Dolphin news

I mentioned a couple of months ago that our friends from the Dolphin had retired from holding the license, but still having busy lives, which included visiting the pub but on the other side of the bar. There’s new Dolphin management now and this means other new things, including redecorating the outside so it is now a lovely strong shade of blue! very apt for a Dolphin!

The quiz has still continued, and other activities such as poker nights, but it has been a little quiet, to be honest. One change which has affected us is Otter is no more, Otter Brewery no longer supply the beer, instead we have Timothy Taylor’s, a fine brewery from Yorkshire:

Timothy Taylor was born in Bingley, West Riding of Yorkshire. The brewery remains in the Taylor family and is now the last independent brewer of its type left in West Yorkshire. This independence enables Taylors to survive as one of the few brewers still brewing true cask ales in the same way it has always been done.

The beer on offer is Boltmaker, which although a fine, clean pint, is not quite to my taste. Contrary to my usual beer choice, I now drink Lemon Hopsickle by Rudgate Brewery:

Rudgate Brewery was established in 1992, in the heart of Yorkshire – the Vale of York. The original brewery was in the former ammunition building of RAF Marston Moor Airfield, which was home to the Halifax bombers that helped defend the UK during World War 2. The name comes from the old Roman road of `Rudgate’ which runs through the airfield – the road that led the Vikings along our vale, defeating the Romans en route. This history is why our main main theme is Vikings! The brewery expanded into a modern new facility in 2010/11 on the same site. We are nationally recognised with several awards to our name, including CAMRA Overall Champion Beer of Britain 2009. All Marston Moor beers are brewed here after Rudgate took them over in 2004.

It’s a bright light lemony beer as you might guess from it’s name. It is served chilled, which again is not my usual preference. I’m enjoying it though, but wonder how I will feel when the autumn and winter come (hard to imagine in this present heat!)

The pub has been a little quiet, as I mentioned. However, when we popped in the other night there was a bit more of a crowd and a bit more of a buzz. We sat in our usual seats, three people we didn’t know sitting along the bar in deep conversation, about fishing and someone who had caught a 20 pound brown trout from a local reservoir. Their conversation drifted to a picture which had been a favourite of one of their fathers, and somehow we got drawn into the discussion, and were googling away to find the mystifying picture. Of course we were unsuccessful, but it didn’t matter, we had a pleasant conversation.

We popped down again this evening and were delighted to see there were menus back on the tables! Bar snacks and light meals, and all looked very interesting and reasonably priced. There was quite a gang in, mostly watching the cricket on TV, the final of some competition, between Lancashire and Hampshire. Vaious people stopped to chat and it was quite like old times. Old times, but new times too!