Tap on the Tutt

This is one of the best-preserved examples in the whole UK of a smaller Thirties road-house and one whose revival has been a recent success story. Originally built to serve traffic on the old Great North Road, which then ran straight through the town, it was sold-off in 2003 by its long-time family owners and narrowly escaped conversion to a Chinese restaurant. Thanks partly to its statutory listing, successfully sought by CAMRA in 2000, it has re-emerged relatively unscathed. Apart from losing original fitted seating and sustaining two enlarged openings between rooms (one now sensitively hung with double doors) its interior differs only slightly from the original 1929 plans drawn up by Knaresborough architect Sydney Blenkhorn. Its fittings, which include quality oak bar structures, oak fire surrounds and attractive stained glass, are all from the original 1930 building scheme by Hepworth & Co, a small Ripon brewery for whom this would doubtless have been a prestige project.