Pubs and inns

Any area has its pubs of distinction and historical note. Calderdale, located on an important pass and trade route across the Pennines from Lancashire, is no exception.

• Halifax and Elland pubs
• Upper Valley pubs
• Pubs and local customs

Halifax and Elland pubs

One very old local pub is the Fleece Inn, on Westgate, Elland. This was originally Great House Farm. The buildings date from around 1610 and the pub has a colourful history. A fight in the early 19th century ended in murder, which left a bloodstained hand-print on the stairs. This could not be erased until part of the old staircase was burnt in the 1970s. The inn, or rather the barn that stood beside it until the 1960s, also had a ghostly headless coachman. 'Leatherty Coit' would ride full tilt down Westgate in a carriage pulled by a similarly headless horse. Tales of a grey lady, a secret passage and a listening hole have also been associated with the building.

Halifax's Union Cross Inn is the oldest pub in town, dating back to at least 1535. It was originally named simply the 'Cross', for its position opposite the Market Cross. The 'Union' was added at the time of the Jacobite Rebellion. The inn was the central coaching and packhorse halt in town. Local entertainment included cockfighting and maypole festivities. This caused religious leaders such as Oliver Heywood and John Wesley to despair. Wesley had to give up an attempt to preach from the steps of the Union Cross. On a different note, it is believed that Daniel Defoe wrote part of 'Robinson Crusoe' while staying at the inn.

Pub name changes are not always popular. One example is Lewin's, at Bull Green, Halifax, a listed building dating from 1769. First known as the Hare and Hounds Inn, it became Lewin's in 1881 when taken over by the Lewin family. In 1996, it became part of the Irish themed pub chain O'Neill's. The change of name caused some controversy and in 2000 it got its old name of Lewin's back! However, one tradition long associated with Lewin's seems unlikely to return. During the beer shortage of the Great War women were banned from the pub. Men-only drinking continued until 1969.

Skircoat Green's Standard of Freedom Inn has a special place in Calderdale's radical history. Originally known as the Waggoners, its name was changed in support of Chartism . The landlord at the time reputedly declared:

"The people of Skircoat Green shall join in that march of freedom. I will raise the standard of freedom at this inn".

The village was known for its radicalism and the inn hosted meetings by Chartists and other similar groups.

Upper valley pubs

The oldest inn in Calderdale is said to be Ripponden's Old Bridge Inn. An inn was recorded in the area around 1307. It is not certain that it stood on the same site. Nonetheless, a plaque on the outside wall proclaims it to be 'probably Yorkshire's oldest hostelry'! The present buildings, which are Grade II Listed, are thought to date from around the 16th century. The first recorded landlord was John Hurstwood, in 1754. The inn was previously called the Waterloo Inn.

Hebden Bridge's oldest inn is the White Lion Hotel. A 17th century building, it was originally known as King's Farm. It began life as a hostelry serving the river crossing. It has a fine stone fireplace with a spiral carved at either side. The spirals are an old local charm against fire.

One of the district's first libraries was in the Lord Nelson Inn at Luddenden. The 1634 datestone over the door recalls its origin as a private house for Gregory Patchett's family. It became an alehouse in the middle of the 18th century, when it was called the White Swan. Shortly afterwards the library was set up with a collection of books donated by the parish minister.

Maybe it was the library that attracted literary regulars like local poet William Dearden and Branwell Bronte. The latter was station-master at Luddenden Foot Station. The library continued until 1925. Some of its books are now in the Information and Local Studies collection.

Another local 'library pub' was the Golden Lion, at Todmorden, whose Book Club ran from 1798 until 1902. Its meetings were held 'on or before the full moon'.

Mytholmroyd's 17th century Dusty Miller stands where the Cragg Vale road joins the main road through the valley. Its long service as the village hostelry brought some notoriety in the late 18th century. This was the time of the Cragg Vale Coiners. It was here that Mytholmroyd conspirators Robert Thomas and Matthew Normanton met in 1769. They then went on to Halifax and murdered the exciseman William Deighton.

Social developments are bringing about the loss of rural pubs all over Britain and upper Calderdale is no exception.

The Mount Skip is among those recently lost. The villages of Midgley and Blackshaw Head now have no pubs at all. They were on an historically important trade route above Hebden Bridge. Also lost to us is Calderdale's highest pub, The Withens. At 1392 feet above sea level it was also West Yorkshire's highest. The Sportsman's Arms in Todmorden, on the tops at the Lancashire border, has also closed its doors for good.

Pubs and local customs

Several inns stand as stopping points on the annual Sowerby Bridge Rushbearing Festival Procession. Central to them is The Rushcart in the hilltop village of Sowerby, where the Sunday procession begins. The Rushcart is a relatively new name - previously it was known as the Star. In the early 19th century, John 'Almighty' Whiteley married the widowed landlady. He was a local Constable, lay preacher and something of a character. In 1837 he rebuilt a cottage adjoining the pub for preaching meetings. This still remains, adorned with curious grotesques. The sale of liquor was suspended while meetings were in progress. Whiteley's downfall began after he advertised in local newspapers for a wife and he ended up destitute. It is not clear if the two events were related.

Warley's Maypole Inn remembers Calderdale's last maypole. This stood at the junction where the fountain is now located. The inn itself started life as a farmhouse and was known as The Horns in 1773. It probably acquired its present name when a maypole was erected around 1814 to commemorate Napoleon's defeat. A newer maypole was erected (not without public opposition) in 1863. It remained a focus of Mayday celebrations from 1864 until around 1888. Deterioration necessitated its removal.

Luddenden's Lord Nelson Inn had its own mayor-making ceremony. In 1861, customers decided to celebrate what they considered the village's growing status by electing its own mayor. An elaborate chain of office was bought and an induction ceremony devised. The 'Mayor's Parlour' (the snug by the bar) had a bench known as the Mayor's Chair. Anyone sitting in this seat was invited by custom to become Mayor for a month. If they agreed, as strangers might, they were expected to pay for drinks all round! The 'Mock Mayor' ceremony was revived again in 1996.