A tasty treat by – and on – the river
On a hazy summer afternoon it is very easy – recommended, even – to doze off on York’s riverbank. But if you drift away only to imagine a giant pink ice cream floating past your eyes, you’re not actually dreaming. This is the Two Hoots Ice Cream Boat.
Since launching in 2013, the boat has become a familiar sight on the Ouse on warmer days. With that enormous cone at the prow, like some sort of sugary figurehead, and a hull decorated to look as though it were topped with raspberry sauce, it offers temptation at six knots.
Info
Address Two Hoots Ice Cream Boat, on the River Ouse, upstream of Millennium Bridge, Facebook: TwoHootsIceCream | Public Transport Head down to the riverbank via Skeldergate Bridge. Closest bus stop: Tower Street | Hours “Term-time sunny weekdays from 3 till tea, summer holidays and weekends from about 12 if the sun shines, and often if it doesn’t”| Tip More in the mood for tea and cake? Try Dyls Cafe Bar on Skeldergate Bridge.
The vessel is a marvellously bonkers mash-up. Businessman Steve Blakeman built it by combining a tugboat from the Yorkshire town of Hebden Bridge with an ice cream van which did its last landlocked rounds in the coastal resort of Robin Hood’s Bay. The tug has an engine with up to 80 horsepower, which it needs to pull half a van and dozens of litres of the finest local ice cream along the Ouse. Best of all, Steve managed to save the van’s chimes, whose traditional tinkling rendition of “Greensleeves” transports everyone within earshot to childhood summers of old.
Equipped with serving hatches on both sides, the boat can dish up the finest cones and cups to daytrippers on either bank of the river. And if you happen to be on the water yourself, you can guide your boat up alongside to choose your treat. Perfect for those competitive rowers, who burn through so many calories…
Flavours include the classics plus unusual varieties such as orange and ginger. Seasonal specials like rhubarb go by the name “Lick of the week.”
In 2015, the Two Hoots was joined by a second vessel. In its former life this narrow boat transported torpedoes for submarines down the Forth and Clyde Canal, but the Full Moo now delivers nothing more harmful than scoops of raspberry ripple. And it is believed to be the first solar-cooled ice-cream boat in the world.
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