It was one of those humid summer evenings - remember them? - and we wanted to escape from the city so we headed for Dick Hudson's high on the moors above Bingley.

The views were stunning, the air perceptibly fresher, and, being a Tuesday, there was a steady flow of customers but it still felt like there was room to breathe.

It's a place to suit all tastes - peaceful when you want yet bustling at weekends, with a fine selection of wines plus a good choice of traditional and more adventurous dishes.

On this occasion, Murray and I mixed and matched our food styles.

I kicked off with prawn cocktail which was superb. The prawns were fresh and the lettuce couldn't have been crispier.

Murray, meanwhile, tried the garlic prawn pancakes which he said were excellent - and could easily have done as a main course.

Carrying on the fish theme, I went for smoked salmon and cream cheese parcels on a bed of lettuce, doused in a tangy dressing.

The different colours and textures of the lettuce coupled with the salmon made for an attractive, light meal bursting with flavours, some strong and bitter, others smooth and rich.

For his main course, Murray opted for Dick Hudson's famous farmhouse gammon steak.

It was accompanied by chips and an egg and was a marathon effort after the starter, but he gave it his best shot - and a big thumbs-up.

With a glass of white wine and soda and a pint of Stella, the meal came to a value-for-money £17.10.

Dick Hudson's really does seem to be all things to all people - not always an easy balance but one it seems able to strike.

Catrina Dick

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.