A TOWN WITHOUT DECENT BEER

Sadly, with the exception of the West Riding Refreshment Rooms on the railway station, Dewsbury town centre no longer seems to have a pub that's worth visiting. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Nevertheless, we have to visit the central area to see what's there and what was once there. Here's the town centre in the 1950s - a postcard view.

 A couple more recent postcards, probably the late 20th century.

Dewsbury was once the centre of the Yorkshire Woollen District (YWD) tram network.

In 1915, this tram failed to stop at the terminus.

Here are a few pics of YWD buses at Dewsbury bus station, around the early 1970s.

The bus station circa 1974.

A later YWD bus laying over in 1993.

There were two local independents pre-deregulation; Woods and Longstaffs, both running towards Mirfield and commencing their journeys from across the road.

Woods got taken over years ago, but the Longstaff's name continued and used the new bus station.

Arriva is the main operator serving Dewsbury bus station.

Other major operators to serve Dewsbury have included Yorkshire Traction and Sheffield Transport.

In the 1990s, West Yorkshire PTE/Yorkshire Rider ventured into the town.

I found Yorkshire Tiger here in 2014.

After deregulation, Ivy Coaches started services.

Abbeyways took over from Woods of Mirfield.

Another independent was Lyle's of Batley.

A few preserved buses running through the town centre in the late 1970s.

Not that long ago there were three pubs worth trying. The Wetherspoons (The Time Piece), the John F Kennedy (a great free house) and an unspoilt former Tetley pub called the Market House.

All three no longer exist, so I think we'd better move on, but you'll have to await the next post and there WILL be some beer.

WE'RE IN THE HEAVY WOOLLEN DISTRICT.

 In this post, we're heading for Dewsbury, the centre of the Heavy Woollen District. We're taking a bit of a roundabout route and you can find it on this map. 

First, though, we're exploring a bit of the lost lines of the Great Northern Railway, starting at Alverthorpe station.

Flushdyke is our next stop.

Here's Chickenly Heath station, GNR.

Another GNR station at Earlsheaton.

A steam wagon came to grief in Earlsheaton, 1906.

I'm not certain what the real ale situation is today at the Park in Earlsheaton.

Now we're Calderside at Earlsheaton, by the (now closed) railway viaduct.

The Savile Arms at nearby Thornhill has some decent beer.

To the north, the Dewsbury branch of the Calder & Hebble Canal terminates about a mile south of the town itself.

By the basin, actually in Savile Town, the Leggers Inn, known for its cask beer.

Not far away, still in Saville Town, the main depot of Yorkshire Woollen District. Here's one of their earliest buses.

A few more YWD vehicles here, as we enter the National Bus Company era.

Daimler Fleetline 606 outside the depot in NBC red, 1980.

A selection of buses in the yard, after the merger with West Riding.

Along with a couple of YWD trams, we cross Savile Bridge into Dewsbury town centre.

Dewsbury once had three railway stations. This is the GNR one, long since vanished.

The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway had its own establishment, Dewsbury Market Place.

Only one station survives, the former London & North Western Railway one, called Dewsbury Wellington Road (Now just plain Dewsbury)

A BRCW DMU calls at Dewsbury in 1983.

In the early years of the 21st century, class 158 units were used on Trans Pennine services.

The current Trans Pennine franchise has operated three types of train on this route.

Northern also run some local services.

Beside the westbound platform, the West Riding Refreshment Rooms. Not to be missed! Access from the platform or the station approach.

That's a good place to conclude this post. More of Dewsbury next time.