‘Timble Inn, tumble out!’
So went the old joke of local farmers and villagefolk, for whom the Inn provided refreshment and revelry for centuries. Nowadays, things are a little less rowdy. Our guests come from all over the country (and indeed the world) seeking a country escape, a romantic getaway, or simply some of Yorkshire’s best produce cooked to perfection.
Like many village inns, it was so much more than a watering hole – it was the beating heart of the township. Its story is one of community, people and culture.
Humble origins
The inn as we see it today was built around the end of the 18th century. The foundations, however, date back to the 12th century, not long after the village was first mentioned in the Domesday Book. A farmhouse likely occupied the site before it became an inn.
The foundation of an inn probably became a necessity due to an increase in both the village’s population and stagecoach travel throughout the area. It was common for inns at the time to have separate rooms to accommodate different classes of people, which probably explains the wall that divides our restaurant today.
More than just an inn
The Inn frequently found itself the setting for all manner of events.
Many an auction was held here, with properties, crops and livestock all regular lots. And on a rather more macabre note, bodies of people who were found in the surrounding fields (and later, the nearby reservoirs) were brought here to await examination by coroners (thankfully a service we’re no longer required to provide).
During the early 20th century, the Inn served as a base for the local cricket club. Landlady Ann Lister’s teas became famous among the visiting teams. It was also a popular meeting point for the Beagle Clubs of Claro, Bilton, and particularly Airedale, who held their Boxing Day hunts here. The Airedale club loved The Timble Inn so much that during their annual ball at Saltaire’s Victoria Hall, they actually hung a tapestry depicting the Inn above the stage. (Incidentally, Saltaire is one of Yorkshire’s two UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It’s less than an hour’s drive from the Inn and well worth a visit.)
Another recurring function of the Inn was to host the meetings of the local thrift society. It had over 120 members at its peak in the late 19th century. Every year on Whit Tuesday, they would have their anniversary dinner here before marching down to the church at Fewston for a service (our guests often follow in their footsteps and take the scenic walk down to the picturesque reservoirs).
Of course, it was the place where locals would gather, trade tales and catch up on the prevailing gossip of the day. John Dickinson, the ‘Timble Man’, whose Victorian-era diaries were published in 1988, was a keen patron in his younger days and would often partake in a drop or two of whisky (feel free to borrow the Inn’s copy of his diaries during your stay – a fascinating insight into Dales life).
His anecdotes of the inn reveal amusing glimpses into the ebbs and flows of village life. In 1879, he complains of a ‘rough, rude company of navvies and disreputable females at the public house.’ These navvies were in town to build the nearby reservoirs, and their presence didn’t always go down well with the locals.
Sometimes, a celebrity would show up. In 1891, great excitement was caused by the arrival of James Berry, the famous public hangman of Bradford. Apparently, he was a jolly fellow who regaled the villagers with stories during an evening at the Inn.
Summertimes meant all hands on deck, as the village played host to the annual Timble Feast. A day of celebrations, reunions and games would invariably conclude with feasting, singing and dancing the night away at the Timble Inn.
The most prodigious patron
Over the centuries, no doubt the Inn has seen some sights as locals and tourists alike indulged and made merry.
But surely no person kept the Inn’s barstaff as busy as Richard Newsome. Having inherited wealth and property from his father, who owned Shaws Hall, less than half a mile from the Inn, he had little to occupy his time. And therefore, according to William Grainge in his History & topography of townships of Little Timble, Great Timble and Snowden:
“His chief employment during many years of his life was drinking beer, of which his stint was sixteen pints daily, with the exception of Sunday, when he abstained and rested from his labour. He used to start off home from the Village Inn at Timble in a brisk, lively manner, shouting and singing, or rather making an incoherent noise; but about midway of his journey he would lie down on the ground and sleep for an hour, all seasons of the year — rain or snow were alike to him — and yet he lived to be 80 years of age.”
Thankfully, we don’t see behaviour like that too often these days.
A long line of innkeepers
For many generations, the Inn was owned by the Lister family. This began at some point around the end of the 18th century. A James Lister, said to have been born in London, took over the pub. He had many sons by two wives, and they established a strong family line of prosperous farmers in the area.
