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Traditions

Pubs and local customs

Grand pubs of Calderdale

Pubs often have connections with local folk customs past and present, and we look at some local examples in this instalment of ‘Grand pubs of Calderdale ’.

Several inns stand as stopping points on the annual Sowerby Bridge Rushbearing Festival Procession. Central to them is the Rushcart in the hilltop village of Sowerby, where the Sunday procession begins. The Rushcart is a relatively new name – previously it was known as the Star, and in the early 19th century John ‘Almighty’ Whiteley, a local Constable, lay preacher and something of a character, married the widowed landlady.

In 1837, he rebuilt a cottage adjoining the pub (which still remains, adorned with curious grotesques) to hold preaching meetings – the sale of liquor was suspended while these were in progress. Whiteley’s downfall began after he advertised in local newspapers for a wife, and he ended up destitute. However, among the various spirits latterly available at the Star, it seems, one was reckoned to be old John Almighty, with a taste for brushing against landladies!

Warley’s Maypole Inn remembers Calderdale’s last maypole, which stood at the junction where the fountain is now located. The Maypole was erected – not without public opposition – in 1863, and remained a focus of Mayday celebrations from 1864 until around 1888, when deterioration necessitated its removal. The inn itself started life as a farmhouse, and was known as The Horns in 1773, probably acquiring its present name when a first maypole was erected around 1814 to commemorate Napoleon’s defeat.

Luddenden's Lord Nelson Inn  had its own mayor-making ceremony. In 1861, customers decided to celebrate what they considered the village’s growing status by electing its own mayor. An elaborate chain of office was bought and an induction ceremony devised; the ‘Mayor’s Parlour’ (the snug by the bar) had a bench known as the Mayor’s Chair. Anyone sitting in this seat was invited by custom to become Mayor for a month – if they agreed, as strangers might, they were expected to pay for drinks all round! The ‘Mock Mayor’ ceremony was revived again in 1996.

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