Scarborough Pub Crawl

Arriving in Scarborough our plans included brewpubs, micros, sports bars and a bit of craft ale for good measure.  Not to mention some great views, beaches and  award-winning fish & chips.

For starters, we headed across to the North Bay where I'd heard the brew pub was a bit of a classic.

North Riding Brewpub (161-163 North Marine Road, Scarborough, YO12 7HU - web)
Towering on the corner of the street, the North Riding hotel was built in the 1850's and has a classic traditional town pub feel to it.  Of the two rooms, we grabbed a table by the bar in the front, cricket memorabilia on the walls and sunshine beaming in the windows.

A 2-barrel brew kit was installed in the cellar around 2010, although the choice of beers at the bar wasn't limited to their own creations.

I could happily have sat and tried all of the cask ales from this selection, although that would have somewhat curtailed my pub explorations of Scarborough.
As it was I went for the 'Drifter' pale ale and 'Peanut Butter Stout', both by North Riding Brewery.  As well as the casks there was also a good cider selection and the enticingly titled "Naughty Tower" of craft keg.

Moving on, we made the stroll back to the Old Town, where we dropped down to the seafront and were enticed by the promise of 'Britain's Best Fish & Chips'.
Can't beat a takeaway portion of chips 'n' mushy peas on the beach.

The chips were very good, although a quick Google search for "Britain's Best Fish and Chips" reveals they have lots of competition for that claim.

The first funicular railway in the UK was built in Scarborough and at one point the town had five cliff-side railways operating on the north and south bays.
Wow - I thought we were a lazy generation, but those Victorians were really averse to a short uphill walk!
There are still two in operation, so we opted to jump aboard the Central Tramway to get us back to higher ground.  £2 per trip and it's all over in 30 seconds or so, but this is a nice slice of transport history.

233ft higher than we'd started, we made the short stroll past the Grand Hotel and up Falconers Road, heading to another of the town's current Good Beer Guide entries...

Scholars Bar (6 Somerset Terrace, Scarborough, YO11 2PA)
This seemed a bit of an unlikely beer guide pub, to be honest.  It's a single level sports bar with two separate areas and TVs in all directions.  A choice of golf or rugby league on this visit, depending on which way we looked.
There were drinks menus on all tables, with 6 real ales on offer, most of these from Ossett Brewery.  That said, most of the punters had a tall glass of something fizzy in front of them.

Exciting picture of the backs of sports fans

Right, next!  To the micro!

The Stumble Inn (59 Westborough, Scarborough, YO11 1TS - web)
Just a short walk up the road from the station, this micro has been open since December 2014 and is located in a former solicitors office.
I can't fault the welcome we got from a staff member who was overflowing with energy and enthusiasm and ushered us in to see the drinks available. 

Mrs Prop Up the Bar undertook the harder challenge of selecting one of the 29 ciders, whilst I plumped for a 'Jet Black Porter' by Whitby Brewery from the 4 cask ales.

We missed out at the Stumble Inn a little by sitting outside, with all indoor tables occupied when we arrived.  Shame, as it was bright and bustling inside, whilst watching the A64 wasn't especially exciting and it had just reached the point in the evening when it began to get chilly.

It was another short walk from the Stumble Inn, over a railway bridge, and downhill to Valley Road for our next destination, the Cellars Bar.

Cellars Bar - pub picture fail

 

Cellars (35-37 Valley Road, Scarborough, YO11 2LY)
Apparently this is the most frequent local entry into the Good Beer Guide, with 17 years of appearances.  So I'll probably curse that and they'll drop out in 2022.

It's based in (surprise!) the cellars of a large grey-bricked Victorian house which now serves as holiday apartments.  Despite my managing to take a picture of it looking deserted, there were a fair few customers in the wide single room, with a couple of alcoves at each end.
The beer range was a little reduced from the usual six hand-pumps, with just a couple on offer when we visited.  I opted for the Daleside 'Monkey Wrench' which was enjoyable enough.

At this point Mrs Prop Up the Bar insisted we divert from beer guide pubs, because she'd spotted a craft bar and didn't want to miss it.  
This blog didn't get where it is today by denying Mrs Prop Up the Bar the occasional passion fruit and pumpkin imperial pale ale.

Craft Bar (7 Northway, Scarborough, YO11 1JH - web)
Opposite the theatre and close to the train station, this craft bar has opened, in micro-pub style, in an old shop unit.
But away from the traditional micro-pub manifest, they happily serve-up prosecco and G&T's alongside 14 tap lines of craft beers and lots of cans and bottles.
It was appealing to a varied crowd on this Saturday evening and we managed to get one of the last tables available.

Scanning the beer menu for the strongest most unusual offerings, I ordered a 'Forest Feud' fruit beer, brewed by Manchester's Wander Beyond Brewing Co.
Alongside Mrs Prop Up the Bar's similar Bakewell Tart concoction (?!) it looked like we'd ordered a round of fruit smoothies rather than beers.

The Forest Feud was actually lovely and deceptively easy to drink for it's hefty 12% strength.

They also had a couple of cask ales available, so I figured I'd have to try one for 'research purposes'.  The Kirkstall Brewery 'Black Band Porter' was on top form and made a great last beer of the evening.

Now that's a pretty wide variety of venues in what had been an enjoyable first evening of our Yorkshire trip.
We headed for a night's rest in our - downright strange - Middle Earth-themed room in the 'boutique' guest house we were staying in.
Hobbit orientated nightmares fueled by 12% fruit beers ahoy!

Next up - Whitby.