August 2023. Tan Hill.
Having completed the Beer Guide I wondered if I’d finally visited all the classic pubs in the UK, but then I realised that the Crooked House never made the GBG while I was ticking it, and there’s a few places like Defford’s Monkey House without cask, so who knows.
And then GBG23 came out and the Tan Hill Inn was in it. You know, Britain’s highest pub, the one that people pay to be snowed in at every January (or June).
How had I never been ? And how had it never made the Guide.
And more importantly, where exactly is it ?
On a very windy road off the A66 between Darlington and Penrith, I guess. We visited on the sunniest day of the year. Well, it was when we left Barnard Castle. Perhaps we need our eyes testing.
Baa Baa looked a bit nervous about getting out of the car,
so we left him to make friends with the sheep while we assessed whether the Tan Hill was a curiosity pub like the one shaped like a playing card or the one only open 8 hours a week or something.
We hadn’t passed a single car coming from the north, so I can only assume the visitors are all American tourists staying in Reeth.
It was packed, and staff were having to disappoint successive customers with the words “Sorry, no food. No, not even sandwiches”. They should have had the chicken parmo for breakfast like normal people.
At the bar, our US beer discoverer said “Say, what’s that you’ve got“.
“Oh, it’s Old Peculier, very good but it’s quite strong, best have a half since you’re American“.
“I’ll have a pint !”. I bet he’s still in a ditch being licked by sheep.
Mrs RM, whose skills in finding a seat in a full pub never cease to amaze, had negotiated a bench near the fire.
It was a cosy spot, with only the dual dangers of fire and licking by dog to contend with.
Patronised readers with the “Scratch and Sniff” edition will recognise the smell of that fire from the Dead Poets in Holbrook.
Hard not to love, and the Black Sheep and Old Peculier were superb, despite a scary number of pumps.
And the soundtrack was a stunner.
retiredmartin 
Hi Martin, hope you don’t get too much of a shock, hearing from the likes of me! Delighted to read about your visit to this pub, one that looms large in my imagination. Did your ears pop as you ascended to its altitude?
I do love a glass of Old Peculier, though I’ve only had it from a bottle over here, sadly. Here’s to the day I remedy that state of affairs over on your side of the pond. Do you see it on offer very often? I’ve always imagined it was a relatively rare sighting, even over there.
The Tan Hill’s claim to fame makes me wonder what the second highest pub is, and if its owners aren’t quietly praying the Tan Hill will go out of business. 😉
Hope all is well with you. Thanks as always for the time and care you put into your blog.
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Ears didn’t pop but it was eerie entering the fog !
The second highest ! What an excellent question. I thought it might be a pub I headed to next in North Yorks, but it’s actually the similarly isolated Cat & Fiddle east of Macclesfield (more distillery than pub these days), which since I went to once in a storm I can well believe is a similar refuge !
Near me in Sheffield the Snake Pass Inn was very out on a limb but that closed as a pub a while back.
Old Peculier seems quite resilient in Yorkshire pubs; the strength makes it stand out compared to the average 5% beer.
Hope all is well with you Mark.
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Stayed at the Snake Pass Inn a fair few years ago, it was pretty good. Shame it’s not a pub any more.
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The Pennine pubs have struggled, e.g. the Buckstones Inn is now a house, I think. I’m not sure if Nont Sarah’s is still going either.
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The pub in the highest village is definitely the New Inn at Flash in Staffordshire between Leek and Buxton.
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1519 feet above sea level.
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We drove from Leek to Buxton last May. If we had known we would have stopped.
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Anonymous,
The A53 is my direct route to the Hope Valley if motoring but last autumn I stopped off for a pint of Holts Bitter in the Railway at Buxton instead.
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I’ve never been to the Tan Hill Inn, although it’s on the list. I first heard about the pub from an old school friend, who called in there with a couple of other school mates, whilst walking the Pennine Way.
My friend felt embarrassed, because after asking one of his companions what he wanted to drink, the answer came back, “I’d like a pot of tea, please.”
Like the snow-cats btw, and the old clip from TOTP!
