The Old Red Lion, Holmes Chapel, Cheshire

 The Old Red Lion

London Road, Holmes Chapel, Cheshire CW4 7AQ

TEL: 01477 549282

This grade II listed pub dates from at least the 17th century, the first written mention of it is in Thomas Gaudie's will (a local resident) in 1625. John Wesley preached at this pub in 1758  when he was on his way from Oxford to Manchester. It was a coaching inn.  The 15th century parish church is next to it.

decor - 7

ambience - 2

piped music

real ales - 3

Included Doombar when I was there

service - 2

Bit too formal

features - 3

serves food, wide menu

quiz night every week

dog friendly

toilets - 3

Score 17 out of 30 

The Saracens Head, Warburton, Cheshire

The Saracens Head

Paddock Lane, Warburton, Cheshire WA13 9TH

TEL: 01925 753761

A rural pub out in the Cheshire countryside, which was a 17th century coaching inn.. I came across it because it is just 50 yards off the GM Ringway route. It is mainly a restaurant but has a bar area for drinkers. 

ambience - 3

Don't know what it's like when it's busy. I arrived just as it opened on a day early in the week, so it was quiet. I'm guessing it's lively at times. There's a huge, well designed dining room that takes up a lot of space but it's well separated from the bar area if you're only in for a drink.

No canned music and no tellies. (I like that)

decor - 4

Pale walls and lots of huge old wooden beams. A very traditional feel.

service - 4

Fast and attentive

real ale - 2

It's a Greene King pub but has two guest ales.

features - 5

Serves food, classic pub menu

Play barn and play area for children.

big pub garden

dog-friendly

The fifth feature is one you will only see in early November. This is when the Warburton Soulers perform a traditional folk play about death and revival. Their first performance of the year is at the Saracens Head on 1st November, unless that is a Sunday, in which case the first performance is on 2nd November.

Find out more about the Soulers and soul-caking on 

www.larchfieldhouse.co.uk/Souling/WarburtonSoulingPlay.htm

 

toilets- 3

Good, newly decorated and very clean. But no loo roll.

Score 20 out of 30

The Pace Egg pubs

 There are only two places I know of in the country that still do the ancient Pace Egg plays during Easter. One is Heptonstall in Yorkshire. The other is Middleton in Greater Manchester. The Middleton Pace Egg players perform their short play seven times in seven of the local pubs and collect money for charity. Middleton has been lucky in that all of its town centre pubs are still open, none have been closed down. I didn't get round all six of them, only three but I've named all seven pubs and expect to get round the rest and review them sometime soon.

The Pace Egg play: Saint George the champion of England is challenged to a fight by the Turkish champion. The plot involves a couple of his men (this year played by two six year old boys) and Captain Slasher having a go at the Turkish champion and losing.  St George gets wounded and has to be cured by the doctor. The doctor has a horse though nobody seems to know why. St George wins in the end. Then the players collect money from the audience. Back in the day the players would have collected money (and beer) for themselves, now they collect for charity. This year (2023) they were collecting for the Stroke Association.

The Dusty MIller

34 Middleton Way

Middleton M24 4DF

This pub was renamed the Edgar Wood in 2018. It was closed temporarily while its licence was reviewed. According to articles in The Rochdale Observer the police asked for its licence to be reviewed after there had been a few fights on the premises. One of the conditions for getting its licence back was that it had a name change. Not all the regulars were happy with that. The name Dusty Miller is historic. there has been a pub on the site since the 1770s and it was so named because it was near the local flour mill. A lot of people still call it The Dusty Miller.

The Roebuck

18 Middleton Way

Middleton M24 4DF

TEL: 0161 643 7066

Ambience - 3

decor - 4

tasteful greys and greens

service - 4

fast and friendly

real ale - 0

But serves the full range of other drinks

features - 3

pool table at the back

child friendly

dog friendly

toilets - 4

Score 18 out of 30

Britannia Inn

6 Middleton Way

Middleton M25 4DF

ambience - 3

decor - 4

comfortable seating

service - 4

real ale - 0

But serves the full range of other drinks

features - 3

quiz night

child friendly

dog friendly

toilets - 4

Score 18 out of 30

Harbord Harbord

17-21 Long Street

Middleton M24 6TE

TEL: 0161 654 6226

A Wetherspoons pub so it serves food and has a range of real ales and ciders

New Inn

34 Long Street

Middleton M24 6UE

The Olde Boar's Head

111 Long Street

Middleton M24 6UE

I should have got a picture of the inside of this (I've just got photos of the yard when the Pace Egg players were performing.) because it's very old. This pub dates from the 16th century and has most of the original interior layout and features. The session room at the back, which is now used for functions, is where the local magistrates once held their court hearings. It is now mainly a restaurant pub with a space at the back just foir drinkers though as pub restaurants go it's friendly .and not offputtingly posh.

