Macc Fest

This week I'll have the pleasure of working at the Macclesfield beer festival as for once in recent years it doesn't clash with a Darlo game.

The Macclesfield Charity Beer Festival (to give it it's full name) is not your normal average beer festival - it's a joint effort with the local Round Table, Macclesfield rugby club (who host the event ina marquee in their car park) and members of the local CAMRA branch.

It's through the latter that I got involved since my mate Keith was a local member and was one of those originally tasked with sorting out the beer side of things for the inaugural festival in 1994. I came along to help him look after the bar and have only missed about four festivals since then.

The event heavily features musical entertainment each night and as such it attracts a wider range of people than a normal CAMRA festival - more your average sort of weekend-town-centre-drinker in attendance - and it's a much looked forward to fixture on the Macc social calendar.

(left) Trev and Keith check ale is well

My other mate, Trevor, has taken on the role of bar manager for quite a few years now and each year sees him put together a very impressive range of beers.

And each year the vast majority of them are served in tip-top condition by a bunch of volunteer bar staff- there's always one or two barrels that don't drop or are off but they're few and far between. You'll do well to find anyone who leaves disappointed.

Looking after the beer is always fun as the weather in May can vary from one extreme to the other - in the early days things were quite primitive, some years we're struggling to keep the beer cool and other years it's too cold - incontinence pads were used to either keep the barrels warm or dampened to keep them cool.

With upwards of a thousand folk each night, it's hard work keeping them all served and happy - especially when they don't know what they want.

"What do you recommend?" is the question I hate most - almost as annoying as "Don't you do Boddies/Stones?".

(above) Everything ready - just waiting for the punters

That is why I prefer the relative calm of the Macclesfield and East Cheshire CAMRA Saturday afternoon session where it's a more familiar crowd of "individuals" along with tickers from the north-west and Yorkshire making their way. Entry is free and it's a very relaxed lunchtime session where you actually have time to talk.

If you're in the area this weekend, do drop in and say hello...

Bees Sting

I knew deep down that I should have ended this season's attendance at Spotland last weekend - a truly excellent day out as Bill (or Ted) might have said - but instead habit drove me along the usual early morning trail to King's Cross to take in my final game of the season.

In theory it was a last visit to Da Vinci's for breakfast - I'm now known by the staff and no longer have to order - "your usual, sir?" and a nod from me is now enough to get me my early morning plate of plenty. And it's been consistently very good throughout the season. However I'm sure I'll find an excuse to pop in during the close season.

The journey north was pleasant enough - we were sat with a nice chap from Reading who was a Leeds fan - off to Hartlepool for his sins.

In fact to qualify for an away ticket he'd had to attend a minimum of 19 away games - very credible, or very sad, depending on your point of view. Although I subsequently heard that a lot of Leeds fans got around this by simply paying cash on the day to go into the home areas.

Arriving at Bank Top station at 10:30, there were a few police awaiting the expected hordes of Brentford and Leeds fans - in fact there were a handful of Bees fans waiting expectantly outside Hogans.

As ever all the handpumps were in use in the Quaker today - and quite a few dark beers amongst them too - which included York Brewery's Terrier and Last Drop Bitter; Quartz Heart, 3 River's Delta Mild (not too popular it seems - had been on over a week and still some left!), Stump Cross Ale from the Richmond Brewery, Hadrian & Border's Secret Kingdom and from the Jarrow Brewery, Venerable Bede and Rivet Catcher.

There was a decent quota of DAFTS on parade too - John Wilson had travelled up the night before, Steve Duffy had flown up to Newcastle from Cardiff and Keanu Reeves body-double Brian Elsey had travelled up from Sheffield - obviously no Hollywood duties this weekend.

(left) Keanu Reeves - it had been a hard week

As usual we then wandered up to Number Twenty-2 for an hour or so - there looked to be an interesting stout on offer but it was just too warm for that. By this time we'd been joined by Tony and Lesley plus John, her Dad, neither of who had been to a home game for quite a while.

