Lake District Vignettes: Beer- the main course

Where we venture into comfortable hostelries and sup.

As we are both sad librarian types, Marsh and I planned a pub crawl around Ambleside using the internet.  This research proved invaluable as did the local Camra magazine Lakes and Ale- you know, fail to prepare, prepare to fail, and all that.

So here are our favourites and one to avoid.

Conveniently located at the bottom of our street, and a Good Beer guide regular, we very much enjoyed the time we spent in the Golden Rule.  The Rule is everything a Northern pub should be, right down to the velveteen banquettes and cosy snugs.  No music, no food, but a good variety of ales, all well kept and served.  Marsh opted for Robinson's Dizzy Blonde while I, unsportingly felt drawn to the Grolsch.

First food of the trip was taken in the Unicorn; decent pub grub and particularly good old-school puddings with custard- Marsh was happy!  Impressive selection of Hartley's and Robinson's ales, Hartley's XB and Robinson's Unicorn deserve a mention.

The White Lion really deserved a second visit but time sadly got the better of us, which was a shame as they had beers from the Kewsick Brewing Company on tap, Thirst Fall I think.  Keswick's Thirst Run one of my Desert Island beers: I love the stuff.

Let's get the one to avoid over with before the final flourish.

In 1999 my local brewery paid for me and a bunch of other school-leavers from the North West to experience life in another country; we went to China for the best part of three weeks.  I'd never been on a plane before, never been out of the country, I'd just turned 19 and it was an amazing experience.  I've always been happy to pay them back in pints.  I've drank a lot of Thwaites bitter in Blackburn and Darwen and wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Keswick Lodge (predictably, in Keswick) for beer, food or a bed for the night, but all these good experiences made the Sportsman's Arms in Ambleside even more of a let down.  Marsh and I necked the halves I'd fortuitously ordered as quickly as we could.  We were the only souls in there and there was a choice of four draught options, and one of those was Coke.  The barman had indicated that the manager had lost interest, they only money they seemed to be making was from the less than inspiring 'party room' downstairs.  There was plenty of Sambuca on offer, but we'd come in for a pint of Wainwright.  A shame.

Now for some good news.  Despite being an outside runner the Queen's Hotel provided our beer of the week.  True, it wasn't a cosy or snug, and in some ways it was a bit on the posh side- change out of your boots and waterproofs before you go- but they had a very pleasant and knowledgeable barman.  Sporting an excellent range of ales on tap, the highlight had to be the Yates' Bitter: even a dedicated lager drinker like me was itching for a last pint of it before we went.  Luckily for us the Booth's in Bowness had a plentiful supply which we bought most of!