Top Brink Inn, West Yorkshire

Top Brink Inn, Brink Top, Lumbutts, near Todmorden, OL14 6JB

01706 812696

This was built in 1843 and was originally three weavers' cottages. Then one of the weavers applied for a beer licence, to supply the textile traders taking pack horses between West Yorkshire and Manchester. The three cottages have since become one establishment, with an extension at the front to accommodate more dining space. The pub is out on its own, on the edge of a very small village, and close to Stoodley Pike and the Pennine Bridleway.

ambience - 5

decor - 5

It has a slightly cliched country pub decor, with lots of horse brasses on the walls,  but this works. The seating is comfortable, and there are three different areas to sit inside, with outdoor eating areas at the front and the back.

real ale - 4

features - 4

Serves food (medium length pub menu, check their website for the current choices).

It also warrants a point for the location, right under the Pennine hills in the Calder Valley.

Dogs allowed

Children allowed

Service - 5

Very attentive and prompt

Toilets - 5

Pristine

Score 28 out of 30

Stoodley Pike and the surrounding hills

The Shepherds Rest Inn, West Yorkshire

The pub is so rambling that it's difficult to work out which is the front and which the back. The top photo is the view from the car park, the photo below is the view from Lumbutts Lane.

The Shepherds Rest Inn

Lumbutts Road, Todmorden, OL14 6JJ

01706 813437

On the Pennine Bridleway national footpath, and near Mankinholes Youth Hostel, with fantastic views across the Calder Valley. On weekdays it only opens from 5pm.

Decor - 3

Muted, tasteful colours, comfortable seating

Ambience - 4

Features - 3

family friendly with a children's play area

dogs allowed in the bar

serves food

Real Ale -3

Spitfire, Manchester Pale Ale when I was there.

Service - 2

A bit slow and offhand. I had food when I was here, it took longer than usual to arrive. (I find food is generally served in 20-30 minutes in pubs.)

Toilets - 5

Pristine

Score 20 out of 30

Looking northwards along the Calder Valley towards the village of Lumbutts, with Stoodley Pike on the hill on the horizon on the right of the picture.

Cockerels that live at the back of the pub. 

The Queens, Todmorden

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Rise Lane, Todmorden OL14 7AA

01706 819917

This is a hotel not a pub, but I'm including it because it has a downstairs bar that is open to  non-residents. It's a better place for a quiet drink than the lowish score suggests. It is almost opposite Todmorden railway station.

Ambience - 2

Spoiled by intrusive piped music.

Decor - 4

Rather tasteful, natural lighting and a choice of armchairs or upright chairs, both comfortable.

Real ales - 0

Service - 2

Very slow. One bar person who disappeared for long intervals

features - 1

Serves food

Toilets - 4

Posh

Score 13 out of 20

The Waggon and Horses, Walsden, Calderdale

The Waggon and Horses, Rochdale Road, Walsden, near Todmorden OL14 7UA

A real local pub on the main road from Littleborough to Todmorden through the Calder Valley, serves a local clientele and has a good value pub grub menu. I gave it a low score when I first visited in 2013 because of its 'averageness' as a high street pub, not because it was unpleasant. On a visit in May 2018, I found it had become somewhat less average. It seems to have had a bit of a makeover, a couple of new features added, and the service is excellent.
 It is only four doors away from the Border Rose, a similar traditional pub.
The 590 Rochdale to Todmorden bus passes both pubs.

decor - 3

ambience - 4

ale - 0

Serves a range mass produced beers and lagers

features - 4

serves food during the day
pool table
dog friendly
weekly karaoke and disco

service - 4

Very friendly

toilets -4

Score  19 out of 30

View down Calder Valley from the Pennine Bridleway, which goes down the hill to the left of this photo and crosses the main road about 200 yards west of the pub.

