Eleven years after the hilarious account of his time at England’s highest pub was published, author and former landlord Neil Hanson says he is intrigued to see what he looks like on stage ahead of the premiere of The Castle Player’s winter production Inn at The Top.
Back in the eighties Neil and his former wife, Sue, spent three years in total as hosts of the Tan Hill Inn, during which time they put the hostelry on the map, featuring in a national television commercial and on the front pages of most daily newspapers.
Neil said: “Altogether we were there for three years. The first time as managers … But we said if it ever came up for sale, we would buy it.”
They returned four-and-a-half years later after borrowing from family and friends and scraping enough money together.
He added: “Everybody can tell you running a pub is hard work. We didn’t have any spare [money] to try do things up. The windows were all mismatched and draughty, and there was no running water.”
Neil put the pub – reputed to be the highest in England – on the map nationally after contacting double glazing company Everest with the idea of filming a TV advert.
Neil said: “I saw an Everest commercial and I contacted them to say that it would make a good advert for their windows if the pub had new windows.
“It was sheer good luck that they were thinking along the same lines and they filmed the ad.”
When the ad was broadcast in 1985 it angered a planning officer at Teesdale District Council, who said planning permission was needed. “The planner objected to the windows even though the new windows were much better than the previous higgledy piggledy ones.
“Every newspaper in the country picked up the story after the Teesdale Mercury ran it. When it finally came before the planning committee, councillors agreed that Everest had done more for tourism in the dale than anyone else.”
Since leaving the pub Neil has written 70 books but it was 20 years before his semi-autobiographical account – Inn at The Top, hit the bookshelves.
He said: “It took until 2013 to get it finished. I thought if I didn’t do it then it would never get done. When I was at the pub, I had been editing the Good Beer Guide and doing some other writing. When I left, it was another case of sheer chance that my literary agent lined up a ghost-writing job.
“Over the last 30 years I have written for 50 clients. Every time I started on the Tan Hill book it got pushed to the back burner as I had to prioritise paying the bills.
“I have great memories about my time at Tan Hill, and the characters who used to come in the pub.
“We had our own Hannah Hauxwell. She was called Faith Coverdale. She didn’t have running water or electricity at her house and she used to get delivered to the pub by the postman.
“She was 78 years old when we first were at the pub and when we left, she was still being delivered by the postman, by then she was 86.”
Neil, who now lives in Ilkley, in Yorkshire, added: “The book is still doing well even after all these years. It’s proving it’s still got legs.
“When Laurence contacted me to ask if he could turn the book into a play, I was very happy to let him have a go. I’m intrigued to see what I look like on stage and the other characters as well. I’m very much looking forward to it and I’m sure that The Castle Players will be great and I’m hoping people will come out to see the play.”
Neil and his family will be in the audience on opening night of Inn at The Top, at The Witham in Barnard Castle, on January 18.
