Cropton Pub Walk

An eight-mile walk (which felt a lot longer) taking in four village pubs just to the south of the North York Moors.
The last post finished at the village of Hutton-le-Hole, which was to be our starting point for today's walking.
Our route looked pretty much like this...

We knew we were on track to arrive in Lastingham too early for the pub's midday opening.  This gave us a choice of covering some extra terrain by looping onto the moors or going straight to the village and putting our feet up until the landlord unlocked the doors.

Whose foolish idea was it to add extra mileage walking uphill onto the moors? (it was mine)

After our diversion we dropped into the village and to the Blacksmith's Arms...

Blacksmith's Arms (Anserdale Lane, Lastingham, YO62 6TN)
Rocking up at 12:10 we'd been beaten to the dubious artificial grass furniture in front of the pub.
But we were very content in the small, cosy bar inside, pewter tankards dangling from the ceiling above us and an old cooking range to one side.

There was a fine beer choice: Theakston 'Best' or 'Old Peculiar', Saltaire 'Blonde', or Ryedale Brewing Company 'Bitter'.
I picked the Ryedale, being as it's very local to here, being brewed in the nearby village of Sinnington.  And this was a lovely quaffable traditional best bitter - most enjoyable.

Lastingham to Cropton presented the least obvious route, with whatever footpath we took leading to a final slog along the road.  As it was, we missed a turn and ending up taking a completely unplanned path which led to us emerging quite disheveled after crashing through 6ft high ferns.
We were just about presentable enough to be let into the second pub on our itinerary...

The New Inn (Cropton, YO18 8HH)
This was somewhere I'd been really keen to visit: a renowned country inn with it's own brewery to the rear (once the Cropton Brewery, now re-named the Great Yorkshire Brewery).
We opted to sit in the bar which retains a good pubby feel, despite the popularity of the New Inn as a dining destination.  There are several other rooms, a conservatory and the garden which was busy today in the fine weather.
From four available ales on this visit I tried the 'Yorkshire Moors' ESB and the 'Yorkshire Blackout' porter, both in tip-top form and very tasty as you'd hope when they're brewed 50 meters away.

Which way next?

We left the pub by a footpath through the nearby campsite, then took a moment to admire the lovely views...

Views, with the moors in the distance

This leg of the walk started nicely: navigating cows that insisted on blocking the path and then crossing a river in the woods.  But then we had a steady and seemingly endless uphill climb up a farm lane, with the sun beating down on us and the day getting hotter and hotter. 

I was sweaty and out of breath by the time we reached Appleton-le-Moors where it looked like everyone was taking a siesta.
There was no sign of life other than the sheep ambling along the village's main thoroughfare.

Fortunately the pub was still open, albeit bereft of customers before our arrival.

Moors Inn (Appleton le Moors, YO62 1TF - web)
This turned out to be quite a smart pub with brown leather seating and wine glasses laid out on tables in the dining room and immaculate loos with gleaming white tiles.  The bar itself retains a bit more traditional character and this is where we settled on a table next to a grand old fireplace and oven.
On the bar was a choice of Bradfield 'Farmers Blonde', 'Farmers Stout' or Tim Taylor Landlord. It was nice to see stouts available in a fair number of pubs we'd been to in Yorkshire, despite not being the obvious summer choice.   I can report that the Farmers Stout was delicious and disappeared very quickly.

All quiet at the Moors Inn

One last push to the finish line...
We followed the Tabular Hills walk, taking us through woods and alongside fields of crops until eventually we dropped back into Hutton le Hole.

This picturesque little village, home to some 150 folk, really is charming, with Hutton Beck running through the middle of it and the sheep free to roam.

The Crown (Hutton-le-Hole,YO62 6UA)
Okay, so I complained about the grey skies and rain on the coast a couple of days earlier and now I was proving I'm never happy by complaining about the sunshine.
Phew - it was hot on those picnic benches...

I enjoyed a York Brewery 'Guzzler' sat outside the Crown, a nice mellow pale ale with a sensible ABV, perfect to end the afternoon.

Next up: our pick of the pubs in Pickering