First visited : 9 September 1977
The White House was the last pub to go in the little red book that morning as it was the starting point for the walk and the bus stop was just outside it.
The White House is Littleborough's best known pub. Due to its hilltop location just inside the border with Yorkshire and gleaming whitewashed walls it's visible from many places in southern Lancashire and Greater Manchester. It's also a major landmark on the Pennine Way.The White House ( sometimes known as the Coach and Horses but that wasn't its original name) has been a pub since 1840.
The reason for my first visit which made it the third pub I'd been in ( after one in the Lake District a month earlier ) goes back to my early days in Littleborough Civic Trust. I'd first heard of the Trust when my friend's dad Brian Clarke took us into an exhibition it was holding in 1976 and he signed up as a member. Little over a year later he temporarily took over from the aforementioned John Hindle as Footpaths Secretary while the latter was courting. As such he was contacted to assist the Mayor, a Councillor John Collinge who was doing a sponsored walk around the borough of Rochdale. Brian would act as his guide on the Littleborough sections over two days. Myself and his own son Michael would tag along.
The White House used to represent a major milestone on the Pennine Way marking the end of the dark and challenging peat moors and the start of a relatively easy and more verdant stretch up to Malham.. In the last couple of decades diversions and the use of stone flagging to prevent further erosion of the peat have completely neutered the early stages but in 1977 the White House came shortly after a grim and boggy stretch across Redmires Moss. I had read about it and regarded crossing it on the fiirst day with some trepidation but it wasn't too bad if you were agile enough to jump across the bad patches. The Mayor was quite friendly towards us and made us feel important.The second day's walk started from the pub and the whole party were invited in at the start although I was restricted to lemonade.
Once old enough I used to go in fairly regularly often in the company of Lincoln Jackson a local shopkeeper and stalwart of the Trust. He knew the landlord Neville and we often stayed quite late there. I think another attraction for Lincoln, a notorious ladies' man , was a drop dead gorgeous barmaid called Kathy who was working there to finance her flying lessons. It was (hopefully still is) a wonderful place to be when the weather is atrocious outside with a warm welcoming ambience and a relaxed clientele. On a clear night there's a wonderful view of the street lights of Greater Manchester spread out before you,Neville was/ is a noted chef so it was a very good place to have a meal too. I arranged a couple of Christmas meals there for the Trust's Footpaths Group in 1987 and 1988. I also went up there in 1994 with a girl called Dawn who'd been corresponding with me for a while but our actual meeting up was disappointing. My old school friend Francis was up there with his parents which was rather awkward as I didn't know how to introduce her.
Sadly the last time I saw Lincoln was at our wedding reception in 1997. He died sat in his chair at home a few weeks later. With moving out of the area I no longer frequented the place but Julie and I did go up there in 2001 for a meal with my mum and her new man friend Roger at her suggestion. I wasn't particularly looking forward to it because while I thought he was basically decent I found his long-winded Quaker moralising tiresome and Julie was convinced my mum wasn't being entirely honest about the nature of their relationship. However it was bearable and the meal was as good as ever.
My last special visit ( I think I may have popped in for a post-walk drink since ) came in the autumn of 2005. My friend and colleague in the Bolton Outdoor Group ,Anup Mehta wanted to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his walking the Pennine Way and was discussing possible venues with me. I suggested The White House which he went for and asked me to send out invitations to the Group members. Around 8 or 9 from the Group turned out alongside his other friends and family. The pre-meal walk had to be shortened due to the poor weather but we were dry enough to enjoy his slideshow and the buffet which surprisingly was the most disappointing meal I've had up there. I was a bit miffed when Anup left me out of his acknowledgements though.
For the next clutch of pubs in the book we head along the A58 in the other direction.
No comments:
Post a Comment