Pub of the week

THE MARKET, ELSECAR

The Market is right next to Elsecar’s Heritage Centre, and on a T-junction that will take you to Barnsley in one direction, and Wentworth in the other. There’s the vast open public park across the way and to one side, and beyond that, the nature reserve.

For many of its customers, it is also a more than convenient stop on the Pennine Way, and there are few days of the year when you won’t find quite a few people – of all ages – wearing sensible footwear and walking gear. There’s generally a number of their dogs, as well. The rear beer garden is a very popular area on a sunny afternoon.

Indoors, little has changed in many years. No-one has tinkered with the arrangement of snugs and bars, with the exception that, in a larger room, there is a small dance floor adjacent to a separate bar, all ready for when it is hired for a function.

You won’t find much by way of food, which is confined to pork pies, sausage rolls and packet snacks, but it is a brimming flagon of heaven for ale drinkers. The Chantry Special is to be wondered at, if you are lucky enough to catch it on tap, since it is deep and earthy. After a few pints of that, you may well be weaving an unbalanced passage to the bus stops conveniently nearby.

The snugs are decorated with lots of sepia pictures of local places, people and events. It is very much a pub for all – and a venue made for socialising and a good natter, rather than watching endless sport on a huge screen. Since village pubs are fast disappearing, the Market has to be protected – and cherished.

■ The Market, 2 Wentworth Road, Elsecar, Barnsley S74 8EP. Tel: 01226 742240.