July 2024. Knaresborough.
Mrs RM realised it wasn’t Ripon, it was Knaresborough that she’d wanted to pop in for her Instagram binge, which was lucky as we shortly passed the home of Mother Shipton escaping the chaos on the A1 ,
and needed a comfort break.
Oddly I seem to have made a dozen trips here since Mrs RM’s sole stop in the early days of our “courting”, a day memorable for my having to coast the Pop Plus down into Aysgarth Falls due to a petrol miscalculation.
Knaresborough is a bit underrated, I reckon, but also steep, and 20 minutes of the hour I’d paid for parking elapsed before we reached the river,
disappointed to discover the Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag was only open 2-4 on Sundays.
We didn’t make Mother Shipton either, the pub or the Mother, but Mrs RM spent 10 precious minutes composing her shots of the viaduct, a rival for Yarm or Stockport.
And then 5 minutes standing a queue behind a lady blocking the doorway to the toilets. Eventually, she was told “oh, I’m not waiting for the loo, dear, I’m just admiring the view”.
So, by the time we reached the castle,
it was time to sprint back to the car, planning a return by rail.
What pubs MUST we visit on our return?
retiredmartin 
I can’t vouch for any of these but a friend of ours who is very fussy about his beer (he used to be a ticker with thousands thrown down his gullet ) recommends Track & Sleeper,Cross Keys.Blind Jacks & 6 Poor Folk. When we lived in Leeds always thought of Knaresborough as being a bit of a waste of time -like everywhere else things have changed.From my childhood I remember a rather sad zoo there. Pauline
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Thanks a lot, Pauline, it was the newish Track and Sleeper I was trying to remember.
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Now look young Martin.
If you’re serious about this adoption of northernness, then it’s never “courting”.
It’s courtin’.
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I used to be a fan of the Mitre when Market Town Taverns/ian Fozard ran it. Now it looks like a food led pub, so I would probably give it a swerve.
Robin
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I’ve heard that from a few people, Robin. Half Moon or Cross Keys seemed best picks (or Sam Smiths !).
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What happened to Market Town, anyone ?
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Surely a question for Chris Dyson.
But for what its worth I feel the whole thing lost its way when the founder and CAMRA visionary Ian Fozard sold the business to Okells. The original concept of taking former retail units such as the old Co-op in Guiseley (Coopers) and the Toffee Shop in Harrogate (The Old Bell) and turning them into high quality cask ale destinations serving beer from local producers was brilliant.
The choice of towns to site their pubs was also well though through. Towns like Ilkley, Wetherby and Harrogate has Market Town pubs, Keighley did not.
Once tied to a brewery the whole beer offering declined. Then the chain started to lose some of its outlets such as Veritas in Leeds. Presumably the footfall couldn’t keep up with the high costs associated with a city centre destination which was a considerable distance from the train station. Vocation were nearby and they also couldn’t make it work.
Finally whole parts of the chain were sold to the likes of Brew York and Kirkstall Brewery. Not sure what that leaves in terms of the original estate. Hard to tell as the website is ‘under construction’.
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Thanks for detailed response. Some wise observations there.
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The Mitre has recently been taken over by Brew York.
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