20 Uppertown
Oxenhope
West Yorkshire
BD22 9LN
01535 642921
The Bay Horse succeeds in being both a community local and a highly regarded real ale pub. It’s a stone built pub in the Pennine village of Oxenhope just a mile or so from Haworth (photo 1).
The pub has featured in the Good Beer Guide for a few years and always has a selection of six real ales. Taylors Landlord, Moorhouses Broomstick Bitter and Rudgate Jorvik are regulars with guest ales from mostly local breweries, but classics from further afield like Titanic Plum Porter often make an appearance (photo 2). It also one of the few pubs in the area to have real cider, usually Old Rosie.
On Tuesday it’s the popular quiz night and every Wednesday evening there is an acoustic music session where anyone can turn up and perform. It’s pretty laid back with no microphone and performers taking it in turn to give it a go (photo 3). And on Thursday it’s the turn of the folkies playing tunes on fiddles and melodeons with the occasional song. On Friday and Saturday evenings it fills up with locals catching up with friends.
There is often live music from local bands on Saturdays and at the parties held at events like Halloween and Christmas. The pub is one of the stops on the annual Oxenhope Straw Race where contestants have to carry a bale of straw around four local pubs, having a beer at each one. It’s quite gruelling as the other three pubs are near the top of some serious hills.
