Following our successful 2024 Ale Trail, you can still use the guide to visit 29 real ale bars across the area. Download a copy from our 'Ale Trail' page using the link below.
Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough Ale Trail
ALE TRAIL PAGE
Latest branch news
Harrogate news
The Old Bell has announced that it will be closing, with its final day of trading on Saturday 25th January. The pub has been advertised at a market price of £1,250,000, and is currently under offer. It's hoped that it will continue as a pub under new ownership.
Coach & Horses (Provenance Inns & Hotels) holds a happy hour daily from 4-7pm when ‘selected drinks’ are half price for customers who download an app and sign up to their loyalty scheme.
The Disappearing Chin closed its doors on Christmas Eve after five and a half years, including four years in the Good Beer Guide. We wish Jack and Hannah all the best in their future endeavours. Meanwhile, the lease of the pub remains for sale at £40k.
Hera Cocktail Lounge (no real ale) is the new incarnation of the former Best Bar on Parliament Street which closed in December.
Irish themed bar chain, Katie O’Briens (no real ale) opened in December on The Ginnel in the unit formerly occupied by Manahatta and previously The Pit. https://katieobriensirishtaverns.com/harrogate
The planning application by the owner of The Office Ale House for a micropub in Bilton at the former Lunns blind shop on Skipton Road has been approved by North Yorkshire Council (ZC24/03247/FUL).
Over & Above is to be a new speakeasy / cocktail bar located above the Little Ale House in the former Ali Raj restaurant, expected to open early March. Not expected to compete with the Little Ale House for real ale!
The Park (Whitbread, closed July 2024) which adjoins the Premier Inn at Hornbeam Park has received planning consent from North Yorkshire Council for conversion of the pub into additional bedrooms and a residents only dining area/bar (ZC24/03653/FUL).
The Wicked Wolf (formerly Potting Shed, closed 2019) next to Wetherspoons opened in December. Licensed 10am to 3am daily. No real ale. https://www.wickedwolfharrogate.co.uk
Ripon news
The Golden Lion (Greene King) which re-opened with a new tenant last October, is serving at least one real ale, usually Morlands Old Golden Hen.
The Portly Pig changed hands in November, now under the ownership of Stuart and Katie Ross. The new owners continue to maintain three changing cask ales, often including a dark, and since taking over they have opened another room upstairs accommodating up to 30 people. In view of the change of licensee, the pub was de-listed from the current Good Beer Guide, though anecdotal evidence backed up by members’ beer scores to date suggest that beer quality remains very good.
South Lodge (Heineken) has closed for refurbishment, reopening date unknown.
Other towns and villages news
The Ship Inn at Aldborough (Heineken) closed in November after just eight months operated by UK Hospitality Management. New tenants are being sought.
The Tiger Inn at Coneythorpe (closed 2023) is to re-open at the end of January under the ownership of Goldsborough Hall owners, Mark and Clare Oglesby.
https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/24861619.tiger-inn-coneythorpe-plans-re-open-july-31
At The Crown Inn in Grewelthorpe (closed 2023, formerly Admiral Taverns) work by the new owners appears to be progressing well towards a re-opening soon.
In Kirkby Malzeard over 100 villagers packed the village hall last November for a meeting pressing North Yorkshire Council to proceed with a Compulsory Purchase Order to secure the Henry Jenkins pub for the community. More details on the Henry Jenkins Community Pub group website: https://thehenryjenkins.org/latest-news
The Anchor Inn at Langthorpe (Red Oak Taverns) has closed again with new tenants sought.
The Squinting Cat at Lund House Green (Greene King) is no longer serving real ale.
Staveley Arms at North Stainley closed early in January citing financial unviability.
Harefield Hall in Pateley Bridge has closed and is up for sale for £1.75m.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/155420570
The Black Lion at Skelton on Ure (closed 2019) which was purchased from Admiral Taverns in 2023 by the local community who are continuing to work hard towards a re-opening as community pub and hub for the village. A community café was opened in December (open 10am to 2pm Friday to Sunday for tea and cakes) with plans to re-open the pub in April. https://www.skeltonblacklion.com
Club news
Bilton Club (formerly Bilton WMC) in High Harrogate has submitted a planning application to North Yorkshire Council for refurbishment of the existing club building to include demolition of a two storey rear extension and erection of a four storey extension with eight new flats (ZC24/04145/FUL).
National Reserve Club (closed 2021, no real ale) has had a second application for change of use to residential refused by North Yorkshire Council (ZC24/03076/FUL).
Ripon Bowling Club (no real ale), Ripon’s last remaining social club, is serving two keg beers via handpumps, namely Hobgoblin IPA and Wainwright Gold. These are ‘fresh ales’ from Carlsberg, keg beers served through cask handpumps. Find out more here: Handpump Hijack.
If you have any pub, club or brewery news that we are not reporting here please email harcamra@hotmail.co.uk
Plan a local pub crawl...
KNARESBOROUGH
This small market town boasts a diverse selection of great real ale pubs.
HARROGATE
RIPON
The spa town with victorian inns, modern bars and micropubs.
From one-eyed rats to unicorns, this cathedral city has a variety of real ale watering holes.
Branch boundary map
You may be surprised by how large an area Harrogate and Ripon Camra covers, from Thornton Watlass, near Bedale in the north, to Pool in Wharfedale on the edge of Otley in the south. The map below shows the branch boundary.
Branch diary
MEETINGS
SOCIAL EVENTS
PRESENTATIONS
Monday 17 February 2025
Branch meeting (including Good Beer Guide selection)
The Winter Gardens, Harrogate
19:30
Saturday 15 March 2025
Branch meeting
The Portly Pig, Ripon
12:00
Saturday 8 February 2025
Boroughbridge Social
Meet at The Black Bull, St James Square from 12:15pm
21 bus from Knaresborough at 11:30 or 84 bus from Ripon at 12:14.
Saturday 22 March 2025
Harrogate Social
Details TBC.
Beer festivals and events
Beer scoring and the Good Beer Guide
You are probably aware of the ‘Good Beer Guide’, National CAMRA’s flagship publication which lists the best real ale pubs in the UK. But what you may not know is how those pubs are selected to appear in the Guide. The answer is that it is largely via beer scores submitted by CAMRA members from all over the country. If you are a CAMRA member you can send in beer scores. If you’ve ever wondered why your favourite pub isn’t in the Guide, this may well be because you, and others, haven’t entered scores rating the quality of beer there. By beer scoring, you can contribute to the process of selection of pubs that go in the Good Beer Guide. Here's how...
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 30,000 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.
How do I edit my scores?
If you submit an incorrect score by mistake or decide you want to change a score, here is a link to step by step instructions on how to edit your submission. EDIT MY SCORES
Want to know more?
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For more information about CAMRA, or to become a member visit camra.org.uk
