Robin was my designated Travel Partner for the day, £9.50 to roam West Yorkshire, great value. This is by all buses and trains, even better. After Hector’s superb Curry-Heute at The International we headed east to join the others at The Hop in Leeds. This is the Ossett Brewery Tap and the pouring of Excelsior is enough to put this on the map. I first encountered this area underneath Leeds Station back in 1996 when I first started coming down to Yorkshire regularly, this was another life. Since the canal bank was modernised and the appearance of the new build, the atmosphere has sadly gone. There used to be wonderful shops under the arches selling all sorts of ethnic goods. Alas, no more. The Bratwurst stall has gone too.
The rest of The Chaps had located themselves on the Mezzanine, we thought it better to grab a pint before climbing the stairs.
Twenty Minutes Later
To say the service was slow, no let’s not prevaricate, the service was diabolical! A new Doris hadn’t a clue, she even had to ask the solitary Bert where the Guinness tap was… Bert was caught up with one guys food order… ‘ would you like mash with that?’ tap, tap, tap, ‘and gravy?’ tap, tap, tap, ‘and the other pie?’ tap, tap, tap… What a useless set up. A pencil and paper would have been far more efficient than this useless till. How far was the kitchen, two metres away?
Jonathan and Craig needed another Bier, they were gone for ages.
Now Hector had suggested we leave the Hop just after 14.00 in order to catch a train to Todmorden. I suspected that as in our last visit, The Chaps may be dragged out with the proverbial heels dragging along the ground. The decision to leave was an easy one.
This was not before Howard investigated the strange goings on at the adjacent tables. There were a lot of dolls around; I do not refer to Yvonne or Tracey. The people were doing things with their dolls, all far too weird for us, Todmorden here we come.
The Shack on Square Wheels
Some of the rolling stock in Yorkshire is unbearable. The Huddersfield to Sheffield line via Penistone has the proverbial shack on wheels. Guess what turned up to take us to Todmorden? Time to re-plan. Dewsbury was not too far; let’s get off this piece of crap as soon as possible. We crawled through Dewsbury. Sowerby Bridge was mentioned, but it was only minutes from Todmorden. Jonathan and ?Stan! stayed on the train to Sowerby Bridge, six of us bailed at Brighouse.
The Sir Richard Oastler has featured in this Blog before, a truly wonderful Wetherspoon’s conversion with the usual poor Wetherspoon’s service. Howard had words. On my visit to the bar the locals were going mental trying to get served. The day was frustrating in terms of service but the Bier was good. The Bridgehouse Barnstormer 4.4% was below our usual abv, but was so enjoyable Robin and I had more. Craig and Yvonne spotted the Jaipur, positive noises were made but some was left. Jaipur is no longer worth drinking IMHO. Maybe Howard and Tracey will reveal what they consumed.
The Main Event
John and Judith were due to rendezvous with us at The Grove. We were there first, well, six of us were. ?Stan! and Jonathan did not show up for over an hour, hence they had the cheap seats. Malcolm (Judith’s other husband?) whom I met on the day this company came together was brought too.
The Grove always has an interesting array of Ale. The Thornbridge/Kernel Coalition Burton Ale at 7.2% was served in half pints only. This was enough. Robin had the Dark Star Hophead which at 3.9% was going in the wrong direction for Hector. Craig thought an early bed time was called for and embarked on a session of Buxton Axe Edge Double IPA at 6.8%. One pint was enough for the rest of us. In fact one pint was enough for Craig. The new experience of Thornbridge Crux at 5.4% did not set the heather on fire. Kipling it is not.
John made sensible choices. Judith was straight in to the (Pavel’s) Kwak, one of the finest of Belgian Biers. What a lady. This was followed by Westmalle, I suspect she and John would do well on one of our summer extravaganzas, who knows, in time…
Yvonne decided to replicate the great disaster of The Sparrow from the previous night. She turned her bottle and glass over and pulled the bottle from the glass. She had to use two hands, that does not count.
Jonathan and ?Stan! may have been on this trip. They took the bus back to Bradford, the rest of us sped back on a comfortable train. It was definitely time for a Curry-Heute!
The Pubs visited today:
The Hop – Neville Street Leeds, West Yorkshire LS1 4BR
Richard Oastler – Bethel Street, Brighouse, West Yorkshire, HD6 1JN
The Grove – 2 Spring Grove Street, Huddersfield, HD1 4BP