New three counties Tour - with 2

 Evening!

    long time no see....

One of the joys of language is that the title this time reflects the fact that there is only in fact 2 counties in which the pubs are, and also that this is the second tour with just two of us - amazing! Etc....

On Saturday my chum Mr G suggested he came over to Sheffield - as it was pissing it down most of the day I suggested that rather than meet up in town and walk around, he might wish to drive over, pick me up, and go on a tour of Unspoilt pubs, other oubs, and roads. Thankfully he agreed.

I should point out that we had al---ready done a similar undertaking back in January. We started first off in the Black Bulls Head in Openwoodgate - although we got stuck in traffic on the motorway so came off at the Clay Cross tiurning and made our way from there.

Remembering their excellent range of boohars I got Mr G a half and myself A pint of Oakham Green Devil, and we shared a pork pie. In fairness I would also have stopped for a half of DIPA on keg but sadly, sat in the front, a table of youts were busy spouting their inaccuarte antivax nonsense - including hating everyone who worked for the NHS, hating everyone from Manchester and Derby with their diseases, and also the overeaction of everyone wearing a mask. They finished by, when wished goodbye by an elderly couple, b telling them to "fuck off". Impressive. Just the one pint then.....

Next we headed down towards Wirksworth and headed up Wood Lane outside Idridgehay and soon ended up in the Barley Mow at Kirk Ireton - as always an absolute gem, and I had 2 and a half pints of the excellent Whim Hartington IPA.

Next we used the unusually effieicnt Sat Nav to get to the Barley Mow at Bonsall - sadly although it was only 2100 the pub was cleasrly closed so we headed up through Bonsall and Brightgate to the Miners Standard at Winster - a pint of Aldwarke ales for me and a box of eggs followed, before we hedaed home.

On Saturday I decided to start our tour at Axe Edge and head down Dowel Dale past the Buxton Raceway via High Edge. Surprised to see a COVIT HORX scribbling on a sign in an isolated field, and also a lot of rubbish, but as soon as we saw Chrome hill our hearts lifed. Despite some thick mud and water enroute down the dale the road was fine and we came out at Glutton Bridge. Turning into Earl Sterndale we passed the now sadly sorry looking closed Quiet Woman and headed left to Crowdecote and popped in the Pack horse. Sadly ity shut at 1500 ( and it was 1545) so we headed off up to High Needham and then right and right again to Pilsbury Castle and into hartington, ending up at the Manifold Inn at Hulme End.

Its a long time since my last visit, but despite it being primarily a restaurant they still had 4 national real ales on - I had a pint of Pedigree and Mr G a glass of coke. There was only seats just below the telly so we did not hang around long - and given the late time we headed straught to Cauldon for the Yew Tree using Sat Nav.

I have to say that for no specific reason I felt really nervous about asking about the health of Alan East (?) the former landlord? I therefore cannot confirm if he is well. The layout remains the same ( but the room on the far away right is currently closed), and they have also dropped down to a single beer - that said, the 2 pints I had of the Burton Bridge bitter were excellent, and am happy to say that the pork pie I took away was excellent!

Next we headed back into Ashbourbe and wquickly up to Bonsall - this time the Barley Mow was very much open! Having established that we could set up a tab if we had more than one, I chose a pint of Abbeydale pale ale and Mr G a half of the same and we sat in the far corner near the fire. I also had a whole pint of BH brewery ( possibly Black Hole?) pale before we headed off in the dark to get to Elton. 

We arrived at 1930 and found the pub losed - but to be fair I don't think they open until 2030 or 2100? So we headed back out and pulled up round the back of the pub in the centre of Winster where I had a pint and a half of Abbeydale and Mr G a slowly supped glass of coke.

The fact that we managed to get to so many pubs over the two visits was a celebration in itself - although it was sad to miss out on the excellent Duke of York, and equally to see the state of the quiet Woman.

Looking forward to another trip out that way soon!

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

One fine summer's day....

Hello,

       I have gotten on to the old version of Blogger because the new version, which am guessing they consider is the future, will not allow me to write anything below the red line underneath the title. Apparently I can only use this version for a further few weeks so this maybe one of my last posts. Unless I can somehow change to blogging on my ultra modern laptop in future, which should work....

So a couple of weeks ago a friend and I decided we would like to go on a days tour of pubs in far away Derbyshire and Staffordshire. Having previously done some of the route, and also checked up with every possible venue that they were still open, we set off around 11.00 on Friday. Having got to Chezvegas, and used the satnav (sorry) to find a quicker route to the road past Walton Hospital, which we did, we headed over the Two Dales Road into Darley Dale and soon enough having viewed the delights of Wensley and the mad road up through Winster we arrived at the Miners Standard at the top of the village. Have not been in for a while but they had a range of four real ales on, or rather three plus Greedy King, including two from Aldwark Artisan Ales. I had a pint of their Pale IPA at 4.8%. It was delicious, especially sat outside in the hot sunshine.

From here we drove over Bonsall Moor and then into Upper Town of Bonsall, before taking that mad road near the bus stop to the corner near the footpath to Ible, in the Dale. Sadly we had already found out that the excellent Barley Mow would be closed but it was worth showing my friend Bonsall, the Barley Mow and the absurd road. From here we headed up to Grangemill and then over the moors and through the woods to the turning of the A515 down to Milldale and then up to Stanhope and then in the glorious sunshine to Ilam, up to Throwley (including opening a gate en route) before heading down to Waterhouses and then up to our next stop in Waterfall, the Red Lion.

Four cask ales again, including the excellent Bass plus a few others, with me starting on Wainwrights before having another pint, this time of Bass. Sat outside in the hot sunshine we could very easily have stayed here all day - the place, beer and atmosphere was excellent. Instead we headed off for Leek, and parked nearly outside the Hideout.

First visit for me, and we once again sat outside overlooking the square in very hot sunshine - they usually have two casks and ten Kegs from the future but were sadly down only to five kegs - despite this I bought myself a whole pint of Drop Project DIPA at just 8%, which I supped outside in the sun with my mate who was on soft drinks, both wanting a snack. Love the Hideout as I do (it was ace) I would rather have purchased some crisps from them, so after just  one pint we headed off (and I will return) using satnav (and very effectively) to find the turn for Onecote.

