The Bradley Arms North Featherstone

Good morning. Another terrific turnout for the weekly Wednesday night quiz. Teams taking part were Julie’s Little Bedford Nuns, Norfolk and Goode, Geoffs Marauders, The Spectacle Girls, Paul and Lorraine, The Number 4’s, Not so fantastic 4, Ace of Spades, Walt Qwizney, Oldies and Goldies, Whole Lotta Rosie, Jonathan and his Dad, Tap Room Flat Cappers, Tap Room Tatties and last but certainly not least The C Me’s, who last night scored a brilliant 28.5 to take their first win since November. Joint Second on an equally brilliant 27.5 were The Tap Room Tatties and Norfolk and Goode and third with 26.5 were Jonathan and his Dad. If you fancy a go at this quirky, comical, downright bizarre quiz and you have a team with a daft name, call us on the landline any time after 3 to book your place. Booking is advised to avoid disappointment….even if you are a regular.

A pair of beauties from our friends at north riding brewery. Citra is a robust pale featuring the citra hop and the ice cream porter is a fantasia of chocolate and vanilla. Forget dry January get stuck in!

Fresh on the bar today. Jester is a fine pale ale from our friends at nailmaker brewery.

Good afternoon. Nominations are being taken for the ‘pub of the year.’ We are proud to say that we are the current ‘pub of the season.’ And we are grateful to everyone who voted to give us that accolade. We would be delighted if you were inclined to vote for us again. Please support your Wakefield CAMRA and keep ale…. And pubs real!

Good afternoon. An old favourite is back on the bar. Pricky Back Otchan is a beautiful golden ale from our friends at Great Newsome Brewery in Holderness. If you haven’t tried this before you really ought to treat yourself! It’s a robust beer full of flavour, a good maltiness combining with hops from English pilgrim and American cascade varieties.

History Monday

In the early 1980’s Ian Clayton conducted interviews with some of the oldest retired Rugby League players in this town. Charlie Dutton and Harold ‘Buff’ Lord were both born in 1893. The two of them played for the famous Purston White Horse team after graduating from the intermediate side. In 1910 the intermediates known as ‘the foals’ won the Cooke Shield in a hotly contested match against Pontefract Victoria at Mollekin’s Field in Halfpenny Lane. Incredibly a 114-year-old photo of the winning side still survives. It’s not in pin sharp quality, but Charlie can be seen first left on the middle row and Buff who was captain is seen to the right of the shield.
Both Mr Dutton and Mr Lord recalled that one of the best sides in the district at the time was ‘Old Featherstone Intermediates’ who played on a field at the back of The Sun Inn. They were coached by a man from Pontefract called Jack Burns and featured in their ranks no less a talent than Jonty Parkin. Jonty went on to star for Wakefield Trinty in more than 300 games between the wars and became one the most famous scrum halves to have played the game. He made 17 appearances for Great Britain and became landlord of The Griffin Hotel on the bull ring in Wakefield.
Charlie and Buff were both transferred to Hull Kingston Rovers in 1913 but their careers were interrupted by the war. Charlie served on the front in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Buff’s promising career came to an end when he was hurt in an accident at the pit.

Good Morning. The big red door will be open and the fires lit in half an hour. Do you fancy a Sunday afternoon refreshment?

Good morning. We have these two beauties on at the moment. Milestone Lions Pride comes from Newark. It’s a traditional English ale for those who like their beer to be copper coloured and taste of English hops. The Irish cream milk stout comes to us from our friends at three brothers brewery in Stockton. It tastes just like it sounds…..smooth as!

Good Morning. A very focused performance from The Spectacle Girls saw them become the first weekly quiz champs of the new year. It was a low scoring contest with a good average score being about 18 points. After the thirty questions two teams were tied on 24, Specatacles and Tap Room Flat Cappers. The tie-break question was 'In what year was the first Pink Panther film released?' The Cappers said 1971, The Spectacles had 1965. The answer is 1963, so The Spectacle Girls prevailed despite not getting any right in the arse and elbow round. Shout out to The C me's, Norfolk and Chance and Geoff's Marauders who finished just behind.

