Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: UK

  • Leeds – The Golden Beam

    Leeds – The Golden Beam

    This is the controversial new JD Wetherspoon outlet, the Golden Beam, in the Headingley area of Leeds that certain elements of the council didn’t want.

    The building is magnificent, built for the Church of Christ, Scientist in 1912, although it was converted into an arts centre in 1986. It remained in use for that purpose until 2010 and then it remained derelict and this wonderful heritage building could have potentially be lost. The owners couldn’t sell it and then JD Wetherspoon came along and got rebuffed when they tried to get the appropriate permissions. They persisted and they’ve delivered on an incredible transformation of a building, it’s one of the largest in their estate and very sensitively restored. The pub name is intriguing as well, it’s named after a painting by John Atkinson Grimshaw, a local artist.

    The view from upstairs. The council have told JD Wetherspoons that they can’t have people taking part in the Otley Run coming in, which is a popular pub crawl that local students enjoy, that seemed to be the final sticking point that needed to be agreed.

    On the downside here, the pub didn’t have any guest real ales and so I just had a can of raspberry lemonade, not quite the beer experience that I was expecting. But, that doesn’t much matter, I was pleased just to see what a good job the company has done here in the conversion.

    A quick look at the reviews, which aren’t as positive as the company probably wanted. I noted the:

    “Wouldn’t let us in as allegedly I was too drunk, this is based on the fact I said we were on a stag do… not sure how this statement defines a level of drunkenness.”

    To be fair to the door staff, most stag nights done properly do involve drunkenness, especially if the best man has decided that it’ll involve a JD Wetherspoon outlet. They do seem to be a fair few complaints about the door staff not letting drunk customers in, so it sounds like they’re probably doing a decent job at maintaining order here. I can imagine this pub is a bloody nightmare to manage on a Friday and Saturday night though.

    The pub company invested over £4 million here and I find it bizarre that their offer to do this was rejected at one point by the city council. It’s located in a student area of the city and I can imagine it’ll be very popular from that demographic, but there was a variety of customers in today when I visited. The staff were helpful and were taking time explaining the menu to an elderly lady who needed assistance, all very professional. I don’t know how many customers this pub can seat, but it must be in the hundreds across the two floors.

    In short, I was suitably impressed, although more beers would have been useful.

  • Leeds – BrewDog Headingley

    Leeds – BrewDog Headingley

    I visited the other two branches of Brewdog in Leeds a couple of weeks ago but I didn’t get the chance to come out to Headlingley. As I’m trying to visit every Brewdog, I took the chance today to come out here to tick another one off.

    I arrived shortly after the bar opened at 16:00, and it’s also closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. I had pre-booked the Wings Wednesday unlimited chicken wings and there was a friendly welcome from the team member. I was offered a choice of seats internally and externally, but went for the one with a power point near to the end of the bar. I’m easily pleased.

    One of the beers I wanted was unavailable, so I just had half a pint of the Saison Fourage: Woodruff (or whatever it’s called, I’ve taken that from Untappd) from Yonder Brewing. It was beautifully decadent in terms of the richness of the flavours, it was quite an aromatic drink and it reminded me that Christmas isn’t far off and that annoyed me….  A slightly peppery flavour, all very rustic and I was pleased with this.

    The first lot of chicken wings were average, they’re using these giant things which are devoid in any depth of taste, with the wings not being cooked off so that the skin was all floppy and not crisped up. As friends will know, I can’t be eating skin that isn’t frazzled, and preferably burnt, so I picked the chicken out. They also don’t have wipes or the usual Brewdog sauce bottles, although they got me a tub of BBQ sauce.

    As I had unlimited wings, I went for the other option of buffalo sauce and these were as bad as they look. Greasy, lacking in flavour, all really quite unimpressive. I have no idea where they’ve got these wings in from, but they’re not a great quality and they’re not cooking them to mask that fact. They’d likely be better to just dump BBQ sauce on the outside of them, cook them for longer and hope for the best. Although I’d suggest that hoping for the best isn’t an ideal way to serve food.

    The matter got worse insomuch I was particularly annoyed when the standard £10 charge for these was ignored and I was charged £15. A manager was called over when I politely queried (although I verging into complaint territory at this stage) and they were reduced to £10 without a quibble and that appeased me (I’m easily pleased, as I noted earlier). I’ve checked the Brewdog web-site and it does say that wings should be £10 or £12 in London (although going up to £11 and £13 respectively) so this wasn’t an ideal situation.

    On staffing, the server was excellent and she was friendly and engaging. Absolutely no problems with the staff and their welcome, this was a comfortable place to visit. The music was way too loud during the early part of my visit, but they seemed to realise that when a barman was literally shouting at a customer to be heard. As a worrying aside for Brewdog, I quite liked the music, so I’d suggest that they’re entirely out of sync with their customer base. I believe that the Wurzels are the most important musical influence over the last half century, that might not be the vibe that this bar is looking for.

