Ted Banks: The Man in the Painting in Our Middle Bar
Not all the history in an old pub belongs to the building. Sometimes it belongs to the people in the pictures.The painting of Ted Banks in our middle bar is a lovely example. My...
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The Old Bridge Inn · Ripponden
From the inn
News, ideas, food, drink, and stories from our corner of West Yorkshire.
Category: Pub History · View all
The Saxon Font in Our Bottom Bar: A Mystery Unearthed
If you’ve ever had a drink down in the bottom bar, chances are your pint has rested somewhere near a rather hefty piece of carved gritstone that looks like it belongs in an...
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Tim bobbin: Who Was Tim Bobbin?
Tim Bobbin was the pen name of John Collier (1708–1786), a schoolmaster, artist, caricaturist and writer. Born in Urmston, he spent much of his working life teaching in Milnrow,...
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The Village Stocks: Have You Seen Them?
Right outside our front door, you can’t miss the stocks. Most folk stroll past them on a sunny afternoon with a pint, have a bit of a laugh, and take turns posing for a photo....
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Secrets Behind the Bar: The Real Story of Yorkshire’s Priest Holes
Back during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I, practicing Catholicism was seen as high treason. Holding Mass could cost a family their land, their livelihood, or their...
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Woven into 1307: Robert del Brigge and the Cloth That Built Our Valley
When you stand in the middle bar with a pint in your hand, watching the firelight flicker against the stonework, it’s easy to wonder who took the very first order across this...
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A Proper Yorkshire Thank You: Why You Lot Mean Everything to Us
Pull up a chair, get yourself settled by the fire, and let’s have a proper chat. When you run a place where the earliest records date all the way back to 1307, you tend to get a...
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The Oak Beam in the Bottom Bar: Spanish Armada or a Very Good Story?
Grandma Betty told a good tale and the more she supped the profits the better those tales became, people would just visit to see her. One that really stands out though is the...
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The Coldest Welcome Ever Warmed. John Hirstwood Tales of a Legend. Part III.
There’s a lovely little bit of folklore about John Hirstwood that tells you everything you need to know about the spirit of this inn. They say that back in 1754, John had a...
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The Wager at the ford. John Hirstwood Tales of a Legend. Part II.
If you've ever crossed over the River Ryburn to reach our front door, you’ll know how lucky we are to have the old stone bridge beneath our feet. But back in 1754, when John...
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The Landlord who never slept. John Hirstwood Tales of a Legend. Part I.
There’s an old tale that has rattled around our taproom for generations about John Hirstwood, our very first recorded landlord back in 1754.
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The Man Behind the First Name in Our Ledger: Introducing John Hirstwood
No, cameras weren't invented in 1754 however if they were, we reckon our first recorded landlord John Hirstwood looked something like this...
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