Pint to pint: White Bear Hotel, Masham There it minded its own business until closing in the late Nineties, lying sulkily unloved and rotting. It seems years of neglect can be almost as destructive as a Luftwaffe Dornier. Only the bench seating in the public bar, a stained-glass window shimmering with coopers hammering barrels, and a glass-encased polar bear were salvageable. The bear was shot in Alaska in 1901 by John Cunliffe-Lister, 3rd Baron of Masham, its bust donated to the pub by the Earl of Swinton to celebrate the wartime rebuild, but it was only during refurbishment in 2000 that its true stature was acknowledged. An expert engaged to clean it announced it was "a Roland Ward, the Picasso of taxidermy" who had practised his craft in Harley Street. Visitors are told the bear is actually standing upright in a corridor behind the public bar (and some of us swallow it). This room is as friendly a bar as you'd wish to relax in. The lounge bar and dining room next door fill quickly with a mix of daytripping ramblers and locals who know where to find the best lunch in town - and a welcoming fire on a wet January afternoon. Silverside of beef or Yorkshire ham sandwich? Let's go for a door-stopping blue Wensleydale and beetroot (£4.95). Specials include a robust wild boar burger (£10.95). Had they met in the White Bear, Picasso and Old Peculier would have made natural companions: subtle yet intense, vibrant and simple. In other words, the bare necessities. The White Bear Hotel, Wellgarth, Masham, North Yorkshire HG4 4EN (01765 689319; thewhitebearhotel.co.uk)