The Red Lion Inn, Richmond

Very attractive inn, located just off the main road along Arkengarthdale in the picturesque village of Langthwaite. The small bar is plainly decorated with traditional dark furniture. However, on a fine (but breezy) summer's day, the wooden benches out front benefit from being in something of a sun-trap. The three handpumps were dispensing three different Black Sheep beers: the regular Best Bitter plus Pale Ale and Riggwelter. With a friendly welcome, a stop at this pleasingly old-fashioned establishment was a real pleasure.

Official site of The Red Lion Inn - www.langthwaite-redlion.co.uk

Official site of The Red Lion Inn - www.langthwaite-redlion.co.uk

The Red Lion may be in a remote, tucked away village pub but it can also boast being one of the country’s most familiar pubs having featured regularly in many TV programmes and movies, most notably All Creatures Great and Small. The building is a typicallty solid Dales cottage with central entrance leading straight to the main bar with a cosy small room branching off to the rear. The pub also appears to double up as the village shop with beer pumps jockeying for position on the bar with groceries and sweets. The presence of a call bell suggests that things don’t get too busy for much of the time and we were the only 2 visitors during our early evening visit. We had obviously followed in the footsteps of many noteworthy visitors given the autographed photos on the wall that included Christopher Timothy, Chris Tarrant, Gary Lineker, David Jason and Phil Collins. What you will not find here are dogs, hats or prams, all banned judging by one particular sign. Aside from celebrity photos, there is an assortment of bric-a-brac, plates, certificates, shields, horns, tools and old pics of the village in both flood and under 10 feet of snow. A certificate on the wall proclaims that 2 Black Sheep ales are permanently on sale with additional guest beers but there were only 2 hand pumps (Black Sheep Best & Riggwelter) with nothing to suggest that there were any others lurking around, maybe on gravity. That said, for such an isolated pub at an off peak time of the year, the Rigwelter was sufficient to warm me up. Opening times are apparently a bit erratic so if you want to visit this quite charmuing, homely and quaintly old fashioned place, best to check beforehand that it is open.