Arriving at the ground it was interesting to see a bunch of bulky rugby league players handing out leaflets to the fans - it seems that Gateshead Thunder are playing their Challenge Cup tie against Oldham at the Arena on the 9th May. Let's hope they get a decent crowd for that.

I wandered off to reception before the game for my usual quick chat with John and Eric - today I was also picking up Steve Foster's away shirt, sponsored by yours truly for the second season running, as I wouldn't be attending the official presentations following the All Stars Game.

Any misgivings I'd had about attending this game were put to bed within seconds of the kick-off as Alan White's careless (and that's being diplomatic) aerial challenge on Damian Spencer fully deserved a red card - the Brentford man suffering a fractured cheekbone in the process proving he wasn't making a meal of the clash.

It's not the first time Whitey has been sent off for a challenge like this - I seem to remember something similar at Exeter a few weeks ago and overall it's his fourth red card with Darlo in two seasons - and it put paid to any chances we had of getting any sort of result from this game. And what is most frustrating is that it the challenge was on the touchline - not even in a dangerous area - and totally unnecessary other than to make a strong first impression on an opposite number. Well, that was certainly achieved - well done...

There was a rapid reorganisation and Darlo looked to be holding out quite well despite a lot of Brentford possession until the Bees were awarded a disputed corner - the refereee apparently over-ruling his linesman - and from it they scored.

And then any expectation of beating the odds a la Lincoln were extinguished when Billy Clarke headed a second just before the break - at least he had the good grace not to celebrate too frantically in front of us.

(above) Three wise something or others

A shame really as we'd had a couple of good chances - including a cracking free kick from Franz which clipped the bar.

The second half saw Brentford get the benefit of some further dodgy decisions from the referee - Franz went down (rather theatrically of course) after being taken out in the box but it was a stonewall penalty. But no, not a sniff from the ref.

Instead Brentford got the ball down the other end very smartly and Clarke made it 3-0.

Despite fears of a rout, Darlo tightened up and even pulled one back after Abbott slid the ball under the keeper. The last few minutes were a bit fractious - one their defenders should certainly have followed White for an early bath after manhandling Abbott but the ref was happy to only book both parties - an equal opportunities ref obviously.

These decisions would probably had no impact on the overall result but it just left a bad taste - fair play to Brentford on their promotion but it was hard to take when we really should have been in the mix as well. With this in mind, there were plenty of anti-Houghton chants throughout the game and apparently he made himself scarce in the second half.

Whereas Bank Top station at the end of last season saw Dagenham & Redbridge celebrating their eleventh-hour retention of their league status for another season (and look where they are now), this time it was Brentford fans raising the rafters.

Our carriage was full of them chanting all the way to Kings Cross - some dotty old passenger optimistically asked them to "please stop singing" - some hope dear. Thankfully my walkman and the fantastic new album from Mastodon came to the rescue whilst poor old Martin simply had to suffer in silence.

On arrival back into Kings Cross the celebrating Bees all headed straight down into the tube, back to Brentford and champagne in the Griffin (or so they were hoping) allowing Martin and I to escape to the relative peace and quiet of the Betjeman Arms where we met Paul, our Wycombe chum, and his friend Dave.

Paul had been up to Stoke to see Wycombe settle for a point at Port Vale - and so they're still short of automatic promotion for another week - whereas Dave had been to Derby to see Charlton get beat in front of a very respectable 33,000 crowd. A season of highs and lows for all of us.

Also in the pub were a pack of London Wolves who were still celebrating their promotion to the Premiership - last time we saw a couple of these chaps in the Doric Arch they'd been very much the worse for wear but they still recognised me from our chat that day - "Hey, Beardyman!" - well, I assume they meant me...

