Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Author: admin

  • Bingley – Library Tap

    Bingley – Library Tap

    Unfortunately, the two Good Beer Guide listed pubs in Bingley were closed (one was meant to be open but wasn’t) so I decided that I liked the name of this pub, the Library Tap which is operated by Amber Taverns. I specifically mean the library bit, the tap element seems a little odd in this pub’s instance as I had checked CAMRA’s Whatpub and it didn’t seem to sell anything much that I’d associate with a pub with the word ‘tap’ in it….

    It’s a large building and this floor was once used by the town council with the library downstairs, but then the library took over the entire building.

    There’s an upper area at the rear and it made me think that this would make a really nice library…. The actual library is in a building around the corner and was one of the quirkiest library set-ups that I’ve seen, but I won’t linger on that now.

    Half a pint of Tetley’s bitter and a pack of decadent Scampi Fries were keenly priced and the service was friendly and helpful. There was a fairly relaxed atmosphere and this is quite a substantially sized pub, although they don’t do food and I’m surprised that this is financially viable given that and the cheap prices for drink. They do show a lot of sport, perhaps they get a chunk of money from that.

    Anyway, clean and organised, although a limited real ale selection of the very average Wainwright from Marstons and the acceptable Tetley’s bitter.

  • Northern Rail + TransPennine Express : Dodworth to Bingley

    Northern Rail + TransPennine Express : Dodworth to Bingley

    Today’s rail meander was from Dodworth to Bingley, a journey that required three trains to complete. Part of the reason, or indeed nearly all of it, that I write these railway posts up is to try and remind me of the routes that I’ve taken, and also to remember which rail companies have annoyed me.

    There were two ways of making this journey, one was to go into Barnsley and then up to Leeds, but on my previous journeys that line is crowded and I was hoping for a more peaceful journey where I could actually sit down.

    Which gave me the journey plan of:

    09:09 – 09:50 : Dodworth to Huddersfield (Northern Rail)

    10:12 – 10:31 : Huddersfield to Leeds (TransPennine Express)

    10:49 – 11:07 : Leeds to Bingley (Northern Rail)

    That meant that the bulk of the journey was on the first train, which I didn’t expect to be that busy.

    Dodworth railway station, a single track arrangement which is on the Penistone Line. The railway station was closed in 1959, but was re-opened in 1989 and seems to be reasonably well used.

    The two-carriage Northern Rail train meandering into the railway station.

    My guess that it wouldn’t be that busy was correct, I had a bank of the far too small seating to myself. It did get a bit busier as we approached Huddersfield, but nothing chaotic. There was a ticket check on the journey, unlike when I got the train the other way a few days ago.

    Back into Huddersfield railway station again, the one that is likely to be entirely rebuilt over the next few years.

    The second train pulled in early which slightly surprised me. I was standing on the other platform investigating something else, so it’s not an ideal photo. The train was three carriages and was busy with only a few seats not having reserved cards on the seats, although I was able to get one of them. No ticket check on this train, which goes to the beautiful city of Hull, but there were power sockets which were handy.

    Back into railway station at Leeds for what feels like the 30th time this year. There were some problems with football supporters yelling something that the police were heading to look at, but I have no idea what football team they were supporting as Leeds weren’t playing today.

    The third train was a bit broken and for a few seconds it was marked as cancelled, before being changed to delayed and then the doors opened. A staff member kept looking at the train and seemed pleased with something, but there was another option to get to Bingley a few minutes later if this train to Carlisle would have been cancelled. The train journey was moderately busy, but I was able to get a seat and there was a friendly guard doing ticket checks.

    And safely into Bingley, I think one minute late, so a very efficient set of journeys. Although the lack of delay meant that there was no chance of claiming Delay Repay, but I can’t always win on that one.

    And here we are…..

