GAVIN AITCHISON finds it best not to judge a pub by its name.

IN one of the oldest streets of one of England's oldest cities, stands one of the most wonderful pubs – with one of the ugliest of names.

It's a pub with marvellous beer and a captivating atmosphere, and an enviable setting – but a horrible name.

It stands at the foot of Allhallowgate, an historic thoroughfare in the historic little city of Ripon, and it's called – wait for it – The One Eyed Rat.

It sounds grim, as appealing as a creosote cocktail or a sandpaper sandwich, but behind the moniker stands a stunning little pub; an exemplary venue; a temple to all things beery.

It was shortlisted in the Great British Pub Awards last year, one of six finalists in the best cask beer pub category and the winner for our region, and it sounded just my cup of beer. So I made a note to give it a go, and didn’t regret it for a minute.

There were seven cask ales on and every one was in perfect condition.

It’s when you go to a pub and see immaculate pints like that, every one clear and sharp, that you realise the true value and scarcity of such uncompromising quality.

There are only a handful of pubs where I’d bet money on always, without fail, getting a pristine pint time after time.

If The One Eyed Rat maintains the quality I saw, all year round, then it’s in good company indeed.

Allhallowgate is a hill and the pub is towards the bottom, slightly down from a handily-placed chippy, and slightly up from the city’s Prison and Police Museum.

As you walk in, the pub stretches away to the distance. The bar runs up the left-hand side, with a few stools in the foreground, and some simple traditional tables beyond them.

Towards the far end, they are surrounded by beer paraphernalia and framed collections of specialist beer labels, shrines for the thirsty pilgrims, and to the right, a door leads out to a spacious garden.

The bar boasts seven rotating guest beers, inevitably with a northern bias.

The latest list can usually be found on the pub website and currently includes ales from Rudgate in Tockwith; Phoenix in Manchester; Durham in, yep, Durham; and Castle Rock in Nottingham. There’s a good range of continental beers too plus a few bottles and a couple of ciders and perries.

And what of that name, I hear you ask? It’s a rather mean but amusing story, all told.

The pub was previously called The Lord Nelson but it seems Britain’s great naval hero didn’t command universal respect. In the late 1980s, staff learned that he had once been described in these less than complimentary terms by some irreverent subordinate – and The One Eyed Rat was born.

Follow Gav at twitter.com/pintsofview for beery news, views and chat.

York Press: Slip Inn manager Lucy Cordukes. If you fancy trying a few beers from the region’s newest micro-breweries, get yourself to The Slip Inn in Clementhorpe, York, today.

The pub is holding a mini beer festival to mark the second anniversary of its relaunch, and will have about ten beers from Brass Castle Brewery in Pocklington, Treboom in Shipton by Beningbrough and Yorkshire Heart in Nun Monkton.

The event starts at noon and also includes music and hot food.

Our picture, by Frank Dwyer, shows Slip Inn manager Lucy Cordukes.

Competition: Be a brewer for a day

We’ve joined with British drinks champion DrinkBritain.com to offer readers the chance to win a day brewing with award-winning family brewers, Batemans, in Lincolnshire.

Batemans is one of the oldest and best family brewers in the country, founded in the 1870s and named Regional Brewer of the Year by The Publican in 2010, and this is your chance to join head brewer Martin Cullimore and his team for the day.

The winner and his or her guest will enjoy:

• Dinner the night before, or the night of, the brew-day, hosted by Jaclyn Bateman in The Royal Oak in Wainfleet, one of Batemans popular traditional pubs.

• An overnight stay in one of the atmospheric 19th century brewery cottages.

• A shift from 7.30am with the team as they brew one of Batemans’ tasty ales – possibly the gold medal-winning XXXB or one of the brewery’s seasonal specials. Your duties will finish between 3pm and 4pm and, as the day progresses, the team will ensure you get a chance to visit Mr George’s Bar, set in Bateman’s own windmill.

• The chance to check out Batemans’ archive room and its historic bottle collection. The prize must be taken on a Wednesday or Thursday between April and September, on a date to be agreed with the brewery.

For your chance of winning, simply answer this question:

How old is Batemans brewery this year? A) 138 years old B) 168 years old or C) 198 years old?

To enter by phone, simply call 09011510533 and leave your answer and details when prompted.

By text, send your text to 80360 starting with BREW leave a space, followed by your answer, name and contact details.

Calls cost no more than 51p per call from a BT landline. Calls from mobiles and some other networks may cost more. Texts cost 50p plus your normal operator text charge. Telephone and text voting lines open 25/02/2012 and close 07/03/2012 at 11:59pm. For full terms visit newsquest.co.uk/terms.

Service provided by Newsquest Media Group.

DrinkBritain.com specialises in great British producers to visit, whether they are breweries, wineries or distilleries. Founder Susanna Forbes is visiting Yorkshire later this year to find more great places to feature. If you know somewhere with a warm welcome that creates great drinks, let her know.

For more information, visit drinkbritain.com/destinations/61/batemans-brewery and royaloakpubwainfleet.co.uk and bateman.co.uk.