Harrogate

 

The Coach & Horses has been bought by a London company, no news yet on any re-opening.

 

The Swan (on the Stray) re-opened in June after a 15-month closure, still leased and operated by Market Town Taverns. Currently open four days a week with three cask ales.

 

The Waiting Room is to be a new ‘quality independent café bar’ operated by Appetite for Life (So!Bar/Tap on Tower Street) expected to open later this year close to Starbeck station.

https://thestrayferret.co.uk/new-bar-could-open-in-former-starbeck-carpet-shop

 

The Woodlands Hotel is to undergo a refurbishment by Star Pubs &; Bars with its name changed to ‘West Riding Harrogate’ according to the Star website: https://www.starpubs.co.uk/pubs/woodlands-hotel-harrogate

Outlying areas

 

The George at Wath re-opened as The George Country Inn in July. Four cask ales from Rudgate and Theakston.

 

The Bruce Arms at West Tanfield re-opened with a new tenant on 24th September. Three cask ales including a blonde or other light beer, a stronger more unusual (for the Dales) beer, and a beer from Masham.

 

Hopper Lane Hotel at Blubberhouses re-opened in April after being closed since the first lockdown while shielding vulnerable family members.

 

The Black Bull Inn at Boroughbridge re-opened in June, now serving Timothy Taylor Boltmaker and Daleside Blonde with a third changing beer, recently Rudgate Viking and Pennine Brewing.

 

The Tiger Inn at Coneythorpe suffered a fire to their kitchen last November and have been closed ever since. Repair works are underway and they anticipate re-opening on October 25th.

 

Ye Jolly Farmers at Dalton re-opened under new ownership at the end of July after a six-week closure. No longer serving John Smith Cask, but one/two changing real ales from local breweries.

 

General Tarleton Inn & Restaurant at Ferrensby re-opened under new management in May having been closed since the first lockdown.

 

The Old Spring Well on the A59 at Killinghall is being re-branded by Marston’s as 'The Curious Cow of Harrogate'. Marston’s are currently advertising for a General Manager and other staff.

 

The Bay Horse which closed during the third lockdown earlier this year, re-opened with a new tenant in August. Black Sheep Best, Theakston Best, Old Peculier, a Pennine Brewing beer, and sometimes a fifth changing beer.

 

The Royal Oak at Pateley Bridge is now serving four cask ales.

 

The Crown Inn at Roecliffe re-opened in September 2020 after an 18-month closure, having being bought and refurbished by Coastal & Country Inns.

 

The Inn South Stainley has re-opened after sale of the business to new owners following liquidation of the previous owners, the Seafood Pub Company.

 

 

Planning applications / decisions

 

The Little Ale House have applied for planning consent to expand upwards into the former Indian restaurant (21/03768/COU).

 

Owners of the Lamb & Flag at Bishop Monkton, which did not re-open following the first lockdown, have submitted a planning application to Harrogate Borough Council to build five dwellings on the site (21/01715/FUL).

 

Hideaway Kitchen at The Dunsforth (formerly Dunsforth, Angler) at Lower Dunsforth closed at the end of August last year after initially re-opening following the first lockdown. A planning application for change of use and conversion to three two-bedroom flats has now been submitted to Harrogate Borough Council by the owner Stonefield Development (Yorkshire) Ltd. (21/03206/FUL).

 

Crown Inn at Great Ouseburn (closed 2015) has received planning consent to convert to a private dwelling (20/04342/FUL). There was an ACV on this pub, but the owner refused to sell and a local builder built a new pub for the village, namely the Lime Tree Inn.

 

The Three Horseshoes in Killinghall has now been demolished after an application by Punch Taverns for construction of a convenience store and four flats was approved by Harrogate Borough Council last July (19/04606/FUL)

 

At The Henry Jenkins in Kirkby Malzeard the Planning Inspectorate overturned Harrogate Borough Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for conversion of the eastern part of the site into a single dwelling. The villagers’ fight to save the pub continues, and currently they are applying for renewal of the ACV. The campaign has so far raised in excess of £230k plus match funding:- https://thehenryjenkins.com

 

The Board Inn, Knaresborough (closed 2017) has been bought by Amado Homes Limited who have since had a planning application approved to build two flats in place of the micropub that was approved in an earlier application by the previous owner (21/01158/FUL).

 

At The Castle Inn, Knaresborough a recent application for planning consent for a roof terrace was refused by Harrogate Borough Council.

