Actually it isn't...I love the North.
S & I decided to do our "urgh, Christmas" running away in Yorkshire this year.
We have an MO for this week which has taken roughly the same form for all four years we've been doing it.
Sleep late, go out for a walk (duration determined by weather, usually), go to the pub. Repeat.
We (well, S) drive to the place but we've never yet taken the car out during the week, since we prefer the freedom of walking and experiencing the area in that slow, detailed way you never can if you drive to a place, park and then amble about a bit before getting back in the car to go somewhere else.
So - we drove to Robin Hood' Bay at the edge of the North York Moors and stayed in a cottage in the lower village.
The GBG promised two pub with good beer and this was heartening.
In fact there were five good places to drink directly in the village with another in the next village about half a mile away.
On the good side - we didn't have a single bad pint all week.
On the less good...there wasn't a great deal of variety or change we ended up drinking the same things each day. So for a sake of a list, and starting at the top of the village:
The Grosvenor: Felt like a locals pub (although it's a hotel) but, as visitors, we weren't too much of a spectacle. Had Thwaites Wainwright, Timothy Taylor Landlord (my favourite pint of the week, in fact) and Tetleys Cask (which I wanted to at least try, but never quite got round to it).
In here S also had a conversation about tight-head sparklers and persuaded the barman to take the sparkler off for one of the pints of Timmy. It made the beer different, in terms of a flavour and texture but with or without a sparkler, it's a classy pint.
The Victoria Hotel: Another hotel (the name's kind of a giveaway) but in the GBG. Serving Cameron's Strongarm, Springhead Robin Hood Bitter, Bradfield Farmers Blonde, Theakston's Lightfoot.
Over the course of the week we went in here several times - sometimes wet, sometimes muddy, always looking a bit windswept and we were greeted in a cheery fashion and engaged in conversation by bar staff. All in all a pleasant place.
All the beer was very well kept but either they don't turn some of it around quickly, or they just have the same beers each time...so we were a little bit disappointed that the offering never changed.
None of the beers set our beery world alight but it was a good steady place to be.
The Laurel: A small pub and the nearest to our cottage, so the one we tried first.
One main, tiny, room with a open fire but with an overflow room below, I'm told.
Very cute place, friendly service (in spite of what the beerintheevening review says) and decent beers: Theakstons Old Peculier and Best and Adnams Southwold bitter.
Perfectly good beers, but again, no stunners or surprises.
Nevertheless, we went back on our final "let's pub crawl down the village" having been blown about on a hillside walk day. And it was as nice a place to be the second time as the first.
The Dolphin: The second pub in the GBG and just around the corner from the cottage. We ate in here on the first evening because the specials board looked tasty!
Beer was Theakstons Best, Deuchars IPA and something seasonal from somewhere else.
I'm ambivalent about this pub. The service wasn't unpleasant...but I didn't get the feeling they gave a damn about whether we were there or not. Maybe it's because we were obviously tourists or maybe it was something else, I don't know.
The beer was well kept and everything but the seasonal pint was forgettable as was the food, I'm afraid. Such a shame because it could be a lovely place.
We went back on the pub crawl...but the same atmosphere persisted.
The Bay Hotel: Yep, another hotel. But right down on the sea front.
Serving Thwaites Wainwright, Theakston's Lightfoot and Theakston's Old Peculier.
This is the place we returned to several times. We even attempted a visit on Christmas day but by the time we'd finished our walk, there wasn't seat to be had in the place.
It had a great view out to sea from the main bar, a nice open fire and a family room which meant the main bar tended to be kiddie-free. This is something S&I greatly appreciate.
The food was good, if not particularly exciting, the beer was well kept and the staff were incredibly friendly, making you feel like they really enjoyed you being there.
Probably our favourite venue of the holiday.
As is our wont, one day of the holiday we did a little bit more than just amble around at the village edge and we did a more serious walk out along the coastal path, returning along the cycle track. Probably 8 miles or so...and some of it seriously steep and/or muddy.
Exhilarating and tiring in roughly equal measures, meaning the pint at the end feels hard-earned.
So we dropped into the Fylingdales Inn, in the next village - a short distance from the cycle track and only a ten minute walk back into RHB.
Again, it was a Theakston's house - I had Best and S had XB...good, well-kept pints but didn't encourage us to stay for more than one. Food looked like it might be nice but we weren't in the market for meals at the time.
I think I was a tiny bit disappointed that there wasn't more variety of beer in the village but it was a whole lot better than our trip to Brixham a couple of years ago in terms of beer/pub quality.
Still, we're glad we went.
Is it really bad that the beer in Hitchin on Sunday seemed just that little bit extra-special?
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