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The Fox, Holgate, York

Pub added by elizabeth mcgraw
168 Holgate Road
York
YO24 4DQ
Phone: 01904787722

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Pub Type

Punch Taverns

Reviews (Current Rating Average: 8 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Will Larter left this review about The Fox

My first heritage pub of the day on a brief visit to York, and despite the early hour (4:30 in the afternoon) it was fairly busy, which is good. The main room, at the front on the right, was fairly crowded and I couldn't get a particularly good look at what was on, though there's also a blackboard on the wall to the left of the counter (five Ossett beers and two guests, of which one was Tetleys Bitter and the other something from Brew York). Actually, as it's an Ossett pub all I was really looking for was Silver King, whose pump clip was initially hidden by someone's shoulder. I took my pint (NBSS 4) and tried to find a room where the rather loud background music was less unignorable than everywhere else, and succeeded to an extent in a small side room towards the rear. This is a lovely pub and it's good to see it so well used by local people.

On 22nd June 2023 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3699 recommendations about 3440 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Real Ale Ray left this review about The Fox

Another decent pub in Holgate, this is a multi roomed pub with lots of interesting features. We ventured into the small front bar and enjoyed chatting to the locals and received some very precise notes on a quick way back to York Railway Station, which shaved off a good ten minutes walking. Seven pumps in operation, five Ossett, a Tetley's and one cider.

On 22nd August 2021 - rating: 8
[User has posted 3378 recommendations about 3378 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


ROB Camra left this review about The Fox

This was once a Tetley Heritage pub and it shows. It's now under the stewardship of Ossett brewery who have a very good record of keeping good looking pubs at their best. There's a long corridor straight in front of you as you enter, but the bar is off to the right. There's a multitude of rooms, some quite small and all with different styles. We ended up sitting in one of the rooms on the right hand side and got chatting to the other people in there almost immediately. Several Ossett beers available along with a couple from their satellite breweries Rat & Fernandes and a single guest ale from Acorn. The plan was to call in here for one and then walk back into town via the Volunteer, which we did, but only after having two in here, both of which were in very good nick. It's a very good pub and we'll be back soon.

On 6th June 2020 - rating: 8
[User has posted 3216 recommendations about 3127 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Alex Conway left this review about The Fox

A really nice road side local in the Holgate are of York. This is an Osset brewery tied house and Inside it keeps a lot of its original Victorian features and has some really good artwork and stained glass windows. There were nine real ales on the bar on my visit with one of two pumps dedicated to a cider (one cider pump was not in use). the choice comprised of the typical Osset beers (Yorkshire Blonde - £2.90, Silver King - £3.10, Excelsior - £3.30, and big red - £2.95) as well as guest beers Fernandes Senator - £3.10, Acorn drop kick - £3.05, Acorn Evoloution - £3.20, Exit 33 - £3.30, Tetleys bitter- £3.10 and the cider option was Mango - £3.60. This pub also has a really good beer garden with bar service available outside via an outside hatch, very nice on a warm October afternoon although slightly infringed by the nearby traffic.

A very nice pub just outside the center of York, My pint of Big red was very nicely kept and I would defiantly return in the future. well worth venturing to if ever around the train station end of town.

On 9th October 2015 - rating: 8
[User has posted 455 recommendations about 455 pubs]


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Pub SignMan left this review about The Fox

