Haworth – The Fleece Inn

Whilst taking part in the LDWA groups’ weekend, I got chance to visit the only Good Beer Guide listed pub in Haworth, the Fleece Inn. I discovered, with some slight annoyance, that it involved walking up a hill…..

The service was warm and the staff had the problem that the pub was full and they couldn’t seat any more diners, so they had disappoint walk-up guests. I wasn’t eating (since the LDWA weekend had no shortage of food) and I was fortunate enough to get the only table remaining which was quite handy. I was confused by the arrows on the floor and I watched other customers get equally muddled up, so I’m not entirely sure they’ve thought it through. I did see one customer follow the arrows, the other fifty or so didn’t.

This is a Timothy Taylor pub and the beer options were all from their brewery. There are usually four choices, but the one that I would have gone for had just run out, so I went for the Knowle Spring which was entirely average and quite bland, although well-kept. The one that I had wanted was the Havercake, named in honour of Captain Tom who was brought up in nearby Keighley.

The food looked of a very good quality and it was reasonably priced, so I can see why it was so busy on a Saturday lunchtime. The pub also has rooms available for overnight guests, so it serves breakfast for its B&B guests as well as walk-in customers. Certainly nothing wrong with the service, I felt very welcome throughout and I liked the immediate greeting from the team member behind the bar. As for the beer, the quality was limited by being from the Timothy Taylor brewery, which is just down the road, which isn’t really as exciting as I’d ideally like. Certainly a nice environment and I suspect it’s a really reliable place to go for food which seems well-run.