A Grand Day Out....

I went on a lovely trip this weekend on as part of the celebrations for the 10th anniversary of the opening of the original micro pub in Halifax, the Grayston Unity. We visited two excellent local breweries, first Wishbone in Keighley, followed by Goose Eye near Bingley, travelling by an old Halifax Corporation bus. Here's the story....

The plan for a grand day out had been hatched some time ago, and as the date approached so did the sense of eager anticipation, a day to enjoy some excellent cask-conditioned beer at source in the company of some lovely people, many of whom were good friends that I have got to know over the 10 years since the Grayston Unity first opened.

A potted history: 

The first Grayston opened in May 2016 at Wesley Court, in the shadow of Halifax Town Hall, and was a two-roomed micro-sized bar with a retro-style lounge room which soon acquired the title of the smallest licensed venue in the country with a capacity of just 18, and whilst that was later increased to 55 when the dividing wall between the two rooms was taken down, it was still small by venue standards. There was no room for any further development and with the Grayston being out on a limb in relation to the town's other bars, the Piece Hall, and other attractions, even though it did have some busy periods, there were times when it attracted little passing trade. The relationship with the property's landlords wasn't particularly good either, and with the lease coming up for renewal, when the opportunity to relocate to a larger property as part of the Halifax's Westgate development by more receptive landlords arose, it was one which owners Michael and Jess Ainsworth couldn't really turn down. 

The old Grayston Unity, and some regular faces to this day....

During that time at Wesley Court, the Grayston had built up a loyal following of customers from all walks of life. Aside from the music, conversation and a welcome to all were an essential part of how the Grayston community evolved. Football fans, cinema goers, real ale tickers, the sad, the lonely, and those at a loose end mingled with gig goers, after-work drinkers, and evening out revellers, people who came in as curious strangers one day and ended up as firm friends. I know, because I was one of those people. 

The move across the town to 8 Horton Street in October 2023 was to a three storey affair, with a superb 110-capacity basement venue, a bar which is much larger than the original site, an upstairs snug, and a roof terrace for when the sun shines on Halifax. Whilst some of the old pictures and quirky artefacts, plus some of the random bits of furniture such a triplet of former cinema seats and upright sofas that featured at the original bar were brought over, it has inevitably developed a different character, with more passing trade and gig-goers than at the old place. However at the heart of things it remains essentially the same: a bar, venue, cultural, and community hub providing a warm welcome to all, carrying on the Grayston ethos and spirit that had evolved at the original site.

The Grayston Unity, Horton Street, Halifax

And of course, whilst some people didn't like the change of location, plenty of those people that I've got to know over the past 10 years can still be seen regularly having a drink in the bar or visiting a gig, and many were amongst the group of us invited to go on the brewery day out.

And so, it was a warm Saturday morning, the last one in May, and I arrived at the Grayston early, just after 11, and as more people drifted in we had time for a drink before we departed for Keighley. We were being ferried in an old 1973 Leyland Leopard single decker bus decked out in the traditional orange and green Halifax Corporation colours which had been such a familiar sight when I had been growing up in the area. The last time I had been on a vintage Halifax bus had been on a trip to Knaresborough a few years ago for a friend's 60th, when having completely forgotten over the years how hard the seats were and how basic the suspension was, my mate and I headed upstairs just as we would have done when we were lads. By the time we arrived in Knaresborough, a journey of around 30 miles, we were very grateful to escape from the rocking and shaking we had experienced on the journey! So I was forewarned this time of what to expect, plus it was only a single decker bus, and our journey was rather less in terms of miles. 

We left the Grayston, and after a journey of about 35 minutes we arrived at our first stopping point, which was Wishbone Brewery. They are based in a Victorian former textile shed not far out of Keighley town centre, a few minutes from the railway station, and close to the River Worth which runs through the town centre on its way to join the River Aire nearby. The brewery was launched in 2015 by a former brewer at Saltaire Brewery, and has since built up a solid reputation for its mixture of traditional and more modern beer styles. Over this time it has gained a loyal band of customers across West and North Yorkshire, East Lancashire, and Greater Manchester, plus other areas across the north and north Midlands. Wishbone is a well-established supplier to the Grayston, and their 3.6% Blonde is the house beer at the Grayston's sister bar, the Meandering Bear, where it is a firm favourite with customers.

