RUMBLINGS are afoot in North Yorkshire as a beacon emerges for wanderers in need of refreshment at Husthwaite, near Easingwold. Business duo Robin and Nicky Jaques have taken the village's derelict Blacksmith's Arms pub, given it a good shake and emerged with something totally different.

The colourful Roasted Pepper, which opens next week, may have a flash new name and a menu more bruschetta than roast beef, but it certainly fills a gap in the dark countryside.

A few dozen special guests - and Bar Talk - have already slipped through the doors to take in the refurbished interior, and villagers have been invited for a champagne reception on Sunday night.

And word is that residents, who collected 300 names in a petition to stop the building being converted to housing, are delighted to have an eating and drinking post back in the village.

Experienced licensees Robin and Nicky, former landlords of the nearby Fauconberg Arms Hotel, Coxwold, have been working on bringing the building up to scratch for months.

Nicky said they wanted the business to have a bit of "zing" and to appeal to people from across the county, of all ages. She said: "Why should people in the cities have all the fun? We've got a lot to offer too."

As you would expect with a Spanish tapas-based restaurant bar, drinking revolves around wine, but the small corner bar offers two cask beers, plus all the usual fizzy stuff.

Food is both continental and traditional with everything from deep fried polenta to Thai salmon fishcakes on the tapas menu, plus some more heavyweight meals ranging from £10 to £14.

So a warm welcome from Bar Talk to one of the new filling outposts for hungry and thirsty travellers.

MEANWHILE, over at the Fauconberg, furious muttering was taking place beside the open fire about the new business on the block.

Bar Talk asked if roasted pepper was at the top of the blackboard starter menu as a tribute to the pub's new neighbour. "I couldn't possibly comment," replied the bar man.

THREE cheers for micro-brewer Jules Dolan, who is now on to his third brew, Cordelia's Gift.

Factory worker Jules still hasn't given up the day job but the reputation of his Abbey Bells brewery at Hirst Courtney, near Selby, is spreading fast.

His brews can now be found at York's Tanners Moat castle The Maltings and as far afield as the Cricketers in Scarborough, King's Arms in North Duffield and the Fighting Cock in Bradford - which has made him specially proud as it's home turf.

Jules has come a long way since his dream to establish a small business at his home got up the noses of planners who claimed the "pungent" brewing smells would upset villagers.

Permission was finally granted this summer for the brewery to go ahead and the glass worker has been going full steam ahead since July. He recently invested in a second fermentation vessel which has doubled his output every week and a bit to 180 gallons.

But he admits that he is still very much a student of the black art of brewing. Cordelia's Gift came out at a hefty 5.2 per cent even though it was planned to be somewhere between Original Bitter at 5.1 and Monday's Child, which came in at 3.7.

"The Cricketers want me to make them a winter warmer at about 6.5 per cent," said Jules. "At this rate it will probably come out around 11 per cent. The winters must be very cold in Scarborough if that's what they want."

PICKERING police station sees few visitors these days as it is only open part-time, but the witness box from its predecessor - a building demolished in 1964 - is as busy as ever, over at the Buck Inn, at Wrelton. A steady flow of drinkers keep the stately piece of wooden furniture warm as it lies in a corner of the snug village pub, near Pickering.

But the only thing licensees Simon and Jan Harris are guilty of is running a successful boozer, with tasty food and a range of beers including Cameron's Creamy, Black Sheep Best and Taylor's Landlord.

The couple are celebrating their first year the pub, which now boasts two darts teams, two dominoes teams and a motley bunch of footballers.

And they are planning a harvest festival next Saturday, featuring a local produce auction, as part of the festivities.

The bash begins at 8pm and hopes are high that generous regulars will help beat the mighty £1,200 raised last year. We'll raise our glasses to that.

Updated: 16:27 Friday, September 20, 2002