Boltmakers Arms, Keighley

I've been to this one before but couldn't remember much about it. The profile of it has been raised recently by the brewery re-badging their Best Bitter as Boltmaker. Inside it's a small split level carpeted room with a mix of tables, benches and stools. I spotted a glass case with what looked like rare Beatles memorabilia. It was quiet on an early Wednesday afternoon. The bar has two sets of four hand pumps which had Taylor's Mild, Golden Best, Ram Tam & Boltmaker, Wadworth Henry's IPA and another I couldn't read. I went for the Golden Best (£2.80) which was first class and the cheapest pint of Taylor's I've come across in years. I've tended to prefer Taylor's rural middle of nowhere pubs to their town ones but this must be one of their best urban ones.

Exemplary Timothy Taylor house, which doesn't look much from a distance but simply calls out for you to enter if you walk past. The compact interior features two small seating areas, separated by a single step. Very traditional furniture and decor, including a very welcome real coal fire on a cold and wet spring day. Regular live music advertised (although I don't know how they fit any musicians in). Golden Best, Dark Mild, Boltmaker, Landlord and Ram Tam plus an ELB beer as a guest and Old Rosie cider from two banks of four handpumps.

A traditional community pub that acts as the unofficial de facto brewery tap for Timothy Taylors. It’s a small, homely and well-groomed boozer over two levels, the raised rear area being home to much music memorabilia from the 1960’s with a bit of football and breweriana thrown in elsewhere. As noted, the homeliness is enhanced by wood panelling, lampshades, proper fire, red fabric banquettes, heavy curtains, a selection of papers and carpeting throughout. The outside floral baskets are a nice touch too. The draw at the bar is the full range of the five Tim Taylor ales plus up to two guests (Blue Monkey on my visit) and a proper cider (Gwent Y Ddraig). I certainly couldn’t fault the beer quality on the ones I tried. Perhaps a slight downer was a lack of friendliness on my visit (friendliness being a trait it is lauded for elsewhere), despite my best efforts to strike up a little conversation at the bar no-one seemed interested in conversing/baiting a genuine Southerner. Still, it’s a cracking pub with great beer and is well-worth seeking out.

Although it was a quiet weekday afternoon when we called in here, it was lively and convivial in this little pub. There's a full range of Timothy Taylor beers, plus two guests (Fullers London Pride and Wadworth Horizon), so it's by no means an impressive menu unless you happen to like Tim's beers. Fortunately, my Ram Tam was spot on, though my drinking companion went for the Dark Mild, which I find the least distinctive of the range, the Golden Best being a better option if you like mild. The room is on two levels, a slightly raised area to the rear being home to a multitude of memorabilia of the Beatles, Elvis and Dylan. We liked it very much here: probably the best (or joint-best) of a 10-pub crawl.

This small, inconspicuous but well kept boozer has already been well described below. The Boltmakers is a friendly boozer where everyone seems to enjoy their beer. It's cramped but there's a great atmosphere and the service is excellent. Even when the bar was two or three deep the staff knew who was waiting and would shout over for orders. As OB notes this is known as "the de-facto Taylor's brewery tap" by the GBG and it's reflected in the ale range available. On our visit there was: TT Landlord, Best, Ram Tam, Golden Best and Dark Mild as well as a couple of guests - Thwaites Lancaster Bomber and Cottage Brewing Austin A40 Somerset. All we needed to know was that the Landlord was on and it flew down. Landlord has been much mistreated over the years but served at The Boltmakers it really is one of the best beers I've ever had. I'd recommend that anyone looking for a decent pint visits The Boltmakers at least one. You won't be disappointed!

Old Boots has described the interior so well little needs to be added.The music memorabilia seems to focus on The Beatles and one of their tribute bands,Oasis.The humourous postcards in the gents were risque but well observed ,and I also discovered a tiny outside yard with two tables if you needed such a space for a tab.It had been seven years since my last visit and I was nervous that the remarkable pints of Landlord I had then would not be replicated.That fear proved unfounded,indeed the Landlord was so good that the guests and the other TT beers didn't get a look in,still the best pint of Landlord I've ever had. I also liked the customers,all of whom seemed just as keen on ale as me and the crew,everyone was quaffing and food played no part in the proceedings. This is a must visit pub for anyone who cares about decent boozers with great ale.

Tiny but perfectly formed Timothy Taylors pub although it also serves a couple of guests. Largely unspolit victorian in style, there is a cast iron range with music inspired display cases in the front section, surrounding the fireplace is a healthy collection of CAMRA awards. It may have been two even smaller rooms at one time as the front is at lower level to the back, the counter stretches along the left hand side serving upper and lower parts. It seems to serve the full range of Taylors plus two guests and a cider, the quality of the beer was beyond reproach, the GBG refers to it as “the de-facto Taylor's brewery tap”. Mind you a few customers looked to be “characters”, it's very close to the railway station (BR and Worth Valley) so an easy choice when in Keighley.