    If I hadn’t of got food from this Brewdog then I might have found it a better experience, although the list of beers was limited and it wasn’t very well balanced in terms of beer styles. There were no dark beers and they had to tell another customer that, the only choice was the fallback option in the fridges. On the service, I was entirely happy, but the quality of food wasn’t great and that’s particularly bad given that this is one of their outlets specialising in BBQ food. Friendly staff though, but an average visit.

  • Sowerby Bridge – Hollins Mill

    Sowerby Bridge – Hollins Mill

    After visiting the Hogs Head in Sowerby Bridge, I came to this former joinery premises which is run by the same company and is also listed in the Good Beer Guide. I would have visited the Jubilee Refreshment Rooms by the railway station as well, which is the only other Good Beer Guide listed pub in the town but it was shut and so I didn’t……

    The lighting proved challenging to take a photo, but this is the interior of the pub. They usually have a board behind the bar with the cask and keg options, but they were rewriting it when I visited so taking a photo would have been a little awkward. The environment felt a little sparse and it was more like being in a museum’s cafe than in a pub, but everything was clean and tidy. There’s an outside area as well which seemed popular, other than there were two dogs fighting which I didn’t think was ideal. Actually, it was very off-putting and I’m not sure whether I’d take children here.

    The Hop, Skip and Juice from the nearby Vocation Brewery, a perfectly acceptable pale ale, along with some really excellent beefy crisps from Seabrooks. Like the Hogs Head, this pub also doesn’t serve food beyond basic snacks, so this must be a challenge to shift enough beer to make money.

    Anyway, a perfectly welcoming pub with helpful staff. It apparently won the ‘CAMRA’s Best Conversion to Pub Use’ in 2006, but I don’t like the design personally, it all felt a bit open plan to me and I’m not sure that the acoustics worked very well. Anyway, I’m not an interior designer and I’m not even sure why I’m going down that line…..

  • Hebden Bridge – Vocation & Co.

    Hebden Bridge – Vocation & Co.

    With my daily rail pass for West Yorkshire, I had a fair few places that I could visit, and Nathan suggested that one of the possible locations was the home of Vocation Brewery, which is Hebden Bridge. I had visited their bar in Leeds a few weeks ago so this seemed a marvellous idea.

    The bar, all clean and modern. I faffed about a little at the bar ordering, so I think the barman thought I was an idiot, but he was helpful and friendly. I did tell him that I was checking Untappd so I could remember what drinks I had before, which is a ridiculous way of ordering really. But I didn’t want to come to a brewery’s taproom and then had something I’d already had, thereby missing out on something that I might not get to see anywhere else. It makes sense to me anyway, I think.

    The beer options and I of course went for Vocation’s two dark options. The barman mentioned that the Honeycomb Chocolate Stout was a recent product and so I was unlikely to have had it before.

    The one on the right is Naughty & Nice, which was lovely. But, I want to focus more on the one on the left, the Honeycomb Chocolate Stout, which was effectively like drinking a Crunchie Bar. A bloody lovely beer with a strong flavour, but it was smooth, luscious and really quite velvety, all with a 7% ABV. This was a delight to drink, although I’d note that the aftertaste wasn’t quite as decadent as I’d have liked, but this was something really quite different and enjoyable.

    It’s all a bit keg based to be listed in the Good Beer Guide, although there are a few cask options to choose from. I was slightly tempted by food (they do what look to be a decent line in burgers), but I might have been trying to be on a Zoom call at the same time, so I thought I was already pushing that situation…… A very good suggestion though to come here.

  • Halifax – Victorian Craft Beer Cafe

    Halifax – Victorian Craft Beer Cafe

    On the way back to Bradford, I visited this Good Beer Guide listed pub in Halifax and it’s a relatively short walk from the railway station (which is handy as that’s where I was coming from). The pub opened in 2014 with the aim of bringing continental style drinking to the residents of Halifax.

    The lighting in the pub was quite dim, but that suited its character and decor, although it made it difficult to capture in a photo. I think these capture the charm of the pub though, somewhere very cosy and comfortable.

    The beer board and that’s a well put together set of options, I was suitably impressed. There are usually 10 or so ales, 18 beers on tap and 100 bottled beers, I’d suggest it’d be hard for a beer drinker not to find something appropriate. Although not the man who reviewed the pub saying “pretentious, overpriced and dire beer”, although nearly every other review is quite rightly positive.

    Some news which I saw on the pub’s web-site is that they’re starting brewing themselves, under the Second Sight Brew Co banner and it looks an intriguing little set-up, with more at http://www.secondsightbrew.co/.

