The Grape and Grain, Littleborough

 

The Grape and Grain

25-27 Church Street

Littleborough OL15 8DA

TEL: 01706 614961

This used to be called Toppo's Bar, was renamed fairly recently I think. I prefer the new name! It's as much a restaurant as a bar and is in what looks like former shop premises so not a traditional pub. It's at the end of Littleborough high street just before you turn off towards Todmorden.

ambience - 3

piped music

decor - 3

minimalist in shades of grey with leather-look seats

ales - 0

mass produced stuff only

service - 4

features - 2

serves food

DJ at weekends

toilets - 3

Score 15 out of 30

 

The Moorcock Inn, LIttleborough

The Moorcock Inn

Halifax Road

Littleborough OL15 0LD

TEL: 01706 378156

This pub is also a B&B and a restaurant. It has been serving customers since 1641, according to a sign on the premises. I can't find out anything independently about its history - so far - but the bar area looks seventeenth century, it has thick stone walls, thick timber roof beams supporting a low ceiling and a stone floor. The restaurant section next to it is less solid in design and looks like it was a later addition, perhaps 19th century. This pub is only two miles out of LIttleborough town centre but it is in the middle of moorland and about a  mile below Blackstone Edge on the Pennine Way.

   In 2022 there was a report that it planned to close due to having lost a lot of business during Lockdown Year but in June 2023 it's still there. Check out its facebook page for its live music nights.

ambience - 2

The bar area is cosy and would be worth a 4 on its own but the restaurant section is a bit characterless.

decor - 2

Unoriginal white painted walls in the restaurant section. Makes the place bright but looks boring, no  pictures or decoration. The bar area has more character.

Ales - 3

In the bar 

Service - 5

Can't fault it

Features - 5

serves food

dog friendly

child friendly

accommodation

live music in the evening

toilets - 4

Nothing to dry your hands on

Score 21 out of 30

It's on the edge of spectacular countryside, the Pennine Bridleway passes half a mile from it.

 

Tophams Tavern, Smithy Bridge

18 Smithy Bridge Road, Littleborough OL15 8QF

01706 377768

Nice pub, near the Rochdale canal and less than a mile from Hollingworth Lake. Bus 454 from Rochdale passes the door. 

   I don't think I've ever had a drink here before, despite wandering along this stretch of the canal a few times. I'm glad I recorded it this time. The Smithy Bridge pub on the other side of the canal, which I had been to before and quite liked,  was permanently closed and delicensed in April 2016. 

ambience - 4

lively

decor - 3

This is an open plan pub with wooden floors, and comfortable seating

real ale - 2

service - 3

prompt if a bit offhand

features - 2

dart board

unusual regular's memorial

toilets - 5

Score 19 out of 30

I've seen quite a few pubs which have memorials to long time regulars. They are usually discreet brass plaques on the wall in some unobtrusive part of the pub. But this one has a big and interesting memorial to a regular who was a canal enthusiast. Check out the photos. I'd love to know who the Nautical Numpties were.

The White House, Ripponden

The White House, on the A58 between Rochdale and Halifax, 

Blackstone Edge, Littleborough, OL15 0LG

01706 378456

This pub is high on the Pennines, with stunning views of Hollingworth Lake, Manchester and Rochdale, and the Pennine Way passes within a few yards of it. Built in 1671, it was originally a coaching inn called the coach and horses. It's opening times are weekdays 12pm-2pm and 6.30-9.30pm, Sundays 12pm-9pm.

ambience - 3

decor - 4

comfortable seats

service - 4

features - 2

children welcome before 9pm

Serves food, large menu

ales - 5

Theakstons plus guest ales

toilets - 4

fully supplied

Score 22 out of 30

 

  From a mile away to the north on the Pennine Way, you can see how isolated the pub is. It really is in the middle of nowhere, and I can only suppose it gets snowed in during the winter. This photo was from my second visit in May, and was the only photograph I felt able to take that day; it was the only 'normal' view. Some-one had caused a fire on the surrounding moor that week, turning it into two square miles of charcoal. It was a sickening sight. There were a number of homeless sky larks fluttering around, whose nests and chicks had been burned.

The Wine Press, Littleborough

The Wine Press, Hollingworth Road, OL15 0AZ

01706 378168

 

Up to 2007 this was known as The Fisherman and was a popular stopping place for bikers. It's still popular with some bikers (as you can see from the vehicles in the photo) but has since been renamed The Wine Press and turned into a restaurant pub. It's still a place where you can drop in just for a drink, and from the patio at the front there's a fine view over Hollingworth Lake.
 

ambience -3

decor -4 

 

Spoiled a bit by the bland piped music, but the ochre and burnt umber decor gives it a rustic feel and there's a range of seating from bar stools to dining chairs to soft sofas (I especially appreciated the soft sofa when I dropped in after a trek along the Pennine Bridleway) .

ales - 3

Black Sheep and Pride of Pendle (April 2013)

 

service - 3

 

features -3

serves food, varied menu

The view 

children welcomed during the day

 

toilets - 3

 

Score 19 out of 30

 

The Wheatsheaf

The Wheatsheaf, Church Street, Littleborough OL15 8AB

01706 377695

Looks round on the outside though not on the inside because the room is divided up into sections.

