Proprietor Stephen Boyden turned a dream of owning a business in the Yorkshire Dales into reality when he took over one of Pateley Bridge's oldest listed buildings in 2002. He renamed it Talbot House and has been refurbishing it ever since. Stephen's career spans working for Grand Metropolitan Hotels in the south, running a wine bar in London and managing the restaurant at The Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate. More recently he spent 3 years with Borders Books and Music where he indulged his love of good literature and cappuccino. A grade II-listed Georgian building whose first incarnation was an 18th century coaching inn named The Star, the front of the building was constructed in the 1740s, with the rear extension added at around 1810. Very little of the original interior remains, as the building suffered a major fire in the late 1800s, but there still exists blocked-in doorways and chimneys which hint as to how the building was used. The courtyard is a shadow of how it was; there used to be stabling for up to 15 horses, and beyond, and, where the car park is, was an orchard. The town was a major trade route for wool and lead; wool from Fountains Earth Estate in Wharfedale on it's way to Fountains Abbey, and lead from Greenhow Hill, thence to Hull for exporting by water. Pateley has been a crossing point over the River Nidd for nearly 2000 years. Roman mines have been found up at Greenhow, and a Roman Villa at Glasshouses. During your stay you can browse a wide selection of books and enjoy Fairtrade cappuccino.