The Tan Hill Inn is known for surprise live music sessions, with touring bands sometimes stranded overnight,


leading to spontaneous, intimate performances with guests and staff


The Skirrid Inn, Wales


Best for: Pub ghost hunts Why go: If you like your pint with a side of spookiness, look no further than The Skirrid Mountain Inn, said to be one of Britain’s most haunted pubs. Refreshing weary wayfarers for more than 900 years, it claims to be Wales’s oldest pub and can be found in the village of Llanvihangel Crucorney in Bannau Brycheiniog National Park. History buffs will find plenty to pore over. The inn is said to have been a meeting place for Welsh national hero Owain Glyndŵr and his supporters during their 14th-century uprising against the English, and it’s also thought to have served as a courthouse where criminals were hanged for stealing sheep. The ghosts of some of these former occupants are said to haunt the pub, along with those of a hangman and a former landlady. How to do it: Ghost hunts, rooms and food reservations can be booked online. skirridinn.com


The Crask Inn, Scotland


Best for: Highland isolation and heavenly peace Why go: For many people, going to the pub is something of a religious experience. Nowhere is this more true than at The Crask Inn, a historic Highland pub dating from 1815 that also functions as a church. Donated by its previous owners to the Scottish Episcopal Church, it still hosts regular services, including daily evening prayers at 5pm — plus, the landlord doubles as the local priest. The pub sits along a one-track road in the Scottish Highlands and is popular with walkers who are ‘bagging Munros’ — scaling mountains that are higher than 914.4 metres (3,000ft). There’s B&B accommodation and a campsite, too. How to do it: This is one of the most isolated inns on the British mainland, so let them know in advance if you’re planning on spending the night. Church service times can be found on the Scottish Episcopal Church’s website. thecraskinn.com


Biddy’s O’Barnes, Ireland


Best for: Mountain drives and proper Guinness Why go: If ever a pub felt like it’d been dropped into the landscape as an afterthought, it’s Biddy’s O’Barnes. Set at Barnesmore Gap in the Blue Stack Mountains, it sits alone on a stretch of road that cuts through steep-sided hills, where bog, rock and fast-changing weather close in on all sides. Inside, it’s everything you’d hope for in a good boozer: low beams, open fires and a bar that feels much as it always has, with Guinness poured properly and stories swapped over pints at the counter. It’s been here for more than 150 years and the atmosphere is unpolished in the best way possible. Arriving feels less like ticking off a destination and more like stumbling upon something you weren’t meant to find. Which, in a place like this, is exactly the point. How to do it: Drive the Barnesmore Gap between Donegal Town and Ballybofey to see the mountains at their most dramatic. biddysobarnes.com


NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER – LAKES & MOUNTAINS COLLECTION 39


IMAGE: TAN HILL INN


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