A community-owned pub in North Yorkshire has reached the final four in CAMRA’s National Pub of the Year 2026 competition.
The Countryman’s Inn in Hunton achieved the milestone after securing its first win in the Yorkshire regional competition. The pub now hopes to replicate the success of fellow North Yorkshire community-owned venue, the George and Dragon in Hudswell, which won the national prize ten years ago.
Operating as a welcoming free house in its fourth year of community ownership, the pub serves Yorkshire beers alongside a permanent offering from Pennine Brewery. Its facilities include a roaring stove in winter, a large beer garden in summer, bi-weekly coffee mornings, and regular charity quizzes.
The North Yorkshire venue joins the Turks Head in St Helens, the Cockpit in Chislehurst, and the Tamworth Tap in Tamworth to compete for the national title.
“We are absolutely delighted to have made it to the last four in this year’s Pub of the Year,” said Dan Male, licensee of the Countryman’s Inn. “In our fourth year of community ownership, the pub continues to grow, and we are so proud to be recognised by CAMRA for the work we are doing. Congratulations to all in the last four!”
Kevin Keaveny, Director of CAMRA Yorkshire, praised the pub’s commitment to quality local produce and cask beer: “The pub is set in a quaint but very thriving village of Hunton, and it does the basics very well: quality locally brewed cask beer and local produce from its kitchen. As a sign in the pub says: ‘your pub and our community’. It shows that if a community wants a pub that caters for everyone, then with hard work and dedication, they can do it.”
Andrea Briers, CAMRA Pub of the Year Coordinator, added: “Despite the well-documented challenges facing our pubs and brewers, these licensees have not just survived, but thrived. All four are amazing places that are definitely worth a visit.”
The super-regional and final rounds of the competition are sponsored by CAMRA’s Beer Quality Partner Avani Solutions and Technology Partner ICRTouch.
