The Narrow Boat, Skipton

A rather contrived pub in a modern building which has been fitted out with various historic bits and carved woodwork to look older. As mentioned before it is now run by Kirkstall so a fair selection of their own ales plus a guest, which seemed to be in very good order. A good pub on a crawl but I don't think I would stay for a session.

Official site of The Narrow Boat - thenarrowboatskipton.co.uk

Official site of The Narrow Boat - thenarrowboatskipton.co.uk

This pub is now run by Kirkstall brewery, so there are now several of their beers on the bar, plus a couple of guests. As mentioned below, the seating isn't particularly comfortable and the menu was pedestrian, so we didn't stay for food. Still not the friendliess place although one of the barmaids was very helpful. It looks good, but doesn't really deliver in my opinion. Not one of my favourites in Skipton either.

Good Beer Guide Regular and in 2022 edition. A couple of narrow rooms and an upstairs mezzanine floor. A wider than usual for Yorkshire Selection - and amid the classic bitters I found a delicious Osset/Lakes Brew Co collab West Coast IPA on cask. Excellent condition. Bar staff friendly. Gentle atmosphere. Liked it.

Visited last week. 8 hand pulls at the bar, of which 7 were on. At the time of my visit the line-up was Titanic White Star, Titanic Cherry Dark, Okells Bitter, Tim Taylor Landlord, Osset King Rat, Ilkley Mary Jane and Mobberley Elysium. I went for the Cherry Mild, at a not outrageous £2 for a half. In addition to the cask line-up there were several keg options including beers from Ilkley and Vocation. In the main room there is bench seating - perhaps reclaimed church pews - with tables in front and low stools on the opposite side of the tables. There is a cosy dark corner which had the benefit of having a radiator hidden behind it, which was rather welcome. I did not find the seating in this corner to be particularly comfortable as it's not really deep enough to get your arse on, and it is pretty upright so no chance of leaning back a bit. The seating in other parts of the room was of similar style, so can't imagine it being much more comfortable but you never know. I couldn't see myself staying here for a session and chilling out. There is a room off to the right as you enter, which appeared to be more geared up towards dining, and the toilets are accessed through here. There is a staircase in the main bar, but I didn't investigate. The gents were modern and perfectly acceptable. There was a lady in with a baby, so is presumably family friendly. Happy to have tried it and it was nice to see a bit of variety at the pumps.

Long narrow space split into two rooms, still with eight pulls so the same as the old Market Town Tavern days, the service wasn’t the friendliest but it’s never been a favourite of mine in Skipton. Not sure who owns it these days. My Kirkstall Black Band had a slight taste of Plum Porter, so maybe that was last through that line. Can’t say it’s improved over the seven years since my last review.

What an excellent little place. Hidden down a narrow alleyway this place can be easily missed, which is a shame. The place is on two floors, though I never ventured upstairs. The ground floor is a single room and the bar has 8 handpulls with a good variety of styles on. Not very local breweries supplied the beer today but that's only a minor quibble. Another quibble is the price. A bit on the expensive side but as this was a first visit I didn't mind too much.