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Rex_Rattus
26-05-2010, 10:12
It seems that Mrs R and I are off to York shortly. Although she will undoubtedly have a programme of visits to museums and churches lined up, I am hopeful that there may be a bit of spare time for a visit to a few pubs. We are staying in the centre, quite near the Minster. So, this is where I need a bit of help, as these Northern cities are largely unknown territory to me. Anyone got any suggestions for good pubs to visit?

Many thanks
Rex

trainman
26-05-2010, 10:25
I'll fish out the list from our stag weekend up there Rex. Due to organisational duties, and being completely mashed by the evening, I unfortunately failed to write a single review but enjoyed (as far as vague memory allows) every pub on the list of 17 (we had to mop up a couple the next day). We also enjoyed a Sunday 'tour' (mostly a talk) at York Brewery - if you get the brewer as guide he has a great dry sense of humour, and beers in the brewery bar afterwards raised some jaded spirits.
The pubs were mostly small & characterful, no pool tables or even dartboards that I noticed (there was a vague idea about some sporting team challenges) and the beers were consistently fine quality.

ROBCamra
26-05-2010, 10:41
It seems that Mrs R and I are off to York shortly. Although she will undoubtedly have a programme of visits to museums and churches lined up, I am hopeful that there may be a bit of spare time for a visit to a few pubs. We are staying in the centre, quite near the Minster. So, this is where I need a bit of help, as these Northern cities are largely unknown territory to me. Anyone got any suggestions for good pubs to visit?

Many thanks
Rex

Well Rex as York is one of our favourite regular destinations here goes.

Good pubs at the top end of town near the minster.

Minster Inn, Three Legged Mare (aka Wonky Donkey), Guy Fawkes Hotel, Tap & Spile, Maltings.

Middle of town (around Shambles etc)

Last Drop, Yorkshire Terrier, Pivo, Judges Lodgings, Blue Bell.

Other end of town.

Rook & Gaskill, Brigantes, Ackhorne, York Brewery Bar (I'm a member of their club).

For me the must visits are Maltings, Rook & Gaskill, Blue Bell, Brigantes and York Terrier.

This reminds me. I must get round to updating all my York reviews and getting them on here. We were in York last at Easter and I haven't got round to them all yet.

Happy hunting. :cheers:

hondo
26-05-2010, 10:51
the swan

http://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/43666/ :drinkup:

trainman
26-05-2010, 10:59
Well, I just PMd Rex with our full list, but my condensed recommendations included 4 of ROB's 5, and hondo's Swan!
The Golden Ball only snuck onto my planned list as a reserve, but was one of my favs on the day.

oldboots
26-05-2010, 11:51
Yeap what they said, all the best pubs are listed by the guys, BTW the Swan, the Minster, Rook & Gaskill and the Golden Ball don't open till late afternoon during the week.

You might want to download the CAMRA miniguide to central York available here (http://www.yorkcamra.free-online.co.uk/mini_guides.html)

Grailhunter
26-05-2010, 13:32
Blue Bell.

The Blue Bell, York. Absolute gem of a pub. Like walking back in time. Do not miss it.

hopwas
29-05-2010, 10:02
The Blue Bell, York. Absolute gem of a pub. Like walking back in time. Do not miss it.

Great pub, shame about Landlord who was very grumpy when I visited.. maybe I caught wrong time and day.

Yorkshire Terrier is great real ale pub and had great chat with local Yorkie

Golden Fleece reputed to be most haunted pub in York. Can be very cramped on nights but they do have 3 real ales.

(All pubs above was in Sept 2006)

Rex_Rattus
29-05-2010, 13:48
Thanks everyone for your valuable input. I hope to get to some of the best pubs, but as I expected there are far more decent pubs in York than I'll have any chance of visiting in the couple of days that I'll be up there.

arwkrite
31-05-2010, 13:57
If you visit the Yorvik Centre Viking Experience take a gas mask. It has smell effects and Viking Times were pretty pungent. Cannot help with the pubs I visited York before I started collecting them.

gillhalfpint
31-05-2010, 23:53
I go along with all the pubs mentioned. We caravan near the Swan, and go again in August (can't wait) then again for New Year - brill time to visit.