ambience - 5

decor -4

plain wood beams and tasteful cream and brown colour scheme

service - 5

real ales - 3

features - 1

serves food

toilets - 4

Score 22 out of 30

The Ring O Bells

St Leonards Square

Middleton M24 6DJ

I have in fact been into this pub before, five years ago, and reviewed it (I'd forgotten, only realised when I reviewed this blog this week.) Here's the link to that review:

https://ups-and-downs-pubs.blogspot.com/2018/04/ring-o-bells.html

The Railway and Naturalist, Prestwich

 

The Railway and Naturalist, 464 Bury New Road, Prestwich M25 1AX

0161 773 9909

I had to try and find out why this pub has such an unusual name. Internet searches are generally shallow and are not primary evidence of the history of anything, but of two possible theories this is the most plausible: The pub was built in 1850 and was originally called just The Naturalist. Three famous botanists, Richard Buxton, James Percival and John Horsfield used to meet there. All three are buried in St Mary's graveyard in Prestwich. When the railway line began to be built through Prestwich the pub came to be frequented by labourers on the railway and from 1870 the name was changed to the Railway and Naturalist (the railway line was completed in 1879.)

Decor - 3

Ambience - 4

Real ale - 0

It's a Timothy Taylor pub, no guest ales when I was there

Service - 5

Very prompt and welcoming

Features - 2

TV screens all over the lounge

Karaoke

Toilets - 4

Score 18 out of 30

The Black Bull, Haworth

 

The Black Bull, 119 Main Street, Haworth BD22 8DP 

01535 644254

There has been a pub on the site since the 16th century. The current building dates from the mid-1700s. 

decor - 1

Drab. But comfortable padded chairs and benches

ambience - 2

service - 3

Friendly but slow

ales - 4

features - 2

Serves food

Accommodation

Toilets - 4

Disabled access - there is a ramp up to the side door and an accessible toilet.

Score 16 out of 30

The George, Hayfield, High Peak

 

The George, 14 Church Street, Hayfield, High Peak SK22 2JE

01663 743691

This 16th century pub was once thought to be the second oldest in the village, but the Bull's Head which was reckoned to date from 1386 was closed in 2012 and turned into a private dwelling. 

Hayfield is the village that the mass trespassers walked through in 1932 on their way to Kinder Scout.

decor - 4

The front part of the pub has your typical 16th century low ceiling and I'm guessing this was the extent of the original pub. It has a spacious modern-looking dining room at the back and equally spacious side room with an iron fire range and coloured glass windows with scenes of British imperial conquests of yore. Tasteful cream walls with bare wooden beams.

ambience - 4

I would have given it 5 but for the piped music.

service - 3

courteous but a bit distant

ales - 4

plus one farmhouse cider

features - 5

serves food. Its website shows an extensive menu.

Accommodation

papers and magazines

TV screen

Location, in the heart of the Peak District with excellent walking country nearby

toilets - 4

Score 24 out of 30

disabled access - ground floor toilet and level entrance at the back. A few steps at the front.

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 Olde Boars Head

Ye Olde Boars Head

111 Long Street, Middleton M24 6UE

TEL: 0161 643 3520

This is across the road from Middleton library and Jubilee Park. It has a good claim to be the oldest original pub building in the country, having opened in 1623 (though the Scotch Piper in Lydiate, Merseyside dates from 1320). Inside are six rooms, and one impressively huge room that used to hold the local magistrates court sessions. It is now available to hire for events. 

    If you want to know more about the pub's history, go to the website of the Middleton Archaeological Society  (middletonas.com) and look up their guide to the Olde Boars Head. (The direct link doesn't work.)

Ambience - 5

Decor - 4

Lots of dark timber and cream painted walls, a variety of comfortable seating in a variety of rooms of different sizes.

Service - 4

Friendly if a bit slow

Real ales - 2

A JW Lees pub, has their bitter and pale ale.

Features - 3

Serves food, medium-length pub menu with a steak section, main meals and sandwiches

Function room for hire

Family friendly (but not dog friendly)

Toilets - 4

Score 22 out of 30