  • Barnsley – Market Kitchen (Nero Artisan Pizza)

    Barnsley – Market Kitchen (Nero Artisan Pizza)

    Barnsley has just spent a lot of money on its new Glassworks building, which has involved constructing an entirely new market, all as part of the town’s regeneration. On the first floor is Market Kitchen, a series of independent food outlets in a food court type set-up. The external balcony of that is visible in the centre-right of the photo.

    I was at first unimpressed at the arrangement, as it was full and there was nowhere really for me to sit. Even if I found a table, then I’d struggle to keep it whilst I went off to get something, so I thought I’d just walk around and then go somewhere else. Then I noticed there were signs saying that customers could, if they preferred, just sit at a table and use a QR code to order their food and have it brought over. I was entirely sold on that concept, it’s a really good idea and it meant that I could easily get something.

    Indoors looked quite busy and I liked the outside, which is a little unusual for me. However, it was well covered and away from seagulls swarming about the place, although there was a killer wasp that I had a fight with later on.

    There’s the view from my table, over towards the new library. There’s a lot of new stuff in Barnsley at the moment……

    There was a choice of several different eateries and I faffed about reading the menus and trying to choose between the Thai, Indian and Turkish options, before going with pizza from Nero Artisan. I like pizza….. The drink was brought over after around four minutes or so, the pizza after ten minutes, so it felt efficient and I got what I ordered. I also liked that this was a different food court, not just seeing the same old chain restaurants. I very much like chain restaurants, but it’s nice to see something different from time to time.

    The pizza tasted delicious, but it was way too slippery. I lost most of the toppings which slid off, which is fine as I could have them all at the end of the meal, but it wasn’t what I’d call an authentic Italian pizza. I did like the flavour of the base though and I loved the leopard spotting to the top of the pizza, all extra taste and texture. My heap of toppings tasted delicious at the end, no complaints there. I was very pleased with the taste of this whole arrangement, and indeed the concept of the entire market. I felt that someone has made a huge effort here to make it inclusive, accessible and something that Barnsley can be proud of. Very nicely done.

  • Barnsley – Tipsy Cow

    Barnsley – Tipsy Cow

    I’m still taking it nice and slowly on the pub front in Barnsley this week, just one Good Beer Guide listed pub a day, with today’s little excursion being to the Tipsy Cow on Sackville Street.

    The interior of the pub which isn’t very big, but there’s a bit more upstairs. It all seems quite modern and it’s something a little different from a micropub given that it feels like a new building and not just a conversion of an old shop.

    The beer list and I was pleased with that choice of beers, it’s not that large, but there’s a range of styles and there was a dark beer that I hadn’t had. The customer after me spent ages perusing the menu before going for a Budweiser, but each to their own of course…. The service was polite enough, with everything feeling clean and organised in the pub.

    There’s my drink of the day, half a pint of the Nutty Ambassador, a rich and partially decadent hazelnut stout from Little Critter Brewery. Also visible are my cheese and onion crisps and the pub’s gin menu, which is really quite extensive for a location this size.

    I’m pleased that this pub is listed in the Good Beer Guide as it’s situated on a back street away from the centre, so I would have been unlikely to stumble upon it otherwise. A very nice little location and there’s extra outside seating now for those who like to sit outside fending off wasps and the like. It’s well reviewed on-line and it feels a well managed pub, so all very lovely.

  • Barnsley – Toby Carvery Breakfast

    Barnsley – Toby Carvery Breakfast

    As I mentioned in my previous post, Ibis Styles no longer offer a free breakfast, so I decided to make my second ever visit to a Toby Carvery (here’s the first one). It wasn’t much of a walk and indeed the hotel can be seen at the back of the photo on the left. It was evident there were a fair few number of hotel guests that were doing the same journey as well.

    I had pre-booked a table for 08.00 when the restaurant opened, but it was clear that this wasn’t necessary. The set-up is easy, pay a few pounds for the unlimited breakfast at the bar and then you’re given cutlery and off you go. I went for the unlimited filter coffee as well which is also self-serve. It’s a very large restaurant and there’s plenty of seating available, with everything feeling clean and organised.

