One of the UK’s ‘best’ pub crawls takes drinkers to eight pubs on a train line across two counties. The Transpennine Real Ale Trail starts in Stalybridge in Greater Manchester and finishes in Batley in West Yorkshire.
All the pubs are minutes from their respective railway stations, so all those attempting it need to do is keep an eye on the time and make sure they don’t miss their connections. It was named among the UK’s best by The Guardian, alongside the Otley Run in Leeds and Mumbles Mile in Swansea. Starting in Stalybridge, the first stop is Station Buffet Bar. One of the few remaining Victorian station buffet bars, Station Buffet Bar is at one end of the trail, with a rotating beer menu of eight real ales and foreign bottled beers. The next visit is to The Railway Inn in Greenfield. The first stop outside of Yorkshire, this pub offers real ales, live music, and a games room – and it’s directly opposite the train station.
Third on the trail is Marsden. Here, the Riverhead Brewery Tap has 10 real ale hand pumps – some of which serve the pub’s own ales, made in a microbrewery in the cellar.
Then on to Slaithwaite. Located in the centre of the village, the Commercial boasts eight hand-pulled ales, some from Empire Brewery, located just down the road.
The fifth stop is at the King’s Head in Huddersfield. The pub always offers a few local brews, with Golcar Brewery, Magic Rock, and Elland Brewery regularly on the pumps. And visitors might catch some live music too.
Next up is Mirfield. An ambassador for Theakston beers, the Navigation is by the town canal and also hosts its own beer festivals.
The penultimate stop is West Riding in Dewsbury. Located in the old rail station waiting rooms, the pub offers a cosy atmosphere and an impressive range of ales. It also serves food and is conveniently based in the station itself.
At the other end of the trail is Cellar Bar in Batley, serving real ales from across Yorkshire and beyond, with two permanent real ale pumps and three guest beers. It also has a pool table and a dartboard.
But it’s not over there as the trail has its own Ten Commandments. These include real ale being the mandatory drink, no fancy dress, no public urination, no stag dos, no trespassing on the railway, being nice to locals, returning all glasses, no jumping in waterways, no shouting on the train, and no littering.