Covering Old Ground

It was a slow start to the morning-after-the-night-before but I couldn't break the habit of getting up early on a Saturday morning.

And after last night's blitz of beer and curry I thought I'd still be full but I was still game for the hotel cooked breakfast. Surprisingly for a hotel meal it's not up to my usual standard for Saturday morning but hey-ho.

And then when Steve was up and breakfasted, we opt to wander down Polam Lane and check out the current state of Feethams.

Rumours abound that planning permission has been granted for development but I suppose in the current economic climate, any developments are likely to have been put on hold.

(left) We could have done with a defensive tree years ago...

It's certainly all very peaceful down at the old ground - several years of neglect on the site has seen the vegetation take a firm hold with several saplings taking root on the pitch. In fact it's more like a little nature reserve down there thes days. The only changes since my last visit is the graffiti on the Tin Shed.

As we walk into the town centre we notice another recent change to the town landscape - the demolition of the bus station at Feethams - and find it's now a car park. So much for park and ride.

In the market square we spy Lance peering through the windows of the Hole In The Wall but there's still fifteen minutes to opening time. As we chat to Lance, Tony and Ray arrive and we all looking like sad old soaks waiting outside the pub. What would my Mother say?

I nip off and pick up my luggage from the hotel and walk up to the Arts Centre - as I get there Colin "The Bottle" Fletcher is arriving in a taxi.

Readers will not be surprised to hear Colin is fully prepared (panda-popped?) for the festival - the on-line beer list has been perused and the ten beers to be bottled selected and highlighted. The doors open for the afternoon session and off he goes.

(right) Colin gets stuck in once bottling is complete

This session is a more languid affair than the evenings - one by one everyone arrives and we pick up from where we left off the night before.

I'm still searching for a really excellent brew but I just can't find it - despite the wide choice of breweries there's nothing that really, really grabs me. And that's unusual for this festival.

This sort of thing never bothers Neil and he sets about the session with gusto - and before long he's on the beer festival fodder - curry chips for him and cheesy chips for Harry.

(left) Steve eyes up Harry's cheesy delights

I opt for some more of the Monmouth Red Perry but it won't pour. There's still some in the bottom so they unscrew the top off the polypin and pour it out - it's slightly more 'bitty' than last night but still good.

I opt to stay on the fruit-based drinks and move onto the Organic Cider from Carey's - a little stronger at 6.5% but crisp and dry (but without the Esther Ranzten effect).

The good thing about the lunchtime session is that it's generally fairly quiet early on but despite not being on-stage for another hour or so, the members of Copperhead Still insist on tuning up over the PA. Grrrrrrr!

A surprise visitor to our ranks is Michelle, Neil's cousin and fellow Block 11 regular, who soon gets stuck into the dark beers and keeps a close eye on Uncle Harry.

(right) Co-ordinated drinking from John and Michelle

Our taxis are on time and we convoy down to the ground. Despite playing the league leaders today, there is a little bit of optimism in the air, especially since signing an experienced keeper, and I think we're quite looking forward to the game.

It seems that we're in the minority though as we fail by just one person to hit the 2,000 attendance figure.

The game started slowly but it was soon clear that Jamie Devitt, on-loan from Hull City, was a bit of a live-wire down the wing, quite reminiscent of Neil Wainwright in his early days. A shame about the blue boots.

Any optimism we had was banished for good after 15 minutes when Bournemouth took the lead - a shot from the edge of the box that caught Hoult and the rest of the defence a little flat footed. Here we go again.

Darlo slowly improved as the half progressed - the defence started to look more confident with Hoult looking quite calm - but there was no cutting edge to our attacks and despite some spells of possession, Bournemouth soaked it all up.

Windass replaced Dowson for the second half but didn't really offer any more threat up front - both he and Gall had shots that went well wide. The Bournemouth defence was well-organised and kept the Quakers forward line away from goal.

The game was put to bed late in the game when ref Boyeson - who'd come in from the usual stick from Colin - gave what looked to be a soft penalty. But it didn't really matter as we couldn't see where a goal would come from.

Despite the disappointment the signings of Hoult and Devitt look promising - we just need some more effort (and a little bit of luck) up front. Whether that luck comes at Grimsby where we've had quite a lot of luck in recent seasons remains to be seen...

