This was my first-ever visit to the administrative centre and county town of North Yorkshire, which sits between York and Darlington on the main East Coast railway line. Read on to see what I found....
It was another hot day in yet another spell of above-average temperatures and I had decided to take advantage of Brighouse Railway Station's elevation as replacement for Huddersfield which was closed for the weekend as part of the ongoing upgrade of the Trans-Pennine Line. This meant that there were plenty of additional services to destinations that do not have a direct service from Brighouse, such as the one I caught around lunchtime which was heading to Redcar Central.
I didn't go as far as Redcar, alighting instead a few stations before there at Northallerton. This was my first ever visit to this North Yorkshire market town and administrative centre of around 17,000 people, but the Good Beer Guide had three pubs in it with several others in the town so I reckoned it would be worth a look. The train was quite busy when I got on, but it was very quiet after Leeds and York, where the races were on, which made for a pleasant latter part of what was a journey of an hour and 15 minutes.
The town dates back to Roman times when there was a military fort nearby, and a settlement sprung up here. It grew in importance from the 11th century when King William II gave land in the area to the Bishop of Durham, and it subsequently became an important religious centre. The Battle of the Standard between England and Scotland was fought nearby in 1138, with the English forces triumphing with the Scots losing up to 12,000 men, although they came back in 1318 and gained some retribution by destroying the town. A castle had been built here in 1130, but was destroyed in 1177, with a more substantial palace surrounded by a moat being built in 1199. The palace became an important administrative centre for the bishops' lands in Yorkshire and served as a major residence for the bishops and their staff. The palace lay on the main road from York to Durham and was a regular stopping place for royalty and other dignitaries. The palace had fallen into ruin by 1658 and the site is now a cemetery. The town was awarded a market charter and it became an important stopping point for coaches on the road between Edinburgh and London until the arrival of the railway. Some of these former coaching inns can still be seen in the town today such as the Golden Lion and the Buck.
And it was one of those former coaching inns, the Golden Lion, that was my first stopping point in the town. I had walked down a long road from the station until I reached the long and wide High Street with its steady stream of traffic. A market was taking place along one side which meant there were plenty of people milling about. There were a number of covered passageways leading off the street, and people kept disappearing into them or appearing from within. The High Street was lined with plenty of high street shops, upmarket names, and local shops, and with various restaurants and a branch of Betty's Tearooms, it came across as a fairly well-heeled kind of place, with a distinct lack of vape shops and takeaways. I walked into the Golden Lion, my eyes struggling to adjust from the bright light outside. There was a desk, as you would expect in a hotel, with a lady's head below the level of a high counter. She greeted me pleasantly, I'm looking for the bar I said. Turn right and right again she said. And there it was, a large room with another area to the side. A smart place I thought. There were three hand pumps on the bar from which I went for a pint of the 3.8% golden bitter, Viking, from Rudgate. It was quite pleasant (NBSS 3), but the place smacked of a typical traditional hotel in a town with not many direct rivals where an air of complacency can sometimes prevail.
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| Northallerton High Street |
I resumed my wander and carried on down the High Street towards All Saints Parish Church, but turned right when I arrived at Friarage Road. On the way I'd passed a pub called the Fleece which is supposedly the oldest pub in town, but a quick nosey inside revealed nothing to suggest its supposed antiquity, there were a couple of fruit machines, and no hand pumps, so I beat a quick retreat. And so I duly arrived at my second venue of the afternoon, situated across the road from the M&S Foodhall.
Origin is a modern bar/restaurant which opened in 2021, specialising in small plates served both in the upstairs restaurant and downstairs bar, which is one of three places in the town featured in the 2026 CAMRA Good Beer Guide. But despite its reputation as one of the best places to eat in Northallerton it didn't come over as overtly foodie, though, as virtually everyone in the bar was drinking only, the exception being a table with some emptied dishes whose occupants were chatting away, the conversation punctuated by regular outbursts of laughter. The room was smartly decorated, with turquoise blue the predominant colourway, with two sections, but was a little clinical imho. There were three hand pumps on the bar, plus a few beers on keg, with a fridge offering a selection of cans. The guy who seemed to be in charge wore a DEYA tee, which was a plus, but on the downside the soundtrack was the dullest selection of 70s/80s imaginable. Bland on bland. From the hand pump selection I went for a pint of Semer Water from the local Wensleydale Brewery who are based in Leyburn.
Wensleydale Brewery started out back in 2003 at the back of a Dales pub but soon had to move to bigger premises as the beers became popular throughout the Dales. The brewery moved to its current site in Leyburn in 2018, and in the last few years has continued to grow and expand far beyond its Dales hinterland into West and South Yorkshire, the East Coast, Tyneside, County Durham, Teesside, and Cumbria, with a wide range of beers available on both cask and keg. Within the Dales through sheer hard graft they have managed to take spaces on the bar from the likes Black Sheep in many places, a situation that 20 years ago would have been unimaginable.
My pint of Semer Water, which is named after the second-largest natural lake in Yorkshire (after Malham Tarn), was in fine form. It's a 4.1% easy-drinking pale ale featuring the Cascade hop. It is one of Wensleydale's core range, which I hadn't tried for a while, and it was very refreshing and in great condition (NBSS 3.5). The bar was welcoming, the beer in fine form, so overall, I enjoyed my visit to Origin.
