GAVIN AITCHISON visits the re-opened Shoulder of Mutton and finds a familiar face behind the bar.

THE streets of north-east York are surprisingly barren when it comes to pubs. Over the past decade or so, the whole area around Huntington Road, Haxby Road and Heworth – basically YO31 – has taken a bit of a battering.

The Reindeer, The Magpie, The Fossway, The Frog Hall and The Groves Working Men’s Club have all been lost, not forgetting the John Bull and the Tang Hall slightly earlier or slightly further south.

You could hardly blame locals if they feared the worst, therefore, when the Shoulder of Mutton in Heworth Green closed earlier this year. But wait – this is one pub that has been spared.

After three months of uncertainty, it is back open, under new management, and on the up again.

Veteran York landlord Jack Merry is the new man in charge, having moved from the Lamb and Lion at Bootham Bar (cue jokes aplenty about mutton dressed as lamb, and such like).

He seemed to have landed on his feet at the Lamb, but missed the buzz of having a community local and is now relishing getting back to what he loves best. He took charge 12 days ago and has already made his mark, ringing the changes on the bar and launching an appealing menu, but removing the pool table and the costly Sky Sports.

He has also incurred some locals’ wrath by removing John Smith’s Cask, but has brought in six hand-pull pumps in its place and is confident the new focus on real ale will prove popular.

When I popped in last Sunday, those hand-pulls offered four different ales, ranging from £2.70 to £3 a pint. Hook Norton’s Hooky Bitter, Hop Back’s Summer Lightning and Woodforde’s Wherry represented Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Norfolk respectively, while Copper Dragon’s Golden Pippin flew the solitary flag for Yorkshire.

Alongside the real ales were Amstel, Heineken, Thatcher’s Gold, Foster's, Guinness and John Smith’s Extra Cold.

I went for the Hooky Bitter, a 3.6 per cent, light golden ale that’s very refreshing and easy to drink. Hook Norton is one of my favourite breweries, largely due to its summer special Haymaker, now hitting the bars again. (See earlier Pints of view). The Hooky Bitter has less punch but on a summer afternoon, it’s absolutely ideal.

Just like, for that matter, the pub as a whole, which boasts one of York’s biggest and most family-friendly beer gardens, including a play-park, and three spacious rooms dating back to the days when the building was a Methodist-owned house.

Whether it can ever become a destination venue for non-locals – or indeed whether it will want to – remains to be seen. But there’s no reason why it can’t thrive locally, particularly with so many other local pubs now gone, and with the huge untapped area around Dodsworth Avenue on its doorstep.

In the meantime, those who’ve not yet tried the place may just want to make a date for July 23, when the pub will be hosting Jack’s old favourite from his Tap And Spile days – the York pork pie festival.

Shorts

IF you happen to find yourself in London any time soon, make a beeline for The Craft Beer Co in Leather Lane, just west of Farringdon tube station.

It’s been open only a few days but is already being hailed by many as the best pub in the Capital, with good reason.

There are 37 taps and more than 150 bottles, creating a staggering selection of beers from around Britain and the world. It’s a beer lover’s paradise, so much so that I suddenly feel compelled to take back all the bad things I’ve ever said about London!

The Fox in Holgate Road, York, has a garden party today with live music and a barbecue.

Follow Gav at twitter.com/pintsofview for beery news, views and chat throughout the week.