It’s not all stern female police sergeants and handsome crims on the run in west Yorkshire, you know. As well as being home to BBC’s achingly grim ‘Happy Valley’, you’ll also find an inspirational, bracingly all-ages party scene in the lush surrounds of the Calder Valley.
Just a few fields over from Catherine Cawood’s stomping ground of Hebden Bridge is Todmorden and a near-legendary venue where you’re as likely to see sweaty 60-somethings getting on it as you are teens taking their tentative first steps into the sesh.
‘The Golden Lion is lucky to be a place where the nearly retired rave on and where young people have their first rave,’ explains manager Louis Sweeting. ‘An underground club with a top sound system masquerading as a small-town pub... or is it the other way round?’
Their star-studded DJ roster reflects the advancing years of the eclectic clientele, with the likes of Jarvis Cocker (59), Don Letts (67) and Kevin Rowland (69) regulars on the decks. The late Andy Weatherall was something of the pub’s patron saint: after his death in 2020, a shrine to the acid-house hero was erected behind the bar in his honour.
All are welcome: the misfits, the squares, the down-and-outs, the fallen-off-the-edges
The Golden Lion is owned by Matthanee Nilavongse (aka Gig), and Richard Walker (aka Waka), who’ve transformed the Grade II-listed boozer into a community hub and party HQ since taking over the lease in 2015. Locals love it so much that they helped to save it in the post-lockdown slump via a crowdfunding campaign.
‘Gig and Waka are like pirates, a renegade duo reaching out to their favourite artists and performers and convincing them to board the ship with their friends at the Golden Lion,’ says Sweeting of the pub’s enduring appeal.
‘They come from all backgrounds, genres and ages: 16-year-olds in new post-punk bands, 50-something acid-house pioneers, gold-toothed drum’n’bass icons and fringe folk legends. All are welcomed with open arms: the misfits, the squares, the down-and-outs, the fallen-off-the-edges… as long as there is respect and no harm caused to others or themselves. In this space, people of all ages are allowed and encouraged to get free.’
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