Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Ingleton

  • Ingleton – Old Post Office (July 2020 Interview)

    Ingleton – Old Post Office (July 2020 Interview)

    Not with any great degree of seriousness, but I compiled my favourite pubs of 2019 last year, primarily in a bid to remember where I’d been. One of those pubs was the Hop & Vine in Hull (or the Hop & Vibe as I managed to call them on Twitter) and last week Tony answered some questions about how things are going in the current challenging climate.

    And, another one of my favourite pubs was the Old Post Office in Ingleton which, as its name suggests, is a conversion from a former post office into a cosy little arrangement which has a decent choice of beer and welcoming atmosphere, but above all, excellent customer service. Excuse the quality of my photos, I took them on my previous visit although I was intending to visit the pub again in a few weeks to take more. Unfortunately, accommodation is proving difficult to find given the number of staycations being booked, but I’ll get there sometime over the next few weeks.

    Adam and Rob from the pub kindly answered questions about how things are going with them and it gives me an idea of a place to go that I haven’t been, which is Preston. And I haven’t heard of Se7en Brothers brewery (Nathan will tut at that, as I probably should have done and I’m sure they’re on his spreadsheet), but their marshmallow stout looks marvellous!

    Anyway, onto the questions:

    You’re back open again, was it a successful re-opening for you?

    We reopened on the 4th July, as soon as we were given the green light by the government. From the word go we have been overwhelmed by people’s support. We find that most days we are open all our tables are full which is fantastic.

    How easy has it been to implement social distancing in the space that you have and have customers been prepared to come back?

    As a microbar we are naturally limited for space, so the distancing has been challenging. We have tried different layouts in the bar, and we have ensured that the 1m plus rule can be stuck too. Our main concern was that as a customer you would feel safe to come in and have a drink. We sat in each seat and measured the distance and tested the mitigations we had put in place. We have found a large number of our regulars come back which is fantastic to see, there are naturally going to be some who don’t feel safe and that’s fine. I’m sure they will return in time.

    When I visited, I didn’t notice your back room of the Armoury. It looks marvellously quirky in the photos, what inspired that theme?

    We have always been interested in history, from the Roman era, medieval to Napoleonic and the world wars. We used to own an older property in Cumbria, the style of the property suited that theme. We decided to create ‘the armoury’ to show off our collection and to create something different. (you certainly wouldn’t expect that in a small village).

    What do you see the future being for pubs in North Yorkshire, is there cause for optimism?

    I think the future is uncertain but I hope the industry makes a full recovery from recent events. With less holidays abroad and people staying in the UK this year we all hope to be busy. We are lucky to be in a touristy area surrounded by beautiful countryside, everyone likes a well earned pint after a day in the hills!

    It was clear from my visit that you have a real community feel. Were the community and your regulars supportive during the period of closure?

    During lockdown we offered a takeaway and delivery service to the local community and upto 10 miles away. We had repeat customers most weeks and they were fantastic at supporting us. It was great to get out on the deliveries and check in and see how our regulars were and have a chat. It brought a bit of normality in what was a very strange time.

    I liked the choice of beer that you had in the fridges. Given your small serving space, you offer a wide selection of options. Do you think some pubs with more size are missing out by not offering craft beer options?

    I think at the moment the craft beer industry is booming, you only have to look at the amount of small breweries in the UK. There are some fantastic beers out there. Everyone likes a choice and at times wants to try something different and unique, other venues should give it a go and see if it works for them.

    How do you go about choosing the beers? Are you guided by wholesalers, customers or inspired by extensive travel to other pubs?

    We like to conduct a lot of research and product testing! In all honesty at the start we stocked what we liked to drink, it just grew from there. We like to try the more quirky beers that you cannot find easily. That’s one positive to come out of our lockdown experience. We looked at other suppliers and stockists and broadened our search for beers. We certainly found some great breweries to work with that’s for sure.

    It’s not all about the beer. You’re big on gin, is this still a popular spirit, or is something else becoming more in favour?

    Gin has been a big seller for us since we opened but rum is catching up! There are so many different rums out there now, some really fantastic small batch bottles too.

    Would you be willing to name your other favourite pubs, whether in Yorkshire or further afield?

    Too many to mention but a bar we really want to visit as soon as we can is Applejacks Microbar in Preston, we follow them on social media and have been in contact during lockdown offering each other support. We can not wait to meet them in person and try their selection of cakes and ales.

    And, finally, do you have a favourite beer and/or spirit?

    This changes weekly! But at the moment our favourite beers are ‘Honeycomb pale ale’ from Se7en Brothers brewery and ‘Pump up the Jam’ from Tiny Rebel. Spirits wise we quite like the Salford spiced rum.

  • Ingleton – Three Horseshoes

    I’ve been in this pub before during one of the coast to coast walks I’ve done, so a return visit seemed worthwhile given we were walking by. The pub was very quiet when we walked in, but it seemed warm and comfortable.

    There were no dark beers available either on draft or in bottles, slightly disappointing given that the pub has four ales on. I went for the rather generic Thwaites best bitter, which was bland, but to the pub’s credit, it tasted well kept and was at the appropriate temperature.

