Riley’s Rambles

It seems so long ago that we had our first jaunt around Brighouse in Yorkshire at Christmas 2019. I wrote the original article with the expectation that it would appear in the March 2020 Ale Cry. For editorial reasons it didn’t appear, and of course there has been a long interval since then. It is a different world we are living in now and I had the thought that some of the pubs we visited might no longer exist or be open. However, I hoped that some (or with luck all) of them were still going and could still make this an interesting place to visit, and that we would still be able to get there on the train. To make sure, I revisited Brighouse recently and found a few changes, so I have updated my article to bring you the latest information.

I know a lot of you were looking forward to finding out where to visit in this charming market town on the River Calder, so here goes. First, let’s set the scene. Mostly known for the famous Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band, who got to second in the charts in 1977 with The Floral Dance, it was originally a mill town. These mills have undergone an extensive programme of renovation and are now loft style apartments. The town has a fairly compact centre and the pubs are all easily within walking distance of the railway station, which only reopened in 2000. This is where our ramble begins.

Leave the station by the steps and you immediately come to our first pub, the COMMERCIAL RAILWAY. With it being so close to the station, you could leave it until last while you wait for your train, or do what our little band of Christmas revellers did and both start and finish here. Entering, you find the bar on your right in the main room where there is seating and a fire, plus, to your left, a lounge at the front and a games room to the rear. Five real ales are usually available, with Tetley Bitter and Copper Dragon Golden Pippin as regulars, plus guests, which on our visit included Elland Blonde (4%). The average price was £1.60 for a half. Interestingly, it still uses that grand Yorkshire institution for getting a thick, creamy head on the beer, the autovac, or beer economiser. It opens at noon all days until 10pm or later.

From here, walk downhill, over the river, and turn left at the lights. After about 100 yards, turn right and find our next pub, the MILLERS. Reopened in 2014 after an extensive refurbishment, it has a pleasant environment with plenty of seating round the bar, where home-made meals and bar snacks are served, and there is also an upstairs restaurant. Seven real ales are served, with Stod Fold Yorkshire Blonde and Timothy Taylors Landlord as regulars, plus guests. There is normally at least one dark beer on sale. Again, an autovac is used. The pub is adjacent to the canal and its beer garden takes advantage of this location. It opens at 11am all days except Sunday when it is noon, until at least midnight, (1am Fri, Sat).

Turning right on leaving, go over the canal and turn left down Owler Ings Rd. where you quickly will find what used to be Ventures, a micropub in what was once a bus repair garage. It is now a cafe bar called MAMIL, which stands for Middle Aged Men In Lycra. It is a cycle themed bar with a bicycle workshop to the rear. The bar is on the right and cask beer is dispensed from free flow taps on the back wall. On this visit only one cask beer was on sale. There is a small outside drinking area at the front and a few seats at the back. It opens at 9.30 (10 Sun) until 11pm except Mon, Tue & Sun when it closes at 8pm.

Retrace your steps on leaving and go over the crossing and up Ship St, past the market to reach the MARKET TAVERN, a small, cosy hostelry well known for the quality of its beer and its friendliness. Selling up to six real ales, the pub has a traditional bar area and a ‘lounge’ area to the rear,

plus a beer garden overlooking the market stalls. On our visit the range stretched from Settle Mainline (3.8% at £1.55 a half) to Stod Fold Russian Imperial Stout (7.5% at £1.80 a half), with four others in between. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays, it opens 2–10 Wed/ Thurs and Fri–Sun it is open noon till 10pm. Opposite the pub is Blakeleys Fish and Chip shop, where several of us sampled the goods and declared them to be top class.

Go up Canal St. the short distance to Bethel St and you can turn right to reach the local Wetherspoon pub, the RICHARD OASTLER. Converted from a Methodist chapel that dates from 1878, the interior still displays the organ pipes and pews from its days as a chapel and two chandeliers dangling from its high ceiling. The pub has all the things one expects from a Wetherspoon pub and this one has up to 10 different real ales on sale (including the regulars) with the guests

averaging £1.05 a half. It is open 8am – midnight all days (till 1am Fri/Sat) and is named after the 19th century ‘Tory Radical’ who campaigned to reduce the working hours of women and children in industry.

Opposite is an entrance to the CALDER, a Stonegate pub selling five real ales; two permanents in Black Sheep Best Bitter and Elland Calder Pale and three guests from such as Ossett, Acorn and Bradfield at £1.50 a half. A large modern one-roomed pub, it has some boothed seating areas as well as standard seating for both dining and drinking. Opening at 9am (10 Sun) it stays open until 11pm (12 Thur, 1am Fri/Sat).

To reach our next pub, go back along Bethel St. to Park Street on your right and go up to Commercial St. passing a new bar restaurant called the OFFICE in the old post office which is supposed to sell up to three real ales. More like a restaurant than a bar but you can pop in just for a drink. Closed Monday, it opens at noon till 10pm (12 Fri, Sat). We carried on to Commercial St. where you will find the CRAFTY FOX on the far side of the road to your right. The Crafty Fox was a newly opened micro in 2019 with benches and tables in the bar area and an upstairs room. Six real ales are now on sale. These are ever changing. It was fairly busy and looked like a worthy addition to the local scene. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, it opens at 2–10 Wed, Thur, Fri, and noon till 10 Sat and Sun.

To reach the last pub of our tour of Brighouse, exiting the Fox, turn left to reach Bradford Rd. go right towards Sainsburys, and head left across their car park to reach JEREMY’S, an upmarket establishment in the old boathouse of the canal basin. With a modern interior, it serves a wide range of food and two changing real ales which were both from Saltaire Brewery on our visit (Blonde at 4% and Titus at 3.9% both at £1.80/ half). From the rear of the building you can look out over the wharf of the canal basin. It is open at 11am all days until 11pm except Fri/Sat when it is midnight. At weekends from 9pm it becomes a popular showcase live music venue.

Coming out, you will see across the car park the front entrance of the Calder pub. Head that way and turn left and go up to the railway station where you can catch a train back (or have another one in the Commercial if the train is late). On our visit at Christmas 2019 we caught the train back to Sowerby Bridge and went in the JUBILEE REFRESHMENT ROOMS, the justly renowned real ale bar on the station there. There was always something interesting to drink there, but because it was Christmas, we caught the tail end of the ‘Beer from the Wood’ festival, where all the beers are in traditional wooden barrels as opposed to the modern aluminium ones. We did not know this was on, but were pleasantly surprised by it. On our visit in September 2021, it was found to be closed and there was no indication of it ever reopening. Let us hope that it does for it was a fine place to end a grand day out in Yorkshire.

I usually give you details of train times at the end of a ramble, but who knows what they are at the time of writing. Suffice to say that it involves heading to Hebden Bridge and changing trains for Brighouse there. We complicated it by stopping off at Sowerby Bridge to visit the Jubilee (twice).

It was good to see that all the pubs in Brighouse survived the pandemic. As human beings we need to socialise and going to the British pub is the best way to socialise. There is such a thing as Society!

PAUL RILEY