The Royal Oak, Halifax

A good traditional pub, with a selection of 9 ales and 4 ciders. This included a Dirty Dicks ale 4.2% brewed by Empire. The interior was mock Tudor, with oak panelling and a mock Tudor fireplace, Black ceiling beams and a pot shelf above the bar. The windows were leaded with some stained glass motifs. The Gents loos had the original Oates + Creen Halifax and London sanitary ware. The pub attracts an older crowd, who enjoy a good pint of ale. We went for the Newby Wyke Grantham Gold and their Dirty Dicks ale, both were well kept.

Impressive 'Brewer's Tudor' façade. Once inside, you find plenty of dark wood panelling and leather bench seats in main bar. There is also a smaller side room with a few pew-type bench seats. Very popular early on a Friday evening. Nine real ales and two ciders on handpump - excellent choice but opted for Stancill Barnsley Bitter at £2.30. Well worth a visit.

A very impressive range of 13 hand pumps is what catches the eye on entering this fascinating building. The exterior is quite an eyeful as well, in its local variant of Brewers Tudor. The original interior layout of rooms can be speculated upon with a degree of accuracy, though the long bar with 10 of those hand pumps now faces one large room. Two of those pumps serve cider, and there's a further beer available from a barrel chocked on the end of the bar. Visual interest is provided by model ships standing on the window sills and by the landlord's impressively sculpted beard. Aurally I found it more challenging, with loud music playing at the time of my Saturday lunchtime visit. Date of visit: 29th March 2014

Previously the Royal Oak and subsequently the Tap & Spile, Dirty Dicks is one of 3 pubs (the Pump Room and Three Pigeons being the others) that make up the original Halifax Beer Triangle. The original pub on the site was demolished in 1929 and subsequently rebuilt 2 years later. Much of the timber used in the rebuilding was salvaged from HMS Newcastle, a decommissioned naval frigate built in 1860 and broken up in 1929, the captain of which was one Richard Lynn whose nickname has now been adopted for the pub since mid 2011. The mock Tudor exterior is certainly impressive with its coloured stonework, latticed windows bearing heraldic shields, lanterns and blooms. Internally there are 3 discernible areas, the main bar which is semi-divided into 2 and a separate side room The furnishings include a few barrels that double up as tables for the vertical drinkers, padded banquette seating and a long table that divides up the larger section of the main bar. The overall decor is quite plain with bare floors and half paneled walls displaying a selection of old pictures, mirrors and brasses. Collections of bottles and pump clips are also on show with the side room containing lots of old Tetley's memorabilia. The pub did once have a live music club housed upstairs but this is now no longer the case and as far as entertainment goes there was little evidence, no TV’s and just some background unintrusive piped music. The pub has won various CAMRA awards and generally has 8 ales available including their own branded Dirty Dick Ale which is knocked ouit for £2. The rest are largely rotating local beers from various micro breweries so you’re unlikely to get much repetition even if you use the place a lot. The customer base were friendly although I did manage to attract a couple of harmless but boorish types on my last visit that was a struggle to shake off without causing offence! That aside, this is one of the destination pubs for beer lovers in Halifax so don’t be put off by the cheesy name.