The Richard Oastler (JD Wetherspoon), Brighouse

The Richard Oastler is a Wetherspoons that is housed in a old and grand looking building. Once inside there is a square shaped room with the bar facing at the rear,the middle area is bare boarded,there are tall tables and chairs in this area,the areas at either side of the room are carpeted and have normal tables and chairs. There was a decent choice of guest beers on the bar,i had a drink of Acorn Forest which went down well,the other beers noted were Elland 1872 Porter,Moorhouses Blonde Witch,Moorhouses Pendle Witch and Spoons regulars GK IPA,Doom Bar and Abbot. I thought this was a very pleasant Wetherspoons to have a drink in. Pub visited 3/9/2016

Well, this will my local for the next two weeks and I've been here almost six months and have lived here before, so excuse the bias. It's a good Spoons and I've got to know many of the barstaff. I surprise them occasionally by changing from my usual to one of the guest ales. It is in the middle of a festival, so I may try a few new ones tomorrow.

This is a very impressive Spoons set in an old chapel with an ornate ceiling, a huge organ above the bar and chandeliers to swing from if you can reach them and feel that way inclined. There is a patio to the side. It was surprisingly quiet on my Wednesday afternoon visit with mainly people who had come to eat. The bar has two sets of hand pumps which had no Available Soon and no blanks. Beers available were the JDW Trio of Doom with the two GK beers doubled up, Goose Eye Bitter, Chinook & Pommies Revenge, Saltaire Blackberry Cascade & Blonde, Elland SPA and Moorhouse Blond Witch. I went for the Blackberry Cascade (£2.35) which was in first class condition. This was the best Spoons I had been to for some time and is definitely a top one.

The pub is named after the prominent leader of the factory reform,who lived nearby at Fixby hall for many years,and is housed in the former Central Methodist Church.An excellent restoration has been undergone,with the Church organ pipes still intact on the upper balcony, (Although sadly out of bounds)the painted ceiling and quite a few pew styled booths dotted around.Called in around 10-30 on a weekday morning and was in a rare position to have a choice of two barmaids to serve me.There was a fair array of real ales on offer with The Wharfedale Brewery's Wispa IPA (5.1abv)in good nick.