With Doris soaking
deservedly in a hot bath, I ventured out into the
very promising Reeth Village Square that had three
rather interesting-looking pubs huddled around it.
We were staying at the Buck, so I planned on ending
up there. My choice was between the Black Bull and
the Kings Head. The Black Bull was the furthest from
'Home' so the Kings Head therefore afforded me the
shortest walk back after drinking beer. Black Bull
it was!
First thing you
notice about the Black Bull is that the pub sign says:
Naturally, I had
to ask. After all, it is my mission to ask (and to drink
the beer too of course). Apparently the pub had featured
this whitewashed front for many years, and the landlord
decided it was time for a change, and faithfully restored
the building to its original Yorkshire Dales stone.
Looked lovely apparently. Then the National Parks got
in on it and told him he had to put it back to the whitewash,
even though almost all the villagers signed a petition
agreeing that the natural Yorkshire Dales stone was
much nicer.
The
landlord could not win against the large and powerful
Parks Board, and so re-whitewashed his pub. But he
hung his sign upside down, so that anyone who walks
into his pub of course will ask, "Why is your
sign hanging upside down?" and of course, he
is only too willing to tell the whole story.
Apparently
the Parks Board is something of a thorn in the side
of a lot of the locals who are only trying to live
there, but constantly have to battle a bunch of bureaucrats
who want the Dales to look like DisneyDale.
Anyway,
the beer: Theakstons, the full range, well cared for.
I would go back, but for reasons that will become
apparent in the next section, I would probably go
to the Kings Arms first.
Reeth
was originally an Anglian village recorded in the
Domesday book as just Rie. Where Arkengarthdale joins
the main valley of the Swale it became an important
market center, and the large cobbled market place
still shows its charter dating from 1695. Indeed,
at one time it boasted seven fairs a year and a population
three times its current size.
The
town's heyday was undoubtedly the peak of the lead
mining period, around the beginning of the 1800s.
On the fells above Reeth, across to Gunnerside and
beyond, the evidence of the extent of this industry
is clear to see, and worth a visit if you are into
industrial architecture and history, which I must
admit, is not everyone=s cup of tea.
Lead
from the mines above Reeth was used to roof Alan Rufus's
impressive castle at Richmond and the abbeys of Jervaulx
and Easby. In the 1880s however foreign lead was imported
at lower prices, the industry fell into decline and
within a few decades the area returned to farming,
and now to tourism.
I
think Reeth is a beautiful village, commanding views
across Swaledale and beyond, with a picture-perfect
village green surrounded by cobbled streets. There
are folk museums, pubs, shops and plenty of opportunities
for short walks to entertain just about everyone.
