Woolly Sheep Inn
38 Sheep Street Skipton North Yorkshire BD23 1HY
Peckish in Skipton? Slip down the alley and through the door into the Tardis-like Woolly Sheep, which not only hides a large rear dining room behind its snug bar with open fire, but has a summer courtyard to boot. Real ales are by Timothy Taylors – can we resist ordering "a pint of Landlord, landlord"? No we can't – and then we're happily ensconced in the menu, which offers a wide-ranging, contemporary take on traditional British pub meals. There's lasagne made with Dales beef, belly pork with homemade black pudding, Wensleydale gammon with pineapple pickle, or a smoked trout salad with Whitby crab and king prawns. Dinner specials get a tad fancier – say seared scallops and Skipton chorizo, followed by local lamb with seasonal asparagus and red wine jus. Chips, crucially, are homemade and fried in good old Yorkshire dripping, while families and groups can order "roast boards" of free-range chicken or pork, or Dales lamb or beef, for a proper Sunday sit-down. It's the pub in Skipton we come back to most – great for just a drink, and reassuringly reliable when it's a well-cooked, locally sourced meal we're after. Good value rooms upstairs complete the package.
