Lion Inn Explained

Lion Inn
Image Alt:A collection of buildings that make-up the Lion Inn, with vehicles in front
Former Names:The Black Lion Inn
Location:Blakey Ridge
Location Town:Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire
Location Country:England
Coordinates:54.388°N -0.956°W
Destruction Date:-->
Unit Count:-->
References:[1]

The Lion Inn is a public house at Blakey Ridge, near Kirkbymoorside, in North Yorkshire, England. The building was completed between 1553 and 1558 (dates vary), and has been used as an inn for four centuries, sitting adjacent to a road across the moors between Castleton and Hutton-le-Hole. During the ironstone industry boom in Rosedale, it catered mainly for those engaged in the mining industry. The inn is known for being subjected to extremes of weather, like Tan Hill Inn, also in North Yorkshire.

At above sea level, it is often referred to as the fourth highest pub in England, and the second highest in Yorkshire (after Tan Hill).

History

The Lion Inn is at above sea level on Blakey Ridge (Blakey means Black),[1] [2] [3] on the road between Castleton and Hutton-le-Hole.[4] The pub is known for being the fourth highest in England, and the second highest in Yorkshire, after the Tan Hill Inn, which like the Lion, used to serve miners.[5] [6] The pub lies on the watershed between several valleys (Eskdale, Farndale, Rosedale, Westerdale), and was located at the site of what is believed to be an ancient hostelry.[7] It is believed that monks built the pub between 1553 and 1558, using it as a rest stop when carrying coffins over the moors.[8]

In the 18th century, the Inn was known for the cockfighting on the moors behind the pub, and for being a trading point in corn and fish.[9] Surplus corn from Danby, Commondale and the Fryups, was sold to the horse-breeders and stable owners of Ryedale.[10] Later, many of those who were patrons at the pub worked in the coal-mining industry, with many pits still visible on Blakey Moor.[11] Then in the 1850s, the ironstone mining industry and its associated railway, brought an enhanced trade to the pub.[12] In the 19th century, the pub was called The Black Lion Inn, or Blakey House.[13] [14] In December 2010, two customers and five staff were trapped in the pub for eight days during a period of heavy snowfall. Drifts of snow deep, were layered against the pub.[1]

Popular culture

In the 1970s and 1980s, the pub hosted various musical acts such as Chris Rea, Slade, Sandie Shaw, Gene Pitney, Neil Sedaka, Helen Shapiro and Sting.[15]

The jazz trio Back Door, formed and played a residency at the pub in the 1970s, with the landlord at the time (Brian Jones), even financing one of their albums.[16] They returned to the pub in 2006 for a sell-out two nights re-union concert.[17] [18] The rock band, Mostly Autumn have also used the Lion Inn as a residency, inserting a small proviso in a 2001 recording contract that allowed them to play live there.[19]

In 2019, segments of the BBC series Top Gear were filmed on the Moors using the pub as a base.[20]

Recreation

The Lion Inn is a waypoint on the Coast to Coast and the Lyke Wake Walk.[21] The pub is also often used as a starting/finishing point for walkers on short ventures out on the moors.[22]

The road past the pub was used in 2016 for the stage three event of the Tour de Yorkshire, known as Cote de Blakey Ridge.[23]