The Jervis Arms is somewhere have not been for a while - last time they had about five different cask ales as well as food. Now, although we enjoyed our tipples, its basically just a restaurant that serves bowze. We had much needed crisps each with what for me was an OK pint of Taylors.

Further up the road and off we made what for me, unless I popped in with WF when I was a child, was my first visit to the Black Lion at Butterton. We sat out the back in the last of the sunshine and my friend chose a half of Bass and I a rather tired but definitely not off pint of Storm - (which the barman warned me was near it's end) am guessing Silk of Amnesia, but am not sure. All was well organised and the pub was busy, and am sure it's somewhere we would consider visiting again.

Our final stop was an old favourite,the Pack Horse at Crowdecote. Again all was well organised, and we stood waiting at the bottom entrance to get to the bar - there were four beers on and I have to admit as with usual trecks, am not sure what it was that I had, but it was delicious. We sat up at the back in the Beer garden and awaited our scran and it was well cooked when it arrived, although am not sure my mate loved his burger. It was a shame not to see the usual landlord but am guessing he may have been off - either way this remained an excellent finisher.

We went back via Monyash listening to excellent Cathedral which I rather worryingly sang along to, and by 22.30 I was back home and safe. Thanks once again to my wonderful friend for an absolutely fabulous day out, and also to the different pubs visited for their speed and kindness in responding so quickly to our requests for info. Your very best of health.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Bank holiday sessions

Appen,

     the Bank Holiday weekend started in earnest on Friday night with pints in the White Lion at Heeley. Partners Brewery Mungo Mild was a surprise find so I supped a couple of pints of that before moving onto Thornbridge Jaipur, which I was disappointed to find was a little bit bit more expensive even than the Hallamshire House. Despite this obvious financial discomfort, I consoled myself with a couple before heading back down the ABV again and finishing on a mild, prior to a boozy meal at Parthenonas for some Greek celebrations.

That meant Saturday was a day to do proper bank holiday things - namely yomp round the Peak District, sup ale and get rained on. All of which were enjoyably achieved.

I met Miss M in town and we caught the bus to a rain soaked Chezvegas and onto Matlock. Or Madlot, which is a much better name on bank holiday. Stood in drizzle at the bus stop muttering about crowds the full horror of tourist-mageddon was laid before us. Why, we wanted to know, are all these people here?

Its a precarious moral position to inhabit when bemoaning the fact that loads of people have come to Matlock and you can't see why, whilst you are also in Matlock, but in our defence, we were on a mission. Matlock was nowt but a stepping stone. We were off to Bonsall, on public transport.

We jumped off the M2 bus at the bottom of the dale and walked the short distance up to the Barley Mow in bright sunshine. It was chilly, and changeable, and whilst sitting outside looked like a good idea, it soon ominously clouded over again. Not that we minded, ensconced inside, supping hoppy ale and eyeing up some mountainous portions of food.

There were four beers on, Kelham Island Best, Black Hole Cosmic, Bumpmill Thunder Road and Blue Monkey Infinity. I started on the Infinity  as did Miss M, and we started to think about how we could possibly have exerted enough energy to tackle a lasagna having done nothing more strenuous than walk uphill for 5 minutes. Our concerns were justified. The lasagna portions were ginormous.

Miss M had sourced us some more drinks and to be honest the Blue Monkey Infinity was so good it seemed pointless moving onto something else just yet, so I had another pint of that to help wash down an hours worth of food. We were then joined unexpectedly by Wee Keefy who had ridden over on his bike, arriving just in time to help finish off my meal. Now we were really in bank holiday mode. It even warmed up enough for us to sit outside.

We sat looking down the dale in the sunshine and continued supping, WK on coke and then Bumpmill, Miss M on Infinity and the Black Hole, and me on more pints of Infinity.A perfectly balanced orange tinged hoppy pale ale made for sunshine, and possibly from it.

The Barley Mow is the sort of pub you always seem to arrive at with a fixed timetable, and very quickly decide that you don't want to leave. Certain pubs sometimes just grab you and won't let go. Sat in the Clock room in Shakespeares with its heavy tick-tocking the only sound in the pub; stood next to the fire in the Duke of York at Elton; sitting on the banks of the Severn supping Salopian beers outside the Royal Hill at Edgerley. All moments which I wanted to continue well beyond the point at which was practical for them to do so. (The Duke of York at Elton is especially un-leavable....)

Against which backdrop, five pints of Infinity down and with our bus to Matlock approaching, I thought about the practicalities of catching a later bus. Or in fact, just moving to Bonsall. No practicalities were found.

Back in Matlock, with WK off to the Sheffield Student Union beer fest, we popped in MoCa Bar for a pint of Abbeydale Dark Congregation  which we drank whilst sat outside on the terrace/balcony thing, watching the less than salubrious scene in front of us. I don't think Moca's beer terrace will win any awards for the view but it was nice to still be out in the fresh air.

Before we left I grabbed a quick half of Oakham Hare and the Hedgehog, a delightfully punchy, fruity, hop fest at 3.9% which was dispatched quickly.  Alas, we couldn't hang around (always a feature of Moca bar) as we had to head off to the bus station to escape back to Sheffield.

Once back in the beer capital I went straight to the White Lion to undertake an even more epic session whilst celebrating Chala's 40th. We had the right hand snug to ourselves, all decorated for the occasion, and to my and many others joy, Raw Dark Peak Stout was on.  Chala was on shandy to begin with, perhaps sensibly plotting to remain mostly compus mentus until the end of the night. I, on the other hand, was past the point where switching to soft drinks or lower gravity beer was going to make any difference, having put away numerous lovely pints before I arrived.

The solution to this was technical and very scientific. What one does, is to drink a very large quantity of the same beer, thus mysteriously not getting drunk! That's an actual fact. That I made up.

