GAVIN AITCHISON is glad to take a second look at a city pub with a village feel.

OKAY, I’ll hold my hands up. In all the years we have been ambling around York’s beer scene, this has been my most glaring omission.

Despite living and working less than two miles from The Plough, this column has overlooked it or hurtled past it week after week, giving it no more than a passing mention.

I have visited sporadically in those times and indeed a few years ago I found myself reluctantly interrupting some American visitors, compelled to point out to their misinformed ringleader that Carling was not in fact the local Yorkshire beer that all the regulars would drink, as he was declaring with dangerous conviction to his fellow tourists.

After some persuasion, they ended up instead with pints of Black Sheep and – I like to think – a better impression of Yorkshire beer than they nearly took away.

But for some reason that I can’t recall, I neglected to write up the visit and the pub remained, on these pages at least, an ironically unploughed furrow.

I wish I had a better excuse – perhaps that it was rubbish and didn’t merit attention, or conversely that I went so overboard that my editor refused to sign my expenses for the night, but neither is true; the shortcoming is all mine.

This is, however, an apt if belated time to focus on The Plough. The pub dates back more than three centuries but the current owners are this year celebrating a decade in charge.

Twin sisters Kim Martin and Sue Curtis took over in 2004, and have turned it into a fantastic pub, serving good beer and excellent food in the heart of Fulford.

It can be clichéd to hark for places that have the atmosphere of a village pub within the convenience of a city, but The Plough is the real deal. It is only a short drive or a leisurely walk from the city centre but has the relaxed homeliness of a rural pub, complete with resident cat wandering around imperiously.

This year, The Plough has undergone some changes. Through business support from NatWest and Lombard, the kitchen has been refurbished and six new bed and breakfast rooms have been added, returning the pub – say the owners – to its coaching house roots.

The beer range here is steady rather than stunning, Black Sheep and Timothy Taylor’s Landlord the best bet for ale fans, but the home-cooked food is very impressive and the menu varied.

Kim said: “The pub has such charm and character. It’s not a chain, which is obvious from the moment you walk through the door. We are regularly asked by our customers whether we offer guest accommodation and we felt now was the right time to expand our business.”

SHORTS

• The Four Thorns brewery, based at The Deramore Arms in Heslington, is hosting a meet the brewer night from 5.30pm to 8.30pm on Wednesday, to showcase its Animal Antics beer range.

• The Fox in Holgate is due to re-open at 4pm next Friday, following a major refurbishment. Ossett Brewery in West Yorkshire have taken it over. There will be nine handpulls and there will be live music throughout Friday evening. The refurbishment is creating ten jobs.

• Congratulations to The Three Tuns in Coppergate, named pub of the year in the Visit York Tourism Awards on Thursday night.

Twitter: @pintsofview