Rose Cottage, Matlock

I cannot pass judgement on the food as we only utilised this nice looking Grade II listed Stone Cottage pub a couple of times last week for a beer during our stay in Matlock Bath ( or should I say Southend not on Sea) , firstly when we arrived on the Wednesday evening when it was fairly dead, and then again on Saturday evening when , like the rest of Matlock Bath, it was completely mental until the day tripping tourist families and bikers headed home leaving it to the hardcore locals and us tourists staying in town. In fact I had to have a wry smile when seeing the sign on the door saying bikers were welcome here and thinking well that’s a good thing as that seemed to be 95% of their custom on Saturday night. We had to fight our way through more leather than you find in a Dairy Farm’s milking shed to get into the pub. When you do get in to the left is a cosy seating area with log burner and through this room is an additional snug area with more seating. To the right is the small cosy bar area also with a log burner. But when the sun is out the best spot is the outside terrace to the front from where you can watch all the action along the Main Street. The bar supports three handpumps and If I remember correctly and haven’t got my pubs muddled up two were in operation mid week and all three for the weekend with Brews from Oakham, Blue Monkey and one other that I cannot remember as I only had eyes for the first two and the Oakham Citra was particularly good.

Not open at its advertised time on a Monday, but when we passed 45 minutes later it had just opened and we were the first in. Small room to the left as you enter, another small room with the bar just to the right and yet another small room to the right of this. A friendly welcome, despite the barmaid still tidying up from the previous session. Three handpumps on the bar, two on, including Bradfield Farmers Blond which was in good nick, although it's not a personal favourite. Several walkers came in soon after us and ordered food, so they were doing alright. I doubt that we'll ever visit Matlock Bath again as the whole place is run down and a real disappointment, so this will be a one off visit to this pub.