Birch Hall Inn

Despite the grand name, the Birch Hall Inn is a rather small public house dating back to the 1600s in Beck Hole, near to Goathland in the English county of North Yorkshire.

A welcome watering hole for walkers and other visitors to the area, it's not the easiest of places to find as the village is at the foot of rather steep and windy roads that serve to protect it from the coach parties and other heavy traffic.

Entrances to a tiny bar and shop face the road outside, with a further room being accessed down a passageway, with its own serving hatch. A Formica topped table with embedded old pennies and a couple of bench seats can be found in the small bar area, with seating for perhaps half a dozen. The landlady claims that the record number of people, inside and with the door shut, stands at 27 - "and a dog!"

In the summer a beer garden located to the side of the pub, and up some stone stairs, is opened. In poorer weather the large bar is perhaps the place to take shelter, complete with its 60s wallpaper and wooden beams. A wood or coal fueled fire warms this room and there are two light bulbs and a gas mantle to brighten this largely untouched-since-time-began room.

With old-time pictures on the wall of the large bar walls, and faded puzzles in the small bar, it's a step back in time for many visitors finding the pub for the first time.

The inn is known for its well-kept real ale and was voted CAMRA Pub of the Season in the Summer of 2006. More recently, landlady Glenys was awarded with the local CAMRA Pub of the Year 2006/7 award on Saturday May 12 2007.

Food is also served, including the 'Beck Hole Buttie', a light wholemeal flatcake or stottie filled with home roast ham, cheese, corned beef or pate. Complimented by locally produced pork or turkey & ham pies and Beck Hole's own beer cake.

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/greedypig/pub/reviews/whitby/birch_hall_inn.shtml BBC] , The Greedy Pig reviews.
* [http://www.clevelandcamra.org.uk/CAMRA_IYR_94_013.pdf Cleveland CAMRA] , Pub of the season, Summer 2006, review.
* [http://www.clevelandcamra.org.uk/CAMRA_IYR_98_015.pdf Cleveland CAMRA] , Pub of the year, June/July 2007, review.
* [http://www.beckhole.info Beck Hole local site] , information about the pub and village.