 

At The Green Tree Inn at Little Ouseburn (closed 2019) an application to Harrogate Borough Council to convert the pub into three dwellings and build two further dwellings in the car park has been approved (20/02768/FUL). An earlier (2017) application included a micropub but this latest application does not.

 

The Cross Keys Inn at Markington (closed 2016) has been sold for £375k, and two alternative planning applications since submitted for either two (21/03985/FUL) or four (21/03974/FUL) residential dwellings. This is a two-pub village where both pubs were owned by the same owners.

 

The Half Moon at Sharow (closed 2016) was subject of a planning application to Harrogate Borough Council for change of use to a single residential dwelling (20/05210/FUL), however this application has since been withdrawn. Sharow Parish Council is leading a fight to save the pub, which opened in 1822, and villagers led by the Parish Council want to have the building registered as an ACV. Currently the premises are being marketed for let as bar and restaurant with a new free

of tie lease.

 

 

Club News

 

Balcony Bar at Harrogate Cricket Club now serves three cask ales, Black Sheep Best Bitter and two Rooster’s beers.

 

Masham Golf Club welcomes non-members in their bar, currently serving two Masham ales, possibly adding Saltaire Blonde.

 

St Robert’s Club on Robert Street, Harrogate re-opened in September after an 18-month closure.

So how do I score the quality of the beer?

 

You don’t have to be an ‘expert’ to begin scoring your beer.  However, it is not about your personal favourite beer receiving the highest scores!  You may try a beer that isn’t to your normal taste but what you need to consider is the quality of that beer, how well the pub has kept it and served it, and score it according to the general guide below.  It is a simple 0 to 5 point system, with half points being used if your opinion of the beer falls between two categories:

 

0.   No cask ale available

 

1.   Poor.  Beer is anything from barely drinkable to drinkable with considerable resentment

 

2.   Average.  Competently kept, drinkable pint but doesn’t inspire in any way, not worth moving to another pub but you drink the beer without really noticing

 

3.   Good.  Good beer in good form.  You may cancel plans to move to the next pub.  You want to stay for another pint and may seek out the beer again

 

4.   Very Good.  Excellent beer in excellent condition.  You stay put!

 

5.   Perfect.  Probably the best you are ever likely to find.  A seasoned drinker will award this score very rarely

 

 

How do I submit my scores?

 

In order to submit your scores you need to either login to CAMRA’s online pub guide www.whatpub.com on a desktop computer or a smartphone, or you can use the GBG app on a smartphone.  On WhatPub you will find over 35,000 real ale pubs from all over the UK; these are not all Good Beer Guide pubs, merely pubs that serve real ale.  The same pubs can also be viewed on the GBG app or you can just select the Good Beer Guide pubs.  In order to start submitting scores via either WhatPub or the GBG app you need to:-

 

1.      Login to WhatPub.  To do this you need your membership number and your CAMRA password.  Or, in the GBG app link your CAMRA account by following the ‘Profile’ icon in the bottom right-hand corner.

 

2.      You can then search for your pub by name.  Be careful here as there are many pubs in the country which share the same name.   Try searching the pub name and the town or postcode.  The What Pub web page on a mobile device also gives you the option to search for real ale pubs nearby, very useful if you are in an unfamiliar town.

 

3.      Once you have found your pub, go to the ‘Submit Beer Scores’ box on the right-hand side of the screen (on the WhatPub desktop version), tap ‘Submit Beer Scores’ on the tab bar underneath the pub photo (on the mobile WhatPub version), or tap ‘Beer Scoring’ immediately above the pub description (in the GBG app).

 

4.      Simply fill in the date and your score, then as you begin typing, the brewery name should automatically appear underneath where you are typing.  You do not have to enter the name of the beer you are drinking but if you wish to do so once you have entered the brewery name you should  be able to click on the arrow in the beer box and a drop down list of that brewery’s beers should appear.  In some cases the beer you are drinking may be new or a one off by the brewery so may not appear on the list, if this is the case you can simply type in the beer name.  Select the beer name, click ‘submit score’ and your score will be entered into the database.  (You can also optionally include the price per pint and comment on the beer under ‘Advanced options’).

 

It is as simple as that.  An added bonus is that a record of your scores is kept so you can look back (on either WhatPub or the GBG app) to see the beers you’ve had and how you rated them.

 

Find out more at https://camra.org.uk/nbss