Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Barnsley

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.