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We are a not-for-profit community benefit society.
Originally a dwelling house, the Puzzle Hall Inn dates back to the first half of the 17th Century, doors opening for the consumption of home-brewed ale during the early part of the 18th Century but it wasn’t until 1905 that the then landlady of the pub, Mrs Lydia Platt, had a tower built to the rear of the building so that she could brew her own Platt’s of Sowerby Bridge labelled beer. Thus started the reputation of Puzzle Hall Inn as a place for people who really committed to naughtiness. In the late 1980s, the game changed. Two regulars, Pete Martin and Geoff Amos, dreamt up, produced, and promoted a weekly series of jazz concerts in the pub, getting listed in The Times Top 10 small Jazz venues in the UK. A welcome aspect about the series was one of informal education.
Younger rock and pop musicians from the area had worked out that, though jazz was not always of much interest to them, there was some serious musicianship happening, technically and creatively. The musicians were also extremely approachable, freely giving advice on matters of instrumental technique.
It became a place for people to meet and collaborate on ideas and projects, or to cross lines with cultures or practices you knew nothing of before. Whether you were in a dance class, dancing to the songs of prodigious Cuban musicians, or dominating in chess club, or exploring places unknown in the book society, or reading original poetry at the Puzzle Poets night, or part of the audience; at the Puzzle Hall Inn, you could have a pint and an encounter communal magic.
Meanwhile the music developed and diversified too with bands and performers from as far afield as Iceland, the USA and Italy rubbing shoulders with local acts and serving up just about every musical genre you could think of. An outdoor area with a purpose made stage and built in P.A. followed, and music festivals on spring and summer bank holiday weekends were added to the regular music and poetry nights inside the pub.