Blow by blow

Mr Collinge, landlord of The Maltings, Tanners Moat, York, had been reigning champion and previous winner twice in The Morning Advertiser Cask Ale Pub of the Year.

But this week at a swanky do in a posh London hotel his wonderful watering hole was reduced to a silver trophy.

"As reigning champions we were looking to retain our title but I guess it can't be our turn every year.

"We'll be back next year and we're determined to bring back the gold and if not we'll nick a couple of tablecloths and pint pots from the hotel."

Meanwhile, The Maltings' own foot and mouth restrictions are ongoing, despite its city location. A sign from a previous outbreak has been fixed behind the bar since it opened nine years ago.

Shaun told Bar Talk: "We've had to put down a couple of customers, but it's still safe to come."

u RUNNING a country village pub these days is not easy, and opening one in the middle of the foot and mouth crisis doesn't help. Nevertheless, the new team at the Apple Tree Inn, Marton, near Pickering, are full of confidence.

Melanie Thornton and TJ Drew have big plans for the Apple Tree. This is Melanie's first pub, although she did work "on the other side of the counter" for Tate-Smith, the Malton soft drinks wholesaler.

TJ - real name Trajan (he was named after a Roman emperor) - is a chef with 18 years' experience, at places with such mouthwatering reputations as the Rockingham Arms, Towton, 19 Grape Lane, Kites and Meltons in York, before moving to the Apple Tree in November.

Not surprisingly with his background, the emphasis will be on top nosh.

"We want to move away from the village pub aspect to become a really good food destination," said Melanie.

Lunch dishes will be based around a specials blackboard, with an a la carte menu in the evening, changing every month. Local produce will be used wherever possible, with the emphasis on quality.

Special nights, based on themes such as black and white, puddings or gourmet food, are being planned.

The pub is now closed for a refurbishment designed to give the place "a complete change of image" based on its rustic barn-style exterior. It will reopen on March 22.

Melanie is putting together a wine list offering a few bottles rarely seen elsewhere. And she expects to expand the range of draught beers on offer, with the emphasis on local breweries such as Malton, York and Cropton.

Former Apple Tree hosts Alan and Judy Williams, late of the Red Lion, York, are taking over at the Sun Inn, Acomb. Melanie is ready to work hard to win over villagers "who didn't seem very pleased we were taking over".

Some were upset at the decision to take out the pool table and juke box. "We just would like to go back to a village pub where people stay and have a drink in a cosy atmosphere, and are able to hear themselves think."

Sounds good to Bar Talk. Let's hope the good people of Marton come round to the idea too.

uTHE story so far. There was a pub on Skeldergate, York, called the Plumbers Arms. It was pulled down in the Sixties and another pub rose in its place called the Cock And Bottle. But that was converted to a wine bar called Villiers last April, named after the premises' ghost, George Villiers, second Duke of Buckingham. Now Villiers has gone (the name, not the ghost) and the place is being turned back into the Cock And Bottle.

Confused? It's very simple, says landlady Janet Gardner. "Villiers had been a massive flop. You couldn't do that to a pub like this one - it's not a wine bar.

"For years it was a proper, traditional pub. That's what people liked."

And now that's what they're going to get again.

The pub was offered to Janet and her husband Paul, who run the Greyhound at Dunnington, by the Unique pub company late last year. Then the floods came.

"That turned out to be the best thing that could have happened. We must be one of the only success stories to come out of the floods.

"It meant the complete place was able to be refurbished."

The builders are in now, fitting a stone floor, and revealing brick walls and a beamed ceiling. Big screen football will also be available.

Half the cellar is to become a kitchen, and a carvery is to be installed.

Alan Jackson, once of the Fox at Stockton-on-the-Forest, will manage the new-look, old-style boozer. Bar Talk, which once described Villiers as an "airport lounge" decorated with "puke-coloured paint", looks forward to the reopening on April 6.

u RACEGOERS frustrated by the foot and mouth restrictions should get themselves over to the Yearsley Grove, Huntington Road, York, on Wednesday.

The pub is holding a race night from 8pm, all proceeds to go to the Children's Playfarm, a holiday destination for disabled children.

It is the latest innovation from new licensee Tracy Merrills, who has been running the place since January with partner Steve Jackson.

The former assistant manager at the Upper Poppleton Whit Horse has also introduced three Saturday night discos a month, the fourth slot being filled by a live band. Sunday is quiz night, and home-cooked food includes steak and mushroom pie and lasagne.

u 'OIRISH' bar O'Neills, on Low Ousegate, York, is celebrating St Patrick's Day tonight while raising money for The Children's Society. Nationally the pub chain aims to make at least £10,000 for the charity.

u ADVANCED tickets for the York Beer Festival at the De Grey Rooms (March 22-24) have sold out. But you can still taste some of the 80 available beers by paying on the door at Friday lunchtime.

"The demand after an absence of two years has been overwhelming," said Geoff Henman, of festival organisers York CAMRA.