Buxton Pubs

I’ve been struggling with my mental health of late. I’m going back to basics and trying to occupy my mind and time with things that I enjoy. This of course involves getting on a train, meeting pals, going on a pub crawl and writing about it for you, dear reader. But where to go? As if by magic, I spotted this in the living room.

I vaguely remembered this being handed to me by a man I met on my travels last year, who foisted it on me and said ‘here’s an idea for your next trip’. I had indeed been struggling for inspiration for a location; I also like to have an ‘occasion’ or purpose for a visit (the football is a good one, but I haven’t been going). I messaged Wendy and she was up for the trip (sadly Karina was otherwise engaged) so off to Buxton it was.

The night before the trip, I checked the weather forecast so I could plan my wardrobe accordingly. Hmm rain forecast for the entire afternoon. I chose not to relay that information to Wendy. Who wants that sort of news? Plus, I learned years ago when attempting to explain with Wigan microclimate to my friend Dan that people don’t listen anyway. Happily, there wasn’t much distance between the pubs, but I put my umbrella in my bag in case of a torrential downpour.

On the morning of the trip, I asked Alexa to confirm the weather forecast. Rain was not deemed worth a mention, which pleased me, although it was currently -2C in Buxton. Brr! In addition to my staple winter layers of thermal vest, fleece and coat, I added t-shirt into the mix.

I was well into my walk to Blackpool North station by the time I realised I had forgotten to take today’s antidepressant before leaving the house. Dammit! Should I turn back? No, one day without should be fine. And, before you ask, yes, I’m ok to take alcohol with these tablets. It’s just (randomly) grapefruit juice that the doctor has advised me to avoid (no issue with that).

As I approached town, I encountered a furtive looking man who held my gaze for too long before changing direction to my direction. Was he following me? I increased my pace and kept looking back over my shoulder. Should I cross the road and see if he did the same? Why was there no-one else about?

I quickly realised that he was no longer (never had been) following me and tried to calm myself down. Was this the increased anxiety side effect of my tablets? They said that might happen for the first few weeks while I get used to them. Or was it because I’ve been hibernating for months and naturally feel anxious out on my own again (this was a thing for me after lockdown). Anyway, I have recently developed a technique for calming myself down and stopping racing thoughts, which is counting in Russian.

‘Один, Два, Три, Четыре, Пять, Шесть, Семь, Восемь, Девять, Десять…’

If you’ve ever tried counting in Russian then you’ll know it’s hard to think about anything else (like being followed) at the same time, so this is an effective technique for me; I quickly found my breath and heartbeat returning to a relaxed state. Perhaps I shouldn’t have had that coffee earlier?

I was relieved to arrive at Blackpool North station and headed, as usual, to the food kiosk.

‘Morning! What are the chances of me getting a bacon roll in time for the 0753 train?’

‘No problem. Would you like any butter or sauce?’

Ooh I don’t normally get asked that.

‘Brown sauce please. No butter.’

Why do people have butter? It makes the bread stick to the roof of my mouth.

‘And can I have an Earl Grey as well, please?’

‘Of course. Do you want to let me know the desired strength?’

‘That’s great, thanks.’

I only like the bag very briefly introduced to the water.

The man handed me a napkin.

‘For your glasses.’

They had steamed up on entering the relative warmth of the station. Bless that man. The service is always good here but was extra special today. Ooh here’s my train…

Southbound

As I settled back on the train to Manchester Piccadilly (where I was to change for Buxton), I realised that I wasn’t actually hungry. I have been struggling with a lack of appetite of late which was great for my weight loss (I lost half a stone) but not for my general health. I am eating again now, though, as I have forced myself into it to rid myself of that symptom. Plus this butty was important to line my stomach. I had only factored in one meal in Buxton this afternoon and that wouldn’t be enough. I persisted with my bacon roll and had polished it off in what is probably a normal period of time for most people but seemed an eternity for me (I have been told I eat like it’s about to be taken off me).

I checked the weather again.

I was travelling light today. I had taken the decision to not bring my rucksack because we were visiting a lot of pubs today and I didn’t want to risk leaving it in one of them like I did in Burton (which, lets face it, is almost Buxton). This means that I hadn’t brought a book – and was instead reading via the Kindle app on my phone. Today’s book was the fourth in the Will Trent series by Karin Slaughter, Broken. I was amused to read that a character in this book employed a similar trick to my counting in Russian to assuage her anxiety:

I buried myself in my book all the way to Manchester, where I had ample time for a wee before my connecting train to Buxton. This train was FREEZING as all the doors were open, so I made a point of closing the ones in my carriage.

