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JULY 2018
Travel
BEER
Brewing beer in Yorkshire has a long
and distinguished heritage. For a
fascinating insight into the workings of
a traditional brewery, visit Masham’s
Theakston Brewery established in 1827.
Also of interest to the beer aficionado
is the rival Black Sheep Brewery next
door (don’t miss a pint of Riggwelter or
Golden Sheep) and Keighley’s Timothy
Taylor (founded in 1858) whose
signature offering is Landlord, a classic
pale ale first created for miners.
Following a craft-brewing
renaissance over the last decade or so,
microbreweries have been popping
up all over the county. The Flying
Duck brewpub in Ilkley is home to the
Wharfedale Brewery and its fine trio
of beers – Blonde, Best and Black. In
West Yorkshire, on the outskirts of
Huddersfield, is the superb Magic Rock
Brewing boasting a cool, industrial-style
tap room, outdoor drinking area and
pop-up food kiosks. In the increasingly
gastro market town of Malton
there’s even a vegan microbrewery
at the excellent Brass Castle. Other
noteworthy breweries putting Yorkshire
beer well and truly on the map are the
LIQUORICE
Liquorice is intrinsically linked with
the East Yorkshire market town of
Pontefract. The liquorice plant, or
Glycyrrhiza glabra
(which is native to
the Middle East) was thought to have
been brought to Pontefract by returning
Crusaders or more likely Dominican
monks in the 14th century, who settled
at Pontefract Priory close to the Castle.
Large areas of the town and surrounding
area were allocated to growing liquorice.
Then, in 1760 an industrious
Pontefract apothecary, George Dunhill,
hit upon the idea of adding sugar to
create Pomfret Cakes or Pontefract
Cakes. These now familiar inch-wide
medallions of soft liquorice, moulded
and stamped like coins were originally
embossed by hand with a skilled stamper
pressing 20,000 cakes a day.
A couple of traditional Yorkshire
sweet shops where you can get your
liquorice fix are Mrs Beighton’s set atop
the historic main street in Haworth,
and the Oldest Sweet Shop in England
(and the world) in the Yorkshire Dales
village of Pateley Bridge. “It started out
as a general store in 1827 and has been
trading continuously ever since,” says
Keith Tordoff, the confectioner. Inside,
the shelves are packed with rows of
glass jars bursting with favourites such
as Pontefract Cakes, Liquorice Gums,
Poor Bens, Liquorice Torpedoes and
world-famous Liquorice Allsorts, first
produced in Sheffield, South Yorkshire,
by George Bassett & Co.
CHEW
TH I S OVER
In the James
Bond film
MOONRAKER
,
the character
Jaws, played by
Richard Kiel, had
to
BITE THROUGH
A CABLE CAR
CABLE
. To
achieve this,
the cable was
made from
LIQUORICE
STRANDS
braided
together!
MI NE ’ S
A P I NT
When the
law changed
and people
could
BREW
at
home, Boots
the Chemist
became the
top supplier of
HOME-BREWING
equipment in a
market worth £17
million by 1982
Saltaire Brewery, Little Valley Brewery
(Hebden Bridge), Wold Top Brewery
and Scarborough Brewery.
A couple of atmospheric pubs in
which to enjoy a pint include the 17th-
century Tan Hill Inn (the highest pub in
Britain), at the head of Arkengarthdale
in the Yorkshire Dales and the Bay Hotel
situated on the very edge of the beach
in Robin Hood’s Bay. With well over
200 pubs, the historic city of York, with
its thriving craft beer scene allows for a
superior pub crawl – The Maltings, The
Blue Bell, York Tap and the brilliantly-
named House of Trembling Madness on
Stonegate, to name just a few.