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  • 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.

  • Northern Trains : Huddersfield to Barnsley

    Northern Trains : Huddersfield to Barnsley

    My time in Huddersfield was up, so I waved farewell to Harold Wilson and went into the railway station, slightly saddened that I was leaving too early to pop into the King’s Head or the Head of Steam (both pubs at the railway station) for one more quick visit. This rail journey cost just over £8, which was relatively high for a direct train journey of under one hour, based on prices that I’ve been paying recently. The anytime single meant that I could break my journey anywhere along the route, although nowhere initially sprang to my mind. I only realised too late that I could have got off at a stop near Holmfirth and walked there, but I’ll remember that for another occasion.

    Huddersfield railway station is probably going to be knocked down soon, or at least this rickety old bit at the back is. The frontage of the railway station is one of the finest in the country from the Victorian period when it was constructed, but everything else is tired, inefficient and in need of replacement. The matter is currently with Grant Shapps, which doesn’t entirely fill me with confidence, but perhaps that’s being unfair.

    This is platform 2, which it took me a little while to find. It’s illogically numbered due to historic reasons, but it’s actually the platform nearest to the station building, even though logically that should be platform 1 (which is behind it in the above photo).

    The service operates on the Penistone Line, which opened in 1850 and meanders through some fairly small settlements before going through Barnsley and onto Sheffield. There’s apparently a real ale trail which often takes place along the line, which sounds rather lovely (although probably isn’t, it’s probably packed with people feeling ill, but I digress).

    The situation I found myself in was a little odd. The train from Sheffield rolled in and it’s the only service that departs from Platform 2, so it was clearly the train going back again to Sheffield. The driver left the doors open and popped into the railway station building, so I assumed that everyone waiting would get on. They didn’t. I faffed about a bit on the platform looking awkward and confused, before deciding that I’d be brave and climb on board. I was half expecting the damn train thing to drive off and end up at Torquay or something if I’m being honest. One person followed me on, also looking confused. The driver came back a few minutes later and a customer asked him if they could board. He also looked confused, as if permission was needed to get on a train which had the doors open. Perhaps they’re just very polite people in Huddersfield…..

    Also, the seating set-up is completely pointless (not that I want to start moaning about something else), as three people don’t fit sitting side by side on those seats (well, usually don’t). They’d be far better off converting those to the same as most other rail companies, two seats one side of the aisle and two seats the other side. Anyway, the train service wasn’t that busy, so I didn’t have a problem getting a block of seats to myself.

    It’s not going to win any photography awards, but there were some scenic landscapes, and a fair few tunnels, along the journey. The guard seemed helpful, but there was no checking of tickets going on at any stage. They must be trusting folk.

    Arriving on time into Barnsley.

    This is Barnsley Interchange railway station, constructed a few years ago to try and merge the town’s rail and bus operations. What it meant for me was the chance to explore Barnsley, a town that I’ve never been to before. As an aside, I kept hearing Michael Parkinson’s voice in my mind (not all day, just occasionally, I’m not yet entirely losing the plot) who is the most famous Barnsley resident that I know. I don’t know many others, just Arthur Scargill and Dickie Bird, who statue I might go and have a little look at. Anyway, I digress.

  • Huddersfield – St. Peter’s Church (Gravestones Turned into Paving)

    Huddersfield – St. Peter’s Church (Gravestones Turned into Paving)

    This is St. Peter’s Church in Huddersfield, the parish church.

    Below is my moaning about how the gravestones have been used….. And I know others will think it looks lovely.

    There’s not much that can be done now, but I’m not a supporter of the decision to flatten gravestones and turn them into paving. We’ve got a selection above of a baby’s gravestone made into a step, a bin shoved on a gravestone, a gravestone cut up to fit, a fallen memorial, gravestones with picnic tables on and gravestones with paint all of them. It’s not the character that I’d want from a parish church, and there’s been a religious building on this site for over 1,000 years.

    And more photos. I accept they look quite beautiful in many ways, but at some stage someone had to pay a lot of money for a stone to remember their loved ones. This doesn’t feel the right way to treat them and some other churches did block attempts for their graveyards to be handled in this manner. They’re also not in the right place, so the historic link to the location of the grave is not immediately obvious, although I think there are records which might show the original burial location. At least though all of the gravestones have now been photographed, so their text won’t be lost forever.

