The Blacksmith's Arms, Biggin review: Young landlady's plans for farmer's market at historic Yorkshire village pub

Managed by Rebecca Jane Skelton, a lively, enterprising and enthusiastic 27-year-old, the pub on Oxmoor Lane, the main road through Biggin, has built up a strong reputation for its food-good quality, biggish portions and at a fair price, £16 or so for a main course.

Open for meals on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and at weekends, The Blacksmiths’ can sit 50 customers in the main dining room, and on Fridays and Sundays, the busiest days, it will serve up to 120 lunches.

Attracting visitors from Selby, Tadcaster, Castleford and Pontefract, and Biggin’s surrounding villages like Church Fenton and Barkson Ash, this pub takes off in the summer when its large beer garden-30 tables-is popular with cyclists, walkers and families choosing a day out in the countryside.

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RJ, as she’s known, employs a full-time chef, Mark Addy, and if you want a beer to go with your Sunday roast, you can’t complain at £4 for a pint of Leeds Pale Ale or Rudgate Battle Axe.

RJ likes to change regularly the beer supplied by smaller firms in Yorkshire, so next time you’re in, there may be products brewed in Leyburn at the Wensleydale Brewery.

A well-known feature of The Blacksmiths’ is RJ’s dog-Dexter-a black lurcher who’s just as popular as the food and drink.

Aged eight and a half, and rescued by the Leeds Dogs’ Trust, Dexter is often asleep by the log burners, and when he’s awake has been known to gobble up any stray food, but feeding him is not encouraged.

RJ is keen to expand what her pub has to offer, and that means not just increasing the drinks trade.

For example, a recent quiz attracted more than 60 and she has plans too to put on a farmers’ market in the car park.

The Blacksmiths’ Arms, Oxmoor Lane, Biggin, Leeds LS25 6HJ.

Welcome 5/5

Food 5/5

Drinks choice 5/5

Prices 5/5