year, as we entered the pub the landlord greeted us with "hello strangers long time no see". The Beer is also very good and very cheap.

On the walk back, I got my second wind and we popped into the Postern Gate, A Wetherspoons pub. I did know that a beer festival was on there and had been looking forward to a few new beers in there during our stay. Well I was very disappointed with the selection, during the festival you can get three 1/3 samples for the price of one pint but they didn't have three beers worth sampling. They had two stouts, two ciders, two Scottish beers and two beers they always have on. Anyway I got it wrong and ordered a cider (Dot drank most of it), then got a Belhaven, St Andrews Ale, before leaving, unhappy and didn't return for the rest of the trip.

Belhaven, St Andrews Ale from Scotland

4.9% dark brown colour with a good head, very little aroma, the taste was tart, it was not at all good.