Good morning to all of our friends, neighbours and customer’s. It’s New Year’s Day 2024. May we take this opportunity to wish you all the happiest and most peaceful of new years to come. This old inn has celebrated over 200 new years and continues to play its part in the community it serves. Alison and Paul say thank you for supporting us by drinking here, thank you to all of our staff for their hard work, thank you for the fun, the stories and the music…the songs we’re singing, who could live without it? There will be much more to come and in the meantime go well and stay happy.

Two beauties here. Black Panther Stout comes from Mill Valley Brewery of Cleckheaton. The little brewery brews ale to reflect the local history of the Spen Vally. Panther is named after the famous motorbike that was built in Cleckheaton from 1900 until it went the way of many famous British motorbike manufactueres in 1967. US Session comes from our good friends at North Riding Brewery. It's a 3.8 % session pale, but it packs a real punch with a mouthful of flavour from the cascade and ekuanot hops (this one gives a flavour of lime and fresh apple). Be a shame not to try them while they're on!

Good Morning all. The last quiz of this year took place last night. Whole Lotta Rosie were the clearest winners we've had for ages. They scored an impressive 28 points on what most said was a difficult paper. The results refect that, a good score was 20. Shout out to The C Me's who were going well but then met their usual nemesis, the a and e round. Big shout out too, to Norfolk and Chance who made their best ever score. The end of year standings show that the most succesful team this year have been The Number Fours with 8 wins, followed by Geoff's Marauders with 7 and The Tap Room Flat Cappers with 6. The Spectacle Girls and Whole Lotta Rosie have 5 wins apiece this year. The Spectacle Girls still lead the all-time table with Geoff's Marauders a couple of wins behind. In third are The Number Fours followed by The Tap Room Flat Cappers and The C Me's and just behind them are Whole Lotta Rosie, then The Little Bedford Nuns, The Mozzers and Jason and Emma.

Good Morning all. We're back to normal opening hours for the next few days. We will open at 3 this aft if you fancy a hair of the dog. It's quiz night tonight as well, if you want to check for availability of tables you can call us on the landline after 3. We have some lovely guest beers on at the moment. Paleton from our friends at Nailmaker, a strawberry milkshake pale from the wizards at Three Brothers brewery and of course the mighty mosaic pale from North Riding brewery.

Good Morning and a Merry Christmas to all of our friends and customers and a wish for peace in the New year. with love from your Landlady and Landlord, Alison and Paul. We'd like to say a big thank you for all the support we have had this last year that keeps this bonny old inn thriving. Thank you to all our bonny staff too, you help make this pub what it is with your hard work and endeavour. We'll be bringing much more live music in the year to come on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons. Look out too for the occasional history talk and all sorts of quirky presentations. And of course the Wednesday night quiz will continue to baffle and bemuse. Speaking of which, due to a popular vote, we will continue the quiz through the festivities, so we'll see you Wednesday for that. If you're coming today for a wet before your Christmas dinner. We open the big red door at 11 until 2. Then we're having our dinner and putting the feet up!

Merry Christmas everyone! The bolts have been drawn back on the big red door and we're serving good ale and fine wine. Come pay us a visit over the festive season. The fires will be lit, the conversation will be flowing and of course you know you are welcome.

Good afternoon to all of our friends and customers. Our Christmas and New year opening times are as follows. Friday 22, Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 December we will open at 12 noon until 23.30 hours ish! On Christmas day we will open for about three hours in the morning, 11 am until 2pm. We won't be open Christmas Day evening. On Boxing day it's 12 noon until we shut and the rest of the week it's normal hours. On New years eve we open at 12 noon until late and the same on New Years Day, 12 noon until late. After that it's back to normal hours.

Good Morning. A full house and twenty teams competed for the title The Bradley Arms North Featherstone Christmas Quiz champions. It was a night when the favourites struggled...serial winners The Spectacle Girls, Geoff's Marauders and The Number Fours were in the low twenty's. The young 'un's from the Ace of Spades team did well with 24, Whole Lotta Rosie managed 25, but there was a startling performance from a team who last night decided to go with a cheesy theme for their name. Ladies and gentlemen put your hands together for this years Christmas quiz champs....'You may be gouda but I am feta' They scored 26.