I crossed over the road to take a photo of the bar and then headed back towards the High Street. On the corner was a small pub called the Masons Arms. A couple of old guys were sat on a bench outside catching some rays, and I decided to pop in for a quick half. A tiny bar was off to the right but as I found when I went to the loo, there were several rooms leading off from the lobby. I found a hand pump at the far end of the bar, Landlord on the clip. I ordered a half, the landlord saying he would need to pull a bit through as he'd not sold much today. No problem I said. And my Landlord whilst not outstanding was at least more than acceptable (NBSS 3). I sat in a room off to the left with a dartboard and two tables worth of middle-aged couples, one table occupied by the blokes, the other by the lasses, one of whom would join in with any song that came on through the speakers. It was all good fun, and I enjoyed my short stay in the Masons.
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| Masons Arms |
I left the Masons and carried on towards the church and turned left beside the Buck, the local branch of Wetherspoons, passing the church and was soon in a village-like spot with a village green and a pub decked out in flags at the end of a row of cottages next to a cemetery. I was at the Oddfellows Arms (opening image), the second CAMRA Good Beer Guide-listed pub of the afternoon. I could hear plenty of laughter and conversation from around the back of the pub which I assume was from a beer garden. Inside, whilst it was quite busy, it was relatively quiet, with many eyes on the Ladies Final at Wimbledon, which was showing on a couple of TV screens. There were three hand pumps on the bar, and I went for a pint of Ossett White Rat, which was cool, refreshing, and in very good condition (NBSS 3.5), one of the beers of the day. The pub itself is fairly small, with the bar to the right of the main room. There is a games room beyond, and it is pretty much a locals pub, but well worth a slight detour off the main drag, although it turns out this is actually a continuation of the High Street.
I finished my pint and retraced my steps back towards the main part of the High Street, passing the church again on my way back. I had one more place on my to-do list, which was Northallerton's third CAMRA-listed pub. It was early evening by now, and the High Street was much quieter than earlier, the hordes of visitors earlier having largely retreated back to where they whence came. I carried walking on and then, a few minutes later and beside the entrance to an alleyway or arcade, as they call them round here, a strategically-placed A-board pointed me in the right direction....
So I wandered down Garthway Arcade and came to the Stumble Inn. It is, essentially, a micro pub in a shopping arcade which was clearly a retail unit in a previous life. It was, apparently, set up originally by the people who have the pub of the same name in Scarborough, but it has been under the current ownership since 2023. There was a good atmosphere here, with people sat on high stools at the bar or at various tables in what is basically an L-shaped room. I ended up staying around the bar and got chatting to the guy working. There were 4 beers on hand pump and I went for a pint of the world Cup-themed Three Lions on a Shirt, a 3.8% session pale ale from Mithril Ales, who are based in the village of Aldbrough St John near Richmond. The brewery was set up in 2010 by owner Pete Fenwick in old stables opposite his house where he brews once or twice a week on a 2.5 barrel plant, the beers being supplied to pubs in the local areas around Richmond and Darlington. It was another decent beer, flavoursome, well-balanced, and in great condition (NBSS 3.5). There were a number of craft ales on here as well, and deciding to catch a later train back, I went for half from a brewery I had never come across before. Bayonet Brewing are based near Northallerton and were set up as a part-time venture in 2021 by Alex Postles, who combines brewing flavour-forward craft beers with his role as a full-time serviceman. The beers tend to have names with a military connotation. The one on sale here was a collaboration with Worcester brewers Cooper Beech, a 6.5% West Coast IPA called Reorg, which was well-balanced and deceptively light considering its strength. I enjoyed the Stumble Inn, there was a friendly atmosphere here, and the beer was good.
I was getting hungry now and with about forty minutes or so before the train I wanted something I could take and eat on the train. I was struggling to find any takeaways as I walked along the High Street. I remembered I'd walked past a place advertising beer and chicken on my walk down from the station earlier in the day, so I went to investigate. I walked into The Koop which is essentially a restaurant and takeaway specialising in chicken wings, chicken burgers, and poutine. From the menu I ordered a chicken parmo, never having tried this Teesside delicacy before. They have a range of beers on tap so whilst I was waiting I ordered a pint of Lions of England, a 5.2% hazy NEIPA featuring Nelson Sauvin, Strata, and El Dorado hops. It was another brew from Bayonet, brewed to mark the 20th anniversary of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, and it was an excellent beer.
My parmo duly arrived in a large, pizza-type box and I set off for the 10 minute walk back to the station. The lad who had brought my food to me came out behind me with a delivery and walked towards a car, offering me a lift to the station. I climbed in, clutching my food carefully. He said he was a former investment banker who had come back home, and he told me that they had regular customers who visit from Newcastle and Durham, with a couple of guys even making the trip from Manchester from time to time!
I got dropped off at the station and had about 10 minutes to wait for my train, which was very quiet. I opened the box, there was a huge chicken breast smothered in bechamel sauce and cheese, along with a ton of chips and a bit of salad. It was delicious but there was no way I could eat it all! It rounded off what had been a good visit to Northallerton after a somewhat slow start. It's certainly a place I would go back to....
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