PUBS & ALE HOUSES

EXISTING

T' Cat i'th'well

Wainstalls Lane, Lower Saltonstall.

Recorded in 1783.

There is a legend relating to the white rock – Cat Rocks – behind the pub which says that ...

The licensee must paint the rock white on a certain day of the year. If he fails to do this, the pub will fail.

The story says that ...

Robin Hood started this custom after he befriended the landlord of the pub on his travels between Nottingham and Carlisle. The landlord had hidden Robin Hood in the pub – some say it was a priest's hole – when the authorities were following him. The landlord's reward was a share in some of Robin's ill-gotten gains. The money was hidden near to the rock, and the only way the landlord could find the money was to paint it yearly so that Robin Hood on his travels could see that the hoard was being looked after, because the stone was newly-painted.

One year, as a joke, the landlord painted the stone pink not believing the legend. There was an uproar in Halifax and the pub went out of business later that year This is discussed in the book Halifax Pubs Volume Two (See Castle Carr, Caty Well Brook, Loyal Travellers Lodge and John Preston).

Innkeepers, licensees and landlords:

1834: Richard Thomas
1845: Richard Thomas
1851: Grace Thomas
1858: John Horsfall [?]
1861: John Horsfield
1874: Roger Parker
1879: Jonas Bloomer
1891: Joseph Alderson
1896: Joseph Alderson
1905: Joshua Shackleton
1930: Joshua Shackleton
1930: Grace Shackleton
1939: Grace Shackleton
1939: Edmund Bedford
1943: Edmund Bedford
1943: Wilfred Shaw
1959: Wilfred Shaw
1959: Elsie Shaw
1961: Elsie Shaw
1961: Albert Clarkson

The Lord Nelson

At the very heart of the village, adjacent to St Mary’s Church, a 17th Century coaching house.
The 1634 datestone over the door of the pub recalls its origin as a private house, known as Newhouse. It did not become an alehouse until the middle of the 18th century when it was called The White Swan.

In 1743, John Patchett legitimised his rights to water from a spring at the rear of the inn by acquiring a 99 year lease. His will in 1745 mentions brewing vessels in use.

Gregory Patchett rebuilt the inn in stone and his initials form part of the hoodmould labels above the first floor window.

It's name was changed to The Lord Nelson after The Battle of Trafalgar (1805).

It contained a library, established in 1776 which had 1,000 books.

The pub was a favourite of Branwell Brontë, the only brother of Charlotte, Emily and Anne, during his time as a clerk on the Leeds and Manchester Railway in charge of Luddenden Foot Station.

Past and Present Licencees
Period	Licencee
1910 - 1916	Thomas Riley
1916 - 1927	Frank Murgatroyd
1927 - 1929	Oliver Drake
1929 - 1932	Fred Oakley
1932 - 1934	Ayton Sowden
1934 - 1939	William Shorthouse
1939 - 1944	Joshua Yardley
1945 - 1948	Reginald Fry
1948 - 1955	Arthur Greenwood
1955 - 1958	Douglas Jagger
1958 - 1961	Douglas Mason
1961 - 1965	G. Kenneth Young
1965 - 1968	Newton Pollard
1968 - 1969	Robert Thomas
1969 - 1976	George Needham
1976 - 1980	Jack Scroby
1980 - 1981	Peter Adams
1981 - 1985	C. Humphrey Sykes
1985 - 1991	C. Van Southwort
1991 - 1999	Paul and Browen Firth
1999 - ????	Nick Evans
???? - 2014	Debbie Collinge
2014 - present	Daren Wilkinson & Jessica Grunewald

Kershaw House

Although Kershaw House is a very old building, the first time it was used as public house was in 1965.

