Pub of the week: Fanny’s, Saltaire.

ANYONE who’s unfamiliar with the Fanny’s phenomenon will arrive at the pub to find a sizeable crowd outside and think there must have been a road accident or street brawl. But it’s just business as usual at Fanny’s, where many customers spill onto the pavement because the five rooms inside are usually packed.

Easily found on the edge of Saltaire to the north of Bradford, the building looks like a Victorian street-corner boozer but Fanny’s Real Ale and Cider House – to give its Sunday name – only dates to 1997, when it was converted from a pet shop. It could never have been a pub originally, since Sir Titus Salt banned the sale of alcohol in his model village, and these days the old boy must be spinning in his mausoleum a few hundred yards away.

It’s a staple of CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide and is frequently voted “Pub of the Season” by local branches thanks to its line-up of 10 hand-pulled beers, including guests from microbreweries within a 30-mile radius, as well as sought-after lagers like Warsteiner and Ayingerbrau, and Weston’s Old Rosie and Stowford Press ciders on draught.

But what makes Fanny’s so popular is the instinct of its landlord, Marcus Lund, for what makes a great pub. There are wooden floorboards, antique beer mirrors, gaslights, candles, and open fires in winter. There’s no food, and no gaming machines, just good drinks and a wide mixture of clientele. It’s said that you get barristers rubbing shoulders with bikers at Fanny’s, and sometimes you don’t know which is which. There are occasional music nights and a comedy club – Peter Kay was an early performer. And the late John Peel’s wife, Sheila, was born in a room upstairs.

THE VERDICT

Welcome****

Drinks selection*****

Atmosphere*****

Food*

Prices*****