Raising a glass to reopened Travellers

A PUB which has been closed for a year has re-opened after extensive renovations carried out by the new owners.

The Travellers Rest at Meltham, which has been a popular watering hole for over a century, was bought during the summer by a Huddersfield family who are already well known for running the Milltown Brewery and the Dusty Miller at Longwood.

Tracey Burgin, whose partner is Milltown Brewery owner Neil Moorhouse, said the Travellers Rest was being run as a family venture after it was purchased in July.

In the last five months it has undergone renovations inside and out.

“It has undergone a full refurbishment. We have created a ‘real ale’ house which is showcasing Neil’s beers and some guest beers, along with an extensive wine and gin menu,” said Tracey.

The aim is to make it a “destination pub” for fans of real ale, she added.

“We are not a band pub or a Sky Sports pub. We want people to come and socialise, to converse. We want to strike up the drinking trade. It has been shut for a year so has lost all the regulars.”

At present there are no plans to open a restaurant but it hasn’t been ruled out.

Renovation work was carried out by Tracey’s brother Richard Burgin and their father David.

The cost of the improvements hasn’t been disclosed, but Tracey said it represented a “sizeable investment.”

Outside, the render has been removed and inside there are two real fires, a display of old bottles, new furniture and decor.

The pub, which opened earlier this month, will be managed by live-in manager Liz Oxley and assistant manager Hannah Melvina.

Beers currently being served include Milltown’s Platinum Blonde, Tiger’s Tail and Black Jack. There’s also Hophead by Dark Star Brewing and Timothy Taylor’s Landlord, among others.

Tracey described the views from the pub as “spectacular” and said she wasn’t concerned about the pub’s fairly remote location on Slaithwaite Road.

“It is quite a rural setting,” she added.

“The views are spectacular. At the Staff and business partners at the Travellers Rest (from left), assistant manager Hannah Melvina, manager Liz Oxley, Tracey Burgin, Jackie Eastwood (co owners) Olivia Burgin and Margaret Burgin (co owner) Dusty (Miller), we get people walking up to the pub or getting a taxi. I think at the Travellers Rest people will travel to come and see us. We want to become a ‘destination’ pub.”

The pub, formerly known as The Travellers Rest Inn, can trace its history back over 100 years to when it was popular with farmers and drovers who took their flocks to the Meltham Sheep Fair from all over Yorkshire and Lancashire.

They would pen the sheep in the field at the back and stay in the inn overnight.

Previous landlords included Joe Whiteley who was in charge from 1898 until he died in 1905. The tenancy then passed to his son Joel, who became a well known local character, and kept the pub until 1938. He passed it on to his son-inlaw, Louis Irving, who relinquished the tenancy in 1940.

The new opening times are: Monday-Thursday 4pm-11pm; Friday 3pm-midnight; Saturday noon-midnight, Sunday noon-11pm.