I’ve visited pubs all over Yorkshire – these are my eight favourite 

Many beer drinkers will know that Yorkshire is synonymous with breweries – old and new, from Theakston and Timothy Taylor to Northern Monk and Vocation. So it’s no surprise that the historic county is home to countless outstanding places in which to enjoy a pint (or two).  

Whether tucked away in windswept villages, perched on moorland hillsides or buzzing in the heart of its cities, Yorkshire’s pubs are as varied as the landscape itself. 

And, as a Leeds-based beer writer and tour guide, I’m certainly no stranger to the pubs of God’s Own Country. Over the years, I’ve spent countless hours seeking out characterful taprooms, perfectly kept cask ale and welcoming locals from the Dales to the coast. 

From brewpubs to gastropubs, traditional country inns to modern city alehouses, at a time when countless local pubs are dying, here are my eight favourites – each well worth a visit. 

West Yorkshire  

The Adelphi, Leeds  

Close to the southern end of the Leeds Bridge is The Adelphi. Its elegant curving frontage of terracotta, stone and red brick has greeted arrivals to this city gateway since Victorian times.

For more than 50 years this was the de facto Tetley’s tap, where workers would slake their thirsts after long shifts in the nearby brewhouse and cooperage. And while Tetley’s, once the world’s largest producer of cask ale, closed in 2011 as owner Carlsberg shifted its focus elsewhere, the Tetley name remains in gold lettering above The Adelphi’s door.

Inside, the pub is a 19th-century jewel, its central corridor of wood panelling and tiled floors leading to a clutch of rooms. Though refurbished several times, each change has held true to its Victorian character. Fitting to its period and location, a changing choice of cask ales dominates the bar, and there’s a menu of quality pub grub.

To make a crawl of it, head across the bridge and into Briggate, where three pubs retain the geometry of a 13th-century street that once had more than 30. Dip into the narrow airless yards to find the Ship, Angel – and best-known of all – lovely Whitelock’s, which has been the beating heart of the city since Georgian times.

Shibden Mill Inn, near Halifax  

From Stump Cross junction near Halifax, Kell Lane rises steadily into the rugged sub-Pennine countryside to Blake Hill, which plunges past sturdy stone cottages to the foot of the valley. Here, tucked between the hillside and the pretty Red Beck, is the Shibden Mill Inn.

This whitewashed stone pub has catered for all-comers since the 1890s, and if the name sounds familiar, it may be because of Gentleman Jack. Nearby Shibden Hall was the estate owned by Anne Lister, whose life was celebrated in the BBC One series.

Visitors enjoy high-end dining, hand-pulled Yorkshire ale, and – in winter – roaring open fires. Some serious investment a few years ago created 11 bedrooms that offer a level of comfort of which Lister and her partner Ann Walker would surely have approved.

In the south-facing beer garden, the beck’s burble and splash provide a soporific soundtrack to conversation.

East Yorkshire  

Pipe and Glass, South Dalton  

While many of Yorkshire’s pubs thrive on reputations that pull in customers from miles around, others remain very much at the heart of their communities, along with the church and the village shop. They preserve that tradition of warm Yorkshire hospitality while serving their local clientele.

A few miles north of Beverley, the small village of South Dalton is home to the Pipe and Glass, a wonderful pub offering first-class accommodation, well-kept Yorkshire beers and Michelin-starred food, plus a range of gins from local Hooting Owl Distillery.

The pub dates back to the 15th century, and owners James and Kate Mackenzie took it on almost 20 years ago. They’ve steadily built its reputation as one of the must-visit venues on any culinary tour of Yorkshire, winning awards for its smart, seasonal menu. Expect dishes like a posh take on steak and chips, served with salt beef nicoise salad and Yorkshire blue cheese sauce.

For generations, this has been a much-loved haunt for the locals. On warmer days, the picnic benches are a popular spot for a pint in the sunshine, surrounded by well-kept gardens.

Goodmanham Arms, Goodmanham  

A short drive west from South Dalton brings you to the atmospheric Goodmanham Arms, where live music and themed food events – pie night, grill night, and landlord Vito Logozzi’s legendary Italian nights – draw in punters from a wide catchment area.