Up Hill, Down Dale

I popped along early to King's Cross to check that Martin caught his train to Leeds - he's just so disorganised when left to his own devices - before I headed over to Euston for a last visit for the season to the Double Six for breakfast and then on the 8am train to Manchester.

For once in my life, a Virgin train journey to Manchester actually went to schedule - arriving at Piccadilly in just over two hours - which meant I could get a train from Victoria so that I was in Rochdale by 11am. Why don't they always work like this?

(left) Rochdale Town Hall

The weather was all bright and beautiful, blue skies and lots of sun, so I took the slighty more scenic route into town via the park overlooking the town hall - not at all grim - and then wound my way through the shopping precinct to the delightfully named Toad Lane and our pre-match pub, the Baum.

The pub is right next door to the Rochdale Pioneers Museum which is based in the preserved original store from the early days of the Co-operative movement. But no time for culture today though.

The Baum was brought to my attention in Tandleman's beer blog - a great source for info on pubs in the Manchester area - and Liz took the London Millers there a few weeks ago when they were at Spotland. They enjoyed their visit so much it became their trip of the season.

Beers on offer included Holts Fifth Sense, Black Banjo Stout from local brewery Green Mill, Flowers IPA, Boggart Bogeyed and Phoenix Spotland Gold. I tried the latter two and both were nice, steady session ales in good condition and perfect for early lunchtime drinking.

Colin "I'll have an 'alf" Fletcher wasn't far behind in joining me there - he'd narrowly missed joining me at Victoria station - and predictably he went straight for a half of the stout.

The pub is quite similar to Number Twenty-2 in some respects - off the main circuit of town pubs and with probably a slightly older set of drinkers plus those who pop in for a coffee after visiting the museum next door.

Speaking to the manager though he said he'd had about 100 Port Vale fans dumped on them by the police before the last home game. Lucky Vale fans, less lucky for the bar staff.

(right) The Baum

We left the pub and headed up Spotland Road and just made it into our seats with seconds to spare before kick-off. A decent turnout of Darlo fans given the late re-arrangement of the fixture for television - I'm sure Martin wasn't the only one who lost money on non-refundable rail tickets but do Sky really give a toss?

There was action at both ends from the off - Rochdale first went close then Pavel Abbot was put through only to hit the ball straight at the keeper.

We didn't have to wait long for first blood though after a nice bit of interplay saw the ball bounce up nicely for Jason Kennedy who looped the ball over their keeper - an absolute scorcher. But had we peaked too early?

The goal stunned Rochdale - not just the players but the crowd who suddenly went very quiet and nervous. Darlo fans all know this sensation far too well because we've experienced it enough times at home games - freezing on the big occasion.

Thereafter Rochdale had the lion's share of possession but didn't make it tell - White and Miller dealt with most things thrown at us and when Dale did get through on goal they either blazed wide or made it relatively easy for Kazimierczak to save.

Darlo were no slouches though and had their own chances during the half - Abbot wasted a great chance to put Poole though on goal and Miller beat their keeper only to head wide - but it was Kennedy's goal that separated the teams at half-time.

Rochdale came out fighting in the second half and Darlo rarely got out of their half in the first ten minutes but we slowly came back into it a bit and looked dangerous on the break until we finally doubled our lead in the 65th minute.

From a partially cleared corner, captain Ricky Ravenhill headed the ball back into the box - from this Abbott looped his header against the post and a Dale defender knocked it into his own net while attempting to clear the ball.

Rochdale never really recovered from this - they huffed and puffed for the remainder of the half but Darlo more or less closed the defensive doors and ran down the clock.

A well-deserved victory through hard-work and team play.

(left) Colin and Martin in the Baum

We popped back into the Baum, dragging Martin with us, for a celebratory pint and to enjoy the moment - very sweet. We can be magnanimous in victory when we have to...

We then wandered back to the station and headed back into Manchester for a trawl of some of the pubs between Victoria and Piccadilly stations.

