LET’S raise a glass to the winners! Today, we bring down the curtain on The Press Pub Awards 2009/10, by naming our seven winning watering-holes.

More than 250 of you have voted over the past few months, with more than 50 pubs across York and North and East Yorkshire being recommended for the top gongs.

This is the first time we have run the Pub Awards since 1999, so many thanks to everyone who took part and sent us their nominations.

A big thanks too to Rudgate Brewery, who have generously donated a keg of their champion beer of Britain, Ruby Mild, to our overall winner. Look out for it on the bar soon.

The award for best real ale pub goes to the ROOK & GASKILL in Lawrence Street, an Aladdin’s cave for all ale aficionados. This breadth of choice in this pub is remarkable, with an ever-changing selection of varied and enjoyable beers.

From a very competitive field, our judges named the best food pub as the LORD COLLINGWOOD in Poppleton, having been greatly impressed on repeat visits by both the selection and quality of the home-made food. This is pub grub at its best, and would put many restaurants to shame.

Our best community pub is the GEORGE AND DRAGON in West Haddlesey, near Selby. This is the only pub in the village and is clearly the local hub, with regular events, fundraising initiatives and an all-round family feel that surpassed any other we encountered.

The best landlord award goes to GORDON WATKINS of The Ebor in Bishopthorpe. After 29 years’ service, Gordon knows his pub, his beer and his customers inside out and gives a friendly welcome to everyone.

The best entertainment award was perhaps one of the easier ones to allocate. The BLACK SWAN at Peasholme Green emerged the clear winner, for its unstinting commitment to the live music scene in York. For anyone who likes folk or jazz music, this is the place to be.

Our search for the best outdoor area took us to the FERRY BOAT INN in Thorganby, a delightful little village pub, a few yards from the River Derwent. The large grassed garden area slopes down towards the water, and is an idyllic spot to while away the summer.

And finally, the top award for best overall pub goes to the aptly-named GOLDEN BALL in Cromwell Road, just inside York’s Bar Walls.

Our judges were overwhelmingly impressed by the friendly welcome, the fantastic beer, the old-school lay-out of the pub, the quaint and peaceful garden, and the fact that – despite its fairly central location – it manages to feel like a locals’ local. Golden by name, and now golden by nature – this is a true champion pub.


Pub columnist GAVIN AITCHISON raises a glass to the local

The past couple of years have not been an easy time for the pub trade.

Rent rises, supermarket pricing, the smoking ban and licensing changes – not to mention the recession – have conspired to make life pretty tough.

But amid all the sad stories, it’s important to celebrate the industry’s undoubted success stories as well.

The Press Pub Awards 2009/10 have helped us do that, by raising a glass to all that’s good in York, North Yorkshire and East Yorkshire’s pub trade. And there is undoubtedly a lot worth celebrating.

These awards have introduced our judges not only to new pubs but, most enjoyably of all, to new people, new villages and new neighbourhoods, where the local is still a vital corner-stone.

They have been an uplifting reminder of what makes the British pub so integral to our communities and such a wonderful place when it is run well.

It was always going to be difficult picking just seven winners – but here they are.

Congratulations to them all.

Cheers!