Fancy popping back in time for a quick pint?
NOSTALGIA has come into its own for those of us in selfisolation. Get down the box of old photographs on top of the wardrobe, or the albums your mum bought, intending to seal the best behind cellophane to preserve the family history.
Or you could log on to two Facebook pages that always provoke a smile: Odersfelt – Huddersfield Of The Past, and Huddersfield – Then and Now.
Stephen ‘Foz’ Foster, a regular contributor to
Odersfelt, asks: “If you could venture back in time to your youth and visit three of your favourite pubs in town, what would they be? Mine are: The
Ship Inn, Bradley Street, The Zetland and The Albion/Long Island Bar.”
Brian Troop chose The Plough, The George and Dragon and The Shakespeare, and Doug Fryer named The Bull and Mouth, The Wellington and The Royal Swan.
Others named a variety of pubs, bells, Bass Dark Mild; and third … Zetland Cellar bar. Just a fond memory of school leaving bash which turned into a ladies’ high kick competition.”
I remember going to The Long Island Bar one lunchtime, shortly after it launched as the equivalent of Rick’s Bar in Casablanca, with a Humphrey Bogart lookalike yet to master his American accent. I was in the company of Huddersfield blues legend, the unpredictable Graham Philpott.
“Sorry, gentleman,” a manager said, trying to be diplomatic. “But we don’t allow leather jackets.”
“That’s all right. I’ll take it off,” said Graham, and dropped the black leather garment onto the floor with the panache of a Chippendale, revealing that he was wearing a very attractive ladies blouse. We left.
My three pubs of choice would be The White Lion (Woody’s) which was, at one time, the best live music venue in town (who remembers Bert Batty and The Dots?), The Albert, because it was attached to the old Examiner building and was a second office, and The Albion, another live music venue.
What would your three pubs be? And why?