Friday 6th August 2010. Marsden

Met at the New Inn. Fairly newly re-furbished and quite nicely, but obviously favouring the diners.

Three pumps, one of which was 'out of order'. Aparently they had had a tecnician in to look at it and he couldn't fix it. I'm not sure exactly how complex a beer engine is - i suspect not very......
Consequentially, Copper Dragon best bitter wasn't on, so we went for Timothy Taylor Landlord. Unfortunately the beer quality isn't the best at the New Inn. I'm not sure whether it's not conditioned very well or whether the lines aren't kept particularly clean, but I've only ever had mediocre beer from there. And knowing how great a pint Landlord can be, it's disappointing - especially so considering they charge £3.00 per pint of the stuff. If it was a great pint I could just about cope with the high price, but charging that for poorly kept beer is a rip off.
Having said that, we stayed for three pints here. Stuck with Landlord as the other choice, Black Sheep Bitter, appeared in even worse condition than the Landlord. (Cloudier in any case)!

So on to the Riverhead. This seems to be Marsden's most busy pub. And rightly so. It has its own brewery on the premises - associated with the Osset Brewery. About ten ales on hand pull, seven Riverhead brews. Two osset numbers, and a guest beer - always London Pride.

Started with an Osset Silver King. A light hoppy and refreshing ale. Very nice.
This was followed by a Riverhead Cupwith Special. A light coloured ale ( rated 'A' on their colour scale (A to E)). It was time then, to catch the train to the correct side of the Pennines - where electricity and colour television are the norm.

On the train were a gang of perhaps ten or twelve lads all singing rugby songs. This meant the guard stayed in his cab - thus a free journey back to Greenfield. Hurrah!!

On to the Railway in Greenfield - probably Saddleworth's best ale house. Certainly Saddleworth's best kept beer.

The landlord's favourite beer used to be Timothy Taylor Landlord, and having drunk it here on numerous occasions, it was by far and away the best pint of Landlord I've ever had. Unfortunately, it is no longer served here. Instead they now have Elland's Beyond the Pale. A lovely light hoppy beer and a very good replacement (although in my opinion, the Landlord was slightly better).
There's also five other beers on offer, but the Elland was the beer of choice tonight. Two pints were consumed before the taxi arrived to take me home.