Several hours and pints of Dark Peak and a couple of pints of water later, I was being given a lift home by Thangor, and a fantastic sunny bank holiday Saturday featuring three brilliant pubs was over.

What a tremendously pleasing start to May. Things can only get worse.....!

Wee Beefy

A proper Winter beer festival

Good afternoon,

      yesterday I was out in that Derbyshire with my friend Miss M to wander about on hills, and accidentally roll up at a pub beer festival or two. Inevitably this meant that the initial "walk" element didn't go to plan, since we opted to eat and drink. Lots. And lots. Of food and drink. Instead of walking the last bit of the walk.

The festival in question was the Barley Mow at Bonsall. An ever popular stop at any time, nestled against the hillside overlooking the hen racing circuit, or car park, this is a great place to pop in for a pint and a warm when on a winter walk. Except, it's not supposed to be Winter, it's meant to be Easter. And whilst the snow had clearly disappeared from the roads in Bonsall, up on Bonsall moor it was like another world.

Someone had obviously cut through the 3 foot of snow covering Bonsall Moor Lane with a tractor, because there were gouge marks all down the sides, never mind the huge piles of snow created by scooping out the mass that filled in the space afforded by the lane. We only saw 4 cars on our walk from Winster, one which was heading down an ominous snow covered track to Slaley, only identifiable as a road by the sign, the others large 4 wheel drive vehicles which came up behind us on a section of road where the snow was piled so high at the sides that we couldn't even have climbed out, so had to jog to the nearest low bit to let them pass.

We tried valiantly to cross Bonsall Moor but at every field edge was a 5 foot wave of drifted snow, often obscuring the small gaps in the wall which denoted where the path actually went. After missing one such opening and then retracing our steps before finally losing site of the path altogether, knee deep in drifts that were solid enough in places to take even my weight, we admitted defeat and walked, well, fell and swam through a tumult of ridged snow back onto the road. Suffice to say on arriving at the pub we were ready for a pint. Handy then, that there were over 20 to choose from at their Bank Holiday beer festival.

The pub gets the sun til mid afternoon at this time of year and after slogging and toiling we were briefly tempted to sit outside but instead we got a table near the door and sat drinking our beers. Miss M had a pint of Dark Star APA, myself a pint of TSA Rok IPA. The Rok was nice enough, but I think I had the poorer of the two choices.

Next up was half a something frightening made with apples for my companion, and a pint of the APA for me. Granted,a beer festival is supposed to be a great opportunity to drink new beers but not all the range was available and the APA was on fantastic form.

The beers seemed to be stillaged somewhere in the back so that left the maximum amount of room for a succession of walkers, most with dogs, locals and curious sightseers to throng around the bar and the fire at the end making their way through the ales on offer. We soon needed food, and luckily managed to order just in time - sausage and mash with peas and mushroom and onion gravy. Probably one of the largest plates of food I've seen in a while. And all that filling matter inspired us to have quite a few more drinks. This was a farewell to walking, and an introduction to rural taxi provision.

Between eating and leaving we also tried pints of Abbeydale Dark Side of the Moonshine, Upham Punter, Salopian Rhapsody and Blue Monkey Sanctuary which is far far better on draught that it is in bottle - much better balanced. The beer list for the festival, which runs until Monday, can be found here although that is a link to a Facebook photo - if it doesn't work, other detail are on their website .

I heartily recommend a visit to the Barley Mow, even if there isn't a festival on. Its a real community hub which sells tasty pub food and real ales, and has quirky events like the World Hen Racing championships to keep things interesting. Friendly hosts and a good mix of customers is a great recipe for a good pub. So it's well worth an alpine hike across Bonsall Moor, or, as we neglected to remember, there is a bus service up until about 17.30ish. We passed the bus leaving in a taxi...

More news of Easter/Winter pub visits coming soon.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy

Three counties pub crawl revisited

Evening,

         back in August me and Barraharri set off on a rather long drive around Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire, taking us through fantastic scenery to pubs in villages, Market towns and in rural seclusion. A chance meeting with a friend on Friday led to a plan to go out and visit some pubs he'd never been to - and what better way than to reprise the route from last year.

It was particularly pertinent since Barraharri was having his leaving do the same day - but not until midnight. So that meant I could spend the day retracing the long steps of the journey we took on a cloudy day in Summer, now on a sunny day in Winter.

We drove through Chesterfield, down to Two Dales and up through Wensley and Winster over Bonsall moor to Uppertown and down into Bonsall for our first stop, the Barley Mow. Being Saturday it was open, so we parked up and popped in, Mr Grant opting for a soft drink, and myself a pint of Dark Star Darkness.

We settled down in front of an open door (hardy souls them Bonsalians) and listened in on a cameo stand up performance from the barman. The pint didn't last long - the first of the day/visit never does, but I think there was surprise at us leaving after only 15 minutes. If we hadn't got a long way to go I reckon I'd have loved to stay and sample the Whim Arbor Light or the Blue Monkey Infinity , but we did. So we didn't.

A quick trip up the Via Gellia then down to Milldale and Hopedale, and the first directions mishap - I didn't see the road off to Stanhope where I wanted to be going and so we ended up in Wetton.

Knowing I wanted to get to Ilam, and vaguely where it was, I directed us left from Wetton only to find us driving up a path. A quick SatNav (it was me who got us there!) enquiry suggested we head down Walditch, another unsurfaced rocky track, so we headed back into Wetton and following new directions finally spotted the turn for Stanhope. A scenic trundle to Ilam, then over Throwley Hill followed, bringing us out in Waterhouses, from where we went to the Yew Tree at Cauldon. We'd rung to check they were open, and the place was really busy.

A decent pint of Burton bridge Bitter for me and a half of Rudgate Ruby Mild for Mr Grant followed., whilst we soaked up the atmosphere and surveyed the bric-a-brac, paraphernalia, accouterments and assembled collect-ables in this fantastic old pub. Decent priced beer as well - our pint and a half came to £3.38, so assuming both bers were the same price that's very inexpensive for the area.