Notes and References

  1. News: Snow forces eight-day lock-in at Kirkbymoorside pub . 16 January 2021 . BBC News . 5 December 2010 . 27 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240727132052/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-11921396 . live .
  2. Book: Bryant . Phil . 1001 great family pubs. . 2005 . AA . Farnborough . 0749542659 . 100 . North of England.
  3. Book: Ekwall . Eilert . The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names . 1960 . Oxford University Press . Oxford . 0-19-869103-3 . 47. 4.
  4. Book: Heselden . Jean . Snelling . Rebecca . North York Moors. . 1987 . Publishing Division of the Automobile Association . Basingstoke . 0-86145-269-0 . 34.
  5. News: Bell . Joe . Experience: I was snowed in inside a pub for nine days . 15 January 2021 . The Guardian . 26 December 2014 . 27 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240727132053/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/dec/26/experience-snowed-inside-a-pub-for-nine-days . live .
  6. Book: Bagshaw . Mike . North York Moors & Yorkshire Wolds : local, characterful guides to Britain's special places . 2018 . Bradt . Chalfont St. Peter, Bucks . 9781784770754 . 51 . 2.
  7. News: Reid . Mark . Blakey Ridge & Farndale . 16 January 2021 . The Northern Echo . 29 October 2015 . PDF . 27 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240727132052/https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/resources/files/35587/ . live .
  8. News: Jowsey . Ed . The Lion Inn, N Yorks, pub review . 17 January 2021 . The Telegraph . 19 June 2015 . subscription . 27 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240727132057/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/pubs/11686067/The-Lion-Inn-N-Yorks-pub-review.html . live .
  9. Book: Cowley . Bill . Lyke Wake walk and the Lyke Wake Way : forty miles across the North York Moors in 24 hours or 50 miles in as long as you like! : with in addition the Shepherd's Round the Monk's Trod and the Rail Trail thrown in for good measure . 1983 . Dalesman . Clapham . 0852067119 . 32.
  10. Book: Chrystal. Paul. The Place Names of Yorkshire; Cities, Towns, Villages, Rivers and Dales, some Pubs too, in Praise of Yorkshire Ales. 2017. Stenlake. Catrine. 9781840337532. 133. 1.
  11. Knight. David. Bax. Samantha. North York Moors NMP 2 Aerial Survey Mapping Summary Report. 2013. English Heritage. research.historicengland.org.uk . PDF. 18 January 2021. 33.
  12. News: The Lion Inn, Blakey Ridge, North Yorkshire Moors . 19 January 2021 . infoweb.newsbank.com . 24 April 2015 . subscription . 27 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240727132102/https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/user/login?destination=document-view%3Fp%3DAWGLNB%26t%3D%26sort%3D_rank_%253AD%26fld-base-0%3Dalltext%26maxresults%3D20%26val-base-0%3DLion%2520Inn%2520Blakey%26docref%3Dnews/154EE2961608F5F0 . live .
  13. News: A day's hunting at Lord Feversham's estate in Farndale . The York Herald . 4,386 . 29 November 1856 . Column E . 12.
  14. News: Notes and Queries . The York Herald . 12,530 . 1 August 1891 . Column C . 12.
  15. News: Hear the music roar . 16 January 2021 . Gazette & Herald . 7 February 2002 . 27 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240727132104/https://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/6666893.hear-the-music-roar/ . live .
  16. News: Cult classics - 'Back Door', Back Door (1972) . 19 January 2021 . infoweb.newsbank.com . 21 December 2007 . subscription . 27 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240727132604/https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/user/login?destination=document-view%3Fp%3DAWGLNB%26t%3D%26sort%3D_rank_%253AD%26page%3D2%26fld-base-0%3Dalltext%26maxresults%3D20%26val-base-0%3DLion%2520Inn%2520Blakey%26docref%3Dnews/11BCF93622DE7F98 . live .
  17. News: Fordham . John . Obituary: Ron Aspery . 16 January 2021 . The Guardian . 3 January 2004 . 27 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240727132606/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/jan/03/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries . live .
  18. News: Ron Aspery . 17 January 2021 . The Times . 16 February 2004 . subscription . 22 January 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210122044407/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ron-aspery-gn79qw7bg9w . live .
  19. News: Sanders . Hilary . Hear the music roar . 19 January 2021 . infoweb.newsbank.com . 7 February 2007 . subscription . 27 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240727132607/https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/user/login?destination=document-view%3Fp%3DAWGLNB%26t%3D%26sort%3D_rank_%253AD%26fld-base-0%3Dalltext%26maxresults%3D20%26val-base-0%3DLion%2520Inn%2520Blakey%26docref%3Dnews/10D868B6E9630202 . live .
  20. News: Scott . Jim . Top Gear stars drop into pub for filming ahead of next series . 16 January 2021 . The Northern Echo . 11 September 2019 . 27 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240727132608/https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/17893342.bbc-top-gear-team-drop-lion-inn-blakey-ridge/ . live .
  21. Book: Wainwright . Alfred . Wainwright's coast to coast walk . 1987 . M. Joseph . London . 071812622X . 176.
  22. News: Owen-Jones . Peter . In the tracks of the railway men . 17 January 2021 . The Sunday Times . 1 January 2012 . subscription . 27 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240727132608/https://www.thetimes.com/article/in-the-tracks-of-the-railway-men-kg6xq9pf2bg . live .
  23. News: Murphy . Robert . Saddle up and follow in the tracks of Tour de Yorkshire . 17 January 2021 . Gazette & Herald . 6 April 2016 . 27 July 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240727132609/https://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/leisure/cyclerides/14406459.saddle-up-and-follow-in-the-tracks-of-tour-de-yorkshire/ . live .

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