Where Centurions Dare - A wander around York

York is a wonderful city, steeped in history, full of monuments to English history, but also home to some very good pubs indeed. Armed with the Good Beer Guide, me and my faithful companion took on the challenge of enjoying all they had to offer or fall over trying - tough but we felt it was a worthwhile venture. The problem was where to start. After a 300 mile motorcycle ride on the Friday before a bank holiday, taking nearly eight hours, we arrived at the Roman Bath; a very reasonably priced hotel right in the centre. Starving and in need of a good pint we left our pub behind, they only sold John Smith’s best, we tried it later and failed to be impressed. We happened upon the Golden Lion on Church Street. This is not yet in the ale drinker’s bible but is sure to be, having won a pub of the season in 2005. The ale selection was impressive, we started with a Daleside Blonde to accompany a fine meal then I had a Wentworth’s and Teresa a Burton Damson Porter; impressed we ventured forth.

York Brewery owns three pubs within York’s city walls, we discovered the first ‘The Last Drop’ round the corner. York brewery brew some fine ales: Guzzler a very drinkable hoppy session beer, the hoppier Terrier, the very drinkable Decade but their most famous beer is Centurian’s Ghost, dark strong and multi-award winning most recently awarded Gold at the 2006 Great British Beer festival. The brewery pubs, the ‘Drop’, Yorkshire Terrier and Three-Legged Mare are similar in their atmosphere, friendly and welcoming, serve the full range plus guests, at the time of our visit Castle Rock was prominent. We sampled most York beers during our visit and heartily recommend them.

In between the York Brewery pubs we happened upon the Golden Slipper on Goodramgate. A modest range here and the loud music made chatting a little tricky, but not bad at all for a quick half. Friday was rounded off in a non-GBG pub ‘The Hole in the Wall’, a basic range but Young’s Samson finished off a very good night.

Many visitors to York arrive by train, possibly visiting the National Rail Museum, always worth a browse, and the new Yorkshire Eye, though views of York are not as stunning as could be expected, but one clear advantage is the proximity of the station to The Maltings: and it was here that Sunday truly started. The range here is truly interesting, Black Sheep Best is the standard but guests include real lagers and an Irish porter, and perries and ciders are always available. Teresa had a Hilden Molly Malone, I enjoyed a Rooster’s Yankee. Leaving here we sought out The Ackhorne, hidden down St Martin’s Lane off Micklegate. Another pub with a wide range including local brews from York, Cropton and Roosters and even good old Tanglefoot, though we did not succumb to that. We enjoyed a couple of local ales in the quaint and small beer garden while perusing our map. This was also the starting point for Monday evening when we discovered some of the real gems of the city.

Turning right we followed the roads towards the river, wandering past The Golden Ball which is well worth a visit I am told, but our destination was The Swan just on the Bishopsgate Street section of the inner ring road. Boasting a splendid range including Summer Lightning, and a unique West Riding lay out uncommon outside the old fashioned railway station pubs of West Yorkshire, this is a must. I enjoyed a very nice pint of Leicester’s Bridge Brewery Ratae’d Dow, Teresa a Deuchars IPA; great stuff to prepare us for a stroll around the wall.

Crossing the river and then following the wall all the way around to Bootham Bar at the end of Walmgate you find yourself on the corner of Lawrence Street. This is the home of the Rook and Gaskill, a real freehouse, currently York CAMRA Pub of the Year and offering a range of 12 ever changing guest ales. The pub is named after two sheep rustlers Mr Rook and Mr Gaskill, unfortunate to have been hanged on the location when such things were popular entertainment (the equivalent of soap opera probably). Teresa found a very nice mild, I tried out Abbeydale Restoration, which makes a change from their Last Rites, a good hoppy, blonde ale that set us up nicely for the walk along Walmgate.

After falling in and out of an Italian eaterie we found York’s smallest pub, The Blue Bell on Fossgate. An inventory pub with a real drinking corridor, with a fold down seat at the serving hatch, and offering Black Dick specials on the food menu (Black Pudding with brie included). Teresa tried a Tetley Dark Mild, regretted it as it tasted of nothing, and switched rapidly to perry. Despite a large meal I enjoyed an Ossett Silver King and sat back to enjoy York CAMRA’s current seasonal pub (well chosen guys!).

There are many more pubs, the Olde Starre Inn, the oldest in the city, and many heritage pubs, but for ale we think we got round all the best that were within staggering distance of our base. It’s a great city for ale lovers, with a festival 9-11 November but with the pubs all in on the act there is at least one festival almost every month of the year (check out York CAMRA for info or when next passing through find a copy of the Ouze Boozer).

So if you have never ventured to York make a few days of it, you definitely wont be disappointed.