Off next to Waterfall, a short drive away, and we found the Red Lion busy, but only on one side, leaving us the lounge on the left to, erm, lounge in. That took a bit longer than planned since no-one was behind the bar. A good few minutes passed before someone reappeared, which is annoying, but the pint and a half of Bass (more than a pound dearer than our last round) perked us up, as did the real fire.

We headed into Leek next and the SatNav helped us out well, locating and showing a route to both intended pub stops. Having got parked we went straight to the Wilkes Head, which was also busy, and I had a pint of the Whim Flower Power and Mr G a half of the Hartington Best. The Flower Power was exceptional, as it was the last time I tried it, and the Bitter was good as well. Unfortunately the Ruby Bitter I had a half of next was off, so I swapped this for a half of the Hartington IPA. Their beers may have changed a little over the years but I think the Flower Power amply demonstrates they still brew great beer.

Next up I finally got to visit Den Engel. Literally two minutes away, its some surprise that I have managed to miss this pub on my previous ten visits. Four real ales and 10 or so taps plus a decent bottle range makes this s great place to relax in a bar which, as far as is possible, does really seem to be reminiscent of a continental, if not Belgian bar. Here I had a bottle of the De Ranke Saison De Dottignies and Mr G a soft drink. The saison was very palatable, and more like the Fantome, which I suspect is a good thing, and was also easy to drink despite the carbonation and chilly serving temperature. A great place to drink.

Off into Cheshire next and we popped in the Vale Inn Bollington to eat and of course drink. We both had Bollington Brewery Oat Mill stout, a half for the driver of course, and that was on decent form, and I also tried half a Bollington Goldenhall, which was a tasty slightly sweet amber ale. The food was a sensible price and the place was heaving, although much annoyance ensued following finding lots of reserved tables. Nothing says piss off better than a table you can't sit at .

Following on with that theme, the White Swan at Kettleshume is fast becoming a restaurant. Very few diners but every table set out for eating, and the snug, which must hold all of eight people, the only place you could simply sit and drink. That said, no-one objected to us sitting at a table set for dining, so that's a plus, but its not really conducive to a relaxing pint. I had a half of the 4.0% Copper Dragon Silver Myst, which was very nice.

Off through the dark lanes now to Lamaload, then past the Cat and Fiddle to Dale Head and into Earl Sterndale. The Quiet Woman was almost the quiet pub, as the couple leaving as we got there turned out to have been the only customers. No sign of Ken (perhaps enjoying his evening nap, although someone in the back was reading the paper) and nothing to distract us sat in the relaxing calm of the bar. I was on a pint of Jennings Dark Mild in the absence of a guest beer, Mr G on a soft drink once again, and despite the unusual emptiness of the pub it was still a nice stop off on our hectic route.

Our penultimate stop was at the Royal Cottage. Arriving as the first customers of the night we had a good chat with Cliff and I supped a bottle of Old Speckled Hen. It was unusual to hear Cliff bemoan his lot in terms of the pub not making money but its obvious after our chat that the folk night is pivotal. It was cancelled on the 26th due to snow and with its high isolated position the pub couldn't open Saturday either. I've never visited the pub late on before but I got the impression that its usually closed by 22.30, so trading is very restricted. Luckily, on this occasion, other customers were coming in when we left near ten.

A final run into Bakewell put the tiny back lanes behind us, but not before we headed out to Wardlow Mires to visit the Three Stags Heads. A decent range of Abbeydale beers were available as always, and I got a pint of Absolution an Mr G a soft drink (poor lad!).

A great deal of dogs were present, and a varied conversation about anything and everything played out in front of the warming fire as we sat against the left hand wall surveying the scene. Its good to see that nothing has changed here, so Mr Grant got to see the pub as it usually is, chaotic, eclectic, traditional and unique. And the beers was pretty good as well.

So concluded a fantastic yomp round the countryside, with all the pubs being open when they should have, and the trip serving as a rather unsuitable precursor to my attending Barraharri's leaving do. At least he got to visit the Royal Cottage back in August. Just a shame he missed the Yew Tree. Seems you sometimes need two goes at getting a pub crawl right, and this three counties drive manages that perfectly.

Thanks to Mr Grant for tirelessly ferrying me around - thanks to Barraharri for showing it was possible.

Wee Beefy

Upcoming beer events

Hello,

    August is a damned busy month for me this year, so posts will br fewer even than than last month, but hopefully I will have time to tell you about pubs, beers, trips out, trips away, and as today, upcoming beery events.

Firstly Sheftival is on this weekend here in sunny Sheffield, and I understand that there will be real ale available. Its a shame I haven't had chance to try some of the pubs in the area recently, but based on hearsay and reviews I can suggest the following venues for a decent pint :

The former Coach and Horses on Attercliffe Road, now operating as the Don Valley Hotel, appears to be selling real ale;
The Carlton lower down Attercliffe Road carries a range of real ales;
(always assuming they are still open) The Cocked Hat always used to sell the good stuff. Ten minutes up from there is
The Sportsman in Darnall, who always serve at least one real ale at very reasonable prices.

I understand there is to be a Don Valley ale trail, so you may find that all of these pubs are included in that, more details from sheftival , although you may have to go along to find out about the ale trail.

Further afield,  the excellent Barley Mow in Bonsall, Derbyshire was advertising a beer festival when we went past yesterday. There were no dates on the poster but this weekend, indeed NOW! is the World Hen Racing championship which is being held at the pub. So although I can't be certain, I'm optimistic that the beer fest will be on this weekend, and even if not, there's 5 excellent real ales on the bar, and the "unmissable" hen racing to go at. See their link for more info.

Also worth a trip away to visit, the Worcester beer and cider festival runs from 16 to 18 August at the racecourse. Worcester is a good destination for lovers of unspoilt pubs, as you could easily factor in a visit or two whilst in the area, as well as visiting the festival. As with all the info provided in this post, I am actually quite jealous - because I can't make it to any of these events. If you can, you could find more info at worcester's beer festival website.

