West Riding Licensed Refreshment Rooms, Dewsbury

A recent revisit found everything unchanged bar the beer (obviously). I sampled Tim Taylor Mild, Moorhouse White Witch and a Durham beer at 6.5 per cent. Quality was still good and this place is a treat for beer enthusiasts. August 2011 The legendary WRLRR (that’s West Riding Licensed Refreshment Rooms!) is a genuine station pub in that you can exit directly onto the platform, handy for grabbing that ‘quick last half’ before the train arrives. The building is apparently Grade I listed and looks attractive with its ivy-clad exterior. The interior is divided into three interlinked rooms, with the main bar in the middle one. I find this area the most enticing; dark Victorian-style décor, stripped wood flooring, dark wood settles, loads of old bottled beers lining ceiling and plenty of rail memorabilia dotted around (including the original Wellington Road station name board above the bar), as well as numerous CAMRA awards. The star of the show is the beer - eight well sourced and eclectic ales available. Prices were competitive, only the Sarah Hughes (at 6%) was over the £3 mark. There were also some ciders (Pure North Valley Gold), English wines and foreign keg and bottled beer available - so much choice. Staff wear t-shirts with the slogan “I missed the train at Dewsbury”. It’s obviously very popular, plenty of people come and go as they break their journeys especially to stop off here. Plenty of theme nights advertised, music, curry and good value food is available at lunchtimes. There are a number of period timepieces on display, though I discern that not all the clocks are synched - a dastardly ploy to make you miss that train? This is a real cracker and is in my top 10