Pendle Inn
We're moving on from Knaresborough and its witches and onto Pendle and theirs. Pendle Inn was perhaps where we felt our first unwelcomeness for this part of the UK and pretty much shaped the rest of our trip there.
We'd booked to stay onsite in one of the little cottages at the back of the Inn and had a dinner reservation which we'd turned up for an hour beforehand. We asked to check in upon arrival and was told to wait in the bar area until the one person who could do check ins was available. Well she never materialised and in the end it was time for our dinner, all the while we had the locals scowling at us and barging into us. To say we were not wanted there was an understatement. We put in our order for dinner, baring in mind it was only 19.30 when we were seated, were served our starter alongside our mains, were told we had to order pudding now if we wanted it and then was avoided by the staff despite multiple attempts to talk for the next hour until they turned the lights off on us. We never did get our pudding, and the lady who surfaced to lock the door and saw us still standing at the bar shouting for help seemed quite shocked that 1. we were refused check in and 2. they'd turned the lights off on us.
Despite our experience, and the fact from this event onward our entire visit to Pendle we felt like a target was on our backs, we are still following through with this post. If you do visit Pendle, we'd recommend staying elsewhere though!
The original pub dates back to the 1930s, so not that long ago in the grand scheme of things. It certainly wasn't around for the witch trials! We do know it was purchased by a big chain in early 2025 which explains our experience, as so far every historic pub we've visited that has been bought out by a chain has been commercialised and ruined just for the sake of making money off tourist interest while providing cheap service for an expensive price. Jamaica Inn, George & Pilgrim, and now Pendle Inn have all succumbed, riding off of these places reputations and wrecking it. What a shame.
Anyway, the pub still has the original layout other than the servery, and retained several original fittings like bell pulls and the flooring. In all honesty there isn't much to be found on the history of this pub other than it survived WWII as it was still quite fresh and in the middle of nowhere.
Don't get us wrong, the aesthetic of the pub is pleasing to the eye and we expected a lovely experience here and maybe in different circumstances we'd have had that, but we left disappointed with Pendle Inn and it truly ruined our experience of Pendle to the point that we are hesitant to return despite the fact we have more research in the area to conduct.
Obviously we're not in the business of slandering businesses, but we're rightfully angry at how we were treated and the fact when we complained we were ignored. So we won't ever return to Pendle Inn, but perhaps they had an off day. Don't let our experience shape yours, it just serves as a warning, as we'd hate for somewhere we recommended for history lovers to be ruined for someone else!
The pub is dog friendly and the food was nice, it was just the people who let it down. It's been a year, hopefully things have changed, but we'll only be burned once.
DISCLAIMER: Now for the official bit. This blog does not receive any paid promotions from the places mentioned above. We have not been approached to promote or act as spokespersons for any attraction mentioned within this post and this is simply a post intended to act as a day in the life of a couple on a cute date. All photos included are taken by ourselves and as such the rights for these images are ours, no links, brands, or companies mentioned otherwise belong or are associated with Phantom Adventures UK. We are responsible only for this blog. Opinions are our own and not influenced by any third party source..
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