    There’s the breakfast buffet selection, with (from left to right) gravy, Yorkshire puddings (very appropriate given where I am), bacon, sausages, tomatoes, beans, mushrooms, something horrible, hash browns, fried eggs, brown sauce and tomato sauce. There was a period during lockdown when the staff served the breakfast options, but those dark days are now behind us and hopefully won’t be returning.

    I had a plate of bacon, sausages, plum tomatoes and the like, but this second round is a particularly decadent little plateful of food, the Yorkshire puddings, sausages and gravy. That traditional English breakfast dish…. The food was OK, the Yorkshire puddings were a bit bland and the gravy was a bit watery, but the sausages were fine and it was suitably filling. I fancied a third plate of food but decided I didn’t need it, which was very responsible of me. Unusually so actually.

    Anyway, this isn’t a bad breakfast option and it’s cheaper than what the Ibis Styles is offering. I’m not sure that I’d want to eat here very often in the morning as I can’t be trusted not to eat too much, but it’s a handy occasional little treat.

  • Ibis Styles – No Longer Serving Free Breakfast

    Ibis Styles – No Longer Serving Free Breakfast

    I forgot to write about this a few months ago, but it’s relevant (or slightly relevant…) to the next post I’ll be making.

    Last year, Accor decided to change the brand image of their Ibis Styles network of hotels and remove the need for them to offer a free breakfast. It had been a little bit clunky for years though, some offered a basic continental breakfast only (which I liked, Ibis Styles Croydon did that) which was free, and some offered a paid-for cooked breakfast on top as well. That set-up was never really viable as it seemed to just annoy customers who thought they were getting free bacon and eggs, but had to fork out another £5 or so.

    That meant that an Ibis Styles hotel could offer a free continental breakfast, which would be fine for me, but they disappointed people who wanted a fully cooked breakfast. I asked at Ibis Styles Kensington earlier this year why the change had been made, as I worked through numerous breakfast bags during my many visits there and then they suddenly stopped. They said that Accor recognised that the free breakfast wasn’t meeting the demands of the customer and so hotels were given flexibility on what they offered. Apparently this process started before the health crisis, so must have been an ongoing problem for a few years.

    I like the differentiation of Ibis Styles, their branding is often quite fun and different, with a theme to each hotel. In a few locations, some of the themes are quite half-hearted and I can’t see why a hotel has picked to become an Ibis Styles over a simple Ibis. Anyway, the breakfast situation was clearly muddled, with hotels paying quite a lot of money out when there were two people and two kids in a room, and it’s not hard to note the guests who pinch stuff for their lunch and the like. Whether or not they should be doing that, it comes at quite an expense to the hotel.

    So, it was probably the right decision from Accor, although I’d like them to start offering the hotel deals which include breakfast again, I liked those. They were stopped during the last couple of years as breakfast rooms are already at, or near, capacity, but it’s definitely time for them to return.

    I mention this now as next door to the hotel I’m staying at, Ibis Styles Barnsley, is a Toby Carvery and so I went there for breakfast this morning instead. As it seems did a fair few other hotel guests, but that’s a different matter.

  • Barnsley – Churchfields

    Barnsley – Churchfields

    This public park was a graveyard for St. Mary’s Church, which is over the road, between 1823 and the 1860s. There are some older stones in the graveyard, but it appears that someone from the church decided to move them here over the road for reasons lost to history. There are 221 gravestones, but it’s thought that 6,089 people are buried here, an indication of just how few people could afford a nice headstone. The graveyard is also where they buried 295 of the town’s residents who died from cholera in 1832 and 1833.

    The site was going to be turned into a hospital in the 1940s (an extension of the building opposite which is visible in the above map from the 1920s), but they then decided that it wasn’t big enough.

    The land was left and it wasn’t until the 1970s that the council decided to tidy the site up. The gravestones have all been laid flat, which is preferable to turning them into a path, but I won’t start on that again.