One son, also James, took over the Inn in the late 1820s, and kept it for over fifty years. A formidable man, he lived beyond ninety years old. Perhaps his longevity was due to his strict ways. Described as a ‘yeoman of the old class’, he was averse to his customers drinking more than two pots of ale. Few villagers would have dared to argue – it was reported that even at eighty years old, he once ‘bodily ejected a big, rough navvy who was causing a disturbance and refused to leave.’
Upon his death in 1877, his son, yet another James Lister, took over. Alas, his father’s longevity eluded him, and he died in 1885 aged 47. It seems he was something of a James Herriot. He would often be called at all hours of the night to assist local farmers with various ailments afflicting their cattle and other livestock, and his invaluable knowledge would be sorely missed. His widow, Ann, took over and kept the Inn for another thirty years or so.
Under the stewardship of Ann, the Inn seems to have done fairly well. Timble’s cricket team was based out of the Inn, and Ann’s teas of ham and eggs became famous among the visiting clubs. However, one blotch on her record occurred in 1912. She was summoned to court accused of serving whisky that was excessively watered down. The sneaky devil was found guilty and ordered to pay costs.
In December 1915, Ann passed away, and the Inn was now in the hands of her daughter – also called Ann (the Listers were clearly very capable people, but not the most imaginative when it came to naming their young). Young Ann ran the Inn for twenty years, until her untimely death aged just 55. She had been assisted there by her sister, Laura, who married and took the name Wildsmith. Laura took over the pub and was registered as the ‘licensed victualler’ in the 1939 register.
The end of an era
Laura Wildsmith was in fact the last of the Lister bloodline to keep the Timble Inn. But just before her tenure ended, bringing 150 years of Lister ownership to a close, the Inn came to the village’s rescue. A series of leaks meant the water supply to the village was disrupted, and several homes were without water. The Inn, being the only reliable supply, became a watering hole in the truest sense.
This was not such a rare occurrence. In Laura’s earlier days when her parents had the inn, their kitchen tap was often one of the only ones not frozen over in winter. They’d spend days on end drawing water for the cows on neighbouring farms. They’d also need to stock up on food and fuel for the winters, as the village could be cut off for five or six days at a time in those days. Snowdrifts covering the kitchen windows were not uncommon, and often the walls lining the village roads would be buried in snow, making navigation almost impossible.
In May 1946, Mrs Wildsmith reluctantly retired to Yeadon, citing health reasons, and a temporary transfer of license was granted to Mr John Stuart Hyslop, of Menston.
Motorcycle mayhem
Hyslop was famous among the motorcycle clubs of Leeds, particularly for his trials exploits. He was nicknamed ‘Stelvio’, after the Italian mountain pass he scaled during the IDST, a famous off-road motorbike rally.
During his tenure, the tranquillity of the village was often disturbed by the roaring of motorbike engines, as The Timble Inn became a base for Hyslop’s trials events.
In 1953, the Inn went up for auction and was bought for £4,000 by a Mr V.A. Ogden of Bradford. It seems Ogden had profits in mind, as it was once again up for auction in September 1955, having had a considerable sum spent on improvements. These included extending the bar and renovating the adjacent Cottage.
From here, the Inn seems to have settled into a steady rhythm. While the village population declined, the Inn continued to provide welcome warmth and refreshment to walkers and serve as a base and meeting point for groups of motorcyclists and equestrian clubs, until its closure in 2004.
A country escape
The Inn re-opened in 2010 after five years of extensive renovation and restoration, including the removal of a modern extension to bring it closer to its roots. Since then, constant investment has ensured the Inn continues to offer its unique blend of rustic charm and relaxed elegance.
Our 2 AA Rosette restaurant may serve fancier fare than the ham and eggs it was famous for in Ann Lister’s days, and our uniquely styled 5-star rooms may be unrecognisable to the weather-worn coach travellers who stayed here back in the day. But we like to think we’ve preserved some of that old Dales character and charm.
Do pop in and see us the next time you’re in Yorkshire!