The Friendship Inn

The Friendship Inn, 3 Arundel Street, Glossop SK13 7AB

About 300 yards off the main road through Glossop, well worth the short detour to find it.

Ambience - 4

Traditional feel, wood panelling.

Decor - 3

Ales - 3

Service - 5

Prompt, welcoming bar staff

Features -3

Pool room

dog friendly

beer garden 

Toilets - 4

 Score: 22 out of 30

The Pleasant Inn

The Pleasant Inn, 730 Rochdale Road, Oldham OL2 6XQ

Tel:

It doesn't look like much from the outside, but it really is a pleasant inn to visit, very relaxing with friendly staff. There is one big open room and one slightly smaller one opposite it where the pool table is.

UPDATE 2023: I have been into this pub a few times since I first visited, it is still friendly and relaxing and my favourite pub in my area. But with new management have come a few changes. 

Ambience: - 4

Decor - 4

Newish, comfortable seating

Ale - 0

Samuel Smiths range. One of the few brands of beer that still does mild as well as bitter.

Service - 5

Fast and friendly

Features - 2

Pool table

Bingo on Sunday

The staff used to keep a supply of dog biscuits behind the bar for visiting canines but it is no longer dog friendly. It is not child friendly either. Both dogs and children have to stay outside. There are a couple of tables out front and a couple out back in the car park.

Toilets - 3

TOTAL 18 out of 30

There is a footpath across the road which leads to Tandle Hill park.

The Summit

 

The Summit, 826 Rochdale Road, Oldham OL2 6XF

Tel:

Ambience: - 1

 Imagine a very downmarket version of Wetherspoons, in sweaty, poorly

                   ventilated premises.

Decor - 2

bit shabby, comfortable seating     

Ale - 1

One guest ale

Service - 3

Varies, depending how busy they are.

Features - 2

serves food

child-friendly

Toilets - 3

Clean, not fully supplied

TOTAL: 12 out of 30

The Commercial, Uppermill

The Commercial, High Street, Uppermill OL3 6AX

01457 872513

Looking colourful for the World Cup 2014, a large friendly high street pub with a large open bar space and a smaller room with tables off to one side. 

Ambience - 4

Decor - 3

Comfortable seats, muted colours, tiled floor. Can be quietish during the afternoon, popular in the evenings, though seldom so popular that you have to queue long at the bar.

Service - 4

friendly

ale - 2

Two guest ales

Features -3

food

sports TV

Open plan design doesn't include room for a darts board or pool table, but:
Open mic night every second Thursday and occasional live entertainment

Toilets - 3

Good condition, but non-working dryers

Score 19 out of 30

The Junction Inn, Denshaw

The Junction Inn

Huddersfield Road, Denshaw, OL3 5SE
01457 874265

I can't believe I haven't posted anything for this pub before. I thought I had, but I can't find an entry for it. I have been here a few times, since it is right in the centre of Denshaw village, which is the start or end point for a lot of my walks in the Pennines. The building dates from the 18th century and was originally a coaching inn at the junction of toll roads running between Oldham, Huddersfield, Rochdale and Ripponden. These days it is a rather upmarket restaurant pub with a lot of original features inside. 

UPDATE 2021: There is still a car park at the back but the bus route has changed, now it's the 356 Oldham to Ashton-under-Lyne that passes the pub, runs every hour. Due to the pandemic restrictions, it now has more tables outside at the front of the building. Otherwise, it's as pleasant and relaxing as ever.

ambience - 4
Pleasant, relaxing, the piped music is not obtrusive.

décor - 4
tasteful and uncluttered, comfortable seating

service - 5
Couldn't be more helpful

ale - 1
JW Lees

features - 4
dog friendly
children permitted if they are with adults who are dining, up to 6pm
serves food, nicely varied pub grub menu
wi fi  

toilets - 4

Score 22 out of 30

The Nook, Holmfirth

The Nook (aka Rose and Crown), 3A Victoria Square, Holmfirth HD9 2DN

01484 682373

On first sight I thought this was a gift shop, due to the style of the lettering above the window, it having no pub sign, and the view inside being obscured by a swarm of stickers on the window. It was only from reading the plaque on the wall and then taking a closer look that I realised it was a drinking establishment. It's also a microbrewery. Perfect for real ale lovers, though less than perfect for people who like their pubs comfortable and clean.

It's a bit difficult to find, down a side street off the Hollowgate.

ambience -2

décor -1

Clay tile floors, no carpets. Wooden furniture, few padded seats, and the décor is distinctly shabby and grubby. Looks like I imagine a basic beerhouse would have looked in times past. It has real coal fires in all three rooms. This should have made the place cosy, but while real coal fires can give out a fierce heat, they need regular stoking and these weren't properly stoked. Two were nearly out and the place was cold.

service - 2

A bit off hand

Ales - at least 5

Cherry Stout, Millstone Dark Galleon, Rescue Road (10 pence from each pint sold goes to Holmfirth Mountain Rescue team).