A bit later in the month The Nook, officially the Rose and Crown pub in Holmfirth, are holding an Ale'ympics event, a beer festival running from 24th to 26th August to include the bank holiday weekend. Paper lovers can pick up a flier (flyer?) at Archer Road Beer Stop here in Sheffield, or perhaps just follow this alelinkpics link to their website for more gen.

Finally, a bit of "duh" news for those of you with bad memories or only just able to access the Internet for the first time, a beer fest called the GBBF starts August 7th and runds through until the 11th. Its in that London. Apparently its quite big. See the Internet or any CAMRA publication for details.

That's all for now, hopefully some of you can grace some of the above events, more news coming later today about Sheffield pubs and beers.

Wee Beefy

Wee Beefy's pub walk bites - Birchover to Matlock all over again.

Afternoon,

      here are the details of my Birchover to Matlock Bath walk - snow reprise. Please accept my apologies for odd layout and potential funny formatted text - I copied a line from another website (with reference/link included) and it must have been some sort of shitty format which I then contrived to spread throughout my whole post. It has taken me 4 hours to remedy this nonsense. If anyone knows stuff about formats, PLEASE leave me a message!

Niddering

I was well aware this time that it would be chuffing freezing, and snow was predicted for about 18.00 so I was expecting things to get a bit tricky and a bit damp. I prepared by dusting off my huge bright coloured walking jacket and a hat, which it turned out was Chala's - luckily neither of us has a more massive heed than the other. Prior to setting off I had an even more ideal breakfast of Shepherds pie with curried red wine gravy - I assure you it tastes better than it sounds


I was meeting Christingpher who had also wrapped up against the biting chill and was looking forward to  a bit of exercise and real ale. We got to Bakewell on time and headed out through Stanton In Peak via less frost than last time before starting our walk on the road to Stanton Lees. We then walked down into Barn Farm and out onto Clough Lane as before then up the hill to the Miners Standard in Winster.

14 Pints of Lead

Not our beer order but the rough equivalent of the amount of lead ore placed in the dish that was used to measure the miners standard. Here we were grateful for the roaring fire and some sensibly priced well kept real ale, I hadn't really fancied a Greedy King beer to start with but even the usually disappointing elsewhere brew that purported to be Ruddles County was on good form here, a tribute to the Cellarmanship at this pub, and sold at only £2.50 a pint.

Crucially I also found time to photograph the initials and date above the door. The letters EP, EP, FP have two meanings it seems. According to John Merrill in his Winster Walks article (website Winster Historical Walk) the meaning is thus : " EP, EP, FP stand for the names Edith Ella and Frank Prince. In recent times the initials have come to mean - Every person entering pays for a pint."

On the Geolocation website (Geolocation - Miners Standard the family name has changed to Parker, but the adage appears to be the same. The only mystery then, is where I came up with it being the first letters of the words of a line from a lead miners song. A shame, since me and Christingpher spent a goodly amount of time attributing a meaning to the capitals, along the lines of Every Piece, Every Pig For Prosperity. ( a pig is a measurement of lead, lest you should be confused...)



Bonsall Moor and the early flakes

After stopping to admire the weather beaten pub sign and the lead house (and failing to find a suitable sounding line using the letters EP, EP and FP), we headed along Bonsall Lane and out over the moor heading towards a giant bank of white grey clouds. Remembering that it wasn't going to snow until after 15.00 at the very earliest we were confident this was no threat.

Before embarking across the moor we saw one of those quintessentially gruesome countryside sights that is not exactly charming, certainly bizarre, and not a little surprising. On a gate at the side of the road were tied two strings of dead moles, the string apparently pulled right through them. Close inspection of these thawing sleepy heads revealed they for the most part were still intact, but not why they were there, or how they had ended up being strung up.

I wondered if this was some sort of odd visual warning for mole incomers, or whether it was supposed to announce to passers by that the farmer was so practical and unemotional that if required, he could happily take out out a whole family of cute creatures. Either way it was a puzzling site on a cold windy road, that seemed to have no explanation. So just as we had mangled the lead miners song idea, we eventually came up with the perhaps somewhat kind interpretation, that the moles had simply died of cold in the sudden cold snap and had been hung out by the benevolent farmer as food for the many large birds that I have see swooping around the area. I can't say as am convinced of this altruism though....


Putting swinging mammal corpses to one side we strode out across the moor, only once getting a little lost as I took the first rather than second footpath right of Bonsall Moor Lane. We ended up on a farm track at the end of Able Lane and from there made our way down into the Dale, as sleat and then hard powdery white stuff started to fall. It was nearly 14.00. It wasn't meant to snow yet. Yet all we could see ahead were heavy white grey skies.

Luckily we could repair to the warmth of the Barley Mow, which was rammed, not that this is difficult, and we had pints of Thornbridge Lord Marples for me and Whim Arbor Light for Christingpher - pumpclip on handpump, but drawn from the barrel round the back. To be honest, Christingpher's Whim Arbor Light was the pick of the beers by a stretch: the Marples was OK but not brilliant, and after we had finished these I had a half of the Arbor Light and Christingpher the Doctor Morton's Ancient Grease. The Whim clearly came out on top, being lovely and fresh and hoppy without being overpowering, and its ultimate easy-drinkingness was made all the easier by its low strength. We did dally briefly with the idea of a chip butty, but the food orders were mounting up, so we finished up, said our goodbyes to the Lanlady and set off in the now more significant accumulations of white powder.

 Temple of Jupiter




We struggled up through the town past the white sprinkled cross and the church before setting off up Ember Lane towards Matlock Bath. As we got higher the snow, which is what it actually was by now, increased and in the mellee of avoiding taking the wrong path and in trying not to fall on my arse I led us down the wrong path, as I had done last time.

Joining the main steep path that we needed involved essentially sitting down and hand walking yourself on to the traverse below. Getting down here was even more difficult because it was basically irregular steps and loose stones and twigs, with a rough wall one on side to try and grab. As we came out on Upperwood Road at Matlock Bath, I looked up to the higher buildings to see the road coated in snow, yet as we were inching our way down to the gennel, a Chelsea tractor appeared on the brow. I have to say, I have nothing against a 4X4 if you need and know how to use it, and even to my untrained eye, the calm descent down the thin white road behind us seemed incredibly difficult, and carefully done.


