The Vulcan, Huddersfield

The Vulcan is very much a back street locals pub and when we arrived at 3.30PM on a Saturday afternoon one set of locals, who had clearly been in there a fair while, were leaving and noisily saying goodbye to another set of them who were encamped on the bar stools along most of the rectangular bar. There is a raised area to the left as you enter which houses a couple of bench tables , and then some alcove areas to the right of the long bar , the larger one of which houses a pool table. A large screen at the back of the pub had the horse racing on mute and a smaller screen on a wall nearer the bar had the Sky Sports results service on. Five of the six ale pumps were in operation and alongside the fairly mainstream offerings of Holts Bitter , Theakstones Best and Hobgoblin were Bradfield Farmers Blonde and Copper Dragon Golden Pippin, so I had a couple of halves of the latter two and fortunately they were well kept. This pub clearly serves the local community and there were several posters advertising forthcoming events, including a Christmas Eve disco with Sausage. A strange culinary choice for Christmas eve I thought, until it flashed up that Cardiff had taken the lead against Huddersfield Town, at which point a lot of banter starting flying across the bar stools with the majority of it aimed at someone called Sausage. I happily stayed here to watch the football scores coming in. The wife on the other hand took two sips of her beer and proclaimed , right I’m going shopping, and promptly left me to it.. Yes, a bit rough around the edges, and probably not the place to bring a first date, but England will still be richer for having traditional pubs like the Vulcan.

A good looking pub from the outside, but I was a little dubious on entry to find the atmosphere of a typical town centre or market square pub - a little rough around the edges. I had to wait while the only server restocked the fridge with bottles of Stella Artois (which is never a good sign) until one of the regulars suggested that she might like to serve me. Even then she finished loading the fridge. If it hadn't been for the presence of a hand-written pump clip advertising Worthington White Shield I would long since have turned around and left. My half of this delicious beer set me back the princely sum of £1.25. The other beers noted (if anyone's interested) were Marstons Salted Caramel, Copper Dragon Golden Pippin (turned around), Great Yorkshire Gold, Pennine Millie George and Bradfield Farmers Blonde. Most of the other drinkers were on John Smith Smooth or lager, so it's great to be able to report that my White Shield was in excellent condition and well worth the price of a day return ticket on the train from Sheffield. Date of visit: 23rd September 2016

A good old traditional style local. The interior is as noted by Mr Winfield with the addition of a small beer yard to the rear. 6 handpumps in 3 banks of 2. A friendly little place of an afternoon and I liked it.

The Vulcan is a smallish pub and the first i found open pre 11am as i had not found the two Wetherspoons in town yet. Once inside there is a single room which runs to the rear,the bar is on the left side,there is a pool table to the front right on a slight raised area,there is also a slight raised area to the front left,the seating is comfy bench type and small stools. There was a decent choice of real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Horbury Blonde which went down very well,the other beers were Joseph Holts Bitter,Joseph Holts Two Hoots,Bradfield Farmers Blonde and Theakston Best. The pub also does very cheap food which looked quite nice and decent sized portions. I quite liked this pub,decent beer,cheap food and a pool table. Pub visited 27/2/2016