AN HISTORIC pub that’s friendly to all people and pets, other than spiders, is the next pub in our competition.

The Golden Slipper is one of 10 finalists in The Press 'Best Pub 2024' awards.

Press readers have nominated their favourite pubs in York and North Yorkshire via an online voting platform.

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They will now be able to vote for their 'Best Pub 2024' by picking up copies of The Press newspaper between July 22 and August 3, with the winner set to be announced the week of August 5.

Each copy of The Press in the coming days will feature a short profile on each pub and why it thinks it deserves to be voted number one in York.

Landlords Emma Stafford and Gosia Sidorko took over The Golden Slipper last June after visiting York on holiday and falling in love with the city’s charms. After finding the Slipper up for sale, the pair piled all their possessions into a van, parked up, and opened their pub on the very same day.

The bar at The Golden SlipperThe bar at The Golden Slipper (Image: Provided)

Having worked behind the bar for years, Emma stated that they wanted a fresh start with their own pub saying: “Why are we doing this for someone else when we could do it for ourselves?”

Whilst renovated during the pair’s arrival, the Golden Slipper still retains its historic figures and dates to the 15th and 16th century. The pub was originally two buildings, joined together at the front of a brewery.

The building is Grade II listed and features multiple quirky historic features – such as a ‘coffin drop’ (a void where coffins were lowered prior to their burial) and a cursed shoe found during refurbishment. It is believed that removing this shoe from the pub will bring bad luck and so it remains pride of place on the wall.

The shoe at The Golden SlipperThe shoe at The Golden Slipper (Image: Provided)

The Slipper aims to have ‘something for everyone’ on the bar with Rudgate stocked, amongst other local pints, and Inches on offer for cider drinkers. They also offer wine, bottled drinks, and spirits.

As hands on landlords, the pair head up a small team but like to be involved in the day to day running of the pub with Emma behind the bar and Gosia helping build up the reputation that the pub has gained around food.

All food is made in house from local suppliers – the meat coming from Sykes Farm and all fish from Cross of York – with the menu featuring classic pub grub done well with fish and chips, steak and ale pie, and a signature Sunday dinner.

A Sunday Dinner at The Golden SlipperA Sunday Dinner at The Golden Slipper (Image: Provided)

The pair pride themselves on their friendly customer service, stating they’re ‘everyone friendly’ – welcoming all people and pets ‘including dinosaurs but excluding spiders’.

Longtime locals, Claire and Kev, stated that the Slipper has excellent ambiance, “the best pint in York by a country mile”, and said that "Fish and Chip Friday is worth coming in for."

The Slipper also hosts live music each Friday and Saturday with a free of cost digital jukebox available at other times. They also have a 100-inch projector screen where they can show live events.