Situated in the Holgate neighbourhood, but still a relatively short walk from the train station (albeit in the wrong direction for the city centre), this is a great community local run by the Ossett Brewery. The pub was built for local railway workers in 1878 and retains a traditional multiple room layout to this day. Entering into a corridor, the main front bar is immediately to the right, in a small but smart room with a tiled floor and dark wood servery which has a simple frosted glass bar back. A curved button backed banquette runs along the front wall and there is a nice tiled fireplace on the end wall with a huge Ossett mirror above. The walls have been decorated with a large collection of fox themed artworks, which I thought looked really good. The corridor hosts a few slot machines, which is a bit out of keeping with the rest of the pub's look, although there were a couple of TV screens showing an England football match throughout the pub. Moving on, there is a smart lounge style room to the left - a bare boarded space with banquette and low stool seating, broken up by partitioning screens with fox motif stained glass inserts. A large pub mirror dominates the décor, which includes all sorts of old odds and ends and probably merits further exploration. Further back, past some pump clip wallpaper you find a small rear bar (the 'tramcar room') with parquet flooring and button backed banquettes with luggage racks filled with suitcases above. Another tiled fireplace can be found on the far wall. Finally at the back, two snugs appear - one with curved padded banquettes and another with basic seating and access to what appeared to be a massive beer garden.
Ossett stable beers took up much of the space on handpull, but there was space for a few guests, with the full range on this visit comprising Ossett Yorkshire Blonde, Excelsior and Silver King, Fernandes Folk Lore and Jackdaw Mild, Roosters 41 Degrees South, Exit 33 Blonde and, in a nod to the pub's former owners, Tetley's Cask. My pint of the Roosters was fantastic and I found the staff and locals to be very friendly and accommodating.
This is a pub that seemed to attract a good customer mix based on my Friday night visit, by appealing to the pub traditionalist, beer lovers, sports fans and creating an environment in which people can feel welcome and comfortable. I really enjoyed my time here and thought it was a great showcase for the Ossett Brewery.

On 28th May 2015 - rating: 8
[User has posted 3102 recommendations about 3102 pubs]


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Old Boots left this review about The Fox

A former Tetley's Heritage pub built in 1877-8 although there has been a pub on the site since 1776, now taken on and renovated by Ossett. From Holgate Road you enter a long corridor with a hatch half way along. The main servery is to your right where on the nicely carved counter you will find ten hand pulls, four with the Ossett range, one with a cider called Side-R and five guests sometimes from the other breweries in the Ossett family. Tap stuff is provided in the form of five different lagers, Guinness and a keg cider from Stowford Press. The room itself is neatly renovated in Victorian style with plush bench seating, Britannia tables, open fire and a lovely tiled floor, the decor is fox based with umpteen pictures of foxes in various styles. Across the corridor is a sitting room in similar style, although this one has a mainly Dick Turpin theme, there is big screen as well and a potted history of the pub. Two nice repro Art Nouveau fire places complete the atmosphere. Behind the servery are two small snugs with a railway theme, the carriage works used to be behind the pub. Behind that is yet another small sitting room with access onto the smoking shelter/ veranda and the large beer garden. Ossett have carried out a super job in this renovation and with the Volunteer being a shortish stagger away there's every reason to visit this quarter of York more often, it's only a five minute bus ride from the station if you don't fancy the walk.

On 16th May 2014 - no rating submitted
[User has posted 3209 recommendations about 2920 pubs]


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OogyWawa . left this review about The Fox

Very well run community pub that has gone from strength to strength after the landlord and his wife returned from Liverpool and put their heart and soul into building up a shell that had fallen into neglect at the hands of uncaring previous incumbants. What you now have is a thriving concern that appeals to all kinds of local residents from students to professionals and political groups to sports teams. The poker night on a Tuesday packs 'em in as well.

On the bar the news is just as encouraging. Gone are the bland national brands and local Yorkshire breweries (of which there are 109 at the last count) occupy most of the 5 handpulls. The beer is well kept and the there is the largest beer garden in York for the kids if you fancy a cheeky weekend afternoon away from the TV.

On 13th May 2012 - rating: 7
[User has posted 15 recommendations about 15 pubs]


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Alan Winfield left this review about The Fox

The Fox is a large victorian pub in the holgate area of York that is very nice and unaltered inside,there are different areas to have a drink in around the bar and i was quite comfortable in an area at the front of the pub.
There were two real ales on the bar which were Taylor Landlord which i had a drink of and it was very nice there was also John Smiths cask.

On 29th August 2010 - rating: 8
[User has posted 6113 recommendations about 6113 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


mark franik left this review about The Fox

This has a heiratage award, there are a lot of pictures of the past from the Holgate Road works, which is next door which was a train builder upto the early nineties as part of the ex BR workshops, was a pleasent surprise for me as I revisited the works recently and did not realise it was such a gem.

On 18th March 2010 - rating: 9
[User has posted 57 recommendations about 57 pubs]