Border Rose Inn

Border Rose Inn, Rochdale Road, Walsden, near Todmorden, OL14 7UA

Like the Waggon and Horses, which is only four doors away on the same road, this is a traditional no-frills pub catering to a local clientele, with a good value pub grub menu.  It is near the Pennine Bridleway, and overlooked by rugged steep hillsides. Currently (May 2018) it is closed daily between 2pm and 5pm.

decor - 3

ambience - 4

ale - 0

Ordinary range of mass produced beers and lagers, at good value prices

features - 2

serves food during the day
dog friendly

service - 4

fast and friendly

toilets - 4

Score 17 out of 30 

The White Hart, Todmorden

The White Hart, White Hart Fold, Todmorden OL14 7BD

A Wetherspoons pub, with everythng you would expect of a pub of the Wetherspoons brand. It is a 19th century building which looks like it was originally built to accommodate railway passengers. Like many Wetherspoons pubs, it has posters on the walls giving information about the locality's history, including the local railway line and famous Todmorden residents: Peter Lever, cricketer; Sir JOhn Douglas Cockroft, who split the atom; John Ramsbottom, industrialist. The white hart was Richard II's heraldic emblem, and is very old pub name.

decor - 5

dark wood theme, original features

Comfortable seating. It was refurbished by Wetherspoons in 2011

ambience - 4

relaxing

service - 5

friendly and attentive

real ales - 5

at least 5 real ales, (as expected in a Wetherspoons pub!)

features - 1

serves food until 10pm 

toilets - 5

pristine, fully stocked with handwash, loo rols, etc

Score 25 out of 30

The Golden Lion, Todmorden

The Golden Lion, Rochdale Road, Todmorden OL14 6LZ
01706 816333

 

Big, pleasant, family-friendly pub alongside the Rochdale Canal (though you can't drink at the canalside as the towpath isn't part of the pub premises.)

 

ambience - 3

decor - 4

well maintained

 

service - 3

welcoming, and prompt

 

ale - 0

average mass produced stuff

 

features - 4

serves food

pool table

secluded beer garden

allows children in the dining area

 

toilets - 4

as well maintained as the rest of the pub

 

Score 18 out of 30

 

 



The Polished Knob, Todmorden

The Polished Knob, Burnley Road, Todmorden

I think it should lose a point for the god-awful name! It's an invented name intended to make the pub appear more trendy. What the place used to be called, I haven't been able to find out, but it seems to have been a watering hole for a long time, if the 19th century clay floor tiles with the brewer's initials on them are anything to go by.

UPDATE: This pub has had something of a makeover in the past few years and now has a retro Sixties style interior. I've updated the description of the decor and added photos below.

decor - 3

When I first visited it looked basic and was uncarpeted, the whole floor was either wood or clay tiles. But it has very comfortable seating in black padded leather.
SINCE 2015 or thereabouts: It has kept the clay tiles but has been redecorated in a 1960s retro style, now looks more colourful, and not at all basic. The seating is still comfortable.

ambience - 4

vibrant, especially when there are live bands playing

service - 4

prompt and attentive

ales - 5

There are more than five real ales available, always. The last time I was there they had Nutty Black, Rossendale, Digit Ale, Wainwright Pennine Gold, Slightly Foxed and Nettle Thrasher.

Features - 2

serves food during the day

live bands of a weekend

Toilets -3

Clean and well maintained, no extras like hand cream but adequately supplied with essentials like toilet roll and soap and the dryers work properly.

Score 21 out of 30

New interior, photographed 2016:

The Wellington, Halifax Road, Todmorden

The Wellington, Halifax Road, Todmorden

An average town centre boozer, with one long room, scruffy but with a slightly less scruffy lounge area near the front under the windows. When I was there, the bar was being propped up by a row of rowdy (male) regulars - or were they propping themselves up on the bar? - and I knew it was just the kind of pub where I would be accosted by the most incoherent drunk in the room, who had no concept of just how drunk he was.

decor - 2

scruffy, worn furniture and shabby paintwork

ambience - 0

real ale - 0

No real ale, usual range oif mass produced beers, wines and spirits

features - 0

No space for things like darts board or pool table, and no pub games

service - 4

Its only good feature! Friendly, welcoming bar staff

toilet - 3

clean and decently maintained

Score 9 out of 30