I had been in contact with Wendy (exchanging breakfast photos and the like) and she joined me on the train at Stockport, immediately commenting on my hat.

‘I’m not taking it off. It’s freezing on this train.’

We were unfamiliar with the part of the world this train was taking us through, having never heard of most of the stations. This was one I had heard of but couldn’t tell you where it was.

The hobbit from Lord of the Rings? No, that’t not how you spell Frodo. Who or what was Ferodo and why was it so significant it warranted a mention on the station sign? Obvs I had to look this up immediately. It turns out they are ‘the premium braking brand for pads, discs, shoes, linings and accessories‘. You live and learn.

Soon enough we found ourselves landing in an absolutely baltic Buxton.

There was lots to look at on the station.

As Wendy loitered in the booking office looking at tourist information leaflets, I was pleased to spot a book exchange. What a lovely idea for a train station; they should all have one of these. I always have a book with me on my travels because it helps me focus on something other than how late (or cold) my train is. I also don’t notice when there’s a wasp in the carriage. It’s an excellent calming and distraction technique.

We trotted off at a confused pace: I wanted to walk quickly to keep as warm as possible but was also conscious that it was not quite yet 1100 so the first pub would not be open when we got there. I paused to photograph this wonderful old-fashioned chemist.

‘That’s so old-fashioned, I would have expected it to be called an apothecary,’ observed Wendy.

On arrival at the first pub on my list (which Google and the pub website said opened at 1100) there were no lights on so it didn’t even look like it was thinking about opening just yet. Great. Just what we needed on a freezing cold morning. We hastily assembled a Plan B. Oh. Hang on. Are we in France?

Look closely and you’ll see this brasserie was on Place de la Terrasse.

Anyway, onto the place that was supposed to be the last place on our list for strategic reasons but ended up being first courtesy of it being (a) nearby and (b) open.

Beer & Bean

This place smelled alluring – not that I was hungry yet, after force-feeding myself that bacon roll. No – today was all about the beer, so what’s for breakfast?

I have to confess I was VERY tempted to have a Baileys hot chocolate in here, but instead went for a half of the Rodenbach Fruitage, a safe bet for a first beer of the day at 3.9%. The reason this was supposed to be last on the list was the above beer menu. In hindsight, it’s probably for the best that we didn’t go here last because I’d likely have gone for that 14% Omnipollo and that would NOT have been a good idea…

We took a seat on a high chair at a small table. This is more like a coffee shop type place than a cosy pub but I did like it. There were a few well-behaved dogs in here with their owners. Let me show you around.

I don’t know where to start with the above. Vegetarian haggis? The word ‘croissage’? And how on earth did I manage to resist that battenberg muffin? I began to wish I hadn’t had that bacon roll on the train. I will know for next time..

Somehow the conversation got round to black pudding. Wendy informed me that Fruit Pig are the only company they know that uses fresh (as opposed to powdered) blood in their production. I liked this fact and made a note to try them out.

Right – time to gete back out into the cold. Brr!

Buxton Opera House was designed by the famous theatre architect Frank Matcham, who also designed the Grand Theatre in Blackpool. There aren’t many of these left now but this one survives. I went to see The Lancashire Hotpots here a few years back.

Lubens

This was nice and toasty – just what we needed after the walk here. Happily there were comfy seats available right by the fire, so we parked ourselves here in this prime position.

There was a drinks menu on the table but there didn’t seem to be much mention of ales. Given that this pub was on an ale trail map – and had withstood my vigorous vetting procedure to make the crawl today (we were only visiting a selection of pubs from the trail) – this needed further investigation. I marched to the bar, which was hidden away at the back of the room.

I went for a half of the Wincle bitter.

As with Beer & Bean before it, this place filled up as we were in there. It was a Saturday afternoon, though, so I guess the weekend drinkers (and shoppers, if that’s still a thing) were out and about.

I could have sat here for hours on this sofa in front of the fire. Indeed, if they sold Gravediggers Mild in here I probably would have. But we had a crawl to be getting on with – and I remembered halfway down the glass that I can only take so much non-Bathams bitter – so off we headed in search of the next pub.

