The Vale Inn, Macclesfield

Located down a lane off the main drag within a row of stone terrace houses, the Vale Inn is a Bollington Brewing Co pub that is easily missed by those not familiar with the area, or in the possession of the Pubs Galore Map. My visit was late on a recent cold and foggy Sunday afternoon when a decent sized crowd of varying ages was present, one of whom looked like they’d been in since opening, and since this isn’t a rowdy pub there was a bit of shushing from the drunkard’s peers. The open plan wooden floored interior has open plan seating in the left two thirds and banquette seating across the front wall between the entrance and a stone log fireplace that was burning away in the front right corner. An angled wooden topped stone serving counter that crosses the right rear corner supports eight hand pumps, one was off, one was unused and one was being used to advertise an upcoming Thursday evening charity quiz, so the available cask options were Bollington’s own Long Hop, Best, Oat Mill Stout and White Nancy alongside Bowland Brewery’s Pheasant Plucker. There are also eight keg taps on the rear wall that were pouring premium and craft products including Beavertown’s Gamma Ray and Bollington’s Light Speed. Take-away beer is available; the largest vessel is a 36-pint beer box so remember to bring a wheelbarrow if you fancy taking one of them home to continue a session. Food is also available with menus on the counter, but my visit was in between lunch and dinner so nobody was eating. Yes it’s basic and has the trappings of a small bar that you’d find in a much larger food led country pub, but I liked it and would return.

Looks quite unassuming, along a row of terraced houses on the outskirts of town. It is a delight. GBG 2019 entry - a taphouse for the near by Bollington Brewing Co. I went for a pale ale, White Nancy, having just walked there. It was superb. Took a couple of bottles home to try. Food on a sunday lunch looked and sounded superb. Great pub.

I was told that this was originally a Marston's pub that was closed for some time before being taken over by the two brothers who now run the Bollington Brewing Company and two other pubs. It's a small stone built pub set in the middle of a terrace where the rear garden overlooks the recreation ground. Inside it is open plan with wooden floorboards and various bare wooden tables, many of which had reservations for the early evening. On my early Saturday afternoon visit there were quite a few families dining out rather than dedicated beer drinkers. The bar is at tne opposite side of the room from the pub entrance. It holds eight hand pumps, two of which are given over to ciders and on this occasion had six Bollington Brewery beers. These were Best, Long Hop, Winter Reserve, Oat Mill Stout, White Nancy and Eastern Delight. I went for the Eastern Nights (£3.30) and Winter Reserve (£3.10) both of which were excellent beers in superb condition. It's well worth the effort to get to Bollington, the number 10 bus is a half hourly daytime service from Macclesfield. The only thing that lets this place down a bit for me is the emphasis on food, but it's so often the case nowadays.

A stone-built back street pub that has been opened out inside into one large room with the bar in the far right hand corner from the entrance. Some brick archways and a couple of steel pillars break up the space a little and, more importantly, prevent the building from collapsing. The bar is made from massive chunks of wood on a stone base and features eight hand pumps, most of which are occupied from beers from the Bollington brewery, which is a few yards along the road in a small industrial unit. Two guest beers were available, plus locally brewed Moravka lager. At the time of my visit most of the customers were just finishing their lunches, with not a lot of beer being drunk, but I imagine it must get busy later with as many as seven real ales on the go. I couldn't stop to find out as I was on my bike with many miles still to ride, but there must be ways of getting back here for a longer session...

this pub maybe a 'hidden gem' and serves/brews what i and my friends consider to be the best beer in and around our area but it consistently lets us down by not having or running out of their range of beers