    There was nothing particularly wrong with the pub, it was clean and comfortable, with the beers all tasting fine. However, looking at the reviews of the pub, there’s something upsetting a not inconsiderable number of people, although I didn’t encounter the problems raised by others. I do like that the pub has taken a forthright stance in how it replies to reviews though on TripAdvisor.

    “We have opinions of people as well from our side of the bar but these opinions are usually kept to ourselves.In some cases it is just as well.”

    Some responses I found humorous at least…. And one customer wrote:

    “We met up with family and called onto this pub for a drink. The pub was clean and tidy but the bar man was the most miserable, and unfriendly man we’d ever seen. He barely spoke, didn’t smile once and didn’t want to chat. A really poor advocate for customer service!”

    The pub’s response was “we like him” which is an impressively good response in my opinion, no need to bother to defend against such a nasty review.

    “We all enjoy what we do but some times we all get a little bit fraught.It is a family run pub and we do our best for our customers with pleasure. Sometimes though we get it wrong.”

    I quite like the honesty of this response. We didn’t order food this time so I don’t know about the quality, but I’d return here again for drinks. And although I will confess that the service wasn’t particularly engaging, there was certainly none of the rudeness mentioned by others in their reviews.

  • Ingleton – Old Post Office

    The Post Office which operated from here only closed four years ago and it was turned into a bar soon afterwards. There are now new owners of the bar, who took over just a few weeks ago, and the venues positions itself as a primarily craft beer and spirits bar. I came here on two nights and it was busy on both occasions, so they’re doing something right.

    The beer selection with some interesting options available. I tried the rhubarb & custard, toffee temptation and the black cherry from the second shelf down as they sounded tempting. They all had the appropriate taste although the beers were just a little watery and the aftertaste was rather more limited. The lockers on the right of the above photo are also used for storing bottles before moving them into the fridge, a clever use of the limited space that is available.

    The Imperial Flump King at 10% from Hawkshead which had the inevitable depth of taste I’d expect from an imperial stout. There was a slightly sweet taste although I thought it was more vanilla in flavour than marshmallow, but nonetheless, this felt like a quality product. I wonder what this would taste like if available in cask, something rather glorious I should imagine. I was pleased incidentally that there was such a wide selection of dark beers to choose from, not least since I didn’t manage to get that anywhere else in Ingleton.

    Quirky interior and there are numerous decorative items on the wall to add some character. The only element missing for me is that there is nothing about the history of the building, and I’m sure there must be some stories to tell given how long the Post Office was located here.

    The owners were engaging, friendly and welcoming, offering one of the best welcomes I’ve had this year in a pub. They are clearly proud of their new bar and that’s evident in the comfortable nature of the surroundings and the informal nature of the atmosphere. The beer selection on draft is limited, although that’s inevitable given how small this pub is, but there’s some thought been taken with the bottled beers. There are a selection of upmarket snacks and also some slightly quirky spirits to offer extra choice.

    The prices in the bar are reasonable for both bar snacks and drinks, with credit and debit cards being accepted. I have to say (well, write) that this was my favourite pub of the weekend, with the welcome being authentic and I’m confident that it’ll remain a popular location to visit. All very lovely.

  • Ingleton – Masons Freehouse

    With an eventual group size of 11, finding a place to eat in Ingleton isn’t necessarily easy on a Friday night. However, I booked ten months in advance to ensure availability, which was rather organised of me. And to be fair to Masons, they were equally professional and organised, confirming the booking promptly and reconfirming this week. They didn’t need a deposit or pre-ordering, so it all felt well managed.

    And the table was successfully reserved. I liked that the pub was proud of its history by putting some photos up of how it appeared in the nineteenth century and it takes its name from when it was run by a family of masons.

    On the first night I opted for fish and chips, which was well presented. The fish tasted of a good quality, the batter had a reasonable depth of taste and the mushy peas had the appropriately consistency. I wasn’t really sold on the chips, slightly greasy and over-cooked for my liking, but overall this didn’t represent poor value for money.

    We returned for food on the second night, and I went for the steak pie. Stupidly of me I forgot that the chips weren’t overly exciting, but the pie seemed home-made and there was a generous amount of steak inside and this was of a decent quality meat. The gravy was also authentic and home-made with lots of flavour. For the money, this again proved to be perfectly acceptable value for money.

    This pub is mentioned in the Good Beer Guide and is the only location in Ingleton which is. This perhaps increased my expectations too much as the dark beer selection was non existent and the nearest was Doom Bar which has nearly no appeal to me given its lack of flavour (or at least what I perceive to lack flavour as the beer isn’t exactly unpopular). Since the pub doesn’t do bottled dark beer either I just went for soft drinks, a mild disappointment given the selection I’d just experienced in the Old Post Office. Personally, with five real ales on I’d have liked at least one of them to be dark, but it’d be ideal if they could perhaps offer cans or bottles at least as an alternative.

    Anyway, nonetheless, it’s apparent that they’ve tidied up the pub in recent years and it is a professionally run location. We didn’t experience any issues, but I’m fairly sure that they’d have been resolved in a helpful and willing manner if we had. The temperature in the pub was also off the scale hot for my liking, although since the pub was busy it’d be harsh to complain about that.

    So, for those with groups wanting food, this is a location I’d recommend and if I was taking a large party to Ingleton again then I’d certainly book again. The prices were reasonable, the food was brought out promptly and the staff were personable and helpful.