Features - 5

dogs on leads permitted

jukebox

varied burger and pub grub menu

live music session on Sundays and occasionally during the month

darts

Toilets - 4

Plain décor, but less shabby than the rest of the pub; very clean

Score 19 out of 30



Elephant and Castle, Holmfirth

Elephant and Castle, Hollowgate, Holmfirth HD9 2DG

01484 683178

18th century pub in the centre of Holmfirth, one bar and one big room divided into sections. The friendliest pub I've stepped into. Due to the number of features, this pub scores extra points.

ambience - 4

décor - 3

Carpets and tables well worn, but comfortable benches and a very warm coal-effect gas fire. Very cosy

service - 5

very welcoming

ale - 2

Timothy Taylors Landlord, Black Sheep

features - 7

dog-friendly (and advertises itself as a dog friendly venue)

Bar sandwiches and hot food menu 12-2pm

separate pool table area

darts, dominoes

Sky sports

wi-fi

accommodation (4 rooms)

toilets - 4

Score 25 out of 30





The Kings Arms, Grains Bar

The Kings Arms, 4 Delph Road, Grains Bar, Oldham OL4 2JX

0161 652 4216

An eighteenth century pub, on top of a hill, next to what used to be the first toll road from Oldham to Saddleworth (Grains 'Bar', because the road was gated to ensure travellers paid the toll charge for using it). The original Yorkshire-Lancashire county boundary used to run through the building, until it was moved further east in 1972. The fact is commemorated by a sign painted on one of the roof beams. At one time you could have bought your pint in Yorkshire and sat down to drink it in the next county!

    The pub changed management in 2011, this brought about the usual refurbishment but the main change was more comfortable seating and a bigger steak menu. 

UPDATE 2021: As good as ever in all respects.

    

ambience - 4

Lively without being rowdy

décor - 3

Dark wood beams and pale walls, comfortable seats and chairs

service - 4

attentive

real ale - 2

Timothy Taylor Landlord usually available

features- 4

serves food 12-3pm and 6-8pm

children welcomed

dogs welcomed in the bar area (staff will offer your pooch some water if he/she needs any)

toilets - 4

well supplied, dryers work properly

Score 21 out of 30

Bishops Park, which is next to the Kings Head. This is the obelisk at the highest point of the park, which commemorates the Bishop family, who donated the land for public use.

From the obelisk, there are views over Saddleworth to the east...

...and views over Oldham, Rochdale and Winter Hill to the west. On fine evenings, couples park up in the car park to watch the lights coming up over the Greater Manchester conurbation. It's a romantic view, there's a sea of lights to the horizon.



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 Royal Oak, Delph

I didn't have a camera with me on the day I visited and these distant photos taken from the centre of Delph on a subsequent, very rainy, day are the best I can do for now. The pub can only just be distinguished from the chapel directly across the road from it.

The Royal Oak, Broad Lane, Delph, OL3 5TX

01457 874460

I came across this pub by chance when I was wandering on the hills above Delph. It's difficult to find, if you were looking for it, as it is along a narrow lane not wide enough for two cars to pass, about a mile and a half above the village. You'll need a satnav, or OS Explorer map OL1. It has no pub sign, too, so it can be difficult to spot; from the back it looks like an ordinary Saddleworth farmhouse. I nearly walked past it, until I spotted the opening times in a side window. It's only open in the evenings from seven o'clock on weekdays, and on Sundays from 12 noon.
    It was built in 1767, and became a pub, originally called the Punch Bowl, in 1771. It has been run by the same family for the past 30 years, and has been mentioned 20 times in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide.
    It's worth going out of your way to visit. The photos indicate why it has superb views, and if you keep walking east, uphill, on the road next to it, it eventually becomes a bridlepath and then a footpath that joins the Pennine Way at the head of the valley.

UPDATE 2022: This pub closed in early March 2020. It seems not enough people thought it was worth going out of their way to visit and it failed due to lack of business. I think restricting its opening hours to evenings only at one point didn't help it, I have passed it two or three times in mid-afternoon when walking in the hills and would have very much liked to stop in, but it wasn't open. The place might have lost some passing trade that way.

    I passed it again on 28th May 2022, and as far as I can tell, what used to be the bar is in the process of being turned into a residential dwelling, perhaps simply an extension of the owners' previous living space which was the part of the building at the side of the pub. 

www.oldhamchronicle.co.uk/news-features/139/main-news/133021/devastating-closure-of-unique-royal-oak-pub

décor- 3
muted colours, beamed ceilings, coal fires. Wooden chairs a bit uncomfortable but has padded benches.

ambience - 4

service - 5
very welcoming

features - 3
The owner tells me they no longer do food as trade has varied too much with the weather lately. They can be full on fine days, very quiet when the weather is wet or uncertain. But:

Nicely designed terraced beer garden
Dogs on leads permitted
Superb views

ales - 3
Moorhouses

toilet - 3
A bit rustic but fully supplied

Score 21 out of 30

And the beer garden...