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

Whitby to Staithes on the Cleveland Way

In which we walk the 11.7 miles from Whitby to Staithes, following the Cleveland Way along the coast, and taking in a couple of pubs en-route.

The Great British Summer weather conspired against us, delivering low-lying cloud and drizzle on the morning that we'd planned to tackle this walk.  But we refused to be beaten, setting off after breakfast from our Whitby guest house.

Nice weather for it

The path took us along the tops out of Whitby, navigating the golf course via a dull bit of road-walking, before we were able to drop onto the lovely wide beach at Sandsend.

Sandsend

From Sandsend, the path follows the route of the dismantled Whitby to Loftus railway line, but we were quickly faced with that familiar feature of coastal paths - the 'diversion due to landslip'. 
This meant a steep climb to get the muscles burning early-on, before dropping us back down by an equally steep track, returning to the rail route.  There's more climbing up some wooden step ladders at the point where the railway would have entered the Sandsend tunnel. 
We were all set for tramping by torch-light through the tunnel, but there was a strange micro-climate chill by the entry to the tunnel, bringing to mind the kind of things that would lurk in here in Stephen King novels. 
And more importantly, it was 1.5km long and firmly locked shut.

A few miles further on, after walking through the mist on the high cliffs, we eventually dropped down to the sandy beach at Runswick Bay.  Just as the drizzle developed into proper rain.

Too wet to sit and admire the views at Runswick Bay

The clock had ticked past midday and we needed food, beer and shelter.
But I was unconvinced by the Royal Hotel, nestled among the houses on the hillside overlooking the bay, and looking distinctly un-pubby.

Un-pubby
(probably because it's missing all the signage which shows on it's web pictures)

My mind was changed when we walked up the alleyway alongside the hotel where outdoor toilets and a Black Sheep lamp above the door were both positive signs.

Royal Hotel (Runswick Bay, TS13 5HT - web)
We were seated in front of the bar and quickly served with a Bradfield 'Farmers Blonde' (Black Sheep bitter being the other beer available).
The chap who pulled the pints stayed firmly rooted behind the bar, leaving the serving of the tables to his young accomplice.  Unfortunately, this fella was reminding me of some of our most disastrous work experience placements in years gone by.  Intently studying his feet and prone to forgetting that his room full of customers may need something, he was struggling to make the link that people asking for menu's may actually lead to them wanting to order food. 

But I'm being unfair.  It took him a while to get in the swing of things, but he improved, tables were served, and we ended up with some very enjoyable and tasty food.
The place filled up with as many dogs as people and it turned into a great lunchtime stop.

Leaving the Royal Hotel we were briefly teased that it may have brightened up.
At least until we'd climbed above the bay, back on higher paths, when it  got progressively wetter and muddier and it became hard work to keep the spirits up.

We reached Port Mulgrave, where we diverted inland along a lane to reach Hinderwell, the location of our next pub... 

Brown Cow (55 High Street, Hinderwell, TS13 5ET)
This was a pub with a listing in the Good Beer Guide which says: "Real pubs like this are hard to find! Between the moors and the coast, and with a newly refurbished interior, but still reminiscent of walking into somebody's 1960s front parlour."

And it was a great place, where even the chap with his irritable and persistently crying youngster was not going to dent my enthusiasm.
Just look at that cracking front room: proper pub carpet, fireplace, Yorkshire darts, sleeping dog and dozing local...  All good stuff.

A couple more locals came back out of hiding when the child appeared to have fallen asleep, reunited with their pints and chatting about some chap in Middlesbrough who'd been a money-lender and safe-cracker.

I probably slipped up by picking the guest beer of the two real ales available - a very light blonde 'Life's a Lemon' by Pennine Brewing Co, whereas this was a pub in which to have a good traditional best bitter.

One final bit of walking and we made it to our intended destination, dropping down into the charming fishing village of Staithes.
I'd previously seen the wonderful location of the Cod and Lobster, although today it was missing the backdrop of blue sky and azure water that I'd had in mind...

Cod and Lobster Inn (High Street, Staithes, TS13 5BH - web) 
The two rooms inside were surprisingly busy for 4pm on a midweek afternoon, relegating us to searching out the driest of the picnic benches under umbrellas outside.  In different weather I suspect it would be the other way around, with the outdoor seating offering a lovely view of the harbour.
We were quickly served, selecting the guest ale which was a Helmsley Brewery 'Howardian Gold'.

Leaving Staithes, we climbed the steep streets back to the main road in time to catch the Aviva bus back to Whitby.
With the legs aching after the day's exertions, would we still be able to make it up the 199 steps to the abbey?
As we were driven by the knowledge there was a brewery at the top of them: yes!

