Transpennine Real Ale Trail

On 17 January 2023, the second day of the Leeds based trip, our group of 12 CAMRA members planned a day out visiting some of the refreshment room bars and pubs on the Transpennine railway line between Leeds and Manchester. An off peak day return to Stalybridge costs £12.50 with a railcard discount. 

We caught the Transpennine Express train from Leeds at 10.45, arriving Huddersfield 11.05 soon after the 11.00 opening of the Head of Steam which has an entrance near the south end of Platform 1.

We walked through the first room into a front bar and then left into another front bar where the cask ale handpumps are located. When everyone orders individually it takes a while to get served! Recognising that he was dealing with a group of soft Southerners, the barman kindly offered to take sparklers off when pulling beers but I don't think anyone wanted this done.

The Price is Right was showing on the TV. Music included 'House of the Rising Sun'. Tim's beer choice: Magic Rock Brewing - Hat-Trick 'Modern Blonde Bitter' £1.90 half pint.

At the north end of platform 1, accessed from the impressive station forecourt, the King's Head opened at 11.30am and features a large room with a log burning stove and a second room with a fireplace.

Tim's beer choices: Cloudwater - Fuzzy 'Hazy Pale' £2 half pint (photo above) & Bradfield Brewery - Farmers Belgian Blue £1.65 half pint.

We found out too late that both Huddersfield station bars offer a CAMRA discount.

Although many Transpennine Express trains were cancelled this week, our preferred train to take us across the Pennines to Stalybridge was running but busy and we ended up in different coaches in order to find a seat. After the bright sunshine of Leeds and Huddersfield the weather soon changed to cloudy skies and snow covered hillsides. Two of our group failed to alight at Stalybridge and would rejoin us later after returning from Manchester (8 miles to the west)!

Stalybridge Station Buffet Bar was busy so our group was split across several rooms, one of which featured live folk music. There was an open coal fire in the main bar to provide necessary warmth.

The lunch menu was limited but Tim secured one of the few pork pies remaining (£3) to go with his choice of a pint of Rat Brewery - The Snow Rat (£4.10). Others enjoyed mustard with their pies. Music included Status Quo - Pictures of Matchstick Men.

Heading back towards Leeds, our first stop was at Greenfield to visit the Railway Inn, after crossing the platforms by footbridge.

Here we met up again with Mike and Lesley Andrew who had left Stalybridge earlier and reached the pub by bus with less steps to negotiate.

The traditional pub has several rooms and we enjoyed friendly service. There are interesting vintage black and white photos of the local area and games available include table football.

Tim's beer choice: Millstone Brewery - Tiger Rut (£3.60 pint). Music included early Fairport Convention and Shirley Collins.

A delayed Transpennine Express train to Huddersfield made us anxious that we might miss the Northern Rail connection to Dewsbury but there was time and no need to use the subway to reach the bay platform.

However, we needed to use the footbridge at Dewsbury to reach the West Riding Refreshment Rooms on Platform 2.

It was busy inside but we were able to find seats and enjoy the warmth of the coal fire. Tim added a copy of Ullage magazine to the rack for CAMRA magazines. Tim's beer choice: Thornbridge Brewery - Astryd + North Riding Brewery - Citra Pale (£4 for 2 x half pints) with Citra Pale standing out as his favourite beer of the day.

Thanks to Mark Geeson for organising this great day out on the Transpennine Real Ale Trail.

On Thursday, Tim was able to visit another pub on the trail -  The Commercial, Slaithwaite - as part of a group of five who returned to Huddersfield by train. Also accessible by train, we travelled to Slaithwaite by 181 bus which passes Linthwaite and stops near the pub just after crossing the river Colne and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. 

As we arrived, efforts were being made to get the log burner to catch fire and generate some heat in the light main room. The pub was quite busy with local people.

Tim's beer choices: Empire Brewing - Commerci' Ale (£1.40 half pint) & Empire Brewing - Raspberry Blower (£1.65 half pint). Music included Richard Thompson.

Although popular with CAMRA members for years before, the Transpennine Real Ale Trail gained publicity and popularity when Oz Clarke and James May featured some West Yorkshire railway bars they visited on an episode of BBC's Oz and James Drink to Britain in 2009.

Other pubs on the Transpennine Real Ale Trail (west to east) include:

Marsden - Riverhead Brewery Tap

Mirfield - Navigation Tavern

Batley -  Cellar Bar