Ten trains in one day
The train strategy was not so subtle. However it was very practical. How to transport two people around West Yorkshire for about £9, take note First Scotrail.
The KWVR was the first attraction of the day. The Steam Engine was timed to leave Haworth just after 11.00 giving Marg and Hector plenty more time to enjoy the Bronte Village before the hordes arrived.
There was a fast connection to Shipley which was actually a late running train, so the train we missed at Shipley we should not even have seen. At Bradford we had to change stations and caught the direct train to Todmorden. Two hours after we left Haworth we were little more than ten miles from our starting point, but come on, four trains! Marg was still speaking.
Todmorden #2
When Ricky brought me here a few months back, I knew I would return. The town has a definite charm. The Tourist Information sold the required postcards, now who has ever had a postcard from Todmorden? We then walked over the canal towards Bare Arts, the first Bier Stop of the day.
Mein Host was at the door to greet us. Having established that this was not my first visit went down well. Marg was introduced to Mawsons’s Sarsaparilla, not a drink Hector has never tasted. I had something a little bit stronger. The Cacade at 6.7% was dry, hoppy, just the job. I had hoped the Ale would have been cooler being later in the year; however the room was warm and the Bier was slightly warmer than I would have hoped. At some 7% it was fine.
Mein Host spent some considerable time in our company. I had to ask if the colour scheme was dreamt up whilst someone as on illegal substances, but it is all part of the Art part of Bare Art.
A second Bier was out of the question, we had places to go, people to see. There was an Ale Festival on in Todmorden this very day…
The famed Black-pudding Pork Pie was purchased in the Market and eaten outside the Polished Knob. To quote a popular current political saying – I am not making this up – Ricky did phone me whilst I was outside this camouflaged restaurant.
Huddersfield
Our next train took us to Brighouse where Marg had dropped me at the start of the summer vacation. A short wait and we connected with the train to Huddersfield, the main objective of the day. Marg has never been to The Grove and hence had never met Judith and John.
I met Judith and John on my first visit to The Grove, we have rendezvoused since.
The formalities of introduction were soon over and as expected, Marg and Judith were like life long friends. (How come the Yorkshire folks and the Scots get on so well?) John was also in excellent form today.
There was Bier for The Traveller
Hector started with a local Ale before moving on to Jaipur (Thornbridge, Bakewell, Derbyshire)). After this I decided to call it a day. No, this was not my last Bier of the day but I have now resolved not to drink the is particular Ale for the foreseeable.
Hector wrote to Thornbridge at the start of the summer to ask what had happened to Jaipur, it is now unrecognisable. What was a stunningly citrus, strong grapefruit, and dry Ale is now quite bland. Even the colour has changed. I did get a reply, sources of hops et al, but sadly no, this is not Jaipur.
A Change of Gear
The bottled Bier at The Grove is extensive. There was Alt Bier in the cellar, we do not get this at the Ally Arms too often. Schlösser Alt (Düsseldorf, NRW) was followed by Schlenkerla’s (Bamberg, Franconia) Märzen. The St Georgen (Buttenheim) Doppelbock Dunkles was too much to resist. Went the day well.
The Ale Trail
Hector was first in Huddersfield as part of the famous Ale Trail between Manchester and Wakefield. The Head of Steam, not our favourite pub, was full and so theKing’s Head it was. Cask return is not my favourite means of serving Ale.
This place is not an attractive place to take a lady, but we had missed the train. In fact, I do not think we did miss the train. The Guard told us we had, if indeed this train was Leeds bound then he did us no favours.
Tonight’s Curry-Heute was relocated to Keighley because of the hour lost in Huddersfield. Changing stations and trains once again in Bradford and hence Shipley, we arrived back to Haworth too late for a final Ale.
Hector had done well, Marg has beaten her record of nine trains in a day.
Pubs and Micro Brewery visited today:
Bare Arts – 110 Rochdale Rd. Todmorden. OL14 7LP
The Grove – 2 Spring Grove Street, Huddersfield, HD1 4BP
Kings Head – Huddersfield Railway Station, 18 Saint George’s Square, Huddersfield, HD1 1JF
Pub not visited today (deliberately):
The Polished Knob – 31 Burnley Road, Todmorden, OL14 7BU
Is Judith on Facebook?