Whitby Brewery Tap (East Cliff, Whitby, YO22 4JR - web)
Apparently there is usually a small indoor bar and the opportunity to drink alongside the brewing kit, but when we visited this was all closed with only courtyard seating available.

Outdoor seating with no shelter, so it was just as well that it had stopped raining, although I admit to having a bit of a soggy bottom by the time we left.

Dull weather aside, this was a brilliant location and well worth visiting.
It's fantastically situated, with the remains of the abbey next door.
I was thoroughly enjoying the music in the background (Huey Lewis & the News - oh yes!) and thoroughly enjoying the beer.
Firstly the 'Saltwick Nab', a deliciously drinkable 4.2% bitter, before moving on to a 'Black Death' 6.66% porter which was quite superb.

In conclusion, a day of much wetness and grey skies...  But we'd gotten some good exercise, found some nice pubs and ended with pizza and beer at a brewery tap.  Which goes down in my book as a bit of a success!

Next Up: we're on the North Yorkshire Moors...

Whitby Pub Explorations

18-miles up the coast from Scarborough, our next point of call was Whitby.  Alongside plans to do a bit of walking and sightseeing, take in the sea-air, spend some money in the amusement arcades and eat more chips, we aimed to visit all the current Good Beer Guide listed pubs.
And here's how that went...

Earlier, we'd started the day with a Wetherspoon's breakfast in Scarborough. In a bid to be fed all day by the chain, we found ourselves in Whitby 'spoons for a late lunch - not a pub I'd intended to visit, but when it came to food, it was the easy option...

The Angel Hotel (1 New Quay Road, Whitby, YO21 1DH - web) 
This hotel by the port has been a fixture in Whitby for many years, serving as a coaching house since the 18th century.
Refurbished in 2013 this is now one of Wetherspoon's hotels, with 34 bedrooms up above the two floors of bars.

On this visit only the ground floor and outside seating was open, which made it all rather busy and hectic.
I offer no indoor picture of the pub - as I've found in a few places, the dividing screens throughout prove very un-photogenic.  Not that this low-ceiling room would have ever looked especially photogenic anyway. 

The Angel Hotel has a place in local railway history, being the location of 1832 meetings where the practicality of creating a train line from Whitby across the moors was discussed. Engineer Robert Louis Stevenson was to recommend making Pickering the other end of the line and it was opened four years later in 1836.

And it was to the station we were headed next...

The Waiting Room (2 Whitby Station, Whitby, YO21 1YN)
Having read that this micro pub was six-yards-square, I was keen to get there on the dot of it's 5pm opening time to ensure we secured a table.
Yet still I was beaten by about 6 folks who were even more eager than me.

This is a micro in the authentic mould - no lager or spirits, just six cask ales, ciders and some classic international bottled beers, in a room with no music or TV to distract.

The old station waiting room has been converted to contain the bar and six tables, with additional seating out on the platform.  There's railway memorabilia throughout and a wall-full of pump clips of beers previously served.

From the list of Yorkshire ales displayed on a whiteboard by the door, I picked the 'Gangway Gold' by Little Eaton Brewery. 
And doesn't it look great...

I really liked the Waiting Room, but I'm sure someone wanting a seat appreciated us vacating our table as we moved on, heading across the River Esk to the Eastern side of Whitby.

Across the swing bridge, there are enough pubs along the cobbled streets in this part of town to keep you busy all evening, but we stuck with the Beer Guide and made our way to the Black Horse...

The Black Horse (91 Church Street, Whitby, YO22 4BH - web)
Church Street is one of the oldest streets in the oldest bit of Whitby, so it makes sense to find one of the town's oldest pubs here.  It dates back to the 1600's when it was previously known as the White Horse Inn, with the current building being erected in 1823.
The front room looked to be the most characterful but was full, so we had to settle for the back bar, accessed through a side door on the passage.  This proved to be a simple, unfussy, pub room.

We opted for the Hambledon Brewery 'Bootleggers Pale' from the four cask ales available, along with some Yapas - Yorkshire tapas - in this case a board of tasty local cheeses and home-made chutney.

This was Sunday evening, when there was some sort of football match on.
Lots of folk had pulled their replica kits out the wardrobe, cars had plastic St George's flags attached to them, and chants of 'Eng-ur-land!' emanated from the quayside from people who possibly starting drinking a little too early.

We found somewhere to avoid the build-up, with the Arch & Abbey a football-free zone.

