Pub of the week: Hale’s Bar, Harrogate.

It was one of the first coaching inns to accommodate Harrogate’s earliest seekers of spa treatments back in the mid-17th century and sulphur springs still flow beneath the cellar, faint vapours of which occasionally percolate up to the bar as a reminder to customers of the building’s – and the town’s – history.

There was reconstruction work in the early 1800s, when it became known as The Promenade Inn after the opening of the fashionable Promenade Room nearby, but settled on its current name in the 1880s when the landlord was one William Hale.

What makes Hale’s Bar so special today is the antique interior of the gas-lit lounge. Creating the feeling of a museum are shelves of stuffed birds, among them a heron and pair of splendid barn owls, but the most unusual features are two naked flames blazing from brass sticks on the main bar, which served as cigar lighters for over a century until their use was made illegal in 2007.

The place is sought out by tourists, of course, but manages to retain the atmosphere of a local due to its patronage by some Harrogate characters. There’s a good range of real ales and continental beers, yet it feels more like a scotch and soda and G&T sort of place. Although the food is home-cooked and excellent, Hale’s Bar is really about drinking.

THE VERDICT

Welcome****

Drinks selection*****

Atmosphere*****

Food***

Prices**