High up on the moors in the Yorkshire Dales is an oasis from the daily grind of life. Famously known as Britain's Highest Pub, Tan Hill Inn is also one of the most interesting pubs in Great Britain. It recently featured in a Vodafone advert and some years ago the late Ted Moult demonstrated Everest Double Glazing in another T.V. commercial. A photograph of Ted Mould, containing the feather was on display in the bar but has recently gone missing.  An appeal is out for it's return. The Inn is popular with walkers, as it lies apporoximately halfway along the Pennine Way from Edale, Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm, Scotland. The Coast to Coast Walk from St. Bees, Cumbria to Robin Hood's Bay, North Yorkshire passes it's halfway mark at Keld, four miles from Tan Hill.
Tan Hill Inn is one of the most interesting pubs in the Yorkshire Dales and also one of the most friendliest. One may ask why on Earth would anybody want to build a pub right out in the sticks. 300 years ago Tan Hill was at the crossroads of several major packhorse trails and coal was mined extensively in bell pits in the area. The walls at Tan Hill especially in the dining room feature a lot of photographs taken early this century of mining activities around Tan Hill. There are also a lot of interesting artifacts from Tan Hill on display at the Swaledale Folk Museum in Reeth, about 10 miles away.
Mining continued until the mid 20th Century and a long serving landlady, Susan Peacock, kept a pistol behind the bar to restore order when fist fights broke out between the miners at the pub. As mining demised, the development of the motor car enabled a new breed of customer to enjoy the Inn. Sundays are often a busy period with motorists coming out for a meal. Winter can last for six months on Tan Hill, especially with it being an exposed location. However, the Inn is sometime the only place for miles around due to it having it's own generator.
Getting snowed in is also an occupational hazard at the Inn which can be cut off for days at a time.Summer is a different story at Tan Hill and sometimes it can get busy on a warm Saturday evening with many drinkers stopping overnight in tents. I often camp out at Tan Hill, the fee is only 1 pound per night. During the Winter I prefer to stay in one of the seven bed and breakfast rooms which were built in 1990. Prices start from £32 per night.
The Tan Hill Inn has the distinction of being the first public house in Britain to be granted a licence to hold civil wedding ceremonies under new legislation allowing people to get married in places other than a church or a Registry Office. Margaret and Alec Baines took brought the pub in 1985 and unlike their predecessors who sell up after only one Winter, have stuck it out ever since. As well as the extra accommodation the water supply now comes from a borehole, no longer having to rely on a spring. There is a microwave telephone link to a nearby relay station.
The pub offers a cosy atmosphere and there is always a fire going. Meals are available during lunch times and between 7 and 9 in the evenings. I usually go for the Tan Hill Sausage in a giant Yorkshire pudding. Postcards from all over the World decorate the beams and photographs show the Inn during particularly severe winters. Take care if you decide to sit in the far corner as a giant rubber spider may come down on you!
There are several photograph albums at the Inn featuring scenes from over the past twenty years.
Today the Inn is run by Mike and Tracy but again the inn is up for sale.
Recently Everest installed new double glazing at and solar water heaters at the Inn and was the subject of a recent television advertising campaign.

*** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ***

Open 11:00 until late - New Licencing Laws apply.

TELEPHONE: 01833 628246

WEBSITES: www.tanhillinn.com, www.livemusicattanhill.co.uk,