Ambience - 1

Very noisy, too-loud music

decor- 5

very smart and tasetful, clearly it has recently been refurbished

service - 4

prompt and friendly

ale - 0

only average beverages, no real ales

features - 2

beer garden with lawn at the back

serves food

toilet - 3

no soap

Score 15 out of 30

The Queens, Littleborough

The Queens, Church Street, Littleborough, OL15 8AB

Phone: 01706 379394

A Thwaites pub, on the main road in the centre of Littleborough, cosy, mostly frequented by local regulars.

Decor - 3

Red, cream and beige, no ornaments, a few pictures, stone floor throughout but comfortable seating

Ambience - 3

Friendly and lively

Service - 4

Fast and friendly

Features - 2

darts

disco at weekends

Ale - 2

Thwaites Bomber and Thwiates Original

Toilets - 5

Perfect. Clean, newly decorated, fully supplied, including bottles of hand moisturiser. Dryer didn't work but there were paper towels.

Score 19 out of 30

The Royal Oak, Littleborough

The Royal Oak, Church Street, Littleborough OL15 8AB

01706 371346

This pub was a coaching inn from the late 18th century. When the railway came to Lancashire, its clientele changed from coach to train passengers, and George Stephenson is believed to have stayed here while he was overseeing the building of the new railway line, one of the first in the country. Like a Tardis in reverse, it seems much smaller on the inside than it looks on the outside. Whatever its past associations, it's now a slightly worse than average high street pub.

UPDATE MAY 2018: The Royal Oak is closed, its name has been taken off the front wall, and there is a notice attached to a nearby lamp post which says that planning permission to turn it into five flats has been applied for.

ambience - 3

friendly

decor - 2

A bit scruffy, not much comfortable seating. Plainish decor in cream and dark brown, no pub ornaments but some pictures on the walls.

service - 4

attentive and friendly

ales - 3

July 2012: The Blonde, XB and one other

features - 3

games

pool

disco at weekends

toilets - 2

scruffy

Score 17 out of 30

The Summit, near Littleborough

The Summit, 140 Summit (A6033 Todmorden Road) Littleborough OL15 9QX, 

On a main road and easy to find, and get to, but also out in the countryside. It has hills behind it, and the Rochdale Canal, and the Pennine Bridleway passes to the left of it, where it crosses the main road. It is very well maintained and has exceptionally good service.

Ambience - 3

decor - 4

Has one big room and one bar, with a smaller slightly posher dining room at the back, but the whole is well maintained with comfortable seating.

ales - 2

Had Wainwrights and Thwaites on my visit in 2012.
Had Blonde Farmer and Summit Ale on my visit in 2018.

features - 3

child friendly, and has a children's play area in the beer garden at the back

Dogs are allowed in

Serves food from 1pm to 8pm. The chef cooks everything from fresh so expect a bit of a wait, but it's worth the wait.

Service - 5

very friendly and attentive

toilets - 5

Score 22 out of 30

The Beach, Littleborough

The Beach, Lake Bank, Hollingworth Lake, Littleborough

Pretentious and soulless establishment on the edge of Hollingworth Lake. Although the building dates from 1902, all the original features have been refurbished out of it, leaving a bland interior.

     The only other pub on the edge of Hollingworth Lake, previously called the Fisherman but renamed The Wine Press, was also unsuccessfully converted c2006 from a traditional pub into a modern licensed restaurant. A pity there are no decent pubs nearby because this is a nice location for a day out (see the pictures below the text.) However, there are two cafes directly across the road from The Beach.

ambience - 1

decor - 2

nicely maintained but bland and boring interior

service - 2

a bit offhand and discouraging

ale - 1

Has one guest ale

features - 2

serves food; it is a restaurant pub.

Nice location

toilets - 4

probably the establishment's best feature! Well maintained, nicely decorated, all supplies and facilities in place 

Score 12 out of 30

A pub restaurant with pretensions to being posh should be able to score better. Friendlier service and a warmer colour scheme would help.





The Falcon, Littleborough

The Falcon, High Street, Littleborough

This was once a farmhouse, and then a coaching inn in the early nineteenth century, before becoming an ordinary pub after coaches gave way to cars. Unfortunately it is not one of Littleborough's best.

ambience - 1

The cacaphony from having the TV and the jukebox on at the same time was too much to endure. I didn't stay long

decor- 2

shabby

service - 3

ale -1

one cask ale

features - 1

serves food during the day

toilet - 2

as shabby as the rest of the premises

score 10 out of 30

The Red Lion, LIttleborough

                                      The Red Lion, Halifax Road, Littleborough, OL15 0HL

Phone 01706 378195

. 

Head out of town north-eastwards from the town centre and under the railway bridge.

Ambience - 3
Decor - 3       
 Comfortable. Ceramic shire horses and brass ornaments in the lounge gives it an old-fashioned feel 
                       
service - 4
ale - 4            

features - 4
separate pool room
separate darts room. This is handy because in most pubs, where they have the pool table and the darts board in the same room, there isn't space for people to play both at the same time. 
quiz night once a week
live music twice monthly

toilets - 2
They're a bit scruffy, lets down the rest of the pub, which is nicely decorated
   
 Score: 20 out of 30