The Half Moon, Knaresborough

This was another pub that I'd had to miss on my midweek visit to Knaresborough, as it's not open until 5pm, but at weekends it's noon. It's a mix of traditional pub furniture, bare boards and walls painted in duck shell. The bare chimney breast to the right is a feature. The bar is immediately apparent on entering, and the young man attending was friendly, welcoming and happy to talk about beer. The four hand pumps gave a choice of two from Roosters, plus one each from Arbor and Durham. I went for First World Problems, a stout from Roosters which was in good condition. Date of visit: 30th July 2022

This smart gastro-style pub on the fringe of town has a great location next to the River Nidd and just over the road from Mother Shipton's cave. You enter directly into the bar area with a simple servery on the rear wall facing the front door. Over on the right hand side there is a nice, slightly raised seating area with comfortable chairs arranged around a grand fireplace. The room has a lot of exposed brickwork which combines well with the slightly more contemporary décor to produce a very smart and classy look. Standard and low stool seating opposite the bar affords the chance to admire the views out to the river and bridge. To the left there is a wedge shaped carpeted area with standard and bench seating options under a huge black and white image of a local street scene. Décor elsewhere includes a few random bits of breweriana plus a huge mirror. To the rear there is a small paved courtyard with limited seating, which might be a nice sun trap, but is hemmed in somewhat and doesn't seem to benefit from any kind of view. Music played very quietly throughout my stay and a lot of customers were eating during my Saturday lunchtime visit, with the portions looking generous and very tempting. Four handpulls were dispensing Saltaire South Island Pale, Theakston Best, Roosters Yankee and My Generation Session Pale, whilst the keg taps offered a few well known brands and a number of slightly more obscure brews which might loosely be described as 'craft'. My South Island Pale was marvellous and there seemed to be a real appreciation of the beers from the various punters I noticed ordering at the bar. There were lots of things I enjoyed about this pub, from the picturesque location to the classy presentation of the interior through to the top notch beer quality. The pub's compact interior and food focus on my lunchtime visit meant that it lost a bit of its 'pubiness', but that wouldn't put me off from making a return visit some time.