A place long beloved by walkers around Hawnby and the North Yorks Moors. Hawnby Two Hills – a classic walk. Not too strenuous, glorious countryside and a welcoming pub at the end. Almost. The Inn at Hawnby had a great range of sandwiches [roast beef in a baguette with a jug of gravy, since you’re asking]. Good beer, seats outside with views. Then one day the landlord disappeared…

Taken over by a local chain just before Covid. A shiny Airstream caravan arrived serving pizza outside. Yes, we tried it a couple of times, sitting outside in the freezing cold but enjoying the escape from government-enforced confinement indoors. Funny though, a similar thing happened…the landlord disappeared. They [and the rest of their chain] went bust.

The pub is owned by the local estate and hosted many shooting parties, so was reasonably successful [when there was a landlord] for a while. Finally, a very nice little restaurant in Helmsley relocated from Bantam to open The Owl at Hawnby. And it’s good, if a little posher than before. No beef baguettes.

Anyway, that’s just a bit of background. The other place to eat in the village was the Hawnby Stores and Café. Been going for many years when the owners decided to hang up the tea towel. In mid 2025 enter Sally and Oli (and the dog Tabata) and we now have a knockout shop and tea room. Well stocked shop with many, many local ingredients. Grab a bottle of wine (Cloudy Bay even) and sit down and drink it with your soup. Homemade bread, soup, croutons, frittata, sandwiches. Delicious.  And now supper clubs. What the Good Food Guide would describe as a ‘local gem’ at the very least. But GFG please don’t come – they’ve only got a dozen covers (well, maybe 14). Just brilliant. 

Shop, Tea Room and heavenly resting place Hawnby Stores

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