Wishbone Brewery

The taproom, which generally only opens on the last Saturday of the month, is set within the brewery itself. That said, the atmosphere here was welcoming and friendly with the guys behind the bar very affable, keeping everybody lubricated from a choice of 6 cask beers and a couple on keg, all brewed in the building. And it is by no means uncomfortable: there are stools converted from old beer kegs, benches, and folding tables, and the tap is clearly popular, the 30 or so on our bus being joined by plenty of other people turning up from elsewhere. Indeed, I caught up with my mate Rick who had just arrived here under his own steam. I tried a pint of Blonde here, of course, but I preferred the Guji, a 4% dry hopped Session IPA, pale in colour, fresh and fruity, with Mosaic, Simcoe, Citra & Chinook in the mix. It was time for food; there was a guy in what looked like a modified horse box selling Jamaican-themed food. Some vouched for the goat curry, but I have to say that my jerk chicken with rice really hit the spot, and set me up for the rest of the day. After a great couple of hours here it was time to move on. And I have to say I am more likely to come back here than visit the flagship venue of another, nationally better known Keighley brewer, whose Taylors on the Green pub in Keighley I found rather sterile and anodyne when I visited around 18 months ago.

We climbed back on board the bus for the next leg of our journey, which took us out of Keighley and on through the Aire Valley towards Bingley. Less than 15 minutes later, we turned off the main road and into the Castlefields Industrial Estate at Crossflatts. We had arrived at our second brewery, Goose Eye, a family-run brewery who have been based here since 2017, and whose blonde ale Chinook has been the house beer at the Grayston since early in the bar's existence. This was my third visit here this year, as I had been involved in the the creation of a special beer by Goose Eye for the Grayston's 10th anniversary. So it was familiar territory, but this time with the brewery doors closed we went through a side entrance and up some steps into an attractive bar area located on a mezzanine floor with the brewery down below. 

There is plenty of comfortable seating in the room, with a wood-burning stove which obviously wasn't in use on this warm sunny day but will no doubt be a godsend on a cold winter's day when steel-clad industrial units are not generally the warmest of places! The bar here is wood-fronted with the Goose Eye logo on display, with an attractive tiled bar back. Pride on place on the bar was a row of 6 hand pumps featuring beers from the brewery down below. There was Spring Wells, a thirst-quenching 3.6% pale ale, their delicious 3.9% traditional bitter, the brewery's best selling 4.2% Chinook, a single hop blonde which is not quite to my taste, Pommies Revenge, a premium strong bitter brewed with a single malt to a deceptive 5.2% ABV, the same as Over and Stout, which as the name suggests is a stout, which, in the brewery's own words, has "the smoothness of a dark mild but the strength to wake the dead". There was one more beer on the bar which I'd not seen before, and so I decided to give it a go. This was a 4% session pale ale called Golden Layers, which had been brewed with El Dorado and Strata hops, and very nice it was too.

Enjoying the beer at Goose Eye

Whilst a few of the party decided to stay inside the majority of us went back outside in to the sunshine where there are a number of picnic tables and benches in the yard. Over the course of the next couple of hours or so we enjoyed the craic and the sunshine, and the beer was certainly flowing. The general trade here though didn't seem as busy as at Wishbone, particularly given its close proximity to Crossflatts station, although unlike Wishbone, Goose Eye is open on Fridays and Saturdays every week. Having enjoyed a second pint of Golden Layers, I returned inside to get my final pint of the visit, this time going for a pint of the bitter, which I have to say is one of my favourites. As usual it didn't disappoint, it's a very well-balanced sessionable beer, chestnut in colour, and with a moreish dry finish. It did occur to me when I went to the bar that the younger me would probably have gone for a pint of Pommie's Revenge to finish off the afternoon!

Fun in the Sun at Goose Eye....

And then it was time to head back to Halifax, so it was on in to Bingley, where we turned right in the middle of the town, and from there on through very pleasant countryside through to the large villages of Harden and Cullingworth before we picked up the A629 to Halifax. It had been a grand day out in the company of some lovely folk, we'd drunk some excellent beer at two great breweries, and enjoyed some lovely sunny weather. I think it is safe to say a good time had been had by all. We arrived back at the Grayston, and for those that still had the energy and the inclination, there was the opportunity to enjoy some cool summer tunes and a relaxed vibe with DJ Turnip on the bar's roof terrace....

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