The Sportsman, High Peak

Official site of The Sportsman - www.thesportsmaninn.co.uk

Official site of The Sportsman - www.thesportsmaninn.co.uk

A roadside pub a half mile walk out of the village, seemingly having been knocked together from a row of cottages. There's plenty of roadside parking and a beer garden of sorts, squeezed in at the end by an overhanging crag. Inside, the complex multi-roomed layout tends to confirm the cottages theory, the rooms receding into the distance like a scene from Alice in Wonderland. Most of the tables were set up for dining, but my visit preceded the anticipated rush and there were only a handful of walkers off the nearby Kinder Plateau slaking their thirst. Four hand pumps on the bar, with Thwaites Bitter doubled up, plus Wainwright and a guest from Wadworth of Devizes. Décor was off-white painted walls with black beams and the occasional exposed stone. There was background music but no pool or darts. It seemed very quiet at the time of my visit. I imagine busy periods would be summer weekends when people are out in the country for the day or staying at the nearby campsite. There can't be a lot of passing trade otherwise, as the road leads to ... nowhere at all, really.

This pub is about a 15 minute walk uphill from the middle of Hayfield but i thought it was well worth the walk. The Sportsman is a white painted pub that has got quite a long frontage,i quite liked the look of this pub from the outside,once inside there was one long room with the bar facing and to the right as you enter,this room was carpeted and had country style seating,i thought the room had a nice cosy feel to it. This pub is a Thwaites tied house and there were two real ales on the bar i had a drink of Thwaites Original and this was a nice drink the other beer was Thwaites Lancaster Bomber. I quite liked this pub but i was the only customer in here on a Friday dinner. Pub visited 13/4/2007