In a lofty position in the Yorkshire Dales lies Britain’s highest pub, Tan Hill Inn, which sits 1,752 feet above sea level. The nearest town, Richmond, is a drive away, and today, in the depths of winter, locals and tourists are happily snowed in, making new friends, sampling the establishment’s beers, and whiling the hours away with card games and conversations.
It’s remote, sure, but go even further, deeper along farmers’ tracks into the countryside and you’ll find a large, pretty, truly isolated country cottage, miles from anywhere. And this is where, via Zoom, we meet Ginger Wildheart. It was supposed to be an in-person chat but he, too, is snowed in, with only his beloved border collie Maggie – his “soul mate”– for company. “It’s the sort of place where you go missing and no one finds you for years,” he says.
