Elevation 528 m | ||
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Similar Buttertubs Pass, Kisdon, Great Shunner Fell, Yorkshire Dales, Wensleydale | ||
Tan Hill (NY896067) is a high point on the Pennine Way in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of Keld in the civil parish of Muker, near to the borders of County Durham and Cumbria, and close to the northern boundary of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It is in an isolated location, with the nearest town of Kirkby Stephen being an 11-mile (18 km) drive away.
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Coal mining
Within the Pendleian, the lower subsystem of the Carboniferous structure, exists the Upper Howgate Edge Grit, a coarse-grained sandstone. Found in the peaks of the highest fells of North Yorkshire, the shale layer containing coal is found above it. The shale under the northwest region is call the Tan Hill seam, which was worked from the 13th century until the early 1930s.
The first records of coal being produced exist from 1384, when locally worked shallow shafts produced coal for Richmond Castle. The coal found was a poor-quality crow coal, which produced a dirty, dusty fuel. But local farmers wives preferred it as, when mixed with peat, it gave a good glow, was easy to stack up over night, and easy to revive in the morning. Before the start of the Industrial Revolution, the easily accessible upper seams were mainly worked out, requiring investment in deeper shafts. By the 17th century the poor-quality coal was locally converted in simple beehive kilns into coke – known locally as "cinders" – which was used in lead and iron smelting.
With modern means of transport having encroached on the valley, the local miners defied the 1926 General Strike. But with better coal now far easier to access, the last mine closed in 1929. Locals worked the residual upper seams by hand until the mid-1930s.
Tan Hill Inn
The Tan Hill Inn is the highest inn in the British Isles at 1,732 feet (528 m) above sea level. The second highest pub in the UK is the Cat and Fiddle Inn in the Peak District with an elevation of about 1,690 feet (515 m).
The building dates to the 17th century, and during the 18th century was used as a hostelry by workers digging coal pits. The building is unusual for its isolation, but it used to be surrounded by miners' cottages. After the closure of the last mine in 1929, and demolition of the associated cottages in the early 1930s, the pub remained open due to the custom of local farmers and the development of the motor car.
From 1974, border changes moved it into County Durham, but this was reviewed in 1987 after much protest, and it reverted to within the Yorkshire boundary. In 1995, the Tan Hill Inn became the first public house in the UK to be granted a licence to hold weddings and civil ceremonies, after new laws were brought in to allow couples to marry in places other than churches or register offices.
The pub is a free house and tends to serve a range of beers from the Black Sheep and Theakston breweries. Visiting bands have included Arctic Monkeys, Mark Ronson and British Sea Power.
In May 2007, Kentucky Fried Chicken threatened legal action against the Tan Hill Inn for trademark infringement over the use of the term "Family Feast" on the inn's Christmas Day menu. But on 10 May 2007 KFC confirmed that it would not be pursuing the case.
Revellers celebrating New Year's Eve at the pub on 31 December 2009 were unable to leave the pub for three days as they were snowed in.
Media appearances
During the 1980s the pub appeared in an advert starring Ted Moult for window-fitting company Everest, and it appeared in the first Vodafone advert, broadcast during the 1990s. Everest returned in 2008 to film a new advert with Craig Doyle and installed new windows and solar panels. The inn was visited by James May and Oz Clarke in Oz and James Drink to Britain, first broadcast in 2009.