RILEY’S RAMBLES: Todmorden
T
his issue’s ramble takes us to what once was the borderland between Lancashire and Yorkshire. Historically, the River Calder, which runs through the town, marked where the two counties met, with half the town in the red rose county and half in the white. Many years ago, local government reorganisation changed all that and now the whole town is in West Yorkshire. In its heyday, Todmorden was an important centre for woollen mills and then cotton, but over the years, these industries declined, and many of the mills and their chimneys are gone or converted, such that it is now considered a commuter town. There are many interesting walks in the area, with both the Pennine Way and Calderdale Way passing close to the town, but we are here for the beer, and there are some excellent reasons for having a day out going round the pubs of the town. I will tell you how to get here by train at the end of the article, but the trail starts at the railway station.
Coming out of the station, turn left and you will see the WHITE HART, the Wetherspoons pub, which has been refurbished to a high standard with a downstairs bar with the full range of beers and a smaller upstairs bar with a more restricted range. Not as big as some Wetherspoons, it is comfortable and popular. There are four regular cask ales in Moorhouses Pendle Witch, Phoenix Wobbly Bob, and stalwarts Abbot Ale and Ruddles, plus up to six (at least four) changing guest real ales also on sale. I am glad to say that on our visit they were not all high gravity guests. It is open 8am till at least midnight. On exit, go down twenty yards and turn left to reach a pub called the POLISHED KNOB. It is more attractive than it sounds, being a friendly pub that has seen a refurbishment that includes leather car seats, believed to have been designed for the original Mini, around tables. Live music is a popular feature here at weekends after 9pm. The pub usually has four changing
cask ales. Unfortunately, it presently seems to be closed from Tuesday to Thursday, only opening at 4pm on Friday until 1am, then open Sat, Sun Mon at noon till 10pm (1am Sat). You will have noticed on your left on the way to the previous pub, a rare thing: a Tourist Information Office, full of interesting leaflets and gifts to buy as souvenirs, all about the town and district. It might strike you that a small town like Todmorden can have such a thing, but a city such as Preston cannot. On the other side of the road is the public market dating from 1879 with its 42 indoor stalls and the adjacent outdoor market. Included in the indoor market is a compact bar called the MARKET TAVERN, which opened in 2019. It has high stools at the bar and seating in adjacent aisles and in fine weather there is some outside seating on the Bramsche Square side of the building, where you will also find some public toilets. Three cask beers are available consisting of Reedley Hallows Old Laund Bitter and
Pendleside plus a changing guest, which is often a rare beer style or a dark beer. The bar is not open on Tuesdays, but is open other days from 11 until 5, (10–4 on Sundays). It may stay open later if there is an event on in the market, but it is closed on Bank Holidays except Good Fridays. On coming out of the market, you have a choice of turning left or right. If you turn right and go under the railway arches and up the road a short distance you will come to the ALEHOUSE, a welcoming micropub set back from the road. It consists of a single room with the bar to the rear and several seat options. A recent winner of pub of the season for Halifax and Calderdale, it has five real ales which on our visit ranged from Prospect Nutty Slack Mild at 3.9%, through Eagle Crag Pale Eagle at 4%, up to a Tomos A Lilford beer at 4.4%. There is generally one dark beer among the guests. www.centrallancs.camra.org.uk
Ale Cry
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