    I had debated going to get something to eat elsewhere, but the chorizo pork pie met my needs instead of bothering with anything else. The beer was refreshing and had the pineapple and apricot flavours that it promised, although not to the same depth as some of the other ones I’ve had from Brew by Numbers. Still a very pleasant way to end the night. Oh, and the pork pie was delicious, with not too much jelly for me to scrape off (it’s too decadent for me).

    As an aside, one thing that slightly confused me is that the Brew by Numbers brewery (one of my favourite) have several 55 Double IPAs, but I was able to check the pump clip to see that it was the El Dorado & Idaho 7 beer. Precision is needed for Untappd, a reminder really that I need to get out more….

    The service at the bar was friendly and engaging, this feels like a pub that the community is supporting. The decor is something else by any definition, a far cry from when it was an Italian restaurant, and I think they’ve done a great job with that. This really is one of those pubs that you could bring a book along to and spend a few hours here, or equally, find someone to talk to. I’m delighted that the Good Beer Guide directed me here, as although it’s a little bit trite to say that a pub can help you escape normality, I’d say this one can pretty much achieve that in the nicest of ways.

  • Sowerby Bridge – Hogs Head Brew House

    Sowerby Bridge – Hogs Head Brew House

    Fortunately it’s not too hot today as I explore the delights of West Yorkshire, with this visit being to the well-reviewed Good Beer Guide listed Hogs Head Brew House in Sowerby Bridge.

    I had already seen what drinks were available as the pub has listed them on their app, so that saved some time when at the bar. Well, saved a few seconds anyway. A range of beer styles there and a decent cask and keg selection of options.

    The bar, which feels bright and modern, and although it’s a little hidden by the lights in the photo, there’s a hog’s head above the counter (there are some other dead animals attached to other walls in the pub as well). The service was warm and welcoming, with the pub having quite a relaxed vibe.

    The cellar is visible through this glass panel in the floor and there’s a well that goes down even further.

    All very on-trend, a mix of the old and the new. The surroundings are comfortable and there’s certainly a lot of decoration and stuff around the place. There was one customer’s dog that spent about five minutes barking and he seemed oblivious to that it was annoying at least one other table. The pub didn’t feel very busy internally, but there were a fair few customers sitting outside in the garden area opposite.

    I went for the Paper Planes from Salopian Brewery, quite a quirky hazy beer, but with a depth of flavour that I liked. Of little relevance to anyone else, that’s the second beer I’ve had from Salopian Brewery in the last couple of weeks (and I’ve never had any from this brewery in Shrewsbury before that), both of which have been really quite acceptable.

    I’m not sure that I have much more to add about this pub, but I liked it and I’m glad that it’s in the Good Beer Guide. I’m not entirely sure how places of this size make money when they don’t offer meals (although they had pork pies), but there are two canals that meet in this town and perhaps they get some revenue from the tourist trade linked to that.

  • Northern Trains : Shipley to Bradford Forster Square

    Northern Trains : Shipley to Bradford Forster Square

    A short rail journey today, from Shipley back into Bradford Forster Square. It’s not possible to go to Shipley to Bradford Interchange without taking a circuitous route via Leeds or something, as the two Bradford railway stations aren’t connected.

    The delights of Shipley railway station’s underground tunnels.

    They’re not very decadent, but at least everything is clearly signed.

    Shipley’s railway station, this is in a different part of the complex to where I left from last week.

    Clicking on this image makes it larger and it’s the Network Rail map of the railway station. Platform 5 is on the left, platforms 3 and 4 at the base and platforms 1 and 2 at the top. Dead simple….

    Here’s the Northern Trains Thunderbolt speeding into the station.

    The seating and it was busier than this, but I took the photos when disembarking. There were no ticket checks, although there was a passenger watching TikTok videos loudly, but I can manage to ignore those when the rail journey only lasts for a few minutes.

    Into Bradford Forster railway station, which has ticket barriers and staff members available to help customers (or at least check they’ve got tickets which I think is the priority here). The journey took all of seven minutes, arriving on time when it should have done.

    Walking to the road, that building to the left is where the old railway station used to stand until the early 1990s, when it was known as Bradford Midland.

    The current railway station is located where School Street is now located, with Bradford Midland having been entirely demolished. That was a mistake as far as I can see, the facilities at Forster Square are inadequate and there needs to be a bigger railway station here. It will though mean demolishing the HMRC building that’s in the way.

  • Bradford – McDonalds Kirkgate

    Bradford – McDonalds Kirkgate

    I very rarely go into McDonald’s in the UK, they’re usually a little superfluous for me given that there are those wonderful things called pubs. However, it’s the McDonald’s monopoly season and I thought I’d see what I could get.

