Dog and Gun Inn, Keighley

This 17th century coaching inn pertains to be one of the highest in West Yorkshire, which may well be true as you get bloody good views over the West Yorkshire countryside from its isolated and elevated position in the village of Oxenhope. It may be ten years since the review below but not a lot seems to have changed. The emphasis is still on food, for which it is highly recommended in the local guides, but being a Timothy Taylor tied house it’s not bad for a pint either. A fine traditional stone building, technically you enter into the long thin bar with the bar in front of you and the restaurant section (known as the Wells Restaurant as you can see the original well through a glass panel in the floor) is in a separate room to the right. But as this pub is so popular for dining most of the tables in the section to the left of the bar are also used for dining and it’s only the couple directly in front of the bar which are not used for eating. The food did not disappoint and I went for the dog and gun lamb henry (basically a Lamb Shank without the bone) at £15.95 and it really was something else. On the beer front it has five pumps dispensing beers from the TT stable and for our visit these were Boltmaker, Landlord, Golden Best, Ram Tam and Knowle Spring and both the Landlord and Knowle Spring were in fine condition. As a pub restaurant this place scores highly and it’s as much for the food that I give it an 8. The Pennine Way passes close by and you can stay in the Leeming Wells B&B Hotel behind the pub which is a separate business but in some way linked to the pub in that if you stay in the B&B you have breakfast in the pub.

What a marvellous pub. From the second we walked in we were made to feel welcome and at home. 4 Taylor's ales all tip-top. Roaring fires at each end of the pub. Food was beyond excellent, reasonably priced and served efficiently and with good humour. My mate has moved in round the corner so we will be back!