In Wold class condition (From York Press)

In Wold class condition

10:48am Saturday 28th January 2012 in Pints of View By Guzzling Gav

GAVIN AITCHISON discovers the Wolds' best pubs.

BETWEEN York and the North Sea, often overlooked and criminally undervalued, lies some of the finest countryside you could wish for.

The rolling landscapes and endless panoramas of the Yorkshire Wolds are a joy to behold, but all too often they play second or third fiddle to the Moors and the Dales.

Perhaps not for much longer, though. Artist David Hockney’s exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts has generated an upsurge in interest in this forgotten corner of Yorkshire, finally giving it the national spotlight it merits. So what better time for us to take a long-overdue trip east ourselves?

You see, tucked between the chalk hills and winding roads, sit some of the best country pubs in the north of England, true gems, well worth cherishing.

I’ve discovered that over the past couple of years, partly through these weekly expeditions of ours, and partly as a result of getting into walking again.

Initially, I would set off on random rambles and hope to stumble across a nice pub, but now I’m more inclined to choose a route where I know fine well I can get a good pint and hearty lunch as I go.

The Cross Keys at Thixendale was the first Wolds pub I discovered, though it took me three attempts to get in. I first arrived on a Monday lunchtime, unaware they didn’t open then.

I felt unlucky that day, but downright stupid when I returned a few weeks later, when a wrong-turn en route meant I arrived at the pub door 15 minutes after it had been locked for the afternoon.

We journalists are tenacious folk though and, undeterred, I returned once again a few weeks later and finally got my reward, at a traditional rural pub that evidently hasn’t changed in generations.

The Cross Keys, according to the village website, has been on the go for at least 160 years, the earliest known mention dating to 1851. There is only one public room, which consists of a bar facing the front door and tables around the walls, but there’s a kitchen too, hidden from view but from where fantastic meals are provided.

The pub has just been named York Camra’s country pub of the season, a long-overdue reward for its consistent good work.

Some way south, about three miles north-east of Pocklington, the village of Millington offers another excellent venue: The Gait Inn.

A colleague raves about this place in summer, mostly for its garden, and after finally following in his footsteps I can understand why he’s smitten.

The garden is indeed a treat but the inside of the pub is fantastic as well. It’s a traditional timber-framed local with very good home-made food and a satisfying beer range. When I was last there, they had ales from Theakston’s, Tetley’s, Black Sheep, Wold Top and Pocklington’s own Brass Castle, which continues to impress.

Finally, back up to the north, slap bang on the route of the Wolds Way, lies Huggate, not so much a village as a hamlet, and a place I’m quite taken with. The village claims to have the deepest well in all of England but the main focus is the Wolds Inn, the highest pub in all the Wolds and my favourite of the three venues featured today.

Way back in 1992, this place was overall winner in this newspaper’s Yorkshire Pub Awards, and you get the impression nothing much has changed since, in appearance or appeal.

My beer, Timothy Taylor’s Golden Best, was in perfect condition but I’d be cheating you if I didn’t also mention the steak pie, a thing of gargantuan beauty that looked and tasted phenomenal.

John and Jane Leaver, the landlords here, do a truly excellent job and if I tackle the Wolds Way this summer, as I rather optimistically intend to do, it will take all my willpower not to just stop halfway at this place and put my feet up for the rest of the week.

Follow Gav on twitter for beery news, views and chat throughout the week.