If you're keen to meet fellow mudcatters, the East Riding of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire (Parts of Lindsey) Chapter have an excellent monthly session in the Sun in Beverley (East Yorkshire) on the first Sunday of each month under the iron fist of Chairman Deanmeister. There must have been about two dozen mudcatters among the 40 or more people contributing to the session.

Bear in mind that if you visit these fair isles during what we laughingly call 'summer' many of us are at various festivals, especially at weekends. You might want to include one or two of these to get a good idea of what happens on the folk scene over here.

On the subject of cider, Strongbow is widely available on draught. I quite like Dry Blackthorn (a bit drier), again widely available. In many of the real ale pubs (and most of the pubs recommended will be, these things go together) there will be a strong cider from an independent company. Beware of these, they are very strong 7%+ abv, and so twice as strong as average beer. They can be very nice though. Perhaps you should get in touch with Micca (Mudcat's UK cider expert).