NOW here's someone who gleefully defies the image of the real ale drinker. "It's not just old men who drink beer," says Yorkshirewoman Rosie Walker.

"It's a wholesome drink full of flavour. I don't know why it should be for men only.

"I'm not in the Women's Lib or anything, but why shouldn't a woman feel comfortable holding a pint of beer, rather than a glass of wine?"

Rosie, who lives near Wakefield, is taking this message to a larger audience with her new book Born And Brewed In Yorkshire (Wharncliffe Books, £9.99).

It is her tribute to Yorkshire's fantastic range of craft breweries. Altogether, she has included 46 independent brewers, including a potted history, pump clip and poem for each one.

Reading it is an education. Thanks to her piece on Hambleton Brewery, situated close to the White Horse at Kilburn, Bar Talk learned that the ancient art of turf cutting to reveal the white limestone underneath is called leucippotomy. Stick that in your conundrum, Richard Whiteley.

Rosie was first introduced to real ale ten years ago by a friend. So wonderful was the experience that she married him.

Her first half pint was of the sublime Timothy Taylor's Landord. She ended up drinking three more pints and becoming "legless".

What about her interest in pump clips? "That started three or four years ago. I used to tear the back off beer mats because I like writing funny verse on them.

"I would write verse for people if it was their birthday or anniversary. They said 'you really ought to put them in a book'. I thought I might write some more verse on the back of beer mats, but few breweries do them any more.

"So I thought I'd take a look at the pump clips."

Those included in the book include Rudgate Viking, York Brewery Centurion's Ghost Ale, and Black Sheep Yorkshire Square Ale.

Rosie, 52, doesn't find that she attracts funny looks when ordering for herself a pint of foaming Old Leg Over from Daleside, or something similar.

"I go into pubs that sell real ale," she said. "They don't make a fuss because a lot of women now do drink pints. You don't have to wear a flat cap.

"If I go into a posh hotel bar, they won't sell real ale so I have a slimline tonic."

Rosie was born in Norfolk but now lives near Wakefield. She recommends the Fernandes Brewery Tap to pubgoers if you're ever in that neck of the woods.

Here's one of her poems, inspired by Brewers Droop, a five per cent brew by Marston Moor Brewery:

The grist was mashed, hops were boiled,

The brewer settled down,

With glass in hand he waited for

His lass to come from town.

The brew it boiled to perfect pitch,

He left it to ferment,

Then tried a sample from the cask

But drank more than he meant.

His lass arrived a little late

To find him on the floor,

"You'll be no use to me, you've had

Too much of Marston Moor!"

CROPTON Brewery, which gets a nice mention in Rosie's book, is into the second day of its beer festival today.

The event runs at the brewery's New Inn in Cropton, near Pickering, until midnight tonight and until 10.30pm on Sunday. It boasts 40 ales, four lagers and four ciders.

Among a collection of unusual beers, brewery owner Sandra Lee has lined up Charter Ale, of Broadstones Brewery, Nottinghamshire; Captain Smith's from Titanic, Staffs; and Newshound from Wolf, Norfolk.

Lots of music and grub from the carvery make this a very welcome occasion.