One more from Cumbria for now, but I’ll be back, as BRAPA said last week.
Whither Sedbergh ?
Wiki tells me the economy is driven by the schools, which probably makes it the Uppingham of the North. The sports kit shop probably accounts for 22% of local GDP.
Like Uppingham, eerily quiet. Unlike Uppingham, spectacularly hilly.
It’s also claimed to be England’s “Book Town“, which is a bit of a stretch, but I guess that if Gillingham doesn’t claim it then it’s yours.
Towns dominated by schools don’t typically make great pub towns (SEE: Oundle, Uppingham, Oxford).
The most exciting thing here was opening the door “It’s not just you” said the bloke at the bar.
Despite(?) some polite modern Irish music, the Dalesman is posh. This is the centrepiece of the bar, and it’s a not a dartboard or jukebox.
Nothing wrong with smart dining pubs, of course. The GBG would be a smaller volume without Brunning & Price and “new” Robinsons. But it hasn’t exactly brought out the Old Boys in their droves, just a genteel couple and a commercial traveller.
Like Keswick, a bit of an overload of those homebrews that tourists love.
Unlike Keswick, the cask seemed genuinely popular, and the Barngates was a cool, well conditioned 3/3.5. But it was still homebrew.
No drama, but slowly I’m making some progress with the trickiest county that starts with a “C”. And if I can learn not to confuse Kendal with Keswick I could yet clear the lot this year.
retiredmartin 
“Mudgie will have views on this” – Naan breads don’t come much bigger than that.
Did you get in the Black Bull where I had a weekend in march 1990 ?
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No I didn’t, Paul. I believe they’re still recovering from your visit.
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Yes, they had to change the name. It was just the Bull then.
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The WhatPub entry for the Dalesman sounds as though it was written by the pub itself. Presumably it was originally called something else, although it is the Dalesman in my 1989 Cumbria guide.
https://whatpub.com/pubs/KEN/1090/dalesman-sedbergh
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T’other Mudgie,
Yes, in 1989 alongside the Bull and the Red Lion.
The 1982 Cumbria guide is no help as it only lists the Red Lion, t’other two presumably having no real ale then.
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“The Dalesman ” -I imagine a dark farmhouse type pub,low ceilings,stone floor & an open fire with a sleeping sheepdog in front.Cheery (do they exist ? ) farmers quaffing pints of fine cask ale & sandwiches & pies humming away gently under a cloche .Oh & there would be snow outside leading to being marooned & a nice lock in.I would be disappointed with this particular Dalesman by the looks of it !
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“Pashminas welcome”
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You also missed Oakham/Repton off your list of villages/towns with good schools but not very good pubs….Sedbergh are one of those particularly silly schools who snub the national game.
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Repton? No, never heard of it.
Oakham has a Wetherspoons these days which has raised the social standing of the town.
Yes, no sign of Association Soccer in Sedbergh, though of course Sedbergh Shooters did, famously, make the 3rd Qualifying round of the FA Vase in 1997.
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I’ve not ventured into Oakham Spoons – I will endeavour to see the improved social standing on my next visit!!!
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Wipe your feet on the way out.
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One might not expect sticky carpets in Rutland.
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Repton.. isn’t that just down the road from Paradise Lost to BBM.
Anyway the Dalesman, a pub that tries to be a chain pub restaurant and struggles at that in my view. Sedbergh as a Quaker stronghold has never been strong on pubs. Shame CAMRA don’t put the temperance hotel up the road in the Howgills in the GBG. They let you take your own beer.
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