The Old Cell, High Peak

Once the town's jail, this is a friendly micropub that has good ale and cider in a pleasant location. There is a single room with the bar at the end. 4 cask ales were Mobberley Brew House Sidekick, Marston's Wainwright Golden, Chapel-en-le-Frith Hoppy As Funk & Banks's Amber. The cider was Lilley's Rhubarb, whilst there were keg options from taps on the side wall of the bar. A board on one wall also promoted a comprehensive gin menu. Board games could be found near the windows. The barman was really friendly and happy to chat. The landlord also owns the brewery in the town and it was appropriate that I sampled his beer, a 5.8% hoppy beer. At £4,20 a pint, the beer was not only good quality, but was also good value, and with friendly customers who bade me farewell with my departure, it got me wondering why this place has not appeared in the Good Beer Guide since 2021. Whilst Real Ale Ray scored it a 10/10 a few weeks before me, I'm a bit more frugal with my point scoring and will still rate it as a 7/10, which is quite high by my standards. If 2 of us on here can rate it highly, I'm surprised the local CAMRA branch refuses to recognise it. For me, this micropub is well worth a visit.

Popular micro-pub housed in a former shop (although I suppose I was expecting it to have been a police station or similar). As you would imagine, there is a limited amount of seating inside but there are now a couple of tables out on the adjoining paved area. Ralf+Alfred Hopster Blonde (£3.50), Intrepid ITE and the Sinamarian from Chapel-en-le-Frith Brewing available from the three handpumps on the compact counter, with a few lagers and craft beers from keg taps on a side wall.

This is a cosy corner shop conversion, with a small bar towards the rear. Some locals have obviously made it their early evening destination as there were a few people enjoying a beer or two when we arrived. There are three hand pumps (see photo) and the beer was in very good condition. I was surprised to see Bombardier as one of the offerings, but I suppose if it sells... We did not stay as long as planned, because our bus from Furness Vale had arrived 40 minutes late. We were headed for Chinley and a train back to Sheffield, so we asked where we would find the stop for the 190 bus. (It's in the Morrisons car park just down the hill.) We were advised we'd have done better getting a train to New Mills, but as we pointed out, we wouldn't have made it here to the Old Cell if we'd done that!