My drinking ‘career’ began back in the early seventies when there was very little real ale around.

I was weaned on pints of Courage Tavern and J.C, which we supped in rather large quantities at the back of The Royal Oak in Newark. How naïve I was in those dark and distant days. A pint of beer was just a cheap (13p!) way of getting piddled and having a good laugh.

Then in 1977 my whole attitude to beer suddenly changed.. The Old King’s Arms re-opened! I finally saw the light and it was a revelation! I was introduced to real ale.

No more fizzy, bland pop. Real ales had character, flavour and they were all different. I was having a pint ‘cos I enjoyed it and it was no longer just an excuse to get pissed (well, not all the time anyway!).

It wasn’t long before I became aware of CAMRA and then, in 1979, on a visit to my cousin who lived in Edinburgh, I attended my first beer festival - the inaugural Scottish Beer Festival, held at Leith. I was now hooked!

All that was eighteen years ago and since then I’ve seen breweries come and go, the birth and death of many micro breweries and I’ve attended many more beer festivals. The choice of real ales is tremendous and I’ve tried a hell of a lot of different brews in that time.

But one of my favourite breweries has been around since 1828 and is still thriving. That is Jennings & Sons, of Cockermouth in Cumbria. So when Mrs Boozley, baby Boozley and I had a week’s holiday in Penrith, it was an ideal opportunity to ‘sample’ a few pints of Jennings' beers. In particular, to search out one of my all time favourite ales.. The Sneck Lifter.

Jul. '97