First point of call was the Smithfield Hotel - a veritable Mecca for tickers - where I had a pint of some hoppy Easter beer - I stopped paying too much attention at this point. It's a cheap and cheerful hotel reminiscent of the Dalesman - the bar is a bit rough and ready but it was full of folk ticking beers and watching the Villa-West Ham game. And with some small dogs in attendance, what more do you want?

From here it was just a short walk along Swan Street to the Crown and Kettle - a nice pub which has a very ornate ceiling of which only part has been renovated - some decent beers on tap as well. We had a pint here but as soon as the Arsenal-Chelsea FA Cup came on the TV we voted to move on.

Just over the road is Bar Fringe - it doesn't look the type of place to do real ale from the outside but they had four beers on tap when we were there - and a nice lively atmosphere. It's been described as an authentic recreation of an Amsterdam brown bar - hmm, not quite that but worth a visit all the same.

A pint was enough for us both at this point - Colin had already gone for his train home - and we soon followed in his footsteps to catch the 18:55 to Euston. Not surprisingly we were soon out for the count, waking in time for another on-time arrival.

A very good day out in all respects and for me, a great way to end the away trips for this season - good rail journey, great pubs and a great result.

Not Quite Dead And Bury-ed

Another earlier than usual departure from London for the second of our bank holiday games - we were back on the east coast line and so we arrived in Darlo slightly ahead of schedule.


I made it into the Quakerhouse just after the town clock struck 11am yet still found I wasn't the first person in - beaten once again by George and Gwen.


For the second week running there was a cracking choice of beers from Yorkshire including Leeds Brewery Ascension, Longbow from the Empire Brewing Company and the Raspberry Blond from Saltaire.

Representing the north-east were a trio from Jarrow Brewery - Rivet Catcher, Caulker and McConnell's Irish Stout and a brace from Hadrian & Border Brewery, Flotsam and the Ouseburn Porter.


There were also a couple of southern beers, Vale Gravitas, from Brill in deepest Bucks, and British Bulldog from the Westerham Brewery in Kent.

I managed to try a good few - the Ascension (very floral), Longbow (OK), Raspberry Blond (very raspberry but not overpowering), the Bulldog, the Flotsam and the Caulker - all in tip-top condition as usual.


As time went by, the Quakerhouse got quite busy with the appearance of more Darlo fans - Number Twenty-2 was shut as it usually is on a bank holiday which meant I stayed put for once - and after a while I was joined by John Bell and Paul Brown.

On arrival at the ground, I made my normal trip to reception to see my old mates on the press desk, John and Eric, and was surprised to see ex-chairman George Houghton standing outside reception looking for all the world like he was still in charge. He wasn't there long though after being given various abuse from passing fans - not very clever.

Darlo made a slow start to the game as Bury looked every bit the promotion candidates that they are - we were under pressure from the off and seemed to be keeping them at bay until a jammy deflection off Tim Ryan put them in the lead.

This seemed to knock the wind right out of our sails and it took a while for us to string some decent moves together and start to attack their goal whilst Bury looked content to soak up the pressure. Our patience was rewarded after Kennedy headed past their keeper following a cross from Burgmeier. One-all at the break.

The second period saw a flurry of Darlington pressure before a Bury corner led to a goal from the head of Efe Sodje who looked a bit of a big girl's blouse in his bandanna and gloves. A good header though but he was allowed too much room. Alan White seemed to come off second best as he was taken off for attention after he started leaking a bit of claret.

Sodje continued to irritate by falling over when being tackled by Curtis Main - hardly crunching takles as I'm not convinced Main has adjusted to the physical side of the game - yet he fell to the floor like a mighty redwood - quel blouse.

This time Darlo kept their heads and got right back at Bury, eventually being rewarded after a smart piece of play from Main - he picked up a forward ball from Ravenhill and kept his head to pass a great inside ball to Pav Abbot who slotted the ball past the Bury keeper.