Rex_Rattus
10-06-2010, 18:32
Back from York now, following three days of being a tourist. Mrs R had said that I hadn't been visiting and reviewing sufficient pubs recently, and that I would have to up my game while in York. No, that was a dream; I was probably in the same dreamworld where Maldenman's brother-in-law buys a round! I'm afraid that quite a bit of valuable drinking time was wasted by visits to Minsters, museums, churches and the like. But it was not all doom and gloom. I did manage to poke my whiskery snout into a number of pubs: Blue Bell; Last Drop Inn; Coach House Hotel; Minster Inn; Ye Olde Starre Inn; Judges Lodgings; Bay Horse; Three-Legged Mare; Royal Oak; King's Arms; Maltings; Old White Swan; Guy Fawkes Inn; Three Cranes; Yorkshire Terrier; and The punch Bowl. I would have liked to have visited all the excellent recommendations ROBcamra, trainman, and others gave me, but it just couldn't be done. Nonetheless I think I clocked up some of the better pubs in York, plus a few others that were on nobody's radar, but just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

I wasn't surprised by the presence of all the decent pubs and decent ales, but I wasn't prepared (although perhaps I should have been) for the fact that every beer tap in every pub I went in had a sparkler on it. The first couple of times I went along with it in an effort to blend in and try to feel like a local - when in Rome and all that - but I suspect that I didn't fool anyone, perhaps because I was wearing a blazer and slacks, and the absence of clothe cap and whippet was probably also a giveaway! After a couple of pints of froth I took to asking the bar staff to remove the sparkler before pouring my pint, causing some bemusement and consternation ("you're not really going to drink it like that", "from somewhere down south then?"). One barmaid even said that men had asked her to do lots of strange things, but none had ever asked her do THAT before.

Anyway, it was a super trip, and thanks again for the recommendations.

aleandhearty
10-06-2010, 19:25
I wasn't surprised by the presence of all the decent pubs and decent ales, but I wasn't prepared (although perhaps I should have been) for the fact that every beer tap in every pub I went in had a sparkler on it. The first couple of times I went along with it in an effort to blend in and try to feel like a local - when in Rome and all that - but I suspect that I didn't fool anyone, perhaps because I was wearing a blazer and slacks, and the absence of clothe cap and whippet was probably also a giveaway! After a couple of pints of froth I took to asking the bar staff to remove the sparkler before pouring my pint, causing some bemusement and consternation ("you're not really going to drink it like that", "from somewhere down south then?"). One barmaid even said that men had asked her to do lots of strange things, but none had ever asked her do THAT before.

Anyway, it was a super trip, and thanks again for the recommendations.

Sorry Rex, I'm not biting. :)

ROBCamra
14-06-2010, 17:19
Rex, I noticed you've reviewed the 3 Legged Mare. Did you pop out into the beer garden at the back?

If so you'd have seen a 3 Legged Mare there. They had one built for the pub from some old drawings.

It was used to hang three people at once, nice. :p

Most of them were southerners who asked for the sparkler to be removed. :whistle:

Rex_Rattus
14-06-2010, 18:12
Actually, I missed that one. Mind you it was raining pretty well all the time we were there, so missed out on all the beer gardens. Bar staff invariably took the sparkler thing in good humour. I suppose they expect southerners to ask for strange things; but one or two did look askance at the "flat" beer that I was happy to drink!

I suppose the three-legged mare is the Yorkshire version of the Tyburn Tree. Then there was John Derrick who invented the current apparatus (the derrick) so that hangings could be speeded up by "dropping" several at once. You wonder what some people think about in the bath!