The Old White Bear

Cross Hills

We are a family run traditional village pub serving great locally sourced food which is cooked to order and excellent local ales from Naylors.

The Old White Bear is the oldest building in the village Cross Hills and was built in 1735. It has previously been a hotel, a brothel, a council meeting place and a dance hall. The council met frequently here to discuss the Leeds and Liverpool canal and decided where to cut through the land here! It has also been the site for White Bear and Naylors breweries. Naylors brewery is now situated less than half a mile away and is always on pump.

Some of the beams used to build the pub are believed to come from a naval ship which took part in the battles against The Spanish Armada called “The Old White Bear” hence the name!

The building is full of character, most of which has been collected over the years by the locals. The building itself has walls 24inches thick which is possibly why it is still going strong!

There are two real fires which come to life in winter and a sun-trap beer garden for the summer. We also have a darts and doms team (who won the league in 2009) and we are one of only 3 pubs in Craven to have the traditional ‘Ring the Bull’ game.

Pickles Pubs

Traditional Pubs

Pickles Pubs is a family run business established in 2006. Our ethos is to build a portfolio of pubs that offer traditional food and drink, with exceptional service at reasonable prices.

We firmly believe there’s still a place for roaring open fires, good quality freshly cooked food and well-conditioned real ale in pubs, as opposed to cheap and cheerful or Gastro pricing.

We use local suppliers for both our food and ale, unless achieving quality dictates different. For example, our fish is sourced straight from the docks in Hull on a daily basis.

We want our customers to feel comfortable when visiting our pubs, even if its cosying up in front of the fire in your muddy boots after a long walk with the dog – everyone is welcome.

Take a look at our pubs, which currently reside across both the Aire and Wharfe Valleys.

Our News

We regularly post news about the pub, information about our events and general information on our Facebook page.

Take a look at via the link below and ‘Follow Us’ on Facebook to stay informed.

Contact Us

If you would like to book a table simply click contact us via this website, email or phone the pub.

Please note that in order to secure a same-day or next-day booking, you should phone the pub. Thank you.