By now Matlock was twinkling white in the grey haze of the gorge and it seemed like the only sensible option was to park ourselves somewhere warm and refreshing. Hence, we headed straight fr the Georgian fronted Temple Hotel. Once there we headed straight for the bar and as Blue Monkey BG Sips was on again it was no contest as to what we;d be having. We pulled up a chair at a table near the fire and settled down to a delicious and refreshing pint and a spot of sketching. I should point out that I only actually draw when I am out with Christingpher - he is in fact a portrait painter and illustrator, so he always has a sketch pad with him and a fine pen, which suits my slightly embryonic scribbling style.


Hence, in comparison to his work my output is very basic and odd, but a nice distraction that, depending on the absurdity of the image created, usually results in lengthy bouts pf laughter. This time, as you will, erm, potentially see further below, by my standards I got the pic about right. That's if you ignore his wonky left leg, and the fact that he seems to have been the recipient of some hardline Islamic justice...

We stopped for another pint in here and then I tried a half of the Thornbridge Sequoia, which wasn't quite how I remembered it but was a nice warming drink as the snow piled up outside. I didn't see much of Chris the bar this time, as he was out clearing snow off the path outside. All too soon we had to re wrap and join him in the cold, to start our descent to the A6.
 
Descent is fairly accurate since it is very steep and was covered in a silky white covering, but we made it to the main road unscathed. Traffic was slow and there was snow settling on much of the road, but we opted to concentrate on food, so got chips before walking up to the nearest bus stop. Here we managed to get a 6.1 into Matlock Station - the plan had been to catch the 17 into Chesterfield and then the train but a quick chat with the driver confirmed that the rather hilly 17 route was, as we half expected, not going to be running.


Station to Station

we managed to get a train to Derby though with no problem, ruined slightly by an abusive idiot who kept insisiting he was headed to Bradford, and then when asked by the conductor to stop swearing simply pretended he hadn't like a child, before getting aggressive again. Nobhead.


In Derby it was not clear how the weather would affect things so we headed straight to the Station for a pint of lovely fantastic Bass. It was quiet, likely due to a combination of weather and Derby playing tomorrow (or not as it turne out), so we had chance to talk to Dave and Dan, a Derby based Arsenal fan who I tried, despite his obvious levels of emotion, to persuade should support a more benevolent and magnanimous club where everyone was nice....

Two pints later and we stepped outside into heavy snow covering the roads and headed for the station where a train was just arriving. We got on OK and arrived back in Sheffield around 21.00. Just time for a last one then in the Sheffield Tap. I had a half of Thorndridge Black Hary and a pint of Marble Chocolate Stout.

The Black Harry was surprisingly sweet, I knew it was 3.9 which is why I thought it would be a nice foil to the meatier Marble chocolate but if anything it was like a weaker version of that beer but with malted milk. Not what I was expecting at all. The Marble was a fulsome, rich tasting chunky beer but again wasn't really what I had hoped for - there was a lttle too much end of a cup of hot chocolate going on, the malt was quite pally wih the chocolate so it was quite one dimensional, and there was not even a hint of bitterness, which might have taken some of the sweet edge off the brew. A rare duff offering form the usually reliable folk at Marble. Below is a pic of some folks drinking their beer in the Tap, for ease of reference.

By this time (around 22.00) all the bus services had been cancelled in light of the 1cm of snow and the fact that the main roads were clear. So thanks a fucking bunch to the slackdabs and panicking meddlers at First South Yorkshire and Stagecoach for leaving their passengers stranded in the City centre for no justifiable reason. If one part of a route is impassable, for instance in my case maybe the descent from Handsworth Top, don't cancel the whole service, continue running it to the nearest drivable point. Instead, I had to catch a tram with the last of my money to Woodburn Road and and walk along the clear bus route that the much lighter cars were easily able to drive along with no impediment.

Aimless and unprofessional bus companies aside, this was a challenging walk given the conditions but once again demonstrated that theer are a good range of real ales to be found in many Peak District pubs, everyone of which we visited was welcoming, friendly, sensibly priced and knowledgeable about keeping good beer.


Cheers!
 
Wee Beefy

Wee Beefy's 2012 Derbyshire Dales walk

Afternoon,

    I am fully recovered now from my first yomp of the new year, when I walked from Birchover to Matlock Bath via Winster and Bonsall, trying some new and old pubs along the way.

The Bus to Beelzebub

With the above song in mind (Soul Coughing fans) I set out on a hellish trundle to my starting point. As usual I'd got up later than planned then fannied around for ages doing crap that I really ought to have done the night before like a sensible person. I even managed to rustle up some breakfast even though I had miplaced its ingredients - in the end I had a less than classic walkers prep of a bowl of shepherds pie....

The bus arrived on time and we quickly realised that hell was not its destination; instead it was hypothermia. One of the windows in the what looked like 1960's bus was wedged open. All the way to Bakewell we were blasted by icy cold wind. Great. Things didn't improve any in Bakewell either - I had to go for a coffee to get warm but finished it all too quickly, then had 25 minutes to fill in before the bus, which I spent walking round trying to warm up.

The 172 bus ride to Birchover is beautiful on a frosty sunny day like Saturday - as you wind up through Stanton in the Peak every house and wall is finely dusted with frosty icing sugar, and the fields were bathed in sunlight as we passed the edge of Stanton moor, with large swathes still white from the hard frost. I started in Birchover at Barn Farm and made my way across what would have been a muddy lake of a field normally,  in low set bright sunshine, biting cold wind and crispy ground to Uppertown.

Uppertown is a bit of a weird title for part of the village which lies below Birchover - unless its meant to be part of Winster, in which case its still the lowest part. Clearly this is a countryside in-joke that I don't get. From here I followed Birchover lane then took the path past the cemetery to the road leading to the top of Winster, where most of the fields and fauna were still frozen. Looming up round the corner at the top was my first stop.

