Holly Hill Inn, Slee Gill, Richmond

The Holly Hill Inn wasn’t on my intended pub crawl of Richmond but we had half hour to kill before the parking restrictions finished in town so we made use of the pub car park and had a swift pint here first. The pub is actually in the small hamlet of Sleegill and is easily walkable from Richmond town centre but there are some steep hills to negotiate. The pub also functions as a hotel and has a separate restaurant (the Ivy) tacked on to the rear. The pub interior is divided into 2 bars with the main bar having a small and fairly plain lounge area with a larger area away from the bar with long pew seating, pool table, dart board, TV and jukebox. A double sided fire with stove serves both bar areas and there are various brewery / tobacco mirrors and a bottle collection but on the whole there isn’t much that catches the eye. A sign to the “used beer department” shows that someone has a sense of humour. The second bar wasn’t open (they were in the process of sticking up the Xmas deccies) but appeared to be quite small and cosy enough but I didn’t really get much of a peek. There were 2 Black Sheep Ales available on my visit (Best and Golden) which are both common to the area. The pubs best feature is probably the views across the valley to the castle from the small side terrace. The lady behind the bar was very welcoming and the pub came across as pleasant and friendly enough but I’m not sure it has enough to justify the steep walk from the town centre.