After a gentle stroll up and around Hoarstone Edge and Alphin Pike, we set off back towards the M62 from Dovestone Reservoir car park, with the intention of stopping at any pub that took our fancy…so the first pub that came into view it was then.
Sat in the Chew Valley, and less than a mile from Dovestone reservoir, we pulled into the car park to the rear of The Clarence at Greenfield, ideally located on the Holmfirth to Oldham road. The signage outside was very modern, so I expected some sort of swish upmarket gastro pub, however I was pleasantly surprised that inside, the pub had an old style feel to it.
We were greeted by a friendly smile from behind the bar, and were faced with the usual suspects on draught, Carling, Strongbow, Tetleys and John Smiths. With Sir Edmund sticking rigidly to his ‘drying out’ in January, he joined Wu Tang and myself in ordering a diet Coke (yes kids, its true…”Sir Edmund in soft drinks shocker!!”), so it was left to Ramblo to begrudgingly sample the alcohol. There was a local brew on draught too, Dobcross bitter, brewed by The Greenfield Brewery, and Ramblo was intrigued, thus she was informed “it’s our best seller and it’s brewed just over the road”. So a pint was ordered, but the bitter wasn’t coming through, so we expected a brief wait until the barrel was changed. But no said the landlord, “you just have to pump til it comes through”…so we waited…and waited…Ramblo went to the toilet…Ramblo came back…and after about five minutes and countless pumps, their ‘best seller’ (hmmmmm???) finally made an appearance!
Sir Edmund was pleased, what with Seabrook’s being the Rambling Badgers crisp of choice, he ordered a packet of Sea Salted and a packet of Beefy, he even managed to procure a packet of Big D nuts, which I thought was apt.
£12.10 seemed a tad excessive to me for basically one pint and the rest pop and crisps, but hey I guess this is the world we live in now…but never to mind, it was Sir Edmund’s round somewhat surprisingly, and we took our seats in a little tap room off to the right from the bar. The main feature in there was a real open log fire…which was unlit. But hey, it was up to a tropical 5 degrees outside by this time.
A few old dears were in for their Saturday lunches, and the portions they were served up looked and smelled good, but we stuck to the Seabrook on this occasion.
Ramblo and Sir Edmund both commented that the toilets left a lot to be desired, and the pub itself, despite having a fantastic location and the feel of being a great pub, coupled with friendly staff, I couldn’t help but feel that it was in need of a little TLC as we all know that first impressions last. As we left, I think the Merry Christmas sign written on the chalkboard in the doorway kind of summed things up really.
That said, despite the wait, the Dobcross bitter received the Ramblo seal of approval!
Review submitted by
Beaky
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