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Burnley
If you’ve ever been on an organised away trip, you’ll know that there is a fair amount of drinking done. In fact, even if you haven’t been on a trip, you’ll probably have worked it out from the various blurry pictures in the magazine. Consequently if you fancy a drink before the match, you are generally well catered for by Pub Guru Woody’s intensive list of pre-match pubs.
Personally I often prefer to do my drinking post-match. However, as we usually have to get an early-ish train to far-flung destinations, to ensure we arrive on time, this leaves a bit of time to fill before the match. So, for those of you who either already come on trips or who haven’t dared risk it yet, but don’t want to do a pub crawl, I will be putting together a non-drinkers'/lightweight drinkers' guide of places to visit in the towns where Burnley will be playing their first few matches. I hope to be able to expand on the guide in the light of experience, and any suggestions for inclusion (or indeed, removal) of particular venues etc will be gratefully received. Before looking at the away days, however, I feel I ought to give some consideration to the delights of our own ‘home’ town, so the first place I’m going to cover is Burnley.
Believe it or not, I found Burnley much the most difficult place when trying to think of what to do and where to go (other than into the pub), but here are a few suggestions.
Eating/drinking
- Even for non-drinkers ‘The Sparrow Hawk’ is always a good bet - pie and peas ‘par excellence’ in Smithies café-bar. You’ll need to get there relatively early though. There’s nothing worse than looking forward to pie and peas all week, and then finding that they have run out, so make sure you’ve placed your order before 2 o’clock!
- There are various cafés in and around the pedestrianised centre. I haven’t visited any of them in the last few years, but I’m sure they will offer fairly standard grub at fairly standard prices, i.e. much cheaper than down south!
- The Mechanics in Manchester Road used to be a good bet for a nice lunch. Nowadays, we just can’t be sure, to be honest. The service at the bar (i.e. the length of time to get served) has been absolutely appalling on the last few visits. In its capacity as the local arts centre and live music venue, however, it is a useful place for picking up info about what’s going on in Burnley.
- The Café Claret at Turf Moor may be worth visiting. Or then again, given that the official BFC website gives absolutely no details about it, it might not. I’m afraid I can’t offer a personal view since I’ve not tried it. However the Burnley College website informs us that the Café Claret does have a ‘cybercentre’ (a few internet terminals, presumably).
- Some great news for fish and chip aficionados! There are a couple of award-winning chippies in Burnley, namely ‘Belfields’ on Parliament Street (near Manchester Road station) and also ‘Holloways’ on Towneley Street (off Briercliffe Road). They’re both listed in the top 100 chippies in Great Britain, so they must be worth a try! Belfields is probably easier for those of us going by train, as it’s close enough to pick up your cod and chips just after arriving or just before leaving.
- I’m advised that there are also places to eat in Hamerton Street. I can’t, alas, claim any personal knowledge of them, but I hope to investigate and provide further info in due course.
Other things to do
- This is where it gets difficult! If you don’t mind a bit of a walk (or catching the bus), you could visit Towneley Hall/Park. There’s a museum and an art gallery there. The latter has (regularly changing) exhibitions. You can find Towneley Park by going up Todmorden Road. Important note: Towneley Hall is closed on Saturdays. Our thanks to David Pate for this rather crucial piece of information!
- Shopping – I haven’t been shopping in Burnley for years, but it has most of the usual high street stores (M&S, Next, etc). The shopping area is pedestrianised.
- I think there is a visitors’ centre at the Weavers Triangle, which gives info about the Leeds & Liverpool canal (that may not of itself sound particularly riveting, but it should give some sort of insight into Burnley’s industrial past).
- Visit Moorhouses brewery! Tours can be pre-arranged.
More information
For more info, you could try the Burnley TownTalk website. The site is billed as the "Official guide to Burnley Town Centre", and contains lots of information about the town itself, upcoming events, etc. There's a map facility, but a better option might be to take a look at streetmap.co.uk and print off the relevant pages. You wouldn't want to get lost and miss the game!
Joanne Pilkington
Last updated August 2002
Please note that the information above is our own opinion and is supplied as a guide only. The London Clarets cannot accept any responsibility for the quality/availability of any of the facilities mentioned. We suggest that if you intend to visit a particular establishment, you contact it directly beforehand to confirm opening times, prices, etc.
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