Good Morning it's The Bradley Arms North Featherstone Christmas Quiz tonight. All of the tables are fully booked, but if you want to check for last minute cancellations, give us a call on the landline after 4 and we'll do our best to squeeze you in.

Good morning. If you’re looking for a Christmas gift for a beer lover who likes to read we have just the ticket. Signed first editions of Ian Clayton’s book ‘it’s the beer talking’ available right here in the Bradley Arms

History Monday Sergeant Sparrow

Drinking outside of licensing hours at The Bradley Arms.

In July of 1890, Police Sergeant Sparrow and Police Constable Phillipson found three men drinking beer in the passage at the Bradley Arms at 10.20 am on a Sunday. The men went to court and were fined 5s each. The landlord, George Pfisterer, was then put up. He claimed that the men were genuine travellers from Normanton, and thus allowed to be drinking at that time on a Sunday morning. The police said that the men lived in South Featherstone. The chairman said that there was a doubt about it and dismissed the case. One of the three men, Richard Lawrence, was put up again. He said that he lived in Featherstone but had slept in Normanton the night before. The Bench decided that he was a traveller and dismissed the case against him.

Sergeant Joseph Sparrow came to Featherstone in 1878 to work at Purston Police Station. He was a no nonsense Victorian copper, held in great respect by the people of Featherstone. It was said that by the time he retired in 1899, a local could 'hang an expensive pocket watch on a five-bar gate and go back the following day to still find it there.' Sparrow was also a very hard man who criminals feared. In 1891 he was badly injured by two burglars who had attempted to rob the ticket office at Tanshelf station. Sparrow set off down the lines from Featherstone station and ran into the two burglars coming the other way. One threw a stone at his face and the other repeatedly banged his head on the line. Sparrow held on grimly until reinforcements arrived and the two were arrested. Sergeant Sparrow suffered a fractured skull but returned to his work within months. He was awarded twenty pounds and an extra two pence per day for his bravery.

To mark his retirement Sparrow was presented with an 'illuminated scroll.' It is a beautiful document, which at one time could be viewed in Featherstone Library.

Good evening. A fine session beer from our friends at Great Newsome. It’s just 3.6 % in strength but is packed full of flavour

Don’t forget the concert here tonight is the last one for this year….be here or you’ll miss it. We start at 7

Good afternoon. This Saturday we will present our last live music until the new year. We want to go out with a bang. We have booked the Tony Foster Band and it's going to be great. We will have roast turkey sandwiches for supper and lashings of great ale. We expect it to be busy, so we'd like to ask anyone who intends coming to let us know in advance please. it's a free event of course, but we want to have an idea of numbers for catering. You can call us on the landline after 3 to reserve a table or just call in the pub and let us know.

Good evening all. We have some lovely guest beers on to suit all tastes; a seasonal special from our good friends at Acorn, a good strong cites pale from north riding and a lovely whiskey porter from empire. Don’t forget tomorrow night is our last acoustic concert of this year.

a study in concentration from the brass band concert that an ensemble from Kippax Brasss Band gave at this old inn last night.

Good Morning. What a quiz we had last night. No fewer than 21 teams entered and it was a close run thing. A big shout out to the youngest team 'The Ace of Spades' who posted their best score yet and to Jonathan and his dad who tied on 28 points with The Specatacle Girls. The question was, 'What year was the coronation of Bloody Mary?' The Spectacle Girls were closest, just five years out so prevailed. This means that The Spectacle Girls will end the year where they started it...clear at the top of the all-time table of most wins. Congratulations to them. Next week is Christmas Quiz and the christmas arse or elbow round is the most bizarre one yet!!!!

Good Morning. A reminder that tonight between 7 and 8pm before the quiz, we are delighted to host a special one-off concert by an ensemble from the famous Kippax Brass Band. Come one come all...it's a free event.

Good afternoon all. We're delighted to let you know that tomorrow evening before the quiz we will host a very special one-off and exclusive appearance by an ensemble from Kippax Brass Band. They will play a short Christmas concert here from 7pm. All are welcome, this is a free event. Come along and enjoy some festive cheer by one of this country's oldest brass bands.