    But, just as my complaining draws to its boring end, the situation gets worse. I just consider the current situation to be unfortunate, but the church has yet to finish its master plan. The church, in its great wisdom, has decided it can turn this park area into a lovely car park. Huddersfield Civic Society said:

    “Surely this goes against the council’s blueprint and the green agenda? Will it not also involve significant costs to redesignate the Traffic Regulation Order that restricts traffic in Byram Street? Surely, in light of the planned repurposing of St Peter’s garden, Kirklees Council and the applicant could work together to look for alternative parking?

    Perhaps Kirklees could make available dedicated spaces in one of the nearby car parks that are little used on Sundays. After all, there already is provision at the church for temporary parking for funeral vehicles and dropping off disabled parishioners. Huddersfield Civic Society objects strongly to this plan and hopes Kirklees planners will reject it for the sake of the town’s future.”

    I agree with the Civic Society.

    Anyway, complaining over.

  • Huddersfield – Travelodge

    Huddersfield – Travelodge

    My luxury abode for the few days that I was in Huddersfield was the Travelodge which was located around a ten minute walk away from the town centre. What it lacked in convenience it more than made up for by being reasonably priced. Friendly staff as well, although I rarely have any issues in that regard with Travelodge (or indeed with any hotel company to be fair).

    The room, which looks like more other Travelodge rooms around the country. They’ve taken out the sofa from the room, which was evident as there’s a mark on the carpet where it once was. It was all sufficiently clean and comfortable though, no issues there.

    The beautiful view of the sweeping plains and dales of Huddersfield. What’s a little harder to see is that there’s a railway line on that embankment, although there didn’t seem to be many trains on it.

    Although I need to add that my wide angle phone has distorted this, it’s not the biggest bath that I’ve ever seen (and it is a bath and not a shower tray).

    The hotel is pretty well reviewed on-line, although as something outside of their control, I did have some problems with my Vodafone signal and there’s no free wi-fi in the room (or not beyond the free thirty minutes per day), so that wasn’t ideal. There’s no cafe bar at this Travelodge, they just offer the silly little breakfast box which is £5.25 and comes with a small cornflakes, milk, a muffin, flapjack and pain au chocolat. I’ve never had one (well, other than the ones they’ve given me free on a few stays) and they pick up a fair few negative reviews about them. I’m surprised that they’ve persisted with them. Anyway, I digress.

    As a hotel, this was a perfectly good stay, very little internal or external noise and the staff topped up the teas and coffees every day and changed the towels every day, although that’s the limit to what they’re doing at the moment. All very acceptable.

  • Huddersfield – The Grove

    Huddersfield – The Grove

    Hop & Vine Tony and I couldn’t get into this pub when we tried on Monday, primarily as it’s shut on Mondays. However, I didn’t want to miss out (and my friend Julian S from Norwich is also a fan of this pub, so it came personally recommended), so I went down on the Tuesday evening to see why this Good Beer Guide pub was so well reviewed.

    The beers on the bar, certainly an excellent choice with plenty of different styles. Incidentally, I didn’t like how my view of their crisp selection on the bottom shelf was obscured by the high bar. I realised after I had ordered that they had Frazzles and I didn’t get to order them….. I’m not saying that this is a critical problem in the world today that needs media attention and Government action, but I felt it worthy of mentioning here.

    A more complete look at the beers that they had, which I’d mostly already had in one shape or form, but there were some that intrigued me. The Albino Pheasant from Verdant Brewing was tempting, but it’s not a cheap beer and I’m sure there will be another occasion.

    The artwork on the wall was, well, I can’t really say anything as apparently it’s of the owners and it feels wrong to make any other comment than to say it’s certainly quite decadent. I would say though that I hope JD Wetherspoon don’t decide this is an angle that they want to go down, I don’t need to see any more of Tim Martin.

    The interior decoration was certainly quirky….. In front of the stuffed animal on the wall, that’s a Green Devil IPA from Oakham Ales which I expected to be quite average, but was actually anything but. Zesty, hoppy and quite powerful, I really liked this.