Work In Progress

LOST

The Abbey Inn

Abbey Lane, Newlands opened 1851, closed 1911
Now a private house

Recorded in 1851. Rebuilt in 1873 (?). The Alehouse Register has this pub as belonging to the Halifax Brewing Company.
In 1905 it was a Whitaker Pub

The pub closed in 1911 following the Licensing Act [1904]

Innkeepers, licensees and landlords:

1851: John Hanson
1861: James Spencer
1871: James Spencer
1881: Thomas Taylor
1891: Jabez Butterworth
1896: Richard Alderson
1897: Laurence Power
1901: Emily Power
1905: William Boocock

The Anchor and Shuttle

Stood at the side of the Canal basin at Luddendenfoot on the east corner of Station Road.
Also known as the Anchor, the Shuttle & Anchor.
A group of friends, including Branwell Brontë, met here and at other local pubs. In May 1886, it was replaced by the Victoria Hotel which was constructed on the same site

Innkeepers, licensees and landlords:

1822: Abraham Turner
1834: Martha Turner
1837: W. Sunderland
1841: Mr Wormald
1845: James Slater
1851: James Slater
1861: Ely Alderson
1864: Benjamin Naylor
1881: Benjamin Naylor
1887: John W. Law

The Bridge End Hotel

3 Brook Street Opened 1905, closed 1949.
Demolished, it's site is now used as car parking spaces at the 'Bridge end'

Innkeepers, licensees and landlords:

1905: Albert Crowther
1908: Samuel Crossley – (Lic. transfer 14 Oct 08)
1911: Samuel Crossley
1912: John George Broadbent – (Lic. transfer 4 Mar 12)
1914: Harry Callighan – (Lic. transfer 7 Oct 1914)
1914: Violetta Callighan – (Lic. transfer 7 Oct 1914)
1919: Harry Callighan – (Lic. transfer 7 May 19)
1926: Ben Bailey – (Lic. transfer 8 Dec 26)
1928: Albert Morton – (Lic. transfer 9 Feb 28)
1931: Enoch Shaw – (Lic. transfer 5 Feb 31)

Harry Callaghan signed over the license to his daughter when he joined up to fight in WW1. He is listed on the Luddenden Working Men's Club role of Honour (Sergeant Harry Callighan Army Ordnance Corps).

Chatburn & Jennings

Luddendenfoot

This was on the corner of Station Road and Burnley Road.

Opened in 1861. It was popularly known as the Bog Trap, the Bug Trap, and the Buck Trap.

On 7th February 1923, the licence was revoked. It closed in 1923.

Public toilets were built on the site, and later two town houses.

This is discussed in the book Halifax Pubs Volume Two

Innkeepers, licensees and landlords:

1871: William Ellis
1885: Ben Meadowcroft
1898: Ben Meadowcroft
1902: Ben Longbottom
1904: Jack Riley
1911: Mrs Mary Meadowcroft
1922: Mrs Mary Meadowcroft

The Coach & Horses

Luddendenfoot.

This was on the corner of Luddenden Lane and Burnley Road. Originally the General Rawdon.

The car park occupies the site of an earlier mill.

The pub closed in 2007 and the building is now derelict.

There are proposals to convert the property into apartments

Innkeepers, licensees and landlords:

19??: Charles Hanson Spencer

The Delvers

Towngate, Midgley.

Recorded in 1866.

The pub closed in 1910 following the Licensing Act [1904].

In 1910, John Murgatroyd of Oats Royd Mill, who owned the property, wrote to Halifax Town Hall, saying that he did not intend to apply to renew the licence at the next Brewster Sessions.

The building is now private houses.

See Grove Brewery, Brearley

The Forrester's Arms

Brook Street, Luddenden. Opened in 1860, closed 1939.
All the houses on Brook Street have been demolished and there is no signage for the street in the village. IT is however, the foot path that leads from the bridge on High Street through to Spring Bank, the path that runs along the side of the river.

The site of the Forresters Arms is now a private garden.
This pub may also have been renamed as The Ship Inn towards the end of it's existence.

The General Rawdon

Burnley Road. It was built to replace the Red Lion, Luddendenfoot which had been demolished in 1879.

It was named for Major General E. A. G Rawdon / General Rawdon.

An advertisement for the business in 1888 included the verse

‘The "GENERAL'S" a very particular Inn,
Whatever is wanted – enquire within,
And, if it be not very much out of the way,
You'll be certain to get it, at moderate pay.
The "GENERAL'S" a general who cares for his men,
And treats 'em so, that they'll look at him again;
This you may be sure, is the very best way,

To get them to visit him day after day’

The Luddendenfoot Local Board met here.

It became the Coach & Horses.

This is discussed in the book Halifax Pubs.