The Ale Stop

I hesitated before ordering the 7% stout, remembering that we hadn’t stopped for food yet and also trying to stay around the 4% mark on these crawls for safety reasons. But I’m never ordering anything that mentions hops on the pump clip and I’d had enough bitter for the day, so what’s a girl to do?

We took a seat on the far right of the pub, right in front of the bookshelf. Now I like a bookshelf, so this warranted further investigation. Dear reader, we found so many delights amongst these books! Here are some of the highlights:

There was a distinctive 70s man feel about the contents of this bookshelf, with lots of themes and jokes that were ‘of that time’. Wendy was particularly amused by this one.

A lone man at a nearby table came over and made enquiries about the bookshelf, which he could see we were enjoying. We raved enthusiastically but he didn’t take any books away with him after a cursory look. I think he was really looking for an opening to a conversation but we were way too engrossed in the books to engage – plus we had somewhere else to be very soon.

I LOVED this pub. It definitely had the air of being a ‘man’s pub’ (we were the only women in there) but we were entirely comfortable. I love a micropub with personality. This one comes highly recommended by me (only ‘recommended’ on the official trail map).

I was feeling the beer now after that 7%er. As is the norm, I had spent a good while researching where to eat on today’s crawl – and the menu at the next place looked irresistible.

The Cheshire Cheese

I went for half of the Cherry Porter. I’ll confess I preferred it when it was Cherry Dark – or perhaps my taste has changed. Anyway it’s still a treat to find and enjoy.

We were eating here today because my lifestyle guru Paddington had pre-approved the menu as being relatively Slimming World friendly; indeed there were a number of options I could go for without doing too much damage. But before I got chance to sit down and consider the menu, I spotted a chalkboard promoting CURRY OF THE DAY: MOROCCAN CHICKEN CURRY. Well obvs I’m having that! I went to Marrakesh at the end of January and the food was the highlight (along with the music museum, which has inspired me to take up the guitar, but more of that in my next blog). What would a Moroccan curry involve? I was about to find out.

The lone male drinker at the adjacent table was the epitome of someone having a bad day. His head was resting on the table, his arms splayed either side of a half-empty pint. Was he asleep? At length, he stirred, gulped down the remainder of his pint and slunk to the bar to order another. Had he not had enough? He returned to his despondent position at the table, his fresh pint soon to be half empty. Poor guy.

Now it was time to head off to the next pub on our trail.

Buxton Brewery Tap House

I remembered visiting the Buxton Brewery Tap House on my Hotpotting visit to Buxton so was keen to visit again today.

I remembered Gatekeeper as my favourite beer from my recent visit to Harrogate, so I had no hesitation in ordering that here.

This can list looked incredibly alluring (especially the pancake stacks) but there was no way I was asking about their imperial stouts on a pub crawl…

We just about managed to find a free table and enjoyed our beers as we people-watched and nattered about I can’t remember what (I think Wendy had got on to politics by this point). Apologies for no pics of the interior but I forget about these things the further I get into a crawl. Also this place was heaving and I prefer taking pics of a pub when it’s empty to avoid snapping people – and perhaps I feel more relaxed in an quieter pub?

There were people in our seats almost before we got up to leave in this popular taphouse; it was great to see it thriving.

On our way out, I remembered that the trail map mentioned an ‘adjacent, quieter Cellar Bar with a different beer menu’. We tried to find out way in here but were met with closed doors and it looked like it was possibly being revamped – or maybe we were too early for opening. Whatever, it wasn’t happening today, so we moved on back towards the station for our final two pubs – starting with the one that had been closed on our arrival.

RedWillow

Now this was my kind of beer menu – and, with the benefit of hindsight, probably best that it hadn’t been open at 1100. As we had been making good time today, with all of these pubs reasonably close together, we lingered here for two drinks. I started with the Yonder Coconut Florentine, which I recalled enjoying very much (albeit to the rapid detriment of my sobriety) on my recent crawl of Preston. I followed this up with the Rauchbier. Both were very well received.

Ooh these sound interesting…

I decided to investigate further.

Bloody dog biscuits! Again more alluring than human pub snacks. I can see why there are all these dogs going to pubs these days. Chuck in a good range of Fox’s biscuits and I’ll be in the pub more myself.

