Local Interest
Here at the JRR we have a selection of local maps, books and guides available
The Calderdale Way Association – The Calderdale Way Guide
Sowerby Bridge Industrial Heritage Walk
Canal Companion
Situated only a few minutes walk from the canal in Sowerby Bridge, The Jubilee Refreshment Rooms features in the Canal Companion guide books. Feel free to visit us for refreshment.
Ackley Bridge, Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax and JRR Fridge magnets are now available for order.
Prints for sale
History of the JRR
The Jubilee Refreshment Rooms are operated by two railway enthusiasts, Andrew and Chris Wright who have re-created the type of Station Refreshment Rooms that would have been available during the golden age of rail travel.
The building that houses the Jubilee Refreshment Rooms was originally one wing (on the left in the picture) of a much larger station building that was built by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Company in 1876. The rest of the station was demolished in the late 1970s following a fire. Part of the surviving wing was last used as a ticket office until 1983 and another part was used by permanent way staff until 1997.
Andrew and Chris spent 10 years negotiating with the owners of the building, firstly British Rail and then Railtrack and Network Rail in order to fulfil their dream.
They named the Refreshment Rooms after the Jubilee class of steam engines which used to travel through the station.
Sowerby Bridge Station Signage
This original station signage was previously fixed to the front of the former main station building. The sign is in three sections and says “SOWERBY BRIDGE BRITISH RAILWAYS”. A fourth section from the original sign (BRITISH RAILWAYS) was not recovered. The sign is in standard British Railways North Eastern Region tangerine, measures 20 feet x 2 feet, and dates from the nineteen fifties. The sign was a prominent feature at the station up until shortly before demolition of the main building in 1980
Ladies Room Sign
An original Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway “LADIES ROOM” sign, together with fixing brackets, has been stripped down and carefully repainted in standard L&Y Railway black and white.
The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway existed from 1847 to 1922, and it is likely this sign is over 100 years old. Photographic evidence confirms that for many years a similar sign existed on platform 2 of Sowerby Bridge station. It is believed the sign was originally located at one of the local Calder Valley stations
The John Tempest Clock
The Refreshment Rooms have been internally decorated in the original colours and the interior features some original advertising signs, a clock that was rescued from outside John Tempest Jewellers of Commercial Street, Halifax and a set of four 1944 hand pumps rescued from The Tandem Public House, Waterloo, Huddersfield.