See Grove Brewery, Brearley

Innkeepers, licensees and landlords:

1881: Jabez Longbottom
1894: Jabez Longbottom
1894: John Gaines
1897: John Gaines
1897: Mrs Elizabeth Gaines
1905: Mrs Elizabeth Gaines
1905: James Hurst
1906: James Hurst
1906: Thomas Edgar Bulmer
1917: Thomas Edgar Bulmer
1917: Richard Hinchliffe
1918: Richard Hinchliffe
1918: Mrs Clara Hinchliffe
1925: Mrs Clara Hinchliffe
1925: Herbert Weldon
1938: Herbert Weldon
1938: Percy William Sharratt
1942: Percy William Sharratt
1942: Frank Storah
1957: Frank Storah
1957: Fred Teal
1957: Fred Teal
1957: Harry Barwick
1959: Harry Barwick
1959: Thomas William Huggan
1961: Thomas William Huggan

Goose Nest

Luddenden Dean
Opened in 1885, closed 1905.
Possible the building currently known as Goose Green on Catherine House Lane.

The Granby

Now a private house, Granby House on High Street, Luddenden.

Opened in 1871, closed 1933

The inn was owned by George Bedford Whitaker of the Grove Brewery, Brearley until 1905 when it passed to Whitaker's. The pub closed in 1933, after the death of Lizzie, the wife of the last landlord Edmund White.

Innkeepers, licensees and landlords:

1871: Jonas Bloomer
1881: William Henry Barrett
1891: Edward Greenwood
1895: Mary Marshall
1898: Mary Marshall
1898: John Henry Thomas
1909: John Henry Thomas
1909: James Fletcher
1917: James Fletcher
1917: Mrs Ruth Fletcher
1922: Mrs Ruth Fletcher
1922: Sam Ogden
1926: Sam Ogden
1926: Sam Walker
1931: Sam Walker
1931: Edmund White
1933: Edmund White

Little Grace's

Luddenden Dean

Closed in 1895.

The Grove Brewery

Brierley.

Brewery established by George Bedford at the Grove Inn around 1859.

Bedford's grandson George Bedford Whitaker was running the brewery [1905].

The brewery owned several local pubs including Shoulder of Mutton, Hebden Bridge, Fox & Goose, Hebden Bridge [1859], White Lion, Heptonstall, General Rawdon, Luddendenfoot, Delvers' Arms, Midgley, Bird-i-th-Hand, Warland, Poultry Dealers Arms, Todmorden, and Town Hall, Sowerby Bridge.

The brewery used a gas engine supplied by the Campbell Gas Engine Company Limited.

An 1885 advertisement announced

The Electric Light has just been introduced on the premises – the only brewery in the neighbourhood at which it has been applied, and giving an opportunity of selecting beer under the severest test

After his death, his widow, Grace, continued the family business at Grove House, Brearley as a brewer & maltster. His son, George, was later proprietor of the brewery.

In 1905, the brewery and its houses were sold to Whitaker's.

It closed in 1906.

The Highwayman

Work in progress

The Murgatroyd Arms

78 High Street, Luddenden.
Opened in 1770, closed in 1939.

Now a private house.
This was one of many local pubs in the area that had it's own brewhouse and most likely used grains malted at Luddenden Cornmill.

The Halifax Courier [Saturday 8th July 1854] advertised:

Sale by Auction
at the Murgatroyd Arms, Luddenden on the instructions of Messrs Hartley and John Murgatroyd the owners.

All that Inn, Murgatroyd Arms, situate in Luddenden and now in the occupation of Henry Patchett, with Beer House, Stable, Mistal, Glazier's shop, outbuildings and appurtenances also the open space of ground in front of the said Inn, together with part of the garden behind.

More information on this auction can be found here:

The Last days of Murgatroyd Control of The Cornmill

Full Auction listing in the Halifax Courier

At the auction, it was bought by W & J Aspinall, they ran the Springhead Brewery at Mount Tabor

Warley Urban District Council held meetings at the Murgatroyd's Arms until they acquired a Council room (which was on the ground floor of the Chapel at the bottom of Halifax Lane. This building was Luddenden Working Men's club in the 1960's -70's and is now residential flats).
In 1904, the pub was still owned by Harry Aspinall of Mount Tabor. The pub closed in 1939.

