Old Hall Inn, High Peak

One of two pubs in the village of Whitehough. They are both under the same ownership and early in the week, only one of them is open. With the Old Hall Inn closed on a Wednesday, I made a diversion here on a Tuesday. Of the two pubs, this appears to be the nicer. It is also the more foodie pub of the two, but a decent ale selection means it finds its way into the Good Beer Guide. The interior has a nice country pub feel, with a stone floor, traditional decoration and wood burners to provide heat in the colder months. There is also an outdoor area to the side with wooden furniture. Abbeydale Deception & Marston's Wainwright are the regular beers. Guest ales were RedWillow Weightless, Black Iris Snake Eyes & Staggeringly Good Prehistoric Creatures. Ciders were Lilley's Raspberry Mojito Cider & Hogan's Hazy Rays. There were a couple of spare handpulls, with Deception double clipped.

Having made our way from the station through a heavy shower, we spent a couple of minutes hanging up our sodden jackets in the entrance before approaching the bar. Or rather, the two sections of the bar, since not much has changed since my visit in 2014. A beer festival bar had been set up adjacent to the entrance, but we were a day or two early and confined ourselves to the two banks of four hand pumps. We enjoyed the beers we tried, and also had a taster pressed upon us (a very pale Abbeydale citrus ale, which was not to my taste). The smell of cooking was a little jarring for my taste buds, but I won't let that put me off possible future visits.

Old Hall Inn official site - www.old-hall-inn.co.uk