The Inn at the Top
Tales of Life at the Highest Pub in Britain
Published on 26. September 2013
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-1-78243-155-8 (ISBN)
Description
The delightful tale of a young couple who in the late 1970s, on impulse, became the new landlords of the most remote, bleak and lonely pub - The Tan Hill Inn - located in the desolate landscape of the Yorkshire Dales.
Having seen an article in the newspaper about the pub's search for a new manager, they arrived just three weeks later as the new landlords of the The Tan Hill Inn. It is a wild, wind-swept place, set alone in a sea of peat bog and heather moorland that stretches unbroken as far as the eye can see. With only sheep and grouse for company, their closest neighbour was four miles away and the nearest town twelve. They had no experience of licensed trade or running a pub, no knowledge of farming and a complete inability to understand the dialect of the sheep farmers who were their local customers. Eager, well-meaning, but in over their heads, our two heroes embarked on a disaster-strewn career that somehow also turned into a lifelong love affair with the Dales.
The Inn at the Top is an entertaining ramble around the Inn, the breath-taking Dales countryside and a remarkable array of local characters, giving an insight into life in a very different different time and place.
Having seen an article in the newspaper about the pub's search for a new manager, they arrived just three weeks later as the new landlords of the The Tan Hill Inn. It is a wild, wind-swept place, set alone in a sea of peat bog and heather moorland that stretches unbroken as far as the eye can see. With only sheep and grouse for company, their closest neighbour was four miles away and the nearest town twelve. They had no experience of licensed trade or running a pub, no knowledge of farming and a complete inability to understand the dialect of the sheep farmers who were their local customers. Eager, well-meaning, but in over their heads, our two heroes embarked on a disaster-strewn career that somehow also turned into a lifelong love affair with the Dales.
The Inn at the Top is an entertaining ramble around the Inn, the breath-taking Dales countryside and a remarkable array of local characters, giving an insight into life in a very different different time and place.
Reviews / Votes
A tribute to a way of life which is long gone and a celebration of the Dales * Yorkshire Post * Neil Hanson's anecdote-laden memoir is reminiscent of James Herriot * The Dalesman * One of the funniest, most entertaining and life-affirming books of the year... A warm and often hilarious account of tenacity and survival, The Inn at the Top is packed with true Yorkshire-style anecdotes, brushes with the law, late night lock-ins, adventures with colourful locals and weather stories to make your hair curl. Sit back and enjoy... * Lancashire Evening Post * Richly entertaining... a wonderful history lesson * Ilkley Gazette * Engaging and entertaining... warm memories to last a lifetime -- Jeff Evans * Inside Beer * A warm, amusing and at times sad book... it's also beautifully written -- Roger Protz * Protz on Beer * Happy holiday reading.. highly diverting -- Mike Amos * The Northern Echo * One of the most funniest, most entertaining and life-affirming books of the year * Lancaster Guardian * A delightful Christmas present, especially for lovers of community pubs * The London Drinker Mag * Wonderfully readable and often very funny * Waterstones Bradford Blog * A heartwarming and hilarious tale * Darlington & Stockton Times *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
307 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78243-155-8 (9781782431558)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
09/2013
1st Edition
Michael O'Mara Books Ltd
€6.99
Available for download
Person
Neil Hanson has crammed an awful lot of living into just one life. Since graduating from Oxford University, he has travelled around the world twice; been a plasterer's mate, an ice cream salesman and a holiday camp redcoat. He worked in a number of art and photography galleries; was simultaneously an art critic and a rugby league commentator; the editor of the Good Beer Guide; the owner of the highest pub in England; a book reviewer, travel writer and critic; and a radio broadcaster for the BBC and for independent radio networks in Australia and New Zealand. He has written for every British national newspaper and for media around the world, made guest appearances on everything from BBC Television's flagship news program to Australia's top-rated radio show and NBC's Today Show. He is also a highly successful lecturer and after-dinner speaker and has written forty published novels and non-fiction books under a variety of noms de plume, plus a couple of screenplays, a playscript for a musical and a series of short stories. He was appointed to a Fellowship of the Royal Literary Fund in 2007.
Neil is also the author of an acclaimed series of popular histories: The Custom of the Sea; The Dreadful Judgement; The Confident Hope of a Miracle; The Unknown Soldier; First Blitz; Monk Eastman; and Escape From Germany. Critics around the world have hailed them as "brilliant", "compelling", and "a triumph".
He lives in the Yorkshire Dales with his wife and family.
Neil is also the author of an acclaimed series of popular histories: The Custom of the Sea; The Dreadful Judgement; The Confident Hope of a Miracle; The Unknown Soldier; First Blitz; Monk Eastman; and Escape From Germany. Critics around the world have hailed them as "brilliant", "compelling", and "a triumph".
He lives in the Yorkshire Dales with his wife and family.