150 New Inn- Ripponden

First  visited  :  3  June  1984

It's  sad  that  this  one   on  the  A58  looking  out  over  Baitings  Reservoir  closed  down  some  years  ago.  I  first  went  in  after  a  Littleborough  Civic  Trust  walk  led  by  the  late  John  Hindle   and  it  was a  nice  quiet  pub  which  did  good  food. I  went  there   with  my  mum  at  least  once. For  a  time  in  the  nineties,  an  attractive  girl  called  Kathy from  Wardle  worked  there  who I  knew  vaguely  through  my  friend  Lincoln  Jackson , a  shopkeeper  in  his  sixties  but  still  with  an  eye  for  a  pretty  girl.

The  eighteenth  century  building  is  a  grade  II  listed  building  and  the  conversion  to  a  private  dwelling  has  been  nicely  done. I  think  that  the  Blue  Ball  Inn  which  looked  down  on  it  from  an  older  and  higher  road  above  has  also  now  bitten  the  dust.

149 William Dighton - Halifax

First  visited  : 30  August  2017

Our  next  trip , the  following  week  was  to  the  Piece  Hall  in  Halifax  and  the  next  few  pubs  in  the  notebook  are  from  that  route  but  we  then  went  there  a  few  times  over  the  next  six  months  so  they  could  be  from  a  later  date. In  any  case  there  are  so  many  missed  out  that  it  looks  likely  I  wrote  in  the  ones  I  could  remember  after  the  trip  had  finished.

The  reason  I  would  recall  the  William  Dighton  is  that  I  actually  knew  who  he  was. He  was  an   eighteenth  century  tax  inspector  from  London  who  came  up  to  Halifax  to  investigate  the  practice  of  "clipping", that  is  making  fake  coins  from  trimming  the  edges  off  genuine  ones. His  enquiries  led  to  the  arrest  of  a  farmer  named  David  Hartley  from  Cragg  Vale. Some  of  Hartley's  accomplices  responded  by  shooting  Dighton  which  of  course  did  Hartley's  chances  of  escaping  the  gallows  a  world  of  good. I  knew  both  the  real  story and  the  fictionalised account in  Phyllis  Bentley's  children's  novel  Gold  Pieces  and  can't  now   remember  which  I  read  first.

It  was  nice  to  think that  the poor  bloke  was  commemorated  by  a  pub  name  but  apparently  this  didn't  happen  until  the  1970s  and the pub was  originally  called  The  Wheatsheaf  as  demonstrated  by  the  carving  between  the  top  windows. Some  time  later it  became  the  Portman  and  Pickles  and  then  closed  for  a while  before  reopening  as  The  Jubilee  in  2012.

It's  a  charmless  town  centre  pub  which  has  been  gutted  inside  to  provide  space  for  Sky-watching  crowds  at  weekends.      

148 Founders Arms - Bolton

First  visited  : September  2011

I  know  this  one . It  was  opposite  Little Bolton  Town  Hall  and  the  place  where  I  normally  park  when  I  go  into  Bolton.

I'm  pretty  sure  this  was   the  pub  where  myself  and  two  other  guys  decamped for  a  drink  after  a  meal  at  a  pizza  restaurant  nearby,  where  I  had   "my"  leaving  do  from  Bolton  MBC  in  September  2011. I put  "my"  in  inverted  commas  because  a  ( very  nice ) girl called  Lorraine   was  leaving  for  the  arms length  housing  company around  the same  time  and  let  me  piggyback  on  her  do.  Out  of  around  20  people  who  attended,  there  was  only  one  guy  that  I  don't  think  would  have  turned  out  for  Lorraine  alone  and  not  many  that  would  have  come  if  it  was  just  for  me. You  have  one  of the  reasons  I  left  right  there.  It  was  a  fairly  joyless  occasion  for  me, just   a  ritual  to  go  through   and  I  felt  very  little  emotion  on  my  way  back  to  the  car.

From  what  I  recall,  the pub  was  quite  nice  and  quiet, a  refuge  from  the  noisier bars  on  Deansgate  so  it's  sad  to  report  it  closed  since  2015. I  believe  it's  going  to  be  converted  into  flats.

This  was  the  last  pub  name  collected  on  that  trip  to  Smithills Hall. We  now  jump to  the  other  side  of  the  Pennines.

147 Globe Inn - Bolton

Not  visited

The  Globe  , a  little  further  down  Higher  Bridge  St  suffered  exactly  the  same  fate  as  The  Borough  Arms  though  it  survived  a  little  longer, closing  around  2002. The  building  was  bought  by  Gordon's  Motor  Dealers  and  demolished  for  extra  parking.

146 Borough Arms - Bolton

Not  visited

The  Borough  Arms  was  on  Higher  Bridge  St  and  survived  for  a  while  after  many  of  the  streets  around  it  were  cleared  away. It  finally  closed  in  1997  and  remained  derelict  for  a  number  of  years   before  its  final  demolition  in  2006, since  when  the  site  has  been  used  for  parking.

145 Black Dog Inn - Bolton

Not  visited

This   pub  was  down  near  the  bottom  of  Halliwell  Road. It  closed  in  1984  and  the  building  is  now  used  as  an  adjunct  to  the  mosque  behind  it.

144 The Derby - Bolton

Not  visited

The  Derby  was  renamed  The  Sharman  Arms  in  the  eighties. It  still  has  a  sign  at  the  side  but  the  building  has  been  derelict  since  the  pub  closed  in 2011.

143 The Belle Vue - Halliwell Road

Not  visited

The  Belle  Vue  was  on  the  opposite  side  of  Halliwell  Road. It  closed  around  2011  and  is  now  a  bedroom  showroom.

142 Lamb Hotel - Halliwell Road

First  visited : 10  August  2017

The  Lamb's  name  was  changed,  around  2010,  to  The  Claremont  Arms. possibly  due  to  confusion  with The  Lamb Inn  at  Astley  Bridge  which  is  barely  a  mile  away. It's  divided  into  two  rooms  Best  Room  to  the  right  and  Vault  to  the  left. "Vault"  is  a  bare  games  room  , "Best  Room" is a  large  open  room  with  a  stage  in  the  corner, nice  enough  and  clean  but  not  not  enough  to  warrant  a  recommendation. The  pub  proclaims  a "25  and  Over"  policy  ( perhaps  due  to  an  incident  with  an  imitation  shot  gun  a  few  years  ago )  but  I  can't  really  understand  why. The  pub's  not  in  a  nice  enough  area  to  attract  a  more  gentil  clientele  and,  judging  from  my  visit  today,  they  can  ill  afford  to  shut  anyone  out.

141 Robin Hood - Halliwell Road ( Bolton )

Not  visited

The  Robin  Hood  was  further  down  towards  Bolton. It  closed  about  6  years  ago  and  is  now  a  boxing  gym  owned  by  Tyson  Fury.

140 The Peels Arms - Halliwell Road ( Bolton )

First  visited  : 1  June  2017

This  one's  a  bit  further  down  Halliwell  Road  and  was  once , I'm  reliably  informed, Bolton's  gay  pub.  I'd  only  just  have  known  what  that  meant  ( c/o  Tom  Robinson ) back  in  1978.

There's  little  sign  of  that  history  now  in   the  re-christened  pub. It's  now  a  Wanderers  supporters  pub , designed  for  Sky-watching  with  a  screen  in  every  corner. It's  open, charmless  and  unfriendly  and  I  won't  be  re-visiting.