The Golden Lion

Jim's York Pub Guide

Licensed to sell beer in 1771 (see below) this competes as a York institution. Actually, it's a beer drinkers paradise, looking a bit like a wild west saloon, with a couple of "Pub of the Year" awards (from 96 and 97) adorning the poster-strewn wall behind the bar. Lot of wood - nice wooden bar, floors and staircase for the Cisco kid to roll down, guns blazing. A CD juke box plays unobtrusively, although it competes with a couple of slots and Sky TV for your attention. However, it was the sight of a small Australian guy, rubbing his stunning girlfriend's butt as they stood at the bar, which grabbed most of mine. Attentive bar staff wiped the drool from my table.

Real Ale		Nearby Pubs to Crawl To:
John Smiths, Old Peculiar, XB, various Guest beers		The Old White Swan
Other Information		The Last Drop Inn
		The Snickleway
Becoming an inn in 1711, the Golden Lion was a recognised brewhouse (with stables) by 1773. In the 19th Century, the Union Lodge of Freemasons met here, so it was proably just as well that York City FC never played Glasgow Celtic in those days. Cameron's Brewery demolished, rebuilt and renamed the place in 1971, and it is good to know that the "3 R's of Marketing" were in operation even then (Repackage, Relaunch, Resign). They called it the Nineteen Hundred until someone saw sense and changed the name back to the original in the eighties. Thanks to Pete Coxon's Yorks Historic Inns
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