Despite floods and foot and mouth disease, the quality of North Yorkshire pubs is shining through.

PUBS, pub groups, breweries and pub/breweries. All are award-winners and all are from North Yorkshire.

In what can only be described as a troubled year for the leisure industry, the quality on offer across the county is clear to see.

And, pleasingly, that quality has been recognised by judges at the Good Pub Guide.

"This is very good that we have won so many awards," said Peter Peake, secretary of the Beer and Pub Association for Yorkshire.

"At a time when the tourism industry is fighting back, this is truly an excellent piece of news and should hopefully encourage visitors from outside Yorkshire to come and visit our pubs.

"And it should encourage people from inside Yorkshire to go out and use their pubs, drink local brews and take advantage of the Yorkshire pubs that are clearly the best."

Dining Pub of the Year was the Blue Lion, East Witton, described as a "civilised, first-class inn with a courteous, friendly welcome, a good mix of customers, excellent, imaginative food from a regularly changing menu, and a fine choice of drinks".

Brewer of the Year was Sam Smith's of Tadcaster, Yorkshire. The brewery was praised for supplying its Old Brewery real ale throughout the country at relatively low prices - on average nearly 30p cheaper than the norm. Spokesman Graham Auton told the Evening Press that it was Tadcaster's superb water that was responsible for the excellent ales and stouts that the brewery was able to produce.

"We won the award for being able to offer our customers a jolly good pint and a very reasonable price," he said.

"We are well-established in North Yorkshire and many of our pubs are here. But it is the water, among the best in the country, that has given us such success."

New Inn, Cropton, Pickering, richly deserved its Own Brew Pub of the Year gong.

"A comfortably modernised village inn with a fine distinctive range of own-brewed beers - usually five at a time - from a potential choice of eight," said the judges. "An airy lounge, no smoking downstairs conservatory, and elegant no smoking restaurant, and good value bar food."

The brewery, developed after a particularly heavy winter prevented ale supplies getting through, and the resourcefulness needed to create beer for the thirsty Yorkshire regulars, warrants an award in itself.

Tynemill, from Nottingham, picked up Pub Group of the Year, which is particularly gratifying for this region as they own 50 per cent of York Brewery's pub assets - the Last Drop Inn and the Three-Legged Mare.

Tony Thompson, owner of York Brewery, is pleased the joint owners of the Mildly Mad Pub Company, which operates his two pubs, have won the awards.

"It is richly deserved," he said.

"The pubs they like to run, the majority of which are in Nottingham, follow the same ideals that we believe in. They believe in real ales and in creating the kind of atmosphere in which food and drink can be enjoyed without any of the distractions of music, pool tables, quiz machines or kids.

"Good on them."

Updated: 13:56 Friday, October 19, 2001