It’s certainly worth taking a jaunt off the beaten track to find this quirky, pokey, welcoming little inn with its roast dinners, interesting old photographs and bric-a-brac, log fires and great Yorkshire ales.

Hearty steak pies were the order of the day the last time I visited, and there’s a changing choice of real ales available. Hopefully one day soon Vito will also revive his own famous Peg Fyfe bitter that used to be brewed at the tiny All Hallow’s Brewery next door

North Yorkshire  

Helmsley Brewing Co, Helmsley  

Across Yorkshire, new breweries have brought innovation to a marketplace once dominated by the big boys. Among my favourites are Bayonet, whose beers can be found in the pubs around their Northallerton base, and Harrogate’s Rooster’s, whose American-influenced beers have dazzled drinkers for decades.

Helmsley Brewing Co is another, and its tiny taproom just off the town’s marketplace is a splendid spot. The brewery, founded in 2014, doesn’t tend to do anything too outlandish with its beers. Instead it offers sessionable pales and golden ales, a stout and an IPA, plus a deep russet Classic Yorkshire Bitter. Only Helmsley Honey, rich with the produce of local hives, tempts drinkers towards less familiar territory.

In summer, drinkers pack the suntrap beer garden to the rear; in winter they seek the warmth of the woodburning stove beside the bar. I called in for a pint recently and found the bright golden Striding the Riding (4%) the ideal refreshment after a walk to the stunning Rievaulx Abbey a few miles away.

White Horse and Griffin, Whitby  

Yorkshire’s towns and cities are blessed with atmospheric old taverns, some of which date back to the coaching inns that serviced the needs of passengers and horses during arduous journeys along the Great North Road and other historic routes. An archway entrance to a rear yard offering “good stabling” reveals Whitby’s White Horse and Griffin as one of these. Few bring their horses these days, but the White Horse and Griffin remains true to its time-honoured purpose, after a sensitive restoration gave it new life in the 1990s.

History hangs heavy in the air: Charles Dickens visited; Captain James Cook recruited sailors for his voyages. The narrow bar, all bare floors and high chandeliers, holds an eerie sense of the past, as though 300 years of stories absorbed into the brickwork might ease themselves out after dark. Huge framed documents in a florid Victorian hand illuminate its past, while old photographs of smiling urchins and pinafored fishwives show a little of what Dickens might have seen.

The luxurious Crown Hotel at Boroughbridge and stately red brick Golden Fleece at Thirsk are among a host of other North Yorkshire coaching inns re-invented for today.

South Yorkshire  

Cricket Inn, Totley  

Though they’re brewed over the border in Derbyshire, beers from the excellent Thornbridge Brewery find their way into plenty of South Yorkshire pubs. The brewery’s own Coach and Horses in Dronfield and student-favourite Hallamshire House in Sheffield are among the best places to try a range that includes the genre-busting juicy fruit Jaipur.

The Cricket Inn, however, holds one of the most perfect pub spots in England. The drive south and west from Sheffield leads you along ever-narrower roads, past fields and through woodlands to the edge of the Peak District and an 18th-century stone pub whose beer garden spills onto the outfield of the neighbouring cricket field.

We’re in serious walking country; stunning Blacka Moor is close by and the views from the pub are as splendid as the well-kept Thornbridge ale and fine home-cooked food.

Triple Point Brewing, Sheffield  

While Leeds mourns the loss of Tetley’s, Sheffield has been robbed of four heavyweight breweries that once fought it out for the steel city’s trade. But in the place of Ward’s, Stones, Hope and Whitbread, an array of small breweries have emerged in recent decades, creating a vibrant brewing scene that’s second to none.

Several are based a few minutes north of the city, but my favourite lies just south of it, where the Triple Point Brewing taproom serves no-nonsense pub grub and ales brewed on the premises. Glass screens offer drinkers a view of the busy brewhouse.

From here, it’s a few hefty goalkicks’ distance to Bramall Lane, the home of Sheffield United. The bar has a lively but benign pre-match atmosphere where home and away fans can mingle and discover that the things which unite them – good beer and easy banter, food and laughter – are more significant than the colours which divide their rival tribes.

A former British Beer Writer of the Year, Simon Jenkins shares his passion for the subject through ‘beer and history’ walking tours in Leeds. To find out more, visit itsthebeertalking.co.uk