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T’other Paul,
The nearest I got to the Tan Hill Inn was staying at Keld Youth Hostel while walking the Coast to Coast Path with a friend from Liverpool between 2004 and 2007. We stayed six Youth Hostels and six pubs, the best of them being the Lion at Blakey Ridge.
It was five Youth Hostels and one pub for the Offa’s Dyke Path in 1991.
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I went there once, but didn’t take to it.
Unlike the Red Lion on Blakey Ridge, for when I’m bored of bankers in the Sun Inn.
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Nice. I was there a few years ago. Good to see the fire is still going.
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Not only have I been to this pub, I have stayed there. The following day did a lovely walk down into Swaledale with lunch at the Farmers Arms in Muker. Then over the tops and into Wensleydale with a night in Askrigg. Lovely part of the world.
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Yes gorgeous. Was it expensive?
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Not too bad Martin, I think it would have been about £60 per night, but it was about 10 years ago.
I have also read the book the Inn at the Top by Neil Hanson. He was the Landlord when Ted Moult was doing the Everest double glazing adverts at the Tan Hill Inn.
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Oh, so that’s the Ted Moult everyone has been mentioning !
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Ted Moult! A man famous for being famous. For some reason.
Bill
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The Tan Hill appeared in an episode of “Vera”, the only pub to be featured under its real name.
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That pub is on my bucket list.
I can assume that the American was not Dave.
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We are all Dave. And Dick.
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No grub on offer -scandalous ! Is this normal or was there a problem -i would be gutted if I went all that way & left hungry !
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This was Friday about 2.30 so possibly only sandwiches. Come to think of it they did ask for a “sandwich menu” and he then said “no menu, tuna, cheese or ham” so perhaps I misunderstood ! There’s a very foody place (Punchbowl) down the road at Low Row.
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First went there in 1962 with my parents. I had Vimto and a packet of Smiths crisps although I cannot remember if there was a small blue bag of salt with it.
My dad said he wouldn’t be surprised if the pub closed down before too long, it was run down and hanging on by a thread – Very few walkers in those days and a long journey for locals.
So pleased that the place is still going.
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There was none luckier than he who got two blue wax paper twists of salt…
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Vimto flavoured crisps would be great. If you’d kept the blue bag of salt it would be worth a fortune now.
Pubs like the Tan Hill tend to attract a certain sort of “destination pub” goer, particularly when the pub does decent food. The isolated Strines Inn west of Sheffield is similar.
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Regarding classic unspoilt remote pubs I would recommend the Crask inn in Sutherland on the very long and remote road between Lairg and Altnaharra.
It makes the Tan hill look positively urban
No cask but good Keg Orkney ales
See the What pub entry for an explanation of how it came to be pub owned by the Church of Scotland
This would be the pub in the coldest location in the UK as Altnaharra has recorded the coldest temps and Crask has recorded colder but does not have an official weather station.
Would be a good stop off if ticking the John o Groats brewery taproom but check first as Road is regularly snow blocked in winter
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I drove past the Crask on the road to Tongue in 1998 but that was in mid-June so not that cold ;-0
I ticked pre-emptively the JoG tap the day before I completed the GBG last year !
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Many moons ago a bunch of us were sent on a week’s outward bound course, based in Darlo. One of the many fun activities that week was spending a night in a tent on the banks of the Swale in the tiny village of Keld, followed by a day’s hiking North along the Pennine Way. When we saw the Tan Hill Inn in the distance, a few of us legged it and managed to get most of a pint down our necks before the instructor came bursting through the door to drag us out by our ears, apologising profusely to the staff as we were all underage. Happy days!
That was the only time I’ve been. Can’t even remember what I drank, let alone what I scored it!
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I’m glad you didn’t let my scathing review on Pubs Galore put you off. https://www.pubsgalore.co.uk/pubs/62929/
And no. My ears didn’t pop either. The descent into Swaledale is a good reward for the effort of getting to the top though.
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I have visited PubsGalore on several occasions.
There was some friendly chat among the regulars, but all-in-all I found it a bit lacking in atmosphere.
5/10
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