This odd little room caught my eye.

‘I wonder what that room’s all about?’ I must have wondered aloud.

The man at the next table turned to me and explained that it was the old bank manager’s office. I like little quirks like this.

I got quite settled in here and it was actually nice to have a bit of time to sit down and relax as opposed to having another pub to rush off to. I know there were loads of other pubs we could have visited (and there really were pubs everywhere we looked) but, having stuck our heads in a couple that hadn’t made the cut today and been non-plussed and walked straight back out again, I was satisfied that those selected were sufficient for a good blogging crawl.

Now onto the final stop of the day.

Seasons

I loved this bustling micropub instantly. We received a warm welcome from our hostess and just about managed to find a free table – albeit in a busy thoroughfare.

I would ordinarily be prompted by pump clips to take photos of the beer offerings for you, dear reader, however there was no cask here and the taps were on the wall at the back; plus I’d had a few by now and it was a busy pub. Anyway, we’ll get to the beer offerings in a minute. There wasn’t anything on the tap list that I found mega alluring but I was asked what I liked and was offered a couple of tasters. One was too hoppy and another too strong. However I had spotted a fridge – and, this being the last stop of the day, it was now officially fridge o’clock. We grabbed a couple of cans to share.

I resolved that, along with Ale Stop, this was my favourite pub of the day (I’m allowed two favourites because it’s my blog and I make the rules). It just oozed warmth and personality.

This being the last stop before the train, I of course was compelled to undertake a #LooReview.

Back at my seat, I remembered I’d forgotten to take a picture of the beer board but it was too crowded around there for me to do this without moving several people, which was unreasonable. However, as I looked at the beer board, I wondered if I was reading what I thought I was reading. Surely not? I resolved to go over and take a closer look.

A nearby man noticed my perplexity and I explained that I couldn’t believe what I was reading.

‘Oh yes. I helped brew that one. It’s just gone – it was very popular. Do you want to see the artwork?’

I was dumbfounded.

‘We ran a competition in the pub to name it. They came up with something else but she came up with this name’.

He pointed to our friendly hostess.

Suddenly I loved this pub even more. This is exactly the kind of thing I mean about a pub with personality.

Here’s the beer list from the pub’s own website.

Wendy checked the train times online and our train back to Manchester was cancelled grr. As we were ahead of schedule anyway, we decided to get the earlier train rather than risk being even later home if further trains were cancelled. We bade a reluctant farewell to this lovely little micropub and headed back to the station.

The above Thai restaurant looked very inviting. I was getting peckish again now. That one meal hadn’t been enough. As we approached the station, the aroma from an Indian restaurant had my mouth watering. But no time for food now! We had a train to catch.

Northbound

Now seated on the train, I was still grumbling about food, so Wendy raided her stash and handed me a cereal bar. She had come with a supply of food and had expected me to do the same, which ordinarily I would have.

As the train was about to depart, it was invaded by a large group of Radcliffe Borough fans, who were jubilant after their injury-time winner at Buxton this afternoon. Wendy was not impressed (having had to endure football fans on her way here too), but I was of a different mindset, seeing how happy they all were and knowing how rare it is to be travelling home from an away game (any game really) in such high spirits. I revelled in their joy. They had some great songs as well. To the tune of The Lion Sleeps Tonight:

‘We’re the Boro / The mighty Boro / We always win away

We win away we win away we win away we win away…’

We were invited to:

‘Ladies give us a song / Ladies ladies give us a song.’

But I couldn’t think of one quick enough so we got booed.

By the time Wendy had disembarked at Stockport, I, too, was tiring of the Boro fans. An older fan was encouraging a chant of ‘No Surrender to the IRA’ (I doubt the younger lads even knew who the IRA were, but they joined in mindlessly). And then came the sexist numbers of ‘Lancashire is Wonderful’ and something about shagging Kelly Brook. I wonder if football will ever get away from this kind of chanting. I hope and expect so, but it will take a long time.

I gratefully disembarked at Piccadilly and happily my connecting train to Blackpool North arrived almost immediately, delivering me home at a reasonable hour (before 2100). Was this too early to go to bed? I microwaved a curry and tried and failed to get into Married at First Sight before retiring for the night, exhausted after another great day out. I need (and resolve) to do more of this sort of thing.

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