BITE user comments - parksidepete
Comments by parksidepete
I visited this pub once. Unless something drastic happens, I don't think I'll be visiting it again! When you first walk in it's a bit like The Slaughtered Lamb at the start of American Werewolf In London, people staring at you for daring to come into "their" pub, and you're half expecting Duelling Banjos to start playing.
In short, keep on walking.
13 Apr 2009 18:52
Landlord and landlady Jonny and Tricia are also going to be running another pub in the village, the Commercial, later on this year. We're being promised seven different cask ales, so it all sounds very good indeed. There's hope yet.
Can't rate the Commercial because this site doesn't allow negative ratings, but I'll repeat my 8 out of 10 for the Swan and hope that the Commercial can soon rise to the same standard.
13 Apr 2009 18:47
If you're a beer fan, this place is Heaven's Waiting Room.
8 regular beers and a rotating choice of 10 guest beers means that when you walk in you will need to pay careful attention to the blackboards detailing brewery, beer, strength, colour, and price.
My pints of Curlew's Return from the Allendale Brewery and Wonder Wully (sic) from the Burton Bridge Brewery were both spot on, and served - as usual - in the excellently engraved pint glasses used by the Grove. You can buy a glass for �2 a go, and so, of course, I now have one at home.
Can't recommend this place highly enough.
11 Apr 2009 17:06
The Rat and Ratchet, Huddersfield
This was my fourth visit to the pub, and finally I've "got it". Previous visits fairly early on a Saturday morning were marred by a chlorine smell pervading the air, presumably the result of lines being cleaned.
Today, however, I arrived late enough to avoid all that and the pub smelled like, well, a pub. Stone floors and alcoves gain points every time for me, and the pints of Reactor from the Atomic Brewery and the award winning Excelsior went down very well indeed.
As I walked around the place finding a suitable spot to sit down, I turned a corner by the jukebox (good choice of music) and found, joy of joys, a pinball machine. Star Trek: The Next Generation, if you happen to be a fan.
By the way, they've got a Mild, Cider and Perry festival going on over the first Bank Holiday of May from Saturday 2nd to Sunday 3rd, so if it rocks your boat, make a note. Cheers!
11 Apr 2009 16:52
Called in for a couple of pints this lunchtime (Easter Saturday), and the pub was fairly quiet apart from a friendly couple drinking various real ales and a gently snoring dog tucked up in the corner.
It's a ten minute walk from Huddersfield town centre, but well worth the effort. My pints of Marathon Ale from the Six Bells Brewery and Union Ale from the Rugby Brewing Company went down a treat, and that's just sampling two of the bar's 10 handpumps.
Nice, decent, boozer. Wish there were more of 'em!
11 Apr 2009 16:41
The Riverhead Brewery Tap, Marsden
Don't agree with the "beers tend to be of the same kind" quote fom the previous comment, because the March Haigh Special at 4.6% is definitely NOT yellowish! Good, dark pint of beer, went down very well.
My second pint of the visit, the Redbrook Premium Bitter at 5.5%, felt like an old friend had called by and invited me out for a pint. Great drink.
I DO agree with the micro brewery / pub / restaurant etc comments, very nice olde pub with lots of wood and stone walls for people who appreciate that kind of thing, of which I am one, and the river tumbling over the rocks outside only adds to the overall atmosphere.
Loved it.
10 Apr 2009 17:22
Well, I was there this lunchtime on a drizzly Good Friday and had great pints of Black Sheep Bitter and Sharp's Cornish Coaster, and didn't have a problem with either of them. And at two pounds for the Sharp's pint, who's complaining? They were both superb.
Nice friendly welcome, as everybody mentions, and I wouldn't hesitate to visit the place again. Good food, judging by the rapidly emptying plates around me, and it's advisable to book in advance because it can get pretty busy.
Highly recommended, but please don't park your Chelsea Tractor outside, it does inconvenience people who actually live in the area. Cheers!
10 Apr 2009 17:15
The Rose and Crown, Slaithwaite
Can't believe there's only one comment here!
This is a superb pub with a beer garden view that many other pubs would kill for. As you sup your pint of Black Sheep Bitter, Daleside Blonde, or whatever takes your fancy, you can gaze out at the verdant English countryside rolling away into the distance, and forget any problems that you might have in life.
Good food, too, although it's worth booking in advance because it can get pretty busy. Lovely place.
5 Apr 2009 17:30
There's normally three cask ales on, Timothy Taylor's Landlord and a couple of others. Brass Monkey's honey-flavoured Monkey Pooh was there this April lunchtime, along with Slater's Doombar bitter (a lovely pint), and a mild.
Marvellous pub, we'd miss places like this if they ever vanished. Fortunately, Jonny and Tricia look like being here for a long time to come. Good!
They've got a beer festival coming up from May 14-17 2009 if anyone's in the area. Fill yer boots!
5 Apr 2009 17:24
Walked up to the pub from my home in Slaithwaite on a fine sunny Sunday, got there just after 1.30, and found a most welcoming pub with an excellent range of cask beers and a friendly reception from barlady and customers alike.
I had a wonderful pint of Old Eli to begin with, put some music on the jukebox and had a bit of a chat with one of the - presumably - regulars about the Bo Diddley song that I'd selected. He didn't know it, swapping of musical heritage ensued, and a fine time was had by all.
Yes, there were a couple of dogs lounging around on the floor, as a previous correspondent has mentioned, but so what? Friendly enough beasts, not a murmur of trouble out of any of them, so no problems there. And any pub that's confident enough to have a fish tank in view of the bar is fine by me.
In short, it's pubs like this that help define our country. You'd never find a place like this outside of Britain!
5 Apr 2009 17:18
Back to parksidepete's profile
Casino Red - Ruby Lounge, Huddersfield
And what's the one thing they don't mention? Oh yes. Beer.
11 May 2009 09:26