White Horse Inn - Holmfirth

Historic B&B Inn, The White Horse Inn, built 1830, featured pub in 'The Last of the Summer Wine'.

Janice and Mark moved from Nottingham to become owners here in January 2006. This is our first venture into the licensing trade and the pub was in need of some care and attention when we arrived. Over the past six months we have a put all our efforts into re-furbishing the accomodation and re-decorating the pub to give both locals and visitors a clean, comfortable friendly place to visit. Work will continue on the outside of the pub over the coming months and we will update the site with plans and progress.

The pub will be immediately familiar to many visitors as it was used as the pub in the popular BBC series Last of the Summer Wine. The lounge area has a display of rare behind the scenes autographed and personalised photographs of characters and the crew filming the series throughout its many episodes from the last 30 years. The bar area itself has been re-decorated without losing any of its traditional look and character. Real Ale enthusiasts are catered for in the 2 handpulls on the bar. The large open fire is very popular on cold days and nights. Janice is offering a variety of homemade soups, hot and cold sandwiches and bar snacks all made from local produce and evening meals are available for guests by arrangement. We are currently developing our large garden area to the rear of the pub into a beer garden with a children’s play area.

Rooms Description

We have 5 quality guest bedrooms available , 3 rooms in the pub itself and a further 2 in an adjoining annexe with a private entrance.These are available as a Family room and 4 double rooms.However, we are able to alter the bedding arrangements to provide twin rooms or rooms that sleep 3. All 5 rooms have been re-furbished since we arrived in January to a high standard and are all en-suite.Each room has a remote controlled colour TV with tea and coffee making facilities provided. In rooms 1, 2, & 3 within the pub we have highlighted an individual original feature: Room 1- has had one wall which has been hand restored back to the original stonework with backlit alcoves to compliment this beautiful stone feature. Room 2 - we found an oak wall and inset wardrobe which we have re-instated.These compliment the restored wooden beams to bring a warmth to this beautiful room. Room 3 - the original floorboards and wooden beams have been exposed ,along with the original stonework in the spacious en-suite bathroom . Outside in the annexe: Room 4 is a large bright double room with a walk in shower and separate toilet. Room 5 has been fitted out as a Family room with an metal framed double bed and matching day bed. Breakfast is included in the price of your room and is served in a private breakfast room or in the pub itself. A full cooked English breakfast is the norm after a choice of cereals. Please let us know when you book of any special dietary needs and the night before if you wish anything different for breakfast.

Specialities

The White Horse is forever linked to the popular BBC TV series due to filming having been carried out here for many years. Indeed the film crew and some of the cast have stayed at the pub over the years. Ron Backhouse a former Landlord began the link to the programme when he introduced Bed and Breakfast facilities at The White Horse, this gave the BBC crew a good base in Holme Valley at a time when accommodation in the area was scarce. Ron went on to become a member of the cast and a member of Equity, the actors union. We have a video at the pub made by Ron’s family whilst filming took place which shows what went on in the pub during the filming of various scenes. There are many photos in the pub from the series, both official BBC stills and snapshots taken on set in various locations. Indeed when we bought the pub the Fixtures and Fittings listed “Some 200 framed photo memorabilia from the TV series Last of the Summer Wine”. Some of these are displayed in the pub on 2 walls. We are looking at updating and changing the display to give visitors a chance to see the variety of pictures we have. The crew were visitors to the pub this summer whilst filming the next series of Summer Wine and expressed their interest in the work we have done in re-furbishing the accommodation and re-decorating the pub. They still use our car park as a base for their generator whilst filming at “Cleggy’s” cottage behind the pub.