The licence was transferred to the New Inn, Skircoat Green which then became the Murgatroyd Arms.

The building was bought by Luddenden Church and used for storage. It became known as Church House

The Red Lion

Luddendenfoot.

Also known as The Old Red Lion. Opened in 1811.
This was on the site of the derelict building at the bottom of Luddenden Lane. Later known as The General Rawden and finally The Coach & Horses.

Branwell Brontë drank here when he worked at Luddendenfoot station. The pub closed in 1877.
In 1879, it was demolished and replaced by the General Rawdon.

The Rising Sun

Lower Slack, Wainstalls, (1881 Census). This is between Wainstalls school and the old Co-op building and is now a private house. The row of cottages is known as Sun Buildings.

The Ship Inn

See The Foresters Arms

The Shoulder of Mutton

Towngate, Midgley.

Opened in 1789.

The pub – and 4 cottages – were built by George Patchett on the site of his father's Broad Door Stones house.

It was owned by Richard Patchett. He demolished the building in 1831 and built the Shoulder of Mutton on the site.

The Midgley Radical Association met here. During renovation after its closure as an inn in 1956, an old pike-head – thought to date from its days as a Chartist meeting-place – was found hidden above a doorway.

The pub closed on 30th April 1956. The license was transferred to the Sportsman inn, Midgley.

It is now a private house.

The inn sign carved in stone is still visible on the top storey of the building.

Innkeepers, licensees and landlords:

1822: George Patchett
1834: John Bedford
1838: Mrs Bedford
1845: George Bedford
1866: George Bedford
1866: John Fletcher
1869: John Fletcher
1869: Mrs Emma Fletcher
1878: Mrs Emma Fletcher
1878: William Hoyle
1906: William Hoyle
1906: Mrs Sarah Hoyle
1911: Mrs Sarah Hoyle
1911: John Henry Thomas
1915: John Henry Thomas
1915: Levi Wilcock
1915: John Greenwood
1928: John Greenwood
1928: Alfred Harwood
1956: Alfred Harwood

The Sportsman

On the corner of Jim Allen Lane and Thorney Lane

The license was transferred to here from the Shoulder of Mutton.

In 1894, brewers Cotton & Wood leased the pub from the licensee Joseph Mitchell.

This was the last surviving pub in Midgley.

It closed in 1990.

Innkeepers, licensees and landlords:

1876: John Mitchell
1894: Joseph Mitchell
1899: Thomas Henry Walton
1902: Thomas Henry Walton
1902: James Spencer
1906: James Spencer
1906: Andrew Mellor
1907: Andrew Mellor
1907: John Walsh
1909: John Walsh
1909: Arthur Moss
1916: Arthur Moss
1916: Tom Wilson
1920: Tom Wilson
1920: Joseph Simpson
1922: Joseph Simpson
1922: Walter Mansley
1923: Walter Mansley
1923: Ann Mansley
1924: Ann Mansley
1924: Tom Johnson Horner
1930: Tom Johnson Horner
1930: Albert Oliver
1934: Albert Oliver
1934: Rupert Buckley
1942: Rupert Buckley
1942: Allen Beaumont
1943: Allen Beaumont
1943: Michael Finigan
1944: Michael Finigan
1944: Harold Wild
1947: Harold Wild
1947: Fred Sutcliffe
1953: Fred Sutcliffe
1953: John William Wilson
1954: John William Wilson
1954: William Edward Fairclough
1955: William Edward Fairclough
1955: Donald Charles Campe
1956: Donald Charles Campe
1956: Edgar Davis
1956: Edgar Davis
1956: Dennis Ian Headon
1959: Dennis Ian Headon
1959: Kenneth Crowther
1960: Kenneth Crowther
1960: Lewis Smith

1977: Eira Cox

The Temperance Hotel

Luddenden Work in progress

The Traveller's Rest

Duke Street This was open from 1861 to 1938.

The 'landlord' in 1901 was Mary Greenwood. Daughter Kate was the barman.
It is now a private house.