For the final quarter of an hour it was end-to-end stuff - Bury hit the post late on whilst Sodje cleared off the line and eventually it finished as a draw.

Quite an enjoyable game in the end and probably a fair result but as at Chesterfield, great credit must once again go to Dave Penney and the team for the attitude they've shown in these dark times.

I've been reliably informed that the Quakerhouse has been recently selected as Darlington CAMRA's Pub of the Year - the sixth time it has won this award under the stewardship of Steve and Linda. Congratulations to them both.

No Dreaming Spires Here...

It was a nice surprise to find out that Da Vinci's opens a little after 6am - this gave me plenty of time for a full breakfast before joining Mr Wilson on the 7:30am train to Chesterfield.

The journey was due to be three hours - one hour more than usual as it seemed to be stopping absolutely everywhere for the bank holiday weekend - but it was closer to four hours by the time we actually arrived thanks to track side failures and general dithering about.

And I thought Virgin Trains were poor.

We meet Steve and Colin at Chesterfield station and took a cab straight out to the Derby Tup, one of the Tynemill chain of pubs we know well. Steve tried to get hold of Lance and Ray - already supping in the Rutland - but was having trouble getting through. Not for the first time...

After no sign of activity from within the pub just a few minutes after opening time (11:30 according to the sign outside the pub) I tried the door and found it wasn't actually locked - feeling daft for not having tried the door I was non-plussed to find stools were on tables and a cleaner was still doing her rounds.

It seems there is a new landlord and he now opens at noon - the scourge of the away fan who likes his Saturday beer session to start early - and so we have to find something to do in Whittington Moor to waste 25 minutes. Not a lot as it turns out - a quick wander round Lidl for some pork pies and chocolate being the most exciting thing on offer.

(above) Colin and Trevor ruminate on the meaning of life, the universe and Darlo

On finally getting into the pub, along with Trevor and John Bell who we'd found outside on our return to the Tup, there was quite a decent range on offer - Harvest Pale and Preservation Ale from Castle Rock, Thornbridge Jaipur IPA, Hopback Summer Lightning and a couple from the Oldershaw Brewery, Grantham Stout and Old Boy.

I stuck to the tried and tested duo of Harvest Pale and the Jaipur IPA - an easy choice really. Both Steve and John B were taking it easy - Steve was not feeling well and John had suffered at the hands of his wife driving over here from Chester and was still a bit light-headed.

The Tup is a nice, traditional pub but was virtually dead on this lunchtime - apart from the six of us there was probably only another half dozen customers whilst we were there.

That is likely to change in the next year or two once Chesterfield FC relocate to a new ground in Whittington Moor. Perhaps then they'll open a bit earlier.

We arrived at Saltergate a few minutes before kick-off - Steve was still not himself and opted for the comfort of the stand - the rest of us headed for the open terrace despite the odd drop of rain - it's not often we get the chance and we were hopeful the rain would pass over. It did.

(left) John still in a daze after his wife's driving

The main topic of conversation amongst the fans was the non-appearance of Liam Hatch and Danny Carlton - it seems the Football League have suggested all may not be well with their loans now that we're in administration and so we can't play them until it's all sorted - or maybe not play them at all - cue rumours of points deductions and relegation to the conference. God, we're a cheery lot.

The first half saw us under quite a lot of pressure and not much action up front to relieve it. Quite predictably Jack Lester, this league's top scorer, was tumbling theatrically at every opportunity, looking as if he's spent six months on loan at the Bolshoi, and the home crowd was baying for free kicks. Come on lads, have some dignity - you know what he's like...

At times it was pure gritty last gap defending with Ravenhiill, White and Miller holding firm - so much so that Kazimierczak didn't have to pull off many real saves.

The second-half saw us take the initiative and take the game to the Spireites - Abbot came more into the game with support from Burgmeier, Poole and Main - and it wasn't until late in the second half that Chesterfield looked like scoring.

