Pub of the week

HOP & VINE, HULL

All pubs, of course, have had a very tricky time during the pandemic. The ones without beer gardens more than most. Thanks to some very canny PR, though, tiny Hull pub the Hop & Vine managed to boost trade earlier this year by proclaiming its small sub-street level courtyard “the smallest beer garden in Britain”. The ruse worked and owner/ landlord Tony Garrett found his pub featured on local TV and radio and in regional and even national newspapers.

Converted from a cellar cafe by original owner Stewart Campbell as a cosy den for himself and other Camra members to sample the best real ale and ciders he could find, the Hop & Vine has been in Tony’s hands since Stewart retired to Scarborough four years ago.

He runs it in very much the same spirit despite previously working in the probation service and his only experience of running a pub being volunteer work pulling pints at beer festivals. Luckily, a long-term member of staff was able to train him up.

The pub offers as many different hand-pulled ales as can be fitted along the bar and plenty of boxed proper cider. Food comes in the form of bar snacks and an excellent array of pastrybound pork products.

With a maximum capacity of around 30, the pub has long been a beloved secret of just enough regulars to cover the bills. Now, with the media frenzy abating, there will hopefully be a little more awareness of the excellence of the Hop & Vine. But not too much. No-one wants the pub, or its nationally famous beer garden, to get overrun.

■ 24 Albion Street, Hull, HU1 3TG. Phone, 07507 719259.