Ups and downs – without condoms

It has been an unusual few months - something of a roller coaster in terms of the business and the people involved in and around it.

Our men's darts team, a motley crew of farmers, quantity surveyors and assorted extras, eventually managed to win the trophy they have been threatening for a few years, winning the doubles league in somewhat nail-biting fashion in the last game of the season.

The celebrations were curtailed the next morning when a case of foot-and-mouth was confirmed in the village that we had played in the previous night. Champagne was exchanged for disinfectant (an improvement, to my palate) and to date it appears that none of its farms has become infected as a result.

However, it does appear that the virus is moving closer and there is a certain fatalism in the attitude of many of the local farming community.

I was, however, surprised to get a friendly phone call from Customs and Excise offering possible deferment of payment if we were suffering as a result of the outbreak, and to have our business rates deferred for two months by Richmondshire Council. It is good to know that somebody cares.

Our local brewery has finally confirmed our previous fears that Theakston's Best Bitter will no longer be brewed at Masham. This marks the end of an era, and for us begins a quest for alternative ales.

There is no doubt that the new version of Best does not have the same taste, nose or texture as the Masham brew, and we believe that our customers will not accept it. However, we are only a minor concern to a massive brewer.

It may be time to look away from the large, national beer companies and support some of the smaller local brewers - they would certainly be more receptive to our opinions.

Finally, we have lost an old friend. The condom machine in the gents has been removed after many years. We inherited it with the pub and for six more years it served faithfully the needs of the village. Sadly, those needs seem to have changed - only two packs were sold in the last quarter and the vending company chose to remove the machine.

This may be a sad reflection on the level of excitement in the village, or we may be about to experience a baby boom - watch this space.

IAN VIPOND is chef-patron of the New Inn, a free house pub in Hunton on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales

Next diary from Ian Vipond: 31 May