Neil Hanson ran one of Britain’s most famous pubs – the Tan Hill Inn in North Yorkshire. Now he’s written a book about life in the highest pub in Britain, reports MAXINE GORDON.

NORTH YORKSHIRE pub the Tan Hill Inn has a few claims to fame. Not only is it the highest pub in the land, it also starred in one of the most memorable TV adverts – for Everest Double Glazing, featuring Ted Moult and his feather.

Former landlord Neil Hanson was instrumental in bringing the pub in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales to national attention, and has written an account of the saga in his new book, The Inn At The Top.

Neil, who co-wrote this year’s best-seller, The Sweethearts, about female workers at Rowntrees, said the inn was “a rat-infested ruin” when he bought it in the mid 1980s.

But good fortune dawned when Neil persuaded Everest Double Glazing to film the now-famous commercial at Tan Hill.

“When we bought the inn,” said Neil, “the windows were rotten, letting in draughts in summer and snow in winter. I was watching an Everest ad on TV one night when it suddenly occurred to me that their ads were always about sound-proofing and never about cold and wild weather.

“So I wrote to the company offering Tan Hill as the perfect location. By sheer good luck they had reached the same conclusion, and were already looking for a suitable place to film. As a result we had new windows within a fortnight and the commercial was filmed the following week.

“I’d sold them on Tan Hill’s wild weather, but the day they came to begin filming was one of the handful of still and sunny days in the year. I could tell from the looks they gave me as they went back to their hotel that night that they felt they’d been sold a pup.

“By nightfall normal service had been resumed and wind and rain were lashing against the new windows. In the middle of the night I heard a loud crash. The location caterers’ wagon, left on the car park overnight had been blown onto its side by the gale. There were no more complaints about the lack of wild weather after that.”

The advert, Everest’s most successful ever, created one wave of publicity, and there was a second when the local planning officer demanded the removal of the windows because no planning permission had been obtained.

Neil decided to appeal direct to the voting public and contacted the local press. The story was picked up by the nationals and, says Neil, “to Everest’s great delight, the ad became the only commercial ever to be shown in full on the BBC’s Six O’Clock News.”

Neil said the book was an attempt to do for Dales pubs what James Herriot did for vets. “So if you like the Dales, its pubs and characters, I hope you’ll find plenty in the book to entertain and amuse you.”

* The Inn at the Top is published on Thursday by Michael O’Mara Books, price £8.99

* Neil will be talking about The Inn At The Top at Waterstone’s, York, on Thursday at 6.45pm (Tickets cost £3 and include a glass of wine or soft drink. Details from 01904 628740/0843 290 8715).

l He will also be appearing at Richmond School Sixth Form Centre, Darlington Road, Richmond, on Friday at 7.30pm, as part of the Boots and Books Festival. Tickets available from Castle Hill Bookshop, Richmond, tel: 01748 824243.