It was a more-than-deserved point - the team's attitude was magnificent under the circumstances and they were given a prolonged ovation as they were warmed down after the final whistle.

One Chesterfield fan accused of coming for a point with ten men behind the ball but after chatting with him on the way back to the station, I suspect he was more frustrated with his own side. They seem to have no love for their manager and little more for Jack Lester despite all his goals.

Thankfully the journey back to St Pancras was a speedy trip - Martin and I enjoying the comfort and quiet of first class whilst abandoning John to standard class - and after a well-deserved snooze, John and I were in the Betjeman Arms for 8:30pm.

Liz and Jenny joined us a little later for a couple of drinks and then it was time to go home a little bit earlier than usual - the weekend's not over yet...

And Now Over To The Arena

A 7am start at King's Cross for this game - there's engineering between York and Doncaster so trains are going via Leeds - at York we detrain to another train for the final leg to Darlo. A bit of a pain but there is an upside - we arrive early so pies are bought in good time for me to be in the Quaker for opening.

As ever there's a great choice of beers with plenty of new faces including Newcastle Pioneer, Ouseburn Porter and Tyneside Blond from Hadrian & Border; Brentwood Brewery's Roy Rogers; Caulker and Farne Island from Jarrow Brewery; Captain Cook's Sunshine and Derventio's Et Tu Brutus.

I didn't try them all but the two I did - the Newcastle Pioneer and Roy Rogers - were very good indeed and in tip-top condition, especially the Pioneer.

It would seem that this may be the last time I see Steve and Linda working the lunchtime session - Steve is in the process of setting up a line cleaning business - given the quality of beer in the Quaker during his time there there's no doubt he knows how to keep lines in tip-top condition so hopefully his reputation, and his awards, will stand him in good stead. Good Luck, Steve.

Number Twenty-2 also had it's fair share of new and interesting beers but as usual I forget to make a note and all I can remember is the Paddy's Porter from Wychwood (which I didn't try). The pub was very busy today but not sure why - we certainly weren't being overrun with Morecambe fans.

We decided that today would be the day to divvy up the DAFTS Beer Tax - by the time we'd made our contributions for the day we had about £147 - Tony kindly swapped a lot of the shrapnel for notes and pushed the total to £150. This includes some contributions from Rotherham and Chelsea fans plus the odd regular in the Quaker. Thanks to all who contributed.

It was a relatively early trip to the ground for me at 2pm - joined in the taxi by old chum Doug Embleton who was taking one of his old workmates for his first view of the Arena - lucky chap.

(left) Ray Simpon looks worried

The club shop had a sale so I got myself some training bottoms - you never know how desperate we'll be next season.

In reception I handed over the DAFTS Beer Tax to Karen Glencross who was manning reception and then signed in at the press desk - the first time for quite a while - as today would see me being co-commentator with Ray Simpson on BBC Radio Tees.

The chance for this opportunity had been put to auction and I won - cheaper than I expected - and I caught up with Ray in the commentary area. I've been up there quite a few times in previous seasons when I used to sign in as a photographer. To my right were some other acquaintances, Andy Wilkinson (of the Evening Gazette) and Frank Tweddle who has been Darlo's historian since.....well, since records began.

(right) Frank Tweddle and Andrew Wilkinson on duty

Ray went over a few of the basics - nothing really to worry about, just have fun and a chat - we would be going over to Radio Tees for the odd snippet and the rest of the time we'd be speaking to the good folk subscribing to Quakers World.

The game itself was one of a few chances at either end - they hit the woodwork whilst we missed a couple of very good chances at each end. Purdie and Kennedy both had good games - Hatch looked a little off the pace and things didn't quite click for us in the final third.

Young keeper Kazimierczak didn't have an awful lot to do but was comfortable with what he faced - again, his kicking looked to be a bit wayward but hopefully Andy Collett will help him with this.

