Accompanied by Mrs Birkonian we spent Saturday night at an upmarket 'Resort Hotel' in the Langdale Valley in what tourist boards call the Lake District. The definition of a resort Hotel is that your room is not in the same building as the facilities i.e. you get wet when it rains. It rains a lot in the Lake District.
We arrived early which gave us time to carry on past the hotel and rectify a glaring omission on my beer c.v. Yes, I'd never been to the Old Dungeon Ghyll. Well I wasn't disappointed. The Hiker's Bar was probably little changed apart from the vinyl covering the stone floor and the Mars Bars in a cabinet behind the bar.
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| A rare wet day at The Old Dungeon Ghyll |
A few (fool)hardy walkers were trying to dry out in front of the welcoming ancient range. We settled down on one of the stone-partitioned benches where I could enjoy the best pint of Yates' Bitter I've had for a few years followed by a stronger malty offering from Yates', Best Cellar.
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| The Hiker's Bar at the Old Dungeon Ghyll |
In the evening, following the pleasant discovery of Marston's EPA in the hotel bar, although slightly deflated by its lukewarm temperature, we braved the monsoon for the 5 minute walk to the GBG listed Wainwright's in Chapel Stile.
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| Wainwright's, Chapel Stile. Still raining. |
Under the same ownership as our hotel the GBG doesn't do it full justice. 3 beers from the marston's stable plus 3 from smaller northern breweries undersells its range of Marston's Pedigree, Jennings Cumberland Ale & Snecklifter, Ulverston Fra Diavolo, Kirkby Lonsdale Monumemtal, Hawkshead Lakeland Gold and Loweswater Gold. I had time for those last three and enjoyed their different takes on blonde hoppy beers.
The famous Britannia Inn at Elterwater is a short walk away so there is plenty of good beer to recommend a trip to the Langdale Valley.
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