The Miners Standard, Winster

I'd never been in this pub so was quite pleased to find it open and to finally get in for a beer. There's an outside porch and then a sign above the door as you enter - some say the initials are the names of two locals who built the building, others that it stands for the words in a lead miners saying - either way, I can't be sure what it stands for and annoyingly, I forgot to write it down! If anyone knows the letters or their meaning please let me know.

Inside there is one room split into 2 areas with a passage heading out to the loos and presumably the back, although I had no desire to sit outside so didn't check. There is a real fire in the left hand side and a fireplace to the right might also have one. The long wooden bar sports three or four handpumps and I tried the Brakspears bitter - £2.25 is a damned decent price in Derbyshire these days and not to be sniffed at - better still the beer was very well kept and managed to retain a lot of flavour, considering its 3.4%.

The pub seemed to be full of locals but I know its popular with walkers, and the landlady regaled the occupants of the table across from me with a story from Facebook, which she could barely say whilst crying with laughter. She also used a phrase I hadn't heard before - when she was explaining to one of the regulars children what she was doing, she said "I'm mending the fire up" I can't say I've heard anyone say that before, so maybe its a local phrase. Although it could just be incorrect. Nevertheless, after enjoying the Facebook tale myself I decided to stop for another, and had a good pint of Pedigree, which I think was £2.60 a pint. This is a cracking pub all in all, hopefully one I'll get back to soon.

Bonsall Moor

From here I pressed on over Bonsall Moor. I was going to walk all the way to Upper Town in Bonsall on the road but it was such a beautiful day I decided to cross the moor by path instead. On the way up the first half mile or more of the road, I had to walk on the left, because the right was in shadow and was still covered in a slippery white hoare frost. The road is quiet, disturbed only by a handful of cars and a coal lorry, in fact the whole area is blissfully peaceful; and until you reach the edges of Bonsall a mile or two later, except for a clutch of farms, and a ruined building or two, there's nothing but stone walls and  rugged Derbyshire moorland to see.

The path across the moor is a bit short on worded signposts after you leave the road, but I found my way past numerous crossroads and junctions despite having forgotten to bring the half of my decimated White Peak map for this part of the walk. The route is diagonal and crosses many fields with squeeze stiles to negotiate - luckily the walls are low so I could swing my legs over, ottherwise I would never have made it. All of the fields traversed were edged with frosty white, and some had long sparkling fingers of cold placed across them, even at about half one in the afternoon.


The Barley Mow

The path comes out on a lane at Uppertown and leads to the bus stop - I mention it only because the bus route seems so incongruous, winding up through the narrow streets and out up towards Bonsall moor then along the back of the highest part of the village and turning round in a space that suggests it needs a good 4 goes to get round. I then followed Bankside down to The Dale - a sign at the top warns the road is unsuitable for HGV's - hopefully the pic right will demonstrate why.

As I walked down the road to the pub I noticed again that one whole side of the steep sided dale was still blanketed in white powder, although someone had hung their washing out, presumably in anticpation of the sun reaching it sometimne around March. Please note, the far wall in the picture is in fact the garden of the house and is therefore the edge of the road as it turns left at the absurd hairpin bend.

The Barley Mow is a small long buildng the back of which is carved out of rock, and has a single room with plentiful seating and a range at one end and the bar and kitchen at the other. The toilets are outside, and the front has just enough sepace for some people to sit outside. Remember to take the door on the left though - the one as you climb up the steps leads to the kitchen. I used to come to the Mow a lot but haven't been for a while now, a fact demonstrated by the fact that the new owners had been there more than 3 years.

When the previous landlord and owners had it there were two real ales on, Hartington Bitter and Greedy King Abbot. Now the beer range has changed considerably, with all 4 handpumps in use. I started with a pint of the Blue Monkey Original, a 3.6% beer packing as much hoppy flavour in as a lesser 4.5% brew. Despite this beer being my third of the day, I didn't allow myself to be tempted by the homemade food which smelt lovely, as I had a pile of unappetising squashed sandwiches to enjoy later.



All too soon my beer had mysteriously disappeared and I had to go back for another couple of halves - I had the Otley Columbo pale, and the stronger Whim Snow White Weiss, at 5.0%. The Otley was as expected, lovely citrus hops and sweetish malt but inevitably slightly cloudy. The Whim was cloudy intentionally and was a really nice beer even though it failed to taste like a wheat beer at all. All beers were £2.90 to £3.00 a pint.

Every year, the Barley Mow claims to be the centre of UK hen racing - apparrently hens have been known to complete the race, but usually just sit down, walk in circles or peck through the gravel in the car park looking for worms....

Temple Hotel bar

All too soon I had to drag myself away and head down the semi frozen dale and over the hill to Matlock Bath. It was only about 3PM but it was cold once again, althoiug I was at least warming up as I toiled up through the village, bypassing the closed Kings Head (I think they keep quite strict lunchtime hours) and heading up to the church and then following the steep winding ember lane to the woods behind Matlock Bath.

Having climbed up so high I then had to precariously climb down a very slippy muddy steep path at the edge of the woods to bring myself out at the Upperwood area of Matlock Bath. As directed by a local dogwalker, I was to walk down between two houses and at the entrance to Gullivers Kingdon I would see on my right what he called a plane. I knew what he meant as soon as I saw it - its an interesting word for a ginnel or snicket but I suppose its loosely based on an inclined plane, which they used to send small trucks loaded with coal or rocks down on a pulley.

Soon I was overlooking the Bath with the Temple Hotel on my right. As you enter the bar is immediately on your right - I point this out because I didn't notice it at all at first, in fact am not even sure there is a sign. Inside is an L shaped room (or it maybe continues past the left hand end of the bar) with ample seating and a long bar sporting 5 handpumps, all in use. I had a fantastic pint of Blue Monkey Evolution, which was £2.90a pint, and there were plentty of other options available, an Oakham Scarlet Macaw, Abbeydale Dr Morton's Snake Oil, Full Mash Spiritualist and a real cider, which is on a gas assisted pump.

