A WARM welcome to the Wold Top brewery, our region's newest microbrewery, producing two top-notch bitters from its base in Hunmanby on the grassy Wolds.

Arable farmers Tom Mellor and Derek Gray have joined forces to set up the brewery and make good use of the malting barley which they have been growing for years.

There's chalk-filtered water too from an "extremely deep" well on their land, which Tom says will ensure steady and consistent beer production until the cows have well and truly come home.

Tom adds that the twosome may well be new to brewing, but they have plenty of drinking experience under their collective belts. As for the process, "it's a wonderful combination of science and art" he says.

"We hope to make sure that the beers are consistent. There's no point having a great tasting ale one week and something bloody awful the next."

The first two products to roll down from Wold Top are Falling Stone and Wold Top Bitter. The first is said to be a premium best bitter, full-bodied and well rounded. The second is the flagship product and at 3.7 per cent alcohol by volume is the easy-drinking choice.

Of course Bar Talk hasn't had a chance to taste any of the stuff yet, which is available in bottle and cask. Our address is 76-86 Walmgate, York, YO1 9YN, guys.

Talking of deliveries, the beers have so far been taken to boozers as far afield as Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, as well as that well-known real ale stronghold - Slough.

"We are very pleased with the beers because the are easy drinking, perhaps too easy," says Tom. "But it's certainly not a hobby, we're running this as a business and we hope to thrive."

u Generous regulars at the Fulford Arms in York have been fumbling around in their pockets, searching down the back of sofas and emptying their piggy banks to raise cash for a North Yorkshire charity.

More than £100 in loose change has been found in just three months to help the Pickering-based Wilf Ward Family Trust which runs homes in the York area to help people with physical and learning disabilities.

Landlady Susan King said her customers proved very adept at stumping up small change and are now raising money for York Wheels, a community transport scheme.

She said: "We also put in the tip money from people who eat here and the change we find when we clean up! It all goes to a good cause and we are pleased that it's being put to good use."

It's amazing how all those pennies add up - perhaps Bar Talk should instigate a search of the office...

u How much do I hear you offer for a nice little boozer in a leafy village near the North York Moors? Well, anything short of £387,000 wouldn't have snaffled you the White Horse in Ampleforth.

The pub, which recently featured in a ITV documentary on the pupils of the nearby exclusive boarding school Ampleforth College, has been bought from a private vendor.

Pub company giant Punch has now taken the reins of the pub, restaurant and beer garden, and we'll have to wait and see what they make of it.

Let's hope they haven't broken the budget getting hold of the bricks and mortar in the first place - those teachers need a drink after a hard day's work at the blackboard.

Updated: 9:15 Saturday, June 28, 2003