Tetley’s Ale Trail – Welcome Back!

I’m not sure whether this is a good thing or a bad one, but I remember having a great time last night on the reincarnation of the Tetley’s Ale Trail. After a gap of thirty years, the brewers have decided that it should once again become a regular fixture on the beer connoisseurs’ list of must do events, and so a hardy band of drinkers assembled at the Grove Inn in eager anticipation.

If you’re going to meet somewhere to go on a pub crawl then there are very few places that could beat The Grove. I read somewhere that it is home to the longest-running static folk club in the country and it was in the back room used for said event that we settled down. The format of the evening was outlined by the two Radio Leeds presenters, Larry Budd and Paul Dunphy, who were the MCs for the night. Once we were all issued with a pint of Tetley’s No.3 or Golden we were entertained by the wonderful Mik Artistik Ego Trip. For those of you who have still to experience the delights of an evening in Mr Artistik’s company, he is part singer, part poet and part stand-up. The sum of these parts is an entertainer extraordinaire. He regaled us with songs about David Bowie, a plastic fox and a leaf stuck behind the windscreen wiper of his car all the way from London to Yorkshire. You don’t get Ed Sheeran covering those topics.

All photographs by Stan Graham

After a few songs and muses on life we were told that our transport for the night was waiting outside, complete with chauffeur. What transport it was too, a 1954 double decker bus. I was sad to note, even as a non-smoker, that lighting up was forbidden on the upper deck and that, owing to its refurbishment, there was no sign over the front windows informing that ‘Spitting is Forbidden’. It was a different world then.

We alighted from our trusty chariot at the Tetley, a bar and arts centre situated in what was the office block of the former eponymous brewery, for the second leg of the event.

This was a talk about beer and food pairing from Tetley Brand Ambassador, Kieron, who took us through three courses with the appropriate ales. Unfortunately, some of those assembled were more bothered about drinking than learning, and the background noise drowned out a lot of what he said. I think that we all got the gist.

 Keiran is not only very knowledgeable about beer but also a most amusing speaker. He said that when he told his parents that his time getting his degree had landed him a job, they were taken aback when he said it was the time he spent drinking rather than learning which had clinched him the position. He took us through the ingredients used in beer and passed round samples of hops, malt and yeast to smell and taste. I think we were all in agreement that the end product is far more palatable than the constituent parts.

The mini Goat’s Cheese Quiche, Yorkshire Pudding with Roast Beef and the Beef Slider disappeared in short order, enhanced by the newly acquired appreciation of the combinations of the food and ale.

Once our bodies and minds had been nourished we were told that the bus was ready to depart for the final venue of the evening, the Adelphi. As the distance between these two hostelries is only about a hundred yards, some of us decided to take the night air and walk.  We were ushered into the upstairs function room and given a bottle of No.3 to keep us company through the Q&A session with Mik Artistik, followed by his second set. I had never been upstairs at the Adelphi but it is great room for a performance. It doesn’t have the historical features of the main bars downstairs with their fireplaces, gas lamps (now converted to electricity) and wonderfully evocative green ceramic wall tiles, but is still very atmospheric. As it is next door to the old Tetley Brewery there was a legend that the beer was drawn straight from there rather than being delivered in barrels. Wherever it came from it was always spot on, as attested to by the draymen who would congregate there for their post-shift pint – or several. Mik’s second set was just as good as his first, if not better, and we set off for our homes having had a night of great food, ale and entertainment.

I have been to a few events organised by Tetley’s which have all been of the highest standard and, despite the odd teething problem, this did not disappoint. I sincerely hope that it does indeed become the permanent fixture it very much deserves to be.

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