Bring On The Beer

After a couple of days in Northallerton seeing the family, I made the short hop to Darlington and checked into Hotel Bannatyne - or the New Grange as I still prefer to know it - where I hooked up with Steve.

After a quick turnaround, we wander down to Number Twenty-2 where even at 4:30pm the place is busy. This was probably because the beer festival shut at 4pm for a few hours - there looked to be some CAMRA-types at the bar. We were supposed to be meeting Tony and his dad Ray but it seems they'd moved on to the Tapas Bar.

Steve and I started on the Holmfirth IPA from the Summer Wine brewery - not a brewery I'm familiar with - and not surprising it was a very hoppy brew - not bad. I stuck to this whilst Steve tried their Teleporter Stout which was also good.

Tony and Ray joined us - and a little later we were joined by that other father and son duo, Harry and Neil, who'd already been to the Arts Centre only to find it shut. We're also joined by another Neil, a young work colleague of Tony's who'd been persuaded into making his beer festival debut tonight. Poor lad.

We got to the Arts Centre a little after opening time and not surprisingly it was a bit dead but it did allow us the pick of the tables. A quick peruse of the programme suggested that there were quite a few unknown beers to me - which can be a good thing if I find something I like.

I had a quick chat with Ian and Big John on the Darlington Traditional Brew Group Stand as I had some of my Dad's old brewing books.

(left) Getting down to it

As much as I'd love to try and make my own beer, I suspect I've not got the patience so I'm passing them on in case they're of us to someone.

Most people at festivals tend to drink in halves but not Mr Johnson - he dives straight into a pint of Flannel Hammer from Wylam - an imperial stout which at 7% is rather hard going. This experience does not deter him of course.

I try quite a few halves looking for a nice session beer - among the candidates are Captain Cook's Endeavour, Outlaw's Bangtail, Yorkshire Dale's Burnsall Blonde and Redacar's Beach - but nothing really stands out. The best of the beers is the Salopian Maori - a very hoppy brew.

Perusing the cider and perry stall for an alternative I see they have something from Gwynt Y Ddraig, a wonderful Welsh cider and perry maker whose wares I've tried before.

Their Monmouth Red Perry doesn't disappoint, a pale clear perry and at 4.5% very more-ish. So I have more.

(left) Tony and Ray try the keg John Smith's

By the time we get to 9:30pm, we're all starting to get a bit peckish - Tony has arranged the taxis and it's not long before we're in the Spice Garden on Parkgate.

Owner Karim is putting on another of his home cooking evenings for us - no ordering from the menu, just taking what he presents us with - all served up with a bottle of room-temperature Old Peculier. This is how to match food and drink.

The food is lovely - I can't remember all of what we had but one lamb dish was beautiful - but as ever Karim overruns us with the sheer quantity of it all.

Thankfully we have a late addition - John Wilson arrives late after leaving London after work - and he helps us out but we still fail to do justice to it all...

Sinking The Brews

This week sees DAFTS congregate for the latest Rhythm 'n' Brews Beer festival at the Arts Centre in Darlington.

And let's face it, after the underwhelming nature of the recent performances from the Quakers, we're probably going to need fortifying for our home game against AFC Bournemouth.

The festival promises over 50 ales plus ciders and perries - there's always been a very decent selection in the past and as can be seen from the beer list, this will be no exception - and don't forget there's the added "bonus" of some live music.

Opening times are:

Thu 6-11.30pm (£5)
Fri 12-4pm (Free Entry)
Fri 6-11.30pm (£5, £4 to CAMRA members)
Sat 11.30-5pm (Free Entry)
Sat 7-11.30pm (£5, £4 to CAMRA members)

DAFTS will be in attendance on Fri night from opening time until 9:30pm when we'll all be off for a curry. For the early arrivals, we'll be having a few pre-festival openers in Number Twenty-2 from 4:30pm.

We'll also be attending the dinnertime session before the match on Saturday when we'll be doing our very best to block out Copperhead Still as they proceed to murder various well-known tunes from the likes of the Doobie Bros. Bring your own cotton wool...