Todmorden Road
I should tell you that this is not a full crawl.
The fact is that there are two decent pubs in this neck of the woods and they don’t
really fit into any of the other sections. These are the Woodman,
about fifteen minutes down Todmorden Road from Turf Moor, and the Stanley,
just around the corner on Oxford Road. Todmorden Road runs from the corner of Turf Moor
nearest the town centre, on which the Wellington (Yorkshire Street
and Turf Moor guide) stands, and Oxford Road runs parallel to this. On your way down
Todmorden Road you’ll pass the Foresters Arms, which apparently sells no beer, and
the Rifle Volunteers, which, despite its attractive name, I’m told by one of my researchers sells only
Tetley’s which "tastes like vinegar."
On the way down you'll also cross over the River
Calder and pass Fulledge Rec, which was supposed to be where Burnley Cricket Club was
moving to to allow the expansion of Turf Moor, before an unenthusiastic local public and
the council vetoed it. If you carry
on down Todmorden Road past the Woodman, you'll come to Towneley Hall, Burnley's art
gallery and museum. For more about Towneley Hall, visit www.burnley.gov.uk/towneley.
These two pubs offer a plausible pre-match option, and
could be combined with a Manchester Road crawl. If, when heading down Manchester Road, you
turn right at the roundabout and down Healy Wood Road, you'll be heading towards the two,
through a part of town called Burnley Wood. In case your mind is suddenly filled with
pleasant pastoral images, it should be pointed out that Burnley Wood is the most
rundown part of town. You will pick your way through row after row of derelict surplus terraced
houses, boarded up and only awaiting a future wrecking ball. This is an area of stunning
deprivation, poor by national standards, an inner city without the city. Unsurprisingly,
this was one of the areas affected by the summer 2001 Burnley race riots.
Click here for a map
of Burnley centring on the area covered by this crawl.
The
Woodman Inn
129 Todmorden Road
This is something of a classic pub, kind of
a grand between the wars roadhouse. It’s a big building on a corner, and inside is a
lot of dark wood and rooms. The bar is spectacular. Apparently it hasn’t been the
same since they knocked down some of the interior walls, but the pub is still divided into
several rooms, including a sumptuous pool room on one side of the main entrance and a tv room on the other side (handy
if endless tv football isn't your scene), the main bar area, a dining room
and, my favourite, a small corridor with a piano and a couple of tables, which
mysteriously leads you behind the bar. Unaccountably, this room is always empty. As one
correspondent writes, "Is there a better room than the parlour behind the bar?"
A comfortable place, they also have a reputation for doing decent food, and
apprarently it's a popular place on a Sunday lunchtime.
And as for the beer? Well, it’s hit and miss. After being
beerless for some time, real ale was restored. They had four handpumps on offer when I first visited in February 2001,
which was promising, but the range was disappointing to say the least: Boddingtons, John Smith’s, Theakston and
Worthington bitter. It’s rare to see so many bland national beer brands on one bar, and a less intriguing range you
couldn't hope to find. Since then, however, good beers such as
Timothy Taylor's Landlord and
Charles Wells Bombardier
have been on sale. Apparently the Landlord went because they couldn't sell enough of it - can this be? - but on a July
2001 visit the Bombardier was first rate. Courage Director's was also on offer. Unfortunately when I called
in again in March 2002, the range had regressed, and was once again pretty uninspiring. I think they
had Boddingtons, Theakstons,
Marston's Pedigree and
Wadworth's 6X.
As it happens I'm not a fan of 6X, so I took a pint of Pedigree, but it wasn't
the best, being slightly on the warm and flat side. Then on my most recent visit, October 2002, they had on the new
Worthington's 1744 beer. Clearly it won't be a great beer given where it comes from, but I have to say it was a pretty decent pint.
This pub has improved a lot,
but now perhaps needs to be encouraged to be a little more adventurous with its beer. If you come to Burnley regularly,
it is certainly worth at least your occasional custom.
Becko's Burnley boozer of the month, April 2002
The Woodman, 129 Todmorden Road, Burnley BB11 3EX.
Tel 01282 424585.
Click here for a map.
The
Stanley
Oxford Road
Now here’s a pub I have some time for.
This is one of Burnley’s four Moorhouses pubs, so
it’s worthy of your respect. Alas, it no longer sells the award-winning Black Cat
mild. They tried. Despite the fact that this product of Burnley took the prestigious title
of Supreme Champion Beer of Britain in the year 2000, it isn’t that easy to get hold
of around town. For quite some time, a visit here was your best chance
of grabbing a pint of it. I had some pretty decent ones too. Unfortunately, my local
researcher, who claimed he was the only person to drink it on a regular basis, may well have been right, as
it's now been taken off for good. He did his best, but even he couldn't drink it all.
You will therefore, have to content yourself
with the Moorhouse's Premier. Also available is John Smith's, which strikes me as a tad
unnecessary in the circumstances.
On my recent visits, the Moorhouses Premier has been rather a good pint.
As for the pub, the exterior has recently finally received
the coat of paint it long needed, along with a rather puzzling new sign. Inside, it was being redecorated on my October
2002 visit, with that horrible knuckle-scraping textured stuff thankfully having been taken off the walls. Could it be
that Moorhouses are finally spending some money on their pubs? The locals are friendly
enough, and the bar staff are very friendly indeed. There are two rooms, a small and narrow area around the bar
into which everyone squeezes (and wherever you are you’ll be in someone's way), and a
room round the other side that no one ever goes in. This second room boasted some Burnley
FC stuff on the wall, pre-redecoration. Hope it comes back.
The Stanley, 164 Oxford Road, Burnley BB11 3HB.
Tel 01282 413276.
Click here for a map.
Last updated November 2002
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