Riley’s Rambles: Buxton

from Ale Cry 128 - Spring 2022

Historic Preston Pubs: Part 10

With the warmer weather coming up, this time my ramble will take you to the spa town of Buxton in the Peak District, which you can visit for a day out, or have a longer stay and enjoy a mini break. It is easily reachable from Preston by train and will reward you with some excellent pubs offering a wide range of different beers. From Preston, you catch a train to Manchester Piccadilly, changing there to the direct service to Buxton. It takes approximately two hours all told.

Arriving at Buxton, you can go down towards the square and start from there, or do what we did and turn left and walk

down Station Rd. where you will find the RAILWAY, a Holts pub with three of their beers on sale, plus a changing guest. A dining pub which retains a gaming area to the left with large screens, it was taken over by Holts in 2017 from Greene King (it is a pity Greene King didn’t sell the Sumners in Preston to Holts at the same time. We would still have a fine pub instead of a hole in the ground). Anyway, a couple of hundred yards further along will bring you to the local Wetherspoons, the WYE BRIDGE HOUSE. Inside the former Midland Railway hotel you will find all the goodies we have come to expect from this brand.

Going back to opposite the Railway, you should go down Spring Gardens to see the MILTON’S TAP on your right. Usually up to four real ales are on sale in this recently refurbished pub. With a tap room on the left and separate dining room to the right and bar area to the rear, it opens at 9am for breakfasts. Turning right on leaving and walking up to the end of Spring Gardens, you will see the famous colonnade in front of you. Turn right again and on the opposite side of the road find the REDWILLOW. It does not open until 4pm Mon–Thurs, (noon otherwise), so you might have to come back to this bar on your way back to the railway station later. The bar is in a former bank that has been refitted with a large bar area and mezzanine floor, and is a showcase for RedWillow brewery with usually 4 of their beers plus a guest on sale. On our visit these ranged from Headless (3.9% at £3.30) to Breakfast Stout (5.6% at only £3.60).

From here go down the side of the Willow on George Street where you will come to 53DEGREES @ BUXTON TAP HOUSE and

the adjacent CELLAR BAR (which has more limited opening times). A collaboration between 53 degrees North and Buxton Brewery, the Tap has up to four Buxton beers on sale and on our visit ranged from a 3.6% to a 5.6% one. 1/3 pint measures are available and food using local products is available all week. It is open from noon midweek and from 10am Sat and Sun. Turning left on exit and after 100 yards left again, you come to the OLD HALL HOTEL, reputed to be the oldest hotel in England, built in 1573 by Bess of Hardwick. Mary Queen of Scots was held under house arrest there. It has three public bars with varying opening times from noon until 10.30 with food served 12–10. The bars sell up to four real ales including a house beer ‘Queen of Scots’, a 4.2% IPA brewed by Sharps. There is also that rarity these days, a revolving door at the entrance.

Coming out of the Old Hall, look for a street named Hall Bank diagonally opposite, go up, where you will find on the right LUBENS. This is the original 53degrees and

after they decamped and joined up with Buxton Brewery it was reopened under new management as a stylish restaurant and bar with three real ales. The bar area is to the rear. Thornbridge Jaipur is a regular here as is a beer from Wincle brewery plus one other. It opens at 11.30 until 11 (10 Sun, midnight Fri/Sat) with food 12–3, 5–8.30 (7.30 Sun). Turn right on exit and go up to the top, past the KING’S HEAD which serves mostly Marston’s products and the EAGLE, a Hydes pub with a couple of their cask beers on, to join High Street. Go onwards past Sainsburys and look out on the right for our next pub, the ALE STOP on Chapel Street, just past the Methodist chapel.

The Ale Stop was the first micropub in the High Peak, with an objective to bring to Buxton beers that were rarely seen in the town. With two rooms in a converted wine shop, this is still its aim and to this end there are four changing beers from up and down the country as well as three real ciders. It is a proper drinkers’ pub. There were even some CAMRA members there perusing the newly published Good Beer Guide for 2022. We chatted with them and gave them a copy of our Preston pub guide, with them promising that one day they would visit Lancashire and have a crawl round there. The pub opens

at noon all days, closing at 9pm except on Thurs/Fri/ Sat when they stay open until 10pm. Leaving here, go back to the High Street and turn right.

We are now on our way to the famous CHESHIRE CHEESE. It is only a short walk and on the way you will pass on your right, the QUEENS HEAD, which opens at noon till 1am, selling Doom Bar and Speckled Hen plus up to 3 guests typically a Buxton and a Thornbridge +1, then, on the opposite side of the road, THE OLD SUN. This is a Marstons pub with 6 pumps dispensing beers from their extensive range (including Wainwrights). It is a 17th Century coaching inn but only opens at 4pm except Sats and Sundays when it is noon. You then come to the Cheshire Cheese, and what a fantastic pub it is.

Double fronted and of considerable age and grade 2 listed, it was a Marstons outlet which was purchased by Everards Brewery in 2013. After refurbishment, it is now managed by Titanic Brewery. The pub is mainly open plan but it is split into several areas, one of which has an open fire. Wooden floors and low ceilings with original beams help to create a warm, welcoming atmosphere. What is great is the display of beers on sale. 10 beers are generally available, five of which are from the Titanic stable plus Everard’s Tiger, plus four interesting changing guests. To enable you to try as many as you can, they do a beer board for £3.95 (Nov 2021) where you can have three 1/3 pints plus a bowl of mixed cheeses.

It is time now to head back down towards the RedWillow, this time going down the High Street. If you are inclined, look out on your right for Scarsdale Place and there you will find an excellent fish and chip shop. A small fish and small chips is only £6 to eat in. Opening times are 12–2 and 4.30–7pm. On your way down, towards the Redwillow you will pass the NEW INN, a Robinsons pub selling near enough the full range of their beers, with eight handpumps selling six Robinsons badged beers and two under the Hartleys name. The pub is open noon till 10pm. For those of you who haven’t been in the RedWillow yet (don’t forget it only opens at 4pm Mon–Thurs) now is the time for you to get some in before you return to the railway station. To get to the station from here, coming out of the pub, turn right and go up Station Approach on the opposite side of the road, or turn left up to the roundabout and turn right on Station Road. The station is right in front of you.

To get to Buxton from Preston, take a train to Manchester Piccadilly and change trains to the direct service to Buxton. There is a connection approximately every hour. If you caught the 10.10 from Preston, you would get to Buxton at 12.06. If you get the next one (11.02 from Preston) you arrive at 13.06. Returning follows a similar pattern with trains approximately every hour. Some of the connections at Piccadilly are very tight, only minutes to get over to far platforms, or involve half hour waits, but that should not put you off. It is well worth the effort. Timetables change, so it is always best to check on the National Rail Enquiries website for up-to-date information. One last bit of information is, if you are over 55, you can get a special ticket called an Explorer 55 for Northern Rail. It is a one day rover ticket costing £15.90 which is valid only on Northern trains, but you can travel anywhere on their network west of the Pennines, getting on and off as many times as you wish. The range is from Carlisle in the north down to places such as Buxton, Chester, and Stoke on Trent in the south and as far east as Todmorden and Greenfield. Thus our trip today would cost only £15.90 instead of the off peak day ticket cost of £24.90 (this could go up in March, as the Government is putting up rail fares whilst reducing air travel). You can just ask at the ticket office for an Explorer 55 ticket, but you must produce some evidence that you are 55 or over. PAUL RILEY