    I also didn’t have great expectations for my half a pint of Alf, a collaboration between Marble Beers and Amundsen Brewery of Norway. I’m not very good at describing pale ales, but I’ll have a go, but just to say, this was a beer which had a depth of flavour that I’ve rarely experienced in this style, although it is a 5.4% beer. I had to think about this beer and sip it slowly, pretending that I actually had a clue what flavours I was trying to decipher. It was very fruity, that was evident, and there was a strong hoppy background to it and I decided that I could taste peach, although I probably made that up. A clean flavour and rich aftertaste, and I wish I could explain why I liked this beer, but that’ll have to do in my little write-up. I gave it 4.75 on Untappd though, which was generous of me.

    The pub had a relaxed atmosphere, clearly something very different and not run of the mill. The staff were friendly and helpful, welcoming customers who were leaving and departing, with a community feel to the whole arrangement. I hope that they remain in the Good Beer Guide for many more years to come, it was all really rather lovely.

  • Huddersfield – King’s Head

    Huddersfield – King’s Head

    Huddersfield Railway Station has the rather lovely situation where there is a pub at either end of the building, the Head of Steam at one end (more on which in another post) and the King’s Head at the other. It’d be nice if Norwich railway station had such decadent choices, but maybe one day (and perhaps a Greggs as well whilst they’re making the changes). The pub was formerly known as the Station Tavern and the interior is something different, with the floor tiling being of note. It’s certainly a large space (and there’s some outdoor seating as well), although perhaps rather sparsely laid out at the moment though.

    Tony, from the wonderful Hop & Vine pub in Hull, was joining me for the day and this is where we started our little expedition from. Something which doesn’t appeal to me (I prefer quiet and genteel in pubs…..), but there is regular live music held here and I think that that’s a popular way of getting people in for this venue.

    The list of beer options and I liked the range of different beer styles that were available. The prices were also reasonable and it was easy to see the beers that they had.

    The Tiramisu Stout from Salvation Brewery, which was entirely pleasant to drink, but lacking in any real depth of taste. The beer is listed by the brewery as having “a delicious depth of flavour”, but it wasn’t quite desserty enough for me.

    The service in the bar was friendly, with the staff member being engaging and conversational. I can see why this is listed in the Good Beer Guide, a very acceptable place to wait for a train.

  • Huddersfield – Rat and Ratchet

    Huddersfield – Rat and Ratchet

    The Rat and Ratchet in Huddersfield has an excellent reputation locally and is listed in the Good Beer Guide and has been for the last thirty years, which is an impressive achievement by any measure. The pub is located near to the Queensgate Campus of the University of Huddersfield, a short walk from the town centre.

    Underneath the pub in the cellars is the Rat Brewery, which as this useful sign notes has been producing beers since 2011 under the new owners, the Ossett Brewery. The beers are still though separately branded for the moment.

    It’s fair to say that I liked the signage.

    The bar was nicely presented and the barman was kind enough not to comment that I nearly tripped over the little step by the bar whilst walking towards it. Fortunately, I recovered the situation promptly and professionally……

    I was slightly puzzled (not difficult, I’m nearly permanently puzzled by something) at the weekend to see the Ossett Brewery beers at the Salt Beer Factory and so I asked the barman about that given it was replicated the other way round here. He mentioned that it was all part of the same family, which is something that I didn’t know. Judging from their on-line branding, the brewery is treating Ossett Brewery as their cask product and Salt as their keg product.

    The list of cask and keg options is clearly marked up.

    I ordered half a King Rat from Ossett, as well as half of the Ratsputin which was an imperial stout which some depth of flavour to it. Both well kept pints, at the appropriate temperature and so on.

    The service was friendly and the environment had an historic feel to it, although it had a modern edge to it as well, the ‘old meets the new’ and all that. It felt a welcoming pub judging from the other customers and I can see that this would be a handy place to have as a local. There’s very much a focus on their own beer, with few guest beers, although that is perhaps not unreasonable given that they brew some of the products here. Definitely a very worthwhile addition to the Good Beer Guide.

  • Huddersfield – German Doner Kebab

    Huddersfield – German Doner Kebab

    It seems that every city that I’ve been to recently has a German Doner Kebab outlet and I’ve been slightly intrigued by the whole arrangement. It transpires that it’s operated by Hero Brands and they’re on a big franchise push, opening 50 outlets this year and they’re keeping that rate up for seven more years. After checking, it appears that this franchise opened only a few weeks ago, replacing an outlet of Pizza Hut that had closed down last year. That reminds me that I haven’t been to Pizza Hut for years and I remember when there were queues of customers outside many branches waiting to get in for lunch buffet. Anyway, I digress.

