The Old Hall Hotel, Hope Valley

Still a Theakstons pub (see my visit in 2013 below, and compare beers on offer then with my photos from today's visit). I went for the Best Bitter once more, though it's a beer I avoid most of the time. It was in very good condition (NBSS 3.5) but it's still not a good beer in my opinion. Thousands of people will disagree with me, no doubt, but there it is. The pub is hugely successful, and as mentioned before, the commitment to real ale is undoubted. I still can't warm to it as a pub

Perfect village inn - lots of rooms, quirky pub decor, friendly staff. lovely pint of theakstons best bitter. Highly recommended and easily the best of the two in the village.

Official site of The Old Hall Hotel - www.oldhallhotelhope.co.uk

Official site of The Old Hall Hotel - www.oldhallhotelhope.co.uk

The Old Hall really is an old hall, as in large dwelling place, being prominently situated at the crossroads and opposite the church in the centre of the village. It's been a pub for a very long time, though, and the traffic being what it is there is no longer a street door, the entrance being on the car park side of the building. Internally it's also doubtful that former inhabitants would recognise their surroundings, a fairly recent refurbishment seemingly having incorporated a whole pub paraphernalia catalogue's contents. Strangely, there's a theme of model ships (you can't get much farther from the sea than Hope in Derbyshire) on shelves, alongside a vast collection of mugs and jugs suspended from the (mostly false) beams. The floor is a mix of stone flags, quarry tiles and carpets, the furniture a fairly basic mix of tables and chairs with no distinguishing features. On the bar is a bank of hand pumps offering some well-known nationally-available brands: Theakstons Old Peculier, Lightfoot and Best Bitter, Adnams Southwold Bitter, Castle Rock Harvest Pale and St Austell Tribute. I had the Theakstons Best, which was fine, though like the others perhaps a little uninspiring. To be fair, the pub hosts beer festivals at bank holiday weekends, so there's no doubting the commitment to real ale. Just one more grouse: there was some barely audible music playing during my visit - either play it properly or turn it off, would be my advice.