Cubley Hall can be enjoyed by all, as a place to meet for a drink, to celebrate a special occasion, as a base to visit the South Pennines and Peak District or a stop over ‘on the way through’. And for some, the perfect setting to get married…

But, Cubley Hall hasn’t always been a country house pub. Originally, it was a pocket farm on the old packhorse route, on the edge of the Peak District and Pennines.

A Mr. Lockley then purchased it and it became a fine gentleman’s residence. He was the manager of the local foundry, owned by the famous shipbuilding and engineering company Camel Laird. The Penistone site made train wheels, forgings, castings and railway lines. A model village was planned at Cubley Hall with school playing fields and church, but sadly in 1922, Camel Laird closed with only a portion if the village completed.

Cubley Hall then passed through several owners from English Steel to Newton Chambers, but after World War II, it became an orphanage.  We still have visits from people who grew up at Cubley Hall.  They often tell us how they loved growing up here and how they considered it their home.

It was during one of these visits when we first heard about Flo, our resident ghost. The daughter of Mr. Lockley, Flo was married at Cubley Hall in 1904. Flo is, by all accounts, a very friendly ghost who has been seen by the bedsides of sick orphans, watching over them.  How Flo lost her life is unknown, but it’s believed she may have gotten lost on the Moors. At the top of the stairs, a full size stained glass window of Flo used to cast a ghostly shadow across the hall.  It was sadly removed and lost before we could save it. We have photographs of Flo, kindly donated in 1982, by a niece of Mr Lockley, who had feared that Cubley Hall would be demolished by the council. She had heard of our renovation project to preserve its character, when she then offered the photographs to us.

By 1980, the children’s home was closed and left empty. Left unloved, battered by hard winters, and damaged by vandals, Cubley Hall was in a sorry state. Our rebuilding started with fitting 300 roof slates, just to keep the weather out. We then tackled the serious damage caused from freezing pipes and collapsed ceilings and by July 1982, we had something that resembled a country house pub. Cubley Hall was originally adorned with beautiful stained glass windows, but these, including Flo’s window, were one period feature to be lost to time.

The 21st of July 1982 saw us open our doors and pull our first pints. It was the first time we had owned or even worked behind a bar.  Those first few months were a steep learning curve, but we won through! Our original dream was to build a pub that we would be happy to go to. A friendly atmosphere: warm, clean and comfortable, with good quality, reasonably priced real ales, drinks and food, all served with a smile by friendly and efficient staff. This has been our aim since the beginning and still holds true today.

In 1990, we built the Barn, where wedding breakfasts and receptions are hosted and our famous Sunday carvery is served and in 1995, we developed twelve en suite rooms providing quality and comfortable accommodation.

Cubley Hall still sits in its original four acres of gardens, and we regularly use to hold events and festivals in grand marquees.  However, the Yorkshire weather often tested the guy ropes, and one too many times we would find half of the marquee in a tree 3 fields away.  One such morning in 2008, with a local farmer and his tractor, we attempted to drag the tattered rags of the weather’s latest victim from the limbs of several large trees. We decided enough was enough and returned battered, bruised and wet through, with thoughts of a more permanent solution.

First stage plans involved four ornate lamp posts with a roof, but the potential for a more ambitious project soon became clear. After more research and finding, Peter Weldon a specialist metalworker who had made bandstands before, a 7-metre Garden Pavilion took its position on a stone plinth in Cubley Hall’s grounds.  The planning permission was troublesome but was finally approved.

Our unique and authentic, Garden Pavilion has allowed Cubley Hall to become the only country house pub, in the North of England, to provide wedding ceremonies.  We’ve since held hundreds of successful weddings, civil ceremonies, parties and music events using the Garden Pavillion - and we don’t miss dragging marquees out of trees.