It was good to see Neil Wainwright back at the Arena - played a full match and he got in one very good cross that went begging in our box - a shame we didn't keep him for one last season as I think he still has something to offer as a second half sub.

So it wasn't a total surprise that the game finished goalless - in fact it was a bit of a relief. I think that if we'd got a goal we'd have gone on to improve but in the end we just got frustrated.

(above) View from the commentary box

What was a total surprise - to me and certainly to my neighbours in block 11 - was that I managed to watch a whole game and not swear or even be vaguely abusive towards the opposition or the officials. Whilst I could get used to being in the co-commentators chair, I'd miss the cathartic affect of shouting at players. Unless the BBC does a Sweary Channel of course.

We had to change trains at York on the way home - we had about 45 mins to spare so more than enough time for us to drop into the Maltings by Lendal Bridge - one of the city's best pubs and ever so handy for the station. To Martin's delight, they had his favourite real ale tipple, York Brewery's Guzzler, whilst I had a pint of something by the Outlaw Brewery.

The remainder of the journey was spoilt a bit by the number of braying Premiership fans, mainly Chelsea and Portsmouth, on the train who thought we were interested in their banter and their ever-so-funny songs about German bombers. Just fuck off you wanky twats!!

The BBC don't know what they're missing...

Malicious Damage

Last night saw me wander down into south London - Clapham to be exact - which is a rare thing for me (unless visiting the Battersea beer festival) and so I was having to rely on the Good Beer Guide for some clues as where to drink.

I opted for the Manor Park - a nice little boozer off Clapham High Street - and I was delighted to see five handpumps. All good stuff too, including Landlord, Summer Lightning, Ringwoods Best and Downton's Honey Blond. I have to admit I wasn't very adventurous and stuck to the tried and tested, Landlord.

And there were couple of pub dogs for good measure including one sad looking Labrador with a sign round his neck saying "Please Don't Feed Me". Bless...

One of my London Miller chums, Andy Leng, joined me and we continued to drink the Landlord for a couple of hours - Andy suggested the Honey Blond was good but I'm not a great fan of honey beers.

The reason for our being in this neck of the woods was to attend the first of two nights celebrating 30 years of Malicious Damage - an independent record label at the Arch Bar.

This sort of place is not the sort where you'd find me - no hand pumps (no surprise) - but they had some decent bottles - Sam Smiths Organic Ale and Lager, Whitstable Oyster Stout, Vedett (a Belgian brew), Brewdog's Punk IPA and some of the Meantime range. All far too cold of course but needs must.

The blurb promised a night "multi-media cross-pollinated aural & visual orgy of art, live bands, djs, videos and more...". Blimey.

However the main reason we were attending was to look at some of the iconic artwork that has been produced by the label which is probably best known for releasing Killing Joke albums.

(left) Andy surveys the Killing Joke wall


As some DAFTS will know from my t-shirts, I'm a fan of Killing Joke as is Andy and so this was too good a chance to miss.

And dear reader, we even have a Darlo connection!


The artist responsible for the artwork is Mike Coles who was one of the founder members of the label but who now runs it on his own. And Mike hails from Darlington and is a Darlo fan.

(right) Mike Cole and my new piece of art

Or he was. Having been down in London for over thirty years he started taking his son to QPR - his nearest club - and they're now season ticket holders. He retains a fondness for Darlo of course - who wouldn't? Be thankful he didn't succumb to the corporate allure of Chelsea or Arsenal but I doubt that was ever likely.

The exhibition itself was excellent and I couldn't resist purchasing one piece of artwork - not sure where we'll hang it yet - but it is of the first KJ record I bought, the 10 inch Turn To Red EP, back in 1979.

Likewise, Andy also too a shine to a piece and finally managed to justify buying it - whether his wife will be persuaded remains to be seen!

Once we'd got the buying out of the way, we could relax and chat to fellow aficionados as well as watch a few of the acts, all of them on Malicious Damage.