    Anyway, food, drink and stickers aside, I do feel sorry for the staff here. The upstairs of the restaurant was closed off, which really wasn’t ideal for customers, although they had a few seats free downstairs. In came a yell of children (or whatever the collective noun is) who were showing off which was the rudest, all aged around 10 or 11. Fortunately they were nowhere near me, but two of them were vaping in the corner and one of the crew members asked a manager to deal with the situation, which he begrudgingly did. One kid had also managed to pinch an entire cup of ketchup, which ended up being thrown on the floor outside. The crew member battled on though trying to clean the mess up the group had left, but he remained endlessly polite as if this was just another repeat occurrence of annoying customers.

    Then a group of younger women, probably aged around 16, came in and were abusive to the crew members. The same manager went over and threw them out as well, telling them he didn’t want customers like that in the restaurant. He certainly wasn’t in the mood for debate and I quite liked that confidence and authority. It certainly made for a tense atmosphere though, especially as then another customer was rude to a crew member, just what you want at 15:00 on a Sunday afternoon.

    There’s no real point to this post and I’m not going to go down the line about how there are problems with this younger generation, as it’s a small minority and it’s been the same for every other generation. It is though a reminder about just how hard so many staff in hospitality work, often in trying and difficult circumstances and provocation from customers.

    On a more important matter, I got a free coffee from the Monopoly stickers, so that was handy, although I’ll collect that when kids are at school, it’ll be more sedate. That’s the key message, be kind to hospitality workers and there are prizes galore with McDonald’s Monopoly….

  • Barnsley – Sod the Pedestrians

    Barnsley – Sod the Pedestrians

    I haven’t complained about anything for a few hours, so this seems like a good moment. This is an example of how pedestrians are really not well cared for sometimes and they wonder why accidents take place. On the left of this road junction is the Ibis Styles Barnsley and Toby Carvery, on the right is the road into Barnsley town centre. On both sides are residential areas and plenty of people need to walk between them, as I noticed when doing this walk myself, this is a busy crossing area for pedestrians. In the middle of all this is the M1 motorway.

    And this is what pedestrians have to cross, the entrance to the bloody M1. Just as cars really want to start speeding up to join the M1, there are pedestrians trying to cross here. No warnings for car drivers, nothing to help pedestrians. The appropriate flooring is there to help disabled people get across and know there’s a crossing, but they’d be very brave to try and cross here. I hated this crossing, and there’s one on the other side which is no better. The path does carry on and is protected after this point with a crash barrier, but then pedestrians have to cross the other side as well, where cars are coming off the M1. That’s slightly easier though, as there are traffic lights controlling that, although nothing for pedestrians, they just have to notice when they’re red for the cars.

    There’s the M1 and the slip road (or whatever they’re called) onto it is to the left behind the trees. I don’t know who is responsible for sorting out this crossing, but I think the lack of care here is irresponsible and I hope that no-one is ever injured on this crossing.

    Anyway, moan over….

  • Barnsley – New Central Library

    Barnsley – New Central Library

    The council demolished the town’s central library a few years ago and they promised they would replace it, which they’ve now done and the new building opened in 2019 in the heart of Barnsley’s Light Box regeneration area. I normally cringe when I see that a new library has been constructed, as too often they’re worse than what they replaced, but the arrangement here wasn’t as bad as I feared.

    As is partly visible here, I was impressed at how much seating there was, with power sockets readily available.

    Everything felt modern, although it’s not the most inspiring of buildings given that it looks like an office block.

    The maps collection, probably not used that much, but it’s a very useful resource for a library to have, especially when it’s presented neatly like this.

    I don’t know how true this is, but a member of library staff told a visitor that this chair made out of cardboard cost the council £750 and they’ve put it in the corner so that no-one sits in it. I have no further comment to add about this.

    Clever, use an environmental reason to justify just leaving the exposed concrete on the stairways. The signage in the building is appalling though, I’m not sure why they need to keep it a secret of where things are located. However, the fiction section is on the first floor and the reference section is on the second floor, that’s the main divide.

    I was suitably impressed by the entire set-up, with the staff being friendly, although there seemed to be a lot of them and they frequently looked bored. There’s plenty of space, lots of seats, a decent selection of local history books and a clean environment which was quiet. I say quiet, the public were quiet, the staff seemed to want to create an atmosphere more akin to a busy pub, but it’s easy to be critical…… Having written that, I went to look at the reviews of the library and this seems to be a common problem, so I think someone’s suggestion of a quiet area for the staff to sit in might be a useful benefit.

    I can’t imagine that this library came cheap, but these things should perhaps always be a little expensive to do properly (although I’d rather they spent more money on books rather than decadent furniture).