The Cover Bridge Inn, Leyburn

Pub SignMan left this review about The Cover Bridge Inn

This is a classic Dales pub, seemingly stuck out in the middle of nowhere, although actually very handy for local attractions such as Jervaulx Abbey. The pub has a traditional two bar layout and side room, with the front door leading you into the compact main bar area with the servery directly opposite and all handpulls visible. Hard bench seating wraps around the front corner next to the entrance, with a few chairs in support, but that’s about the extent of the seating, so compact is the room. The bar has a nice dark wood counter and simple bar back decorated with plenty of pump clips. A few bar blockers were lined up along its length, but the staff seemed to be used to this and we were still able to view all of the pumps and get served without too much difficulty. To the right is a similarly sized room with limited bar access and a good amount of seating, mostly in the form of chairs and low stools with a couple of short pews too. The room was dominated by a musician who was bashing out Elton John hits on his keyboard in the front corner, thereby taking up a fair bit of room that would presumably also contain seating if there were no music on. Doors to the rear appeared to lead out to a beer garden, but I didn’t manage to squeeze through the crowd to check this out. Both rooms have fireplaces, at least one of which was lit, and they were equally packed after the local hunt descended en masse. As we had stopped here for some food, this had the unfortunate effect of forcing us into the side room next to the kitchen. This is a carpeted room with three tables and plenty of chairs, an unlit fireplace with a huge lintel and walls made of local stone or else partly covered by red lincrusta that has seen better days. The place was being used as a bit of a storeroom and no other customers were sat here, so I sadly didn’t get to experience the pub in ideal conditions. All three rooms have been decorated with typical rural pub effects, including paintings, old photos, mirrors, maps and even a framed display of the village's 1937 cricket team's fixture against E Towers Eleven.
On the bar, a good range of cask options comprised Theakston Best and Old Peculiar, Taylor Landlord, Wensleydale Semer Water and New Day Yesterday, Thornbridge The Union, plus one other that I forgot the name of and a cider. The New Day Yesterday was in excellent condition, and I found the staff to all be very friendly, whilst a solid food menu ensured we were well fed following the long drive here from South London.
I really liked this place, which was probably at its best with such a full crowd in attendance (excepting the Elton tribute), so it was a shame that we had to ostracise ourselves in the side room for the majority of our stay. The ale is top notch and really deserves to be given a longer session than we could commit to, whilst the service was very helpful and welcoming. For me, this is a destination pub that rewards those who seek it out and I’m just a little sad that we couldn’t make the most of our time here.

Date of visit - 8th November 2024

On 24^th January 2025 - rating: 8
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