| The
Weavers Shed Restaurant With Rooms sits in the centre
of Golcar, a village perched above the Colne Valley,
in the foothills of the Yorkshire Pennine hills.
Built
in the 18th Century, the restaurant was originally
a cloth-finishing mill, in what was an area at
the very centre of the West Riding textile
trade.
In the early 1970’s, its owner, Derek Wade,
converted the building into a restaurant and
it
has been trading ever since, with only a handful
of ownerships since its creation.
It
retains many of its original features to this
day, and staff are always happy to answer questions
about the workings of the original mill, and any
changes that have been made over the years. In
fact, several members of staff have been at the
restaurant for over a decade, and have become
friends with many of our regular customers.
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| In
1993, the present owner, Stephen Jackson, took
over
the restaurant. A Linguistics and French graduate,
he received his 'basic training' at Leith’s
School of Food & Wine
in London, and after a little work experience
at such restaurants as Stephen Bull in London,
and The Walnut Tree in Abergavenny, Stephen
returned to his native Yorkshire. His methods are
now entirely self-taught and intuitive, taking
inspiration from many chefs
around the world, and also from simply walking
around the Kitchen Garden, from where he takes
much of his inspiration when writing menus. |
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The
menus are now driven by
an insistence upon locally sourced regional
produce. Today,
the restaurant's links with local producers
are
well established. Almost everything used
at the restaurant,
within reason, is sourced within the North
of England. Local beef and lamb is provided
by Stuart Booth, the local family
butcher;
the milk from a farm a couple of miles away;
butter provided by Longley Farm in nearby
Holmfirth. Eggs
come from the Weavers Shed's own team of
ducks, hens and quail, and the local moors
and
woodlands provide plentiful quantities
of wild herbs, plants,
flowers and mushrooms. Venison and old-breed
pork is provided by Round Green Farm near
Barnsley, and the honey used at The Weavers
Shed comes from the town of Elland, only
a few miles away. Corn-fed ducks and chickens
are provided by Reg Johnson in Goosnargh,
'just over the hills' near Preston.
After a couple of years, Stephen and his parents
decided to plough over a fallow field at their
home
to create the Kitchen
Garden, where now, in season, almost
80% of the restaurant’s fruit, vegetables
and herbs are grown on an organic basis.
In
1998, the restaurant won a Catey Award (the culinary
Oscar) for its marketing strategy, based around
the Kitchen Garden and its benefits.
In
1999, Stephen met his wife, Tracy, and the
couple
decided to buy the adjoining property (the former
mill-owner’s house) and convert it into
bedrooms. Within a year, the Weavers Shed
was voted ‘Best
Restaurant With Rooms’ in the Which? Good
Food Guide.
Now,
Stephen’s ideal is complete; an almost self-sufficient
restaurant, where guests can eat a wonderful,
innovative meal of local produce, supplemented
by home-grown ingredients and delicious wines,
and relax in a comfortable lounge before retiring
to a luxurious and comfortable nights’ sleep.
And then the morning brings guests a full English
breakfast, with preserves and marmalades lovingly
made by Tracy.
Welcome
to The Weavers Shed Restaurant With Rooms…
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