Lobby 1867, Wakefield

The Unity Works Café Bar opened in March 2015 as part of the highly regarded Unity Hall regeneration project. The space was long rumoured to have been acquired by Tim Martin for another Wetherspoons outlet, but thankfully, something more in keeping with the building’s history has come into fruition. (The hall was built in 1904 for the Wakefield Industrial Co-Operative Society, hence the references to glass & china, hardware etc. picked out in gold lettering above the plate glass windows.) Inside, it’s a medium sized, open plan space, with a raised area away from the bar. The room itself is quite plain with its contrasting green colour scheme and bare floorboards, but very little in the way of adornment. Tables and chairs are obviously recycled and rather battered in the ‘junk shop chic’ style. Plus, there are a couple of high backed chairs and a leather chesterfield. The bar itself is also rather plain, with an unadorned bar back. Two hand pumps were on the go, during my visit, dispensing Copper Dragon ‘Golden Pippin and Clarks ‘Touchline Tonic’. Opting for a half (£1.50) of the latter, quality was OK, but not the best. A couple of T-bars offering mainstream kegs brands were also present, along with a handful of craft beers available in bottle and can e.g. Brewdog Punk IPA. Hot drinks are also on offer, supplemented by cakes and snacks. Service from the young bar staff was a little cool and a simple query about beer styles was met with blank eyed bewilderment, so a little room for improvement there. Although fairly quiet when I called late afternoon, on a Friday, it filled up pretty quickly after five o’ clock with the post work crowd and a couple of hen party goers, giving the place a decent buzz and suggesting the place has already caught on, locally. I suspect when the hall is hosting a concert things are decidedly busier. Overall, I think the jury’s still out on this one. I found the interior a little stark for my taste (a bit of cosying ephemera would work wonders) and the rather prosaic beer choices available on this occasion didn’t help. However, there’s definite potential and its position between The Hop and Harry’s Bar should ensure the occasional visit in future, to see how it’s coming along.