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Beer of the Week (w/e 28th June 2026) with Wittenden
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Detail Pages
The Derby Arms, Grange-Over-Sands
Witherslack
Postal town: Grange-Over-Sands
LA11 6RN
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Derby Arms
The Derby Arms Hotel is hidden away down a lane off the busy A590 trunk road. We arrived for our Sunday lunchtime visit to find the car park packed, meaning we had to park on a side lane. I'm not sure where all the car owners were but they weren't in the pub, as it was fairly quiet inside.
There is a large bar to the left as you enter and a dining room (which we did not visit) to the right. The bar had one large table of overspill diners. Music was playing inside, whilst there are also a few outdoor tables overlooking the lane.
Bowness Bay Swan Blonde is the regular beer. 3 guests were Cumbrian Ales Loweswater Gold, Gan Yam Bit & Keswick Little Sue. The cider was Inch's. Service was by a friendly and knowledgeable barman who was in charge of selecting the beers. He noticed my use of the Untappd app and praised it as a source he also used to find new beers.
I quite liked the atmosphere of this rural pub. It's very accessible if you know it's there. If I lived locally, I'm sure I would be a regular visitor here. Apparently, a CAMRA discount is offered.
This was just about my favourite pub of the day in Cumbria.
On 4th June 2026
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3537 recommendations about 3535 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Derby Arms
A large roadside inn that has had its main road stripped from it, but is well signposted. On this occasion I was misled by some roadworks for surface renovations, and had to drive past the turning once in a south-westerly direction, and again going north-east, before finally turning back again, this time on the old road that my grandparents used to drive on when coming home from a holiday in the Lake District. I don't remember them ever stopping at the Derby Arms, though. I was once treated to lunch here by my then boss (a backstreet garage owner who dabbled in used cars) and his girlfriend in 1977, on our way to nearby Lindale to pick up a car, which he then required me to drive back to Lancaster despite the absence of functioning brakes. To be fair, this fact was not known when he roared off in his Jaguar, leaving me to discover the bad news at the first sharp bend.
All of this had been churning through my mind as I turned up for a spot of beer scoring nearly half a century later. There are six hand pumps on the bar, with five beers on; perhaps more than the passing trade (a Tuesday afternoon in October) could cope with, as one of my beers was distinctly tired, but my half of Bowness Bay Swan Blonde was very good (NBSS 4), and two others were good or better. I had a little wander around the several rooms (see photos) which are kept in very good trim, with some items of interest everywhere you look. I really must come back again some time soon - obviously there's no chance of leaving my next visit until another 46 years have passed.
On 21st October 2023
- rating: 8
[User has posted 4808 recommendations about 4400 pubs]