Welcome to the house with a shed that’s also a pub

A regular at The Bear Inn at South Cave and with first-hand knowledge of several other East Riding hostelries, retired electrical inspector Geoff Clark is as good a judge as anyone of what makes for a good bar.

So when it came to building his own in his back garden, those hours of painstaking research paid off.

The result is The Plum Tree Arms, a converted summer house which he designed and built from scratch with the help of his youngest son, Paul.

It would be the envy of many professional landlords, and as well becoming a focal point for the family’s social life is now vying for the honour of being named national shed of the year.

Although entry to The Plum Tree Arms is strictly by invitation only, word has got out, with property expert Sarah Beeny and her husband Graham enjoying a couple of hours in its plush exterior and, according to Mr Clark, using it as the inspiration for a similar venture at Rise Hall, the Grade II-star listed building they recently restored near Skirlaugh.

It had from humble beginnings on the site of an old greenhouse and the tree from which it takes its name.

Mr Clark, who believes he has created the “traditional English pub”, said: “We wanted a summerhouse for my grand-daughter Ashleigh and Rita (wife) said ‘put a little bar in and we’ll have the Christening here’ and then it just snowballed.”

He searched far and wide for the fittings and furniture, collecting pieces from friends and contacts in the trade and buying some pieces through online sales and auctions, although he says he does not want to think how much the whole project has cost.

“Everywhere I go I ask for little bits,” said Mr Clark, 58. “And a lot of stuff I had in my loft. The 1910 cash register I bought on eBay and the Chesterfield chairs were off the internet. The mirror is from a pub in Rawcliffe and the bell is from the Bell Hotel in Driffield.”

A wood-burning stove ensures it can be enjoyed all year round.

There are also plenty of tributes to the county, with the White Rose of Yorkshire carved into the mirror and flying from a flag at the entrance, and the traditional Yorkshire dartboard with the trebles missing.

“He’s Yorkshire-mad; it gets on your nerves,” said Mrs Clark, 55.

After the inaugural Christening, the bar has become the venue of choice for a select circle of friends and neighbours and is used for New Year’s Eve parties, fundraising events and for gatherings of Mr Clark’s former workmates at the BAE Systems plant at Brough.

A race night generated £475 for the Macmillan cancer charity and another event raised £250 for the local Animal Welfare charity.

However, the Clarks are keen to retain the privacy of The Plum Tree Arms, which is hidden from view at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac. “I don’t want any Tom, Dick or Harry wandering in because it’s private and not open to the public,” said Mrs Clark. “I said don’t tell people exactly where we are because I don’t want somebody coming down the field.”

There are, nonetheless, a number of house rules. No one has yet been barred – although Mrs Clark said some have come close “a couple of times” – and it is a no-smoking establishment.

And it is surprisingly well-stocked for its size. Traditional cask ales are served – Mr Clark is a member of the Campaign for Real Ale – alongside a bevy of spirits, lager, cider, and at least 15 single malts.

The main hand-pulled beers are the locally-produced Wold Top Bitter, John Smiths cask ale, and Theakston’s Black Bull Bitter.

All measures are imperial, as is the vintage till and a list of 1960s prices from the Nag’s Head at Routh, which offers a pint of Younger’s mild at 1/1 (one shilling and a penny) in “old money”.

Closer inspection of some of the photographs and records on the walls perhaps explain why Mr Clark excels in the role of mine host.

His grandfather ran The New Inn at Biggar in Barrow-in-Furness in the 1960s, and five generations earlier, in 1767, another ancestor was an innkeeper in Malton.

“I think the keeping of inns is in my blood,” said Mr Clark.

There are also personal touches giving a nod to Mr Clark’s other passions, with pictures of the Dick Turpin Scooter Club of which he is a member, of Pink Floyd guitarist Dave Gilmour, and a still from the 1958 film Ice Cold in Alex –the “best film ever made”, according to Mr Clark – in which a thirsty John Mills memorably runs his finger through the condensation on a cold glass of beer.

He would no doubt have found a drop to slake his thirst had he been able to call in at The Plum Tree Arms.