    Efforts have been made to ensure that visitors can find any gravestone that they want with this very useful plan of the site. Someone has put a lot of work into that and I think it’s very respectful.

    And some more photos of the graves, in what is a nicely cared for park.

  • Barnsley – Dickie Bird Statue

    Barnsley – Dickie Bird Statue

    I don’t know much about cricket, but I have heard of Dickie Bird (1933-), one of the country’s most infamous umpires. This statue in Barnsley was sculpted by Graham Ibbeson, a local man, and unveiled on 30 June 2009. Wikipedia tells me that his cricketing autobiography sold over one million copies, which I’d say is some considerable achievement in itself.

    There’s the slight danger that this will end up like the statue in Glasgow which permanently has a traffic cone on its head. It has become commonplace for the locals to hang random items, some perhaps more suitable than others, on the finger of the statue. Dickie Bird himself has been seen removing the items himself, although apparently he isn’t annoyed at that situation (although I would be) and they’ve even elevated the statue onto a pedestal to try and stop locals doing it (they haven’t stopped). I’m not convinced that it’ll work, but for the moment at least, the statue isn’t adorned with anything it shouldn’t be.

  • Barnsley – The Old No 7

    Barnsley – The Old No 7

    My Good Beer Guide pub for the day is the Old No 7 in Barnsley, mostly offering beers from Acorn Brewery which isn’t entirely surprising as it’s their pub. I’ve had most of the brewery’s core range of beers before and they make some interesting stouts and porters.

    The interior of the pub and there’s a downstairs area which is open on Friday and Saturday evenings. It wasn’t particularly busy during my visit, although it was a Thursday afternoon so that wasn’t an entire surprise.

    What appears to be a partial list of beers that are available and there’s also a “coming soon” board nearby.

    The bar allows customers to be seated in front of the pump clips and I only realised after ordering there was another beer there I would have ordered, but I saw it too late. I’ve been used to the Covid period of being able to see all the beers which are available, now I fear we’ll be in a period where they’ll be obscured again.

    The beer that I did order was really very good indeed, the Chocolate and Fudge Stout Detectives from 4T’s Brewery, a micro brewery from Warrington. A very rich flavour of fudge, chocolate and other decadent dessert items, although a slightly weak aftertaste, but still a very enjoyable beer and I’d order this again.

    The service was efficient and I can see why this pub is in the Good Beer Guide, and it additionally also often wins the CAMRA branch pub of the year. I felt that the environment was just slightly sterile, but the range of beers was excellent and I very much enjoyed the one that I had. I think I’d have liked it more if it was set up as a tap room arrangement, but everything was clean and tidy and I have no complaints about the offering. Oh, and the scampi fries were delicious.

  • Barnsley – Jolly Tap on the Arcade

    Barnsley – Jolly Tap on the Arcade

    There aren’t a large number of Good Beer Guide pubs in Barnsley, so I limited myself to just one today, the Jolly Tap on the Arcade. This was previously a cake shop located on the Arcade (hence the pub name) and, since 2019, it is the taproom of the Jolly Boys Brewery.

    The beer selection is chalked up clearly at the end of the bar, although I didn’t understand the craft cans options. This is really a micro-pub in size, two tables downstairs and a handful upstairs with a small terrace area. I arrived shortly after the bar opened, but it soon got busier, I can’t imagine how busy it must get on weekends.

    Half a pint of the brewery’s Jolly Collier Porter, which I’ve had before at the Swiss House B&B in Castleton, who stocked three or four of their beers. Perfectly nice beer.

    And half a pint of the Supa-Citra Pale Ale from the brewery, which I hadn’t had before. I paired this well with the Bacon Fries, a very decadent combination.

    Service was polite, the surroundings were clean and comfortable, so all was well. I’m pleased that it’s listed in the Good Beer Guide, as otherwise I might have missed this well-reviewed bar given that it’s relatively new.