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Frosterley
Co. Durham
DL13 2SL
01388 527 784
www.blackbullfrosterley.com
Accessibility? No
Gluten free? Yes (call in advance)
Whilst so many new restaurants give themselves a swift veneer of fake venerability by adding the odd shelf of leather bound books or a few antique fixings, it’s nice to find a genuine old English pub. As you push against the heavy wooden front door of The Black Bull at Frosterley to reveal a cosy ancient inn, you would think you'd found tavern heaven.
Look carefully, though, and you’ll realise that this isn’t an accident, but an act of careful, loving design by its owners The Davis family.
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| copyright The Black Bull Inn |
Having bought the place in 2005, they sought to restore it to what it might have looked like a couple of hundred years ago. In similar fashion to the McCoys' achievement at The Crathorne Arms, this included filling the place with all manner of personal effects including clocks, portraits, antique furniture as well as Duncan Davis’s own rather more contemporary photography.
With flagged and wooden floors, small rooms, open fires, exposed beams and - praise be! - no music or television to distract from the gently thrum of background chatter, it is a delightful place to end up, especially after a longish drive through the impressive if moody Weardale scenery. Frosterly’s claim to fame used to be its limestone – you can find Frosterley Marble on the floor and pillars of Durham cathedral. Now it’s known for the Black Bull.
