Old Hill Inn
Chapel-le-Dale Ingleton North Yorkshire LA6 3AR
The food at the Old Hill Inn is a real cut above your usual pub fare, which explains its ongoing popularity. Halfway between Ingleton and Ribblehead, it looks a bit foursquare on the outside but presents a very charming rustic interior, with exposed stone walls, ancient beams, a big pine dresser, and a large wagon wheel separating a couple of booths in the bar – there's also a dining room on the other side, though it's definitely more simpatico in the bar. Food is on the gastro side of things – think a zingy carrot and lovage soup, for example, plus fresh mussels, venison steak on spring onion mash or a risotto of the day. Puds are almost an art form, overseen by resident pastry chef and sugar sculptor Colin Martin (some of his work is usually available to see), while for sale on the bar are homemade chutneys, hamdmade choccies and the like. It offers a real welcome to walkers – the pub is on the Three Peaks route – but parking and walking is frowned upon. The parking places at the inn are very definitely for guests (there are a couple of B&B rooms upstairs and an adjacent caravan site) and diners.