    I very rarely have doner kebabs, namely as I tried one about 15 years ago that I was given free from a kebab shop and I thought it tasted bloody awful. However, I had a kebab in Poznan in Poland a couple of years and I’ve been reminded how popular this whole thing is in Germany, with its Turkish roots.

    The menu is above (clicking on the image makes it more readable), all clearly laid out. The shop has some self-service touch screens, but they’re broken, which isn’t ideal given how new the shop is.

    Given that the brand is clearly doing something right, I thought that I’d try the food here, although I was rather sceptical. Anyway, the service at the counter was friendly and helpful, so everything felt welcoming and well managed. The shop was generally pretty clean as well, I didn’t have any concerns there. I’m not sure if it’s standard practice or just because it was quite quiet, but the staff brought the food to the table for me as well.

    I went for the mixed chicken and beef doner box with fries. Goodness knows how unhealthy that was with the fries and salt, but there we go. It comes with three dips, which are garlic, yoghurt and spicy. I can’t say any were exceptional, but they added positively to the proceedings.

    As for the taste of the kebab, it was much better than I had expected. The beef was actually full of flavour, although much of that was probably salt and additives, but it was very moreish. The chicken was also tender and had a depth of taste to it, with the sauces livening up the fries. The portion size was also more than I had expected, perhaps not really shown by the photo.

    I’d certainly come to one of these outlets again and I can see why this franchise is doing well, it’s something that isn’t that well catered for by chains at the moment. I suspect that there will be some considerable trade lost by the traditional late night kebab shops up and down the country unless they’re able to tap into a loyal following.

  • Northern Trains + TransPennine Express : Shipley to Huddersfield

    Northern Trains + TransPennine Express : Shipley to Huddersfield

    My rail journey today was from Shipley to Huddersfield, which isn’t an expensive one, coming in at £6.50 for the two services, a Northern Rail from Shipley to Leeds and a TransPennine Express from Leeds to Huddersfield.

    It takes a little bit of working out to find the appropriate platform at Shipley railway station.

    Wikipedia tells me that there are only two triangular railway stations left in the country, this one and Earlestown on Merseyside. I’m not entirely sure how interesting a fact that is, but there we go.

    That’s how the situation evolved.

    A handy little waiting room.

    The Northern train which had come from Skipton, with Shipley being the final stop before Leeds. This is a horrible train (or the interior, the actual train is fine), the seating isn’t large enough, but more about that another time when I get around to writing about when I went from Leicester to Bradford (when I took photos). It’s really not a good look for a rail company, and the Government managed Northern Trains (no longer Northern Rail, just to confuse things) would do well to just take half the seats out and dump them in a heap somewhere, as a large number of seats are unuseable with the current set-up. Anyway, I digress and it didn’t much matter as I found a seat at the end of the carriage.

    Here we are in Leeds.

    There’s the TransPennine Express service from Leeds to Manchester, which was operating at well over its seating capacity, meaning standing room only. As the journey from Leeds to Huddersfield is only 17 minutes, I decided just to stand near to the end of the carriage, but I felt sorry for those unable to be seated who were going all the way to Manchester. There was a friendly guy who was passing around sweets (which were sealed) to customers in his vicinity, which I don’t think was a mass poisoning exercise (can’t be too careful). I hope not anyway, I had a Wispa.

    And safely into Huddersfield, with hoards more people trying to get on (mostly not in the photo). This is clearly a heavily congested route, I’m not sure if there are usually this many problems with a lack of seating. Customers would have got away without paying for a ticket though on this route, there were no ticket checks and there are no barriers at Shipley and the barriers at Huddersfield weren’t in operation.

    The exterior of Huddersfield railway station, and a statue of the former Prime Minister Harold Wilson.

    As for this journey, convenient and on-time as it was, it’s not an ideal set-up from the rail companies who seem to be struggling to deal with the number of passengers wanting to use their services. Time perhaps for the Government to speed up more investment in the rail network to get more services running. Anyway, I digress….