And we couldn't leave until Andy had his photo taken with Alex Paterson - former Killing Joke roadie in the very early days but now well known as the main man in the Orb, those pioneers of ambient house.

(left) Andy and Alex say 'cheese'

Alex being the lovely chap he is was more than happy to oblige and so we all went home happy...


You can read an interesting interview with Mike Coles here.

Millers See Off Hatters

Some people might find it quite strange but I've always enjoyed my trips to Luton - true, the town itself is not very inspiring (he says diplomatically) but from a DAFTS perspective it has a couple of very decent pubs and a nice cosy ground in Kenilworth Road.

Having been there earlier in the season for our 2-1 win, I took the opportunity for another visit by joining the London Millers for their game there. Unless there is some sort of miracle this will be our last chance as they'll be playing in the Conference next season and who knows if they can get out of that?

I was the first one into town as I fully intended to visit the English Rose (left) which we never got round to trying in October. It's just a five minute walk from the station and is thankfully one of those pubs that stays open all afternoon.

It had a decent choice of beers - Hadrian & Border's Secret Kingdom, Exe Valley Devon Heaven (brewed to celebrate over one thousand years of Christian community work in Devon, don't you know!), Milestone's Maid Marian and what looks to be a regular, Brakspear Bitter.

I managed to try the first three - all good but nothing outstanding - before it was time to meet Liz at the Bricklayers Arms - a long-standing DAFTS favourite. Can't keep her waiting...

This pub has always been a Luton Town stronghold but one which has always remained away-fan friendly - tonight it seemed to be getting in full swing for Luton's forthcoming visit to Wembley to play Scunthorpe in the Johnstone's Paint Pot Trophy - t-shirts were being sold and there was even a beer, Wembley Wobble from Banks & Taylor, on sale in addition to the two Everards regulars (Beacon and Tiger) and a couple of other guests.

One of these guests was Little Miss Muffet from the Tring Brewery - a 4.5% light-coloured ale, very refreshing - and I stuck to this rather than play the field.

For once the pub was just nicely busy without being the usual jam-packed place it is on a Saturday - Luton fan and comic-poet John Hegley was in residence - I've been to see him a few times over the years and he has the dry, laconic wit worthy of a lower division football fan. If you ever get the chance, go see him.

(right) Bricklayers Arms earlier in the season

As time progressed various other London Millers joined us and soon it was time to go to the game.

Unlike most Darlo fans who had to pay £22 on the day, the London Millers had been forewarned and £20 advance tickets had been purchased - the game had kicked off as we made our way to our seats behind the goal and Liz went to put out the LM flag.

I know there's not much leg room in the away end and some of the columns get in the way but it makes a nice change to be really close to the action - the type of thing I miss from my seat up in the heady heights of block 11.

Luton did most of the attacking with the Millers keeping a tight-ish line and it was quite a surprise to most in the ground when they were 2-0 after about 35 mins. Cue some cocky chants of "Rotherham Reject" and more to Luton manager Mick Hardford - typically this sort of thing backfires on you and so it was as Luton pulled one back before the break - that'll learn 'em not to tempt fate.

However the highlight of the first half was the appearance of a bat who spent about 20 minutes hunting over the pitch under the full glare of the floodlights - fascinating stuff to watch (or maybe you had to be there to appreciate it).

The second half was more of the same - Luton applying the pressure but not making it tell whilst Rotherham scored two more, more or less on the break, and in the end won 4-2.

That's 11 goals I've seen Luton concede in three matches this season - and to be fair they've not been that bad - at least they like to attack which, in their position, I suppose they have to.

Once Liz had retrieved the flag we rushed back to the station and managed to catch a fast train back to St Pancras and time for a final pint of Betjeman Ale at the Betjeman Arms. Just a pity it's back to work tomorrow as I know I'll regret it in the morning...