The Bingley Arms, Leeds

Facebook page of The Bingley Arms - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of The Bingley Arms - www.facebook.com

Situated in the small village of Bardsey, a mile or so off the main Leeds - Wetherby A road, the Bingley Arms is one of a number of pubs that, with varying degrees of justification, lays claim to being the oldest in Britain. As you drive through the small village, you suddenly see an impressive and imposing looking Yorkshire stone building with a large car park in front. A sandwich board outside tells us that The Bingley Arms is "one of England's oldest inns dating back to 953 AD .An enamel sign affixed to the wall announces the pub as "England's oldest inn recorded in The Guinness Book of Records". I'll leave you to read all about the pub's history on their own very informative website. Perhaps inevitably, there's various ghostly rumours, about which you may share my scepticism. A traditional door entrance leads into a low ceilinged, dark beamed, flagstoned bar with several different rooms, with candlesticks on the tables and plenty of old pictures. A traditional olde worlde feel was somewhat marred by the presence of a large TV which had been set up on the table in preparation for the World Cup. Thankfully, it wasn't on during my visit, although a smaller public bar at the side through a small corridor was showing a game during my recent visit, although there was no none watching. The pub has a good reputation for food, although I noted that the upstairs restaurant "Spice at The Bingley" now only serves Indian food. Pub style meals are served in the main ground floor bar. On the beer front, Tetleys, Black Sheep and TT Landlord were available. The TT Landlord, at a predictably expensive £ 3.30p - wasn't particularly good. Perhaps surprisingly, the pub doesn't close in the afternoon. Worth popping in if passing by, but I don't really think it's worth much of a detour to specifically visit.

This is not another 'faux' country pub. This is the real deal. It has got bags of history behind it, if you're in to that kind of thing, but if you like your food and drink, you will be delighted with what's on offer. The welcome was nice, the pint was spot on and the food is out of this world. Try it and see for yourself!

Spent a very pleasant afternoon there, in the sunshine with a drink