J. Murgatroyd & Son built a band room next to the pub for their Oats Royd Mills Brass Band.

Innkeepers, licensees and landlords:

1861: William Fletcher
1884: William Fletcher
1891: Thomas Greenwood
1896: Thomas Greenwood
1896: Mrs Mary Greenwood
1904: Mrs Mary Greenwood
1904: Mitchell Greenwood
1905: Mitchell Greenwood
1905: Fred Clegg
1915: Fred Clegg
1911: John Henry Thomas
1920: John Henry Thomas
1920: Tom Wilson
1923: Tom Wilson
1923: Ellis Sutcliffe
1929: Ellis Sutcliffe
1929: Percy Simpson
1937: Percy Simpson

The Victoria Hotel

Burnley Road. Opened in 1886/8.
It was built on the same site as the earlier Anchor & Shuttle on the east corner of the junction of Station Road and Burnley Road.

It was a Brear & Brown pub [1914].

The pub closed in January 1917.

It later became the Council Offices and was known as Victoria Buildings.

Innkeepers, licensees and landlords:

1893: Edward Weston
1905: Edward Weston
1914: Joseph Eccles
1914: Robert Dunford

The Waggoners' Rest

Stocks Lane.

The building was originally a row of weavers' cottages [around 1740].

Around 1800, the property was converted into a smallholding called Brock Top Farm, Mount Tabor.

In the late 19th century, it was converted into a pub to serve the trade passing up and down Stocks Lane on their way to and from the quarries in Mount Tabor.

This was originally a beer house.

It opened in 1902.

It was a Ramsden pub.

There is a stone horse trough on the roadside by the property for the horses on their way up Stocks Lane.

The pub closed in 1958.

When the quarries stopped production, the pub was split into two properties: Breck Top Farm and Breck Top Cottage.

For many years, occupants and visitors have reported sightings of a man wearing a brimmed hat and long coat in the upstairs rear of the property.

The electrical box on the street lamp outside still reads Waggoners' Rest.

Innkeepers, licensees and landlords:

1891: Joseph Wade
1901: Joseph Bedford – who lived at 3 Jumples Crag
1905: Emma A. Whalley
1906: Rachel Smart
1914: Rachel Smart
1914: Arthur Helliwell
1921: Arthur Helliwell
1921: Arthur Percival Crowe
1921: Arthur Percival Crowe
1921: George Turver
1934: George Turver
1934: Arton Sowden
1948: Arton Sowden
1948: Robert Chatfield
1948: Frank Wade
1952: Frank Wade
1952: Walter Arthur Clemence

The White Swan

The pub was renamed the Lord Nelson Inn after the Battle of Trafalgar [1805].

The Wolf Inn

High Street Fold.

Built 1652

Was Luddenden Working Men’s Club & Institute from 1880 to 1946

Building demolished 1959

Built in 1653.

In the early 18th century, the Inn was said to be a rendezvous for army recruiting officers.

Local legend says that, in 1745, Janet, a Scottish maid at the Inn gave sanctuary to a soldier from Bonnie Prince Charlie's army who was being pursued by the English army after defeat in battle.

In 1877, the property was acquired by the Luddenden Co-operative Society, their shop at the time being at 8 High Street on the other side of the bridge to The Wolf.

The Luddenden Working Men's Club & Institute used the building from 1880 until 1946.

Astin Brothers used the building after this.

The building was demolished in 1959. Now a lawned area to the south side of the bridge on High Street.

you can see Newpaper cuttings here

Here are four newspaper articles about the building:

Wolf Inn (and also Bridge Inn)
Wolf Inn prior to demolition
Wolf Inn and Beavoir Works
Council accepts reponsibility of Inn
Wolf Inn offered as gift to Council

Working Mens Clubs

LUDDENDEN WORKING MEN'S CLUB Formed in 1880 it was originally in the Wolf Inn.
In 1946 it moved into the former chapel building on High Street near the bottom of Halifax Lane. This building is now residential flats.

LUDDENDENFOOT WORKING MEN'S CLUB Opened in 1882 on Station Road, Luddendenfoot in the pub now know as The Old Brandy Wine. Later it was a building in Kershaw. After it closed in the 1970's it became Oscar's Bar but this was demolished in the 1990's when the current estate was built.

Notice of Closure (26/04/1996)
General piece about closure of WMCs in the valley (16/07/1994)