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15-06-2015, 10:33
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As you’ll see from the gallery we posted earlier today (http://boakandbailey.com/2015/06/gallery-pubs-of-settle-giggleswick-n-yorks/)*there’s no shortage of pubs in the conjoined-twin-towns*of Settle and Giggleswick but one was our clear favourite: the Talbot Arms.Situated off the High Street, behind the market place and a few doors down from the 17th-century architectural oddity that is the Folly (http://www.ncbpt.org.uk/folly/), the Talbot is visually striking: a wall of white with the pub’s name in huge black letters and an unusual sign of a white dog which looks both hip*and yet also strangely medieval.
Inside is a single large room, rather bare, which somehow conveys that dining is an option without making it feel like an obligation. On our multiple visits we found locals chatting at the bar, in corners gossiping, or in muddy boots reading the*Craven Herald*with glasses of wine.
http://boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/talbot_ale_list_350.jpg
The cask ale offer struck us as interesting for various reasons. First, because we recognised few of the breweries; secondly, because there was a clear effort to cover a range of styles, from mild to pale’n’hoppy via old-fashioned bitter; and, finally, because the range seemed more resolutely small-and-local than some other pubs in the area.
http://boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/cascade_partners_474-300x300.jpg
Not every beer we tried was top notch but none of them were downright bad, and all were in good nick. It was also here that we also found our beer of the week: Partners Brewing Cascade (4% ABV, £3 a pint). Somewhat neglected in favour of more fashionable hop varieties, Cascade is surely due a revival — citrus, yes, but with a distinctive fruits-of-the-forest character that lent this particular beer a ripe juiciness to balance a light body and flinty bitterness.
Perhaps those of you who know the northern scene better than us*will*let us know whether Partners is a generally well-regarded brewery — we suspect not, or we might have heard of them — but, regardless, this particular beer was one we stuck on for multiple pints, and for two days in a row at that.
The Talbot Arms also has*a proper beer garden — that is, not a wasp-infested yard next to the bins with a pile of mouldering carpet, as is found in most English pubs (http://boakandbailey.com/2012/03/german-vs-british-beer-gardens/), but something landscaped and leafy, with solid tables, and a mixture of sunshine and shade. It isn’t quite up to German standards, but it’s not far off.
Now, if you visit Settle, the Talbot might not be your favourite — perhaps we were lucky with the weather and the particular beers that were on offer — but you can certainly have some fun finding out over the course of a day or weekend.
The Talbot Arms, Settle (http://boakandbailey.com/2015/06/the-talbot-arms-settle/) from Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog - Over-thinking beer, pubs and the meaning of craft since 2007 (http://boakandbailey.com)


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