The well-known student hangout, table football emporium and beer café, the Narrenschip in Brussels (Schaarbeek) is boarded up and for sale. So is the Stamineeke in Antwerp. The Kleine Kous in Antwerp is unlikely to re-open.

Meanwhile the Vaudrée group of Liège is about to open a new outlet, the Vaudrée Trois, on Chaussée de Tongres in Rocourt, a kilometre north of junction 33 of the E40. The old Aristo music venue is being refurbished as what appears to be a large single-room café with a central bar. Promises to be open by the end of January 2003 and to have 24 beers on draught. No news of bottled beers or food. Reports please.

Luxembourg province has acquired a 120-beer café in the tourist town of Vielsalm. The Escale at 1 Avenue de la Salm is a modern-style all-comers bar with an entertaining list of mainly independent brewery beers, mainly served too cold. Nonetheless, a first for this area. It should get a lot of trade from places like the SunParks holiday village at the other end of town.

Interesting rumours from West Flanders. A taverne on the coast at Bredene, the town that extends east from Ostend advertises 90 beers. The Jonathan (52 Kapellestraat, tel: 059 325537), on the street that parallels the coast road, closes for January and sometimes takes Thursdays off. Reports on food and beer will be most welcome. Further west is the Peerdevisscher at 4 Pastoor Schmitzstraat in Oostduinkerke. About 800 metres down Leopold II Laan, the main drag inland from the promenade, on your left. Has some connection with the horse fishing museum. (No, they use the horses to carry the fish.) Said to have 50 beers on a useful list.

Thank you to Podge for spotting Jonathan's and for delivering the first report on the Strijdershuis in Bruges (14 Hallestraat). This new restoration of a long building next to the Belfry has a modern appearance with a black-slated floor and non-smoking mezzanine. The outside terrace is heated in winter and has a fountain. 50 beers including most from Strubbe and Dolle Brouwers. Food is full menu to pancakes, waffles etc. Logo by Kris Herteleer of Dolle Brouwers.

Meanwhile, we have been told about four more traditional lambic cafés in Payottenland, plus a café museum in the making. The Rust Op Den Berg is somewhere on Nijvelsesteenweg in Halle. In Roosdaal, 94-year-old Angèle De Koster still serves bottled gueuze and kriek at the In de Koster opposite the church on Strijtemplein. Meanwhile Sint Katharina Lombeek has two old cafés, the Bij Nuit at 139 Heidestraat and the Oude Web (honestly) at 48 Meerstraat.

Meanwhile two enthusiasts have ploughed enormous energy and not a little money into a pet project to save a lambic café from extinction by turning it into a working museum. The Verzekering Tegen De Grote Dorst is at 45 Frans Baetensstraat in Eizeringen. It opens as a café on Sundays but is available to hire for functions by arrangement throughout the rest of the week. For details see the website (www.dorst.be), or telephone / fax 02 532 5858.

For those volunteering to undergo a wild goose chase to check out the last minute entries in the Guide for Liège province, the Ancienne Barrière at Basse-Bodeux and the Alt Kelmis (Vieux Calamine) at Kelmis (La Calamine) are both pleasant bars but do not appear to have very many special beers.