I soon got chatting to Chris, who runs the bar, about the beers he has on and his and his customers favourite brews. I mentioned my love of Blue Monkey, and he advised me that BG sips my favourite of their beers was on next, indeed the Oakham died a death so I ended up trying that as well. In between times, having finished my pint of Evolution, I had a pint of the Dr Morton's snake oil. Far better than my recent Abbedydale experiences this was a really tasty, bitter golden beer.

It turns out Chris used to live in Sheffield and visit the Archer Road Beer Stop so we agreed we have probably met before, and whilst propping up the bar (but crucially, not being in the way) I also got into a chat with a couple from Nottingham who had been to a gig in a sheffield pub and loved it. Alas, they couldn't recall the name, its location or the identity of the band, but it did have a bar on the left. After much guesswork a friend was called and we found out it was the Broadfield - which explained why I didn't recognise the description, since there isn't a right hand room anymore.

The other thing I noticed, apart from the fact that I was there for nearly 2 hours which is much longer than I had planned on, was that almost every beer drinker who arrived remarked on there being Blue Monkey beers available - it seems that many people share my love of this brewery's output, and Chris confirms this is one of his big sellers. Trade was brisk whilst I was there with a mixture of guests and other visitors, and I was impressed to see that it seems highly regarded - overall though the most impressive aspect was the dedication to quality shown regarding the beer. I wasn't allowed to taste the Oakham offering by Chris until he had, because he thought it was pulling light and running out. He confirmed it was tired, which when I tried it was, and then took it off.  All the beer was in tip top xconditin and it was an interesting range as well. This is another pub I hope I can get back to soon.

Princess Victoria

From here I had to find my way down to the A6. A couple of locals suggested I walk down the alleyway that would bring me out near where the pub was - I didn't find an alley I fancied however and did the trip on the road (although I found the alley at the bottom?). I was soon at the bar in the Princess Victoria perusing the choices. I haven't been in since it was a Batemans house selling guests, and its now owned by Ashover Brewery. The Batemans XXXB was still available, and thats what I had a pint of. The only Ashover offering was their Light Rale which I don't rate, and nothing else caught my eye at all hence my enjoyably conservative choice.

I have probably only been in about 4 times and for some reason I never seem to be able to get on with it. I like the way it looks, I like the food, I like its quirky design, but for reasons unknown I never want to spend long in there, and the disappointing beer range put me off persevering. Perhaps an early crawl stop might alay some of my misgivings.

Midland and County and Station

I now knew that I wasn't going to make the Plough at Two Dales, so that still remains one of my "target" pubs to visit. Instead I went and grabbed some chips from a chippy down the "seafront" and went back out into the freezing cold to eat them quickly. I now had an hour to fill in before my bus so ventured into the Midland. They served 4 real ales, Farmers Blonde, Peak Ales Swift Nick, Bakewell Best and their seasonal Noggin Filler which I had a half of.

This was a comfy enough quite large pub, with a mix of tourists and locals, and was, thankfully, quite warm, which was a merciful relief I can assure you. The guy behind the bar seemed quite loud but the atmosphere was congenial and had I had more time, money, and had drunk less earlier, I think I may have stopped for a pint of what was a very nice Peak Ales winter brew. I think a longer visit next time is required to sample some more of their range. The picture on the right is the bar in the Midland.

Alas I hadn't really spent long enough in there so to avoid dying of exposure I nipped in the County and Station across the road. There was Pedigree and Jennings Cumberland on the bar so I went for a half of that by way of a change. It was tired, one dimesional and a little warm, a pale imitation of what can be a good drink. The pub itself is OK, but a little odd, a transient unpreposessing venue comprised of a collection of unfulfilled ideas.

Whilst you had some quite traditional pub decor and dark wood fittings, there was also a pool table in a boistrous back room, the inevitable imposing Sky TV Screens, and a restaurant, prominently advertised, on the right. It was bit cold, and a single couple sat in there eating pub fare. I'm glad it stocked some real ale but I can't see me rushing back to visit again.

By now it was too near to the time of the bus to squeeze in another pub visit and find the bus stop, so to keep warm I walked towards Matlock, stopping to check the time at each stop, which wasn't many since they are spaced well apart, and looking out for another pub where I might quickly nip in to use the facilities. With 10 minutes to go I arrived at a bus stop outside some toiletsa (actually open!) so I was ready now to settle down to the ball ache which was the journey via half of the Derbyshire Dales to Belper and then onto Derby.

The Best Bass you'll ever taste

I got into Derby at about quarter past 9 an hour or so before my train and got a bus round to the train station, then ran round to the Station Inn on Midland Road (where else?) The door was open for a change, which is very unusual for a Saturday night when Derby have been playing, and was quite crowded with sound barrier threatening footy fans. I got to the bar and was welcomed warmly by Dave, who correctly but not entirely difficultly predicted my order would be a pint of Bass from the jug. I could then retire to my seat behind a wall of wannabe footbal managers and refereeing experts to quietly enjoy one of the finest pints of ale in the UK.

I even had chance to enjoy a further pint of the glorious tasty Bass whilst there, before I had regrettably, to leave the pub and head back to the station. Here, my train was delayed so to fill in some time I popped in the Noahs Ark, to find painfully bright lights, an argument in the doorway and no real ale, so I returned to the station. In the end, the train was over an hour late and I was back in Sheffield at gone midnight.

Late 1854

With a thirst still to quench after 2 hours waiting or travelling I decided I had limited options for decent beer at this time. Despite my blog promise in my last post to start going to Harrisons early on I hot footed it up town and got there in time to have a pint of that wonderful Deception that I had the other night, and also had chance to catch up briefly with Barraharri whilst I supped it. This was a nice way to end the evening, sate of thirst, tired of legs, cold of frame but happy nonetheless.

Overall I had a really enjoyable day out and visited some truly excellent pubs, drank some fantastic beer and saw some stunning scenery, and not even the rank incompetence of the train companies ("the train is currently limping into Leicester") could put a downer on my fantastic first walk of 2012.

Cheers!

Wee Beefy