All fired up to save a Dragon

In the latest of his series on walker’s pubs, Mark Reid visits Hudswell near Richmond.
The George & Dragon, HudswellThe George & Dragon, Hudswell
The George & Dragon, Hudswell

Over the years, I have taken dozens of travel journalists from across the world on walking tours of the Yorkshire Dales.

Americans, Canadians and Scandinavians are my favourite as they quickly fall in love with our countryside and then articulate precisely why I love walking. The green fields, meandering paths, stone walls and cosy village pubs. The English village pub is as famous as red phone boxes and Buckingham Palace; an integral part of the British brand abroad. But CAMRA recently announced that 26 pubs are closing their doors for good every week in this country.

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You may ask, so what? We are in danger of losing an important part of history and heritage that can be traced back to Roman times. Village pubs are so much more than somewhere that sell beer; they are the linchpin of rural life and facilitate many local services, events and activities which bring richness and community to local life. They provide employment, sell and buy local produce and provide a vital social function. They are places to meet, celebrate, commiserate, relax, enjoy and rest aching muscles after a long day’s walk. As Hilaire Belloc famously said: “When you have lost your inns, drown your empty selves, for you will have lost the last of England.”

Most pubs that close remain so. But not the George and Dragon at Hudswell, just outside Richmond on the very north-eastern edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. When it closed in 2008, a group of villagers were so concerned that they formed the Hudswell Community Pub Initiative with the aim of buying the pub and re-opening it for the benefit of the community. With just 200 residents in the village, it seemed a tall order, but amazingly 77 came forward as investors, with over 100 additional investors from near and far, including Australia, China and the USA. Sufficient funds were raised to purchase and renovate the pub, and in June 2010 the George & Dragon re-opened its doors as a community-owned co-operative pub, a first for North Yorkshire. What the villagers of Hudswell have done is a great achievement, and gives hope for the many villages that have lost, or will soon lose, their last remaining pub.

This pub is now very much at the heart of its community with a small library, internet access, allotment for local people to grow their own and a “Little Shop” attached to the pub, said to be the smallest shop in the country! Run by Margaret and Jackie, an energetic and enthusiastic mother-and-daughter team, they were recently featured on the ITV series The Dales, which firmly put this pub back on the map. The ingredients of their success are simple: diversification, local provenance, community involvement as well as effective and responsive business management.

Walkers love this pub. If you are hungry, they will make a snack for you. Empty flask? They will fill it up for you. But perhaps its greatest asset is the stunning view from the back terrace across the wooded gorge of the Swale, undoubtedly one of the best panoramas in the Dales, with a pint in your hand.

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The walk from the pub to Richmond and back is one of the delights of spring, with its riverside path that meanders alongside the Swale through Hudswell Woods, which cloaks the steep valley sides with beech, oak, hazel and hawthorns dominating.

This woodland is protected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and is in the care of the National Trust. In spring, it is carpeted with beautiful wood anemone, yellow-flowered lesser celandine, strongly-scented wild garlic, delicate violets and the pretty wood sorrel.

Sample a taste of Fiji in Yorkshire

The George and Dragon can be found in Hudswell, near Richmond, North Yorkshire. tel 01748 518373 

It is open lunchtimes and evenings midweek (closed Monday lunch) and is open all day at weekends

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Its Fijian chef means it serves up some unusual dishes including Vakasoso (haddock poached in coconut milk with bananas and onions) for £11:25, as well as more traditional pub dishes including the George and Dragon Ultimate Burger £9:95.

A selection of Real Ales includes Black Sheep Best Bitter and various guest ales from Yorkshire breweries.