To mark my 65th birthday last November we decided to spend a night in Holmfirth and chose the very centrally located Old Bridge Hotel for our stay. All the pubs and bars on our list are easily accessible from this very smart hotel, which does have a limited free car park and overlooks the River Holme and Holmfirth bus station. It also sells real ale, but more of that later. Fortunately my birthday fell on a Thursday for had we come on a Monday, Tuesday or even a Wednesday some of the pubs and bars were closed. Even on a Thursday opening in some was not until 3pm/4pm.
After an extensive wander around the streets and shops, including morning coffee at Bluebird Bakery we headed to Harvey’s Bar & Kitchen with a view to having something to eat. Unfortunately only one cask beer was available and we didn’t fancy anything from the food menu so moved on to the Tap House. A selection of beers were available from the nearby Nook Brewhouse but on entering we were told that the bar was closing at 1pm and would reopen at about 3:30pm, It was now 12:45, so I just had a half of Nook Session IPA (3.8%). We decided to lunch at Hollowgate Fish & Chip shop but had to eat them outside as the advertised inside seating was closed off. In order to walk off our lunch we went to the furthest pub on the list, the Postcard Hotel on the main Huddersfield Road through Holmfirth. This was a fairly large roadside pub and half of Theakston Best Bitter (3.8%) was enjoyed. This pub was not on the tourist trail around the town and our stay was somewhat spoilt by the sometimes loud and colorful language of some of the local punters. Returning to the centre we sought out the Elephant & Castle with a view to looking at the food menu for a meal later in the day as this was advertised as being available until 6.45pm. My Adnams Ghost Ship (4.5%) was pleasant enough but on enquiring about food we were informed that hot drinks and food was not available as the kitchen was being refurbished, although I must say that there was no sign of any activity in the kitchen at all.
We returned to the hotel to book in and freshen up before setting out again. The first port of call after this was about a two minute walk from the hotel and what a breath of fresh air this place was. The Magic Rock Tap was light, airy and had a fresh feel to it and with pleasant staff and customers. I had a half of the dark and tasty cask Magic Rock Dark Arts Honeycomb Surreal Stout (6.6%). All three handpumps were in operation here which was in total contrast to our next port of call, O’Briens Bottle Shop & Beer Cafe just around the corner from here on Huddersfield Road. This had several keg taps on the wall and three handpumps on the bar. On enquiring about cask beer I was told that they had none on as the lines were due to be cleaned. I would have thought that they had plenty of time during their closed hours (3pm opening even on a Thursday) to clean the lines so that they could at least serve cask beer when they actually opened. I was disappointed and underwhelmed by this establishment. Anyway, on to the next bar – Oscar’s Café & Wine Bar. This was brightly lit and looked welcoming, but again no real ale was available so we then sought solace in the very busy Rose & Crown. This is also known as the Nook and is the home of Nook Brewhouse. Many cask Nook beers were available and I sampled both Elder Flower (4.5%) and Choco Orange Stout (5.2%) followed by a half of their guest ale, Wensleydale Angels Touch (4.0%). This pub was bustling with regulars and visitors and we chose to eat in here. There was only one staff member behind the bar but he was doing a sterling job. Next we were hoping to go in Y’s Bar & Snap, but it was closed.
After this further disappointment we decided to head back to the Old Bridge Hotel bar which had six handpumps of which five were in operation. I finished with a rather nice half of Recoil White Snake pale ale (4%).
Given the number of closed/late opening pubs/bars it occurred to me that maybe Holmfirth had it’s hey day during the many years of filming for Last of the Summer Wine and is now suffering a little as filming has ceased. Even Sid’s Café was closed on a Wednesday and Thursday.
Another Grand Day (and night) Out but was hoping for a slightly better choice of cask beer in some of the pubs/bars, when they were open that is!