Arch & Abbey (2-4 Skinner Street, Whitby, YO21 3AJ)
Back in the western part of town and uphill from the quay, the Arch & Abbey is a recently opened micro pub (although it seems pretty big in comparison to the Waiting Room).
This used to be a traditional ladies dress shop, with the lovely old fashioned windows and clock retained.
Four hand pumps dispense cask ale, with a few craft keg options, cider, or the local Whitby gin also available.  Presented with this choice, I ordered a thoroughly enjoyable pint of stout by Hilltop Brewing Co.

The super-size dog steals the limelight

Ultimately, I couldn't ignore the Euro's altogether - I purchased a 2-pint take-out of Empire Brewing's 'Golden Warrior' from the Arch & Abbey and retired to our B&B to watch the match.

One day later...
Football had curtailed our quest to get around the Beer Guide pubs on Sunday evening - the Station Inn had been busy, the doorway blocked by bulky security staff.  We headed back, when it was much quieter...

Station Inn (New Quay Road, Whitby, YO21 1DH - web)
This has a fine location opposite the harbour and train station, but I'm afraid I didn't really warm to the Station Inn: maybe it was awkward little table in a corner we were put on, maybe just a deflated Monday evening atmosphere, the poptastic soundtrack failing to boost the spirits.
I picked the most local of the ales on offer - an Abbey Blonde by Whitby Brewery, which was in good condition and an enjoyable enough light, fruity beer.

A short walk took us to our final pub...

Little Angel (18 Flowergate, Whitby, YO21 3BA - web)
Could this be named after Scarborough's premier 80's hair metal band the Little Angels?
(Ha!  That's taking me back to my youthful musical taste and long hair and cowboy boots!)

There was certainly a very rocky soundtrack on our visit.  The barman tried to skip forward the Limp Bizkit track, but re-started it after a minor customer protest.

The Little Angel consisted of three rooms connected to the main bar, as well as outdoor seating on a back patio.  At the time, Covid restrictions were still in place, scuppering the chance to explore the place properly (I got told off - hopefully for the last time - for lingering too close to the bar reading the beer list).

Those beers come from the on-site Lady Luck Brewery, with a varied selection taking in several different styles.  

With that, we'd completed all the current Beer Guide entries, although there are many more pubs and bars in this wonderful seaside town.

Join me in the next post when I endeavour to walk up the coast path in the rain and tackle the steps to the abbey to visit the Whitby Brewery.  Cheers! 🍻

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.

Tom Pudding, Goole

Travelling northward to the Yorkshire coast we made a brief stop en-route to visit a fine micropub in Goole.

The reason for stopping in Goole is that it's now home for one of our retired ex-work-mates, who doesn't exactly heap much praise upon the town.
He insisted that once we'd seen the twin water towers, nicknamed salt and pepper, that was our sightseeing complete.  In fact, I don't think he even bothered telling us to see them, but we went to have a look...

As Kev isn't a drinker I'm completely unable to convince him that

the wealth of pub-ticking in the surrounding towns and cities is an attraction.
Or of how exciting it is that you can get a great pint of beer for £2.80 in the town's micro, the Tom Pudding.  Apparently visitors from London have questioned whether the prices listed are for a half pint.

Goole grew around its docks, the port on the River Ouse being the furthest inland in the UK, with 3 miles of quayside capable of handling 2 million tonnes of cargo a year.
Tom Pudding's were tub boats, designed in the 1860's as an effective way to transport coal along the Aire and Calder navigation.  Arriving in Goole, they'd be hoisted by large mechanical mechanisms into sea-going vessels. 
And that's where the pub name comes from.

(And I gathered all that information despite all search engines refusing to accept that I hadn't mis-spelled 'Google' when I typed in 'Goole'). 

Tom Pudding (20 Pasture Road, Goole, DN14 6EZ)
Converted from a newsagents, the pub opened in December 2017 and looks to have been a roaring success from the offset.

We managed to be the first customers of the day, disturbing the landlord from his crossword puzzle, before several regulars began to drift in.
Apparently you can fit 50 persons in here, although even back in times when the term 'social distancing' was rarely used, I wouldn't have fancied it being quite that busy.

From a choice of four varied local beers, I picked the 'Dark Masquerade' mild by Half Moon Brewery.  It was fresh, foamy and delicious - the kind of beer where you wonder how the glass is becoming empty so quickly.

What a great start to our trip to Yorkshire.
This was but a brief stop, so if I missed anything ace in Goole - sorry.  We had to continue our journey, where we had coasts moors and minsters in store.

We were on our way to finding lots of good pubs and beer. 
All of whom priced their beer at varyingly higher prices than £2.80..
Reports of North Yorkshire pub exploration to follow shortly...