Ring o' Bells, Halifax

A traditional pub of great age sitting below the slightly soot laden Halifax Minster, the five beers that were on are noted below with myself opting for the Saltaire Blonde which I found in good shape. It's a very nice pub with a reasonable range of beer and a good starting point for a crawl of Halifax.

In the acoustic shadow of Halifax Minster’s bells from whence the pub taketh its name and according to CAMRA, with a history going back a good 400 years, making this the town’s oldest licenced establishment; a church headstone of 1635 is incorporated into a cellar wall and since 2022, the east wall has displayed a large mural depicting Suranne Jones as Anne Lister of Gentleman Jack fame. This is a simple, no-nonsense place with white walls and older locals; a great 1980s’ soundtrack played. My half of Titanic Plum Porter was good, but the pub uses the ‘Return Tray’ method to recycle used beer overspill. Very handy for the train.

Close to the station,a traditional pub with a cosy tap room with a long fitted bench,while through an arch are two sections,one with more bench seating ,the other with dining type tables.The muzak was decent and not too loud,food is served and there tables outside near the road. Good ale selection with a 10% CAMRA discount which on my trip meant Titanic Plum Porter,TT Landlord ,Acorn Barnsley Bitter and Saltaire Blonde (NBSS 4).A very good start or finish for any crawl and deserving of a longer stay next time.

Facebook page of Ring o' Bells - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of Ring o' Bells - www.facebook.com

A bit off the beaten track, though handy as a final stop before the station and it looks the part what with the big soot covered church looming in behind the pub. This is an old school local of the type that hasn’t seen much in the way of modernity for the best part of 50 years. Bit of knock-through inside but essentially it’s two rooms with a cream and burgundy colour scheme. Six pumps with three cask on, my Acorn Barnsley Bitter was a solid NBSS 3.5 and the welcoming hyperactive barmaid also knew her stuff and warned me that it may be coming toward barrel end and to let her know if it was. Sadly it was really quiet on a Friday night – hopefully this is isn’t the norm as it’s a decent place.