The Horse & Jockey, Buxton

Re-visited on a Wednesday afternoon in July. Four hand pulls, with all in active service at the time of my visit. Two from Little Critters (Sunshine Pale and Old Shire Bitter), something by Stancill, and TT Landlord. My Sunshine Pale was priced at £2.45 for a half. This was perfectly fine. There are picnic benches to the front, once inside there is a small area in front of the bar with a couple of tables, and a room to the right with an old fireplace containing a wood burning stove. This room is possibly used for dining. There is a raised area beyond with what looked like a pool table. Accommodation is available. The skylight in the gents leaves you feeling less exposed now, due to greenery growing and partially obscuring the skylight. Wi-Fi is available with the code on a chalk board at the bar.

An attractive and traditional looking stone built pub towards the edge of this small village, there were plenty of picnic tables out the front which would normally have been a pleasant spot, but due to the very hot weather we decided to stay inside where it might be a little cooler. Internally it’s quite traditional too, with two rooms either side of a corridor. The left hand room is the main one and includes the bar counter, and this was quite attractive with flagstone style tiling on the floor and plenty of black beams on the ceiling. A brick chimney breast was off to one side and included a good sized fire as well as an old bread oven. A selection of old copper kettles and such like hung from one of the beams, there were a few jugs on a shelf and a number of old pictures were dotted around the walls. The brick built bar counter was an unusual feature. Somewhat less traditional was a darts board and a TV screen showing the tennis, but at least the sound was off so this was not too intrusive. Seating was a little limited with just two tables and a few stools at the bar. The right had bar was broadly similar in terms of decor but perhaps a little less attractive with red carpet on the floor and a rolled up projector screen in the window. Beers on tap were Abbeydale’s Drop Hammer and Doctor Morton’s Cask Paint, Peak Ales Bakewell Best and Bradfield Farmer’s Cherry Beer. Ciders meanwhile were a somewhat disappointing Aspall’s and Rekorderlig Wild Berries. Overall, not a bad spot if passing, but not somewhere I’d go out of my way to get to.

Facebook page of The Horse & Jockey - www.facebook.com

Official site of The Horse & Jockey - www.horseandjockeytideswell.co.uk

Official site of The Horse & Jockey - www.horseandjockeytideswell.co.uk

Facebook page of The Horse & Jockey - www.facebook.com

Visited yesterday around lunch time. Pretty quiet with what I assume were a couple of locals propping up the bar. Four hand pulls for cask ale, all of which were on, and at the time of my visit offering Farmers Steel Cow, Thornbridge Lord Maples, TT Landlord and Thornbridge Jaipur. A half of the Lord Maples set me back £2 exactly. This was a fairly pleasant bitter and appeared to be in good condition. In addition to the cask beers there was a fairly mainstream keg selection, the most interesting of which was Camden Pale Ale. Lager and cider dominated the keg line-up, but there was also a solitary John Smiths tap for those who prefer their pint of bitter to be cold and bland. The blokes at the bar appeared to have shunned this in favour of the Carling. There is a small room hosting the bar, with just a couple of tables and banquette seating, supplemented by five stools at the bar. There are further rooms to the right and the rear, again with tables and at least one of those rooms appeared to be designated for dining. The bar felt fairly cosy with traditional country pub decor including copper kettles, an old range fireplace, a gun hanging above the bar, and horse and deer themed cushions on the modern banquette seating. Music was playing at a sensible level. Accommodation is available and there is a beer garden with tables to the front - not sure if there was anything further to the rear. A word of warning - if you are a shy gentleman, you may find the giant skylight above the urinals somewhat intimidating! Glad to have tried this pub and if I find myself back in Tideswell I would definitely consider a return visit.

Traditional locals pub on the way into town from Tideswell Dale. Only place that has the football on - Sky - but not BT Sports. Large two roomed - big range in the bar - other tables set up for dining. Had my first Stancill brewery beer - a Stainless. Would find it a few times by the end of the week.