Romaldkirk is a picture postcard village in stunning rural Upper Teesdale, within easy striking distance of Barnard Castle and the majestic High Force Falls, the Pennines, and the Yorkshire Dales. If you’re planning a weekend away in the countryside, walking or cycling or something altogether more leisurely, the food, drink, and beautiful accommodation here make it a high-quality choice.
Set back a little way from the road, the stone-fronted Rose and Crown, its doorway fringed with climbing plants, looks every inch the perfect English country inn as you approach. To one side, a path meanders to the churchyard with its ancient weathered gravestones and the dark, sombre Norman church of St Romald, whence this pretty hamlet takes its curious name.
The impression that you have stumbled upon somewhere really rather special is confirmed as you step over the threshold and emerge into a flag-floored bar, of simple furniture and real ales; all brasses, beams, and copper kettles and the welcoming roar of a huge stone fireplace.
Just as the stone floors make this an ideal place for visitors arriving in sturdy walking boots, so the Rose and Crown is very dog-friendly. A section of their website is even given over to a dog hall of fame, featuring many of the pets who have called in in the past.
The pub has been in the Robinson family for four generations; Thomas and Cheryl Robinson now play an active role in running the pub, where they are ably assisted by a strong team of locals.
Though my partner is quickly seduced by a gin and tonic, I choose instead a pint of the crisply biscuity bitter Wainwright from Thwaites’ brewery. Named after one of the great enthusiasts of fell-walking, it seems an appropriate choice in this remote but bucolic location and proves an amiable companion as I work my way through the menu.
Having made our choices we are shortly shown to an oak-panelled dining room where high-backed chairs, uplighters, and pictures of country scenes lend to a slightly formal, forbidding atmosphere and yet build the sense that eating here will be a rather special experience. Glasses glint as flames flicker from the shapely silver candlesticks.
Chef Dave Hunter doesn’t disappoint. We start by sharing the vegetable mezze – slices of courgette in a thin batter, sundried tomatoes, olives, artichokes, and salad. Main courses soon follow – for me chunky local sausages served with halved carrots standing phallically erect; for my partner a rather more demure fillet of bream with baby potatoes and a quartet of vegetables.
After a brief but unconsummated flirtation with the dessert menu, we head back to our room, where clever contemporary touches add a feeling of real luxury to the bedrooms, some of which are set into the former stable block to the rear. And the Full English proves a perfect start to another great day in this lovely piece of paradise.
FACTFILE
Name: The Rose and Crown
Address: Romaldkirk, DL12 9EB
Telephone: 01833 650213
Website: www.rose-and-crown.co.uk
Email: hotel@rose-and-crown.co.uk
This article was first published in the Yorkshire Evening Post in 2020.
