Old Hall, Heckmondwike

A glorious, old, Grade 1 listed building in stone, the interior is half timber and brick, there are stone flags where it’s not carpeted. The windows are stone mullioned and leaded. It has multiple rooms including what may have been a minstrel’s gallery up a flight of stairs – now called the “Priestly Room”. Some areas have the infill removed from between the stud uprights. Entering down a short flight of steps from the car park brings you into the main bar with a lovely plastered ceiling and a chandelier. Rooms lead off to the left and up a step open to the right and beyond up another step is a seating area with access to the toilets and the stairs to the Priestly Room. The dogleg counter has the usual collection of Sam’s little boxes and two pulls with a cold average Old Brewery Bitter. There were no other punters except a group of half a dozen old blokes acting as bar blockers but politely moved when needed. Good banter among them on a broad range of subjects including fish and chips in Whitby. Some phones were brandished but the barman brought out a big “digital detox” sign and pointed to the “no swearing” sign when challenged with the W word. It’s very handy for the Spen Valley Greenway which I used to walk between here and The Liversedge.

The Old Hall is an old stone built pub that is uphill from the middle of Hecmondwike,i had problems trying to find this pub,but the effort was well worth it. Once inside there is a stone floor area near the entrance,this area had a few settees,the main bar area is down a couple of steps,the bar faces,this area also had a stone floor,the main seating area is to the right,this area is quite large and slightly raised,the seating is very comfy bench type and small stools,this area is carpeted,the area is divided into two by old wooden beams,there is a small snug to the the front left. There were two pumps on the bar,both had Samuel Smiths OBB on,this drink was really nice and only £1.80 a pint. This is a really nice old pub that was warm and very comfortable on a cold day,it was also very busy with a more upmarket type of customer. There are no TVs or music playing which might suit some but not me,but i still really liked this pub. Pub visited 2/1/2015