If you travel on the A629 between Keighley and Skipton, you may well miss the lovely village of Kildwick, which would be a great tragedy, as you'll be missing a treat. Not only is the village extremely attractive in its own right, it also has a lot to appeal to walkers and canal boat users, with one of its best features definitely being The White Lion pub.

Located directly opposite the gates of St Andrew's parish church, The White Lion is easily accessible by public transport, with hourly buses (Keighley and District) to both Keighley and Skipton, running until early evening. For the nearest train station, the pub is a pleasant walk from Steeton & Silsden station, along the River Aire. The pub is quite literally a stones' throw from the Leeds Liverpool canal (simply tie up your boat and walk through the church yard), is on the route of several good public footpaths, and is close to the popular Millenium Way walk.

Attractive both outside and in, The White Lion has certainly benefited from being taken over by Duncan and Elaine Jamieson, whose experience and friendliness has transformed the pub from mediocre to first class. The pub's interior consists of a large, welcoming bar area, with a smaller cosy dining area that's pleasantly decorated and has lots of nick-nacks on the walls and beams. Outside there is a good sized beer garden, which is very popular on those long summer evenings, as it's south facing and gets all-day sunshine. The pub is open all day, food is served between 12 and 2pm, and again in the evening between 6 and 9pm. Dogs are welcome in the bar area, but not in the restaurant/dining area.

FOOD

One word describes the food, "excellent". All food is genuinely home cooked and uses nothing but fresh ingredients - the meals stand head and shoulders above the nice but mass-produced type meals (often using frozen veg) so often dished up elsewhere. Deliciously tasty, and very, very filling, if The White Lion isn't mentioned in the "Good Food Guide", someone should definitely go and grab one of their inspectors and sit him or her down for a meal that's guaranteed to tantalise the tastebuds.

The bar serves an extremely good pint of Timothy Taylor's "Landlord" bitter, and has Tetley's bitter and mild on draught, as well as the usual lagers and ciders. Duncan is considering obtaining a further cask ale, hopefully from a local microbrewery. Wines are available either by the glass or by the bottle, and the pub stocks a good range of spirits to cater for every taste. All major credit and debit cards accepted.

Kildwick can be reached by train, and walking from Steeton and Silsden station, or by bus.  Buy a K-day ticket and travelling on Keighley and District's buses.  You will need to catch a bus from Keighley and change to service 68/68A for Kildwick (Mon-Sat only, not Sundays).  Alternatively, if you want to do our walk, catch service 713 from Keighley to Silsden railway station (Mon-Sat only, not Sundays).

The White Lion doesn't have a website at present, so any enquiries can be made by telephone on 01535 632265.