Moor Pubs

Discovering a Few Pubs on the North York Moors

We're starting in the NE corner of the moors, an area that was to prove especially frustrating to the pub-ticker, with a number being closed or having very limited opening hours.
The one local Beer Guide entrant that was open on a Sunday lunchtime was in the village of Egton.

The Wheatsheaf Inn (Egton, YO21 1TZ - web)
This Grade II-listed 19th century pub is a beer guide regular having consistently made an appearance for the past 21 years.
The place is, according to WhatPub, "a renowned first-class restaurant".  And folks evidently know that, with a blackboard outside stating that they're fully booked for food.

Due to that, we barely got a glimpse inside the pub, our only option being to sit on the picnic tables in the sunshine out front.
The next tables were occupied by a couple of extended family groups, the alpha males of which stood with their lagers comparing notes on how their large cars had handled the winding country lanes leading to Egton.  Not really perfect pub chatter, then.

The guest beer, a Helmsley Brewing Co 'Striding the Riding' was a tasty refreshing pale ale, in good condition and ideal as a lunchtime ale outside the pub.
A nice place but it would have been a better visit if we'd avoided a stressed Sunday lunch service.


Here's the one that got away...

I'd been really keen to visit the Birch Hall Inn at Beck Hole, but it wasn't to be on this occasion as the pub hadn't reopened in times of Covid restrictions.
I'd checked beforehand and knew this, but still had to pop by and make sure. 
Damn, I hate it when I'm right!

A mile uphill from Beck Hole is the village of Goathland (population 438).
This village is a tourist hot-spot.  Not only does it attract walkers and steam train enthusiasts, but also film and TV fans, with the village doubling up as Aidensfield in the series Heartbeat, and the station moonlighting as Hogsmeade station in the Harry Potter films.

We took a leisurely circular walk along a couple of footpaths which led us to Mallyan Spout waterfall.

Wikipedia gives us the kind of no-nonsense short post about the waterfall which kinda suggests it doesn't need a page of it's own:
"Mallyan Spout is a waterfall in North Yorkshire, England, the tallest waterfall in the North York Moors".
Yes it is.  And here is...

The 70ft tall Mallyan Spout waterfall.
I did pose for a photo at the bottom of it.  I did get wet.

A path brings you back from the falls to the far end of the village, depositing you next to the hotel which takes its name from waterfall.  They know full well you've worn yourselves out with a short uphill walk and earned a refreshment break, with signs advertising the coach house coffee shop and the hotel bar.

Mallyan Spout Hotel (Goathland, YO22 5AN - web)
An entrance to the right leads to a public bar, whilst the rest of the ground floor is taken up by lounge, restaurant and a cosy little private bar for hotel residents.
Cask ales available were Timothy Taylor 'Landlord' and a Black Sheep 'Bitter'.  I had my first Landlord of this trip and found it in great form and eminently drinkable here.

Mallyan Spout Hotel, Goathland

The next day we were a little further west in the village of Danby.  A rather damp bit of walking on the moors ensued before we dropped back down to the village at midday where we found the Beer Guide-listed Duke of Wellington pub with lights off and door firmly shut.
A 3pm opener that I hadn't checked properly beforehand.

A kindly local from across the road saw us looking downcast - "you looking for somewhere open?" he called, before directing us on a 15-minute walk to the nearest hostelry at neighbouring Ainthorpe.

Fox and Hounds, Ainthorpe

Fox & Hounds Inn (45 Brook Lane, Ainthorpe, YO21 2LD - web)
Located facing the village green, this one-time coaching inn dates back to 1555.
It consists of three interconnected buildings with the bar being in the central one.  This was a pleasant room with lots of dark wood, beamed ceiling and a grand fireplace at one end with a handful of locals sat next to it.
I don't recall if there was a choice of beers here, but I had an enjoyable Theakston's Best Bitter alongside my (disappointingly average) ploughman's lunch.

Heading west from here took us to Castleton and onto the road across the moors, half way along which is a remote inn.
As locations go, this is pretty spectacular...

Spectacular shot of the Lion Inn

Lion Inn (Blakey Ridge, YO62 7LQ - web)
The pub is situated above the Rosedale and Farndale valleys on Blakey Ridge (population: the pub).
This location is 1,325ft (404m) above sea level, making it Yorkshire's second highest pub after the Tan Hill Inn.

Less spectacular shot of the Lion Inn

It dates back over 400 years, originally a trading post, before later gaining custom from coal miners and ironstone miners, with the area around littered with old workings.

For somewhere so remote it was far from quiet, with the three interconnected bar areas all busy when we arrived.  We just managed to get a table, with a great wooden settle next to us and Whitbread Trophy mirror hanging above us.
It' has an impressive interior with stone floors and beamed ceilings and lots of character.  It would certainly be lovely in the winter-time as a retreat from cold weather with the fires alight, although not quite lovely enough for me to want to get stuck here for 12 days as I read 2 customers and 5 staff members did in the winter of 2010 when huge snowdrifts cut them off.

The route southbound from the Lion Inn eventually drops you down to another charming touristic village, Hutton-le-Hole.
Set back a little from the road with a grand pub sign and a small island of picnic tables in front is The Crown.
And it's here that I'll end this post - Hutton-le-Hole serves as the start and end point of the following days walking, in which we'll explore a few pubs on the south edge of the moors and sample a well earned ale in the Crown at the end.

The sun shines on the Crown Inn, Hutton-le-Hole