The Bate Hall, Macclesfield

Allegedly an old pub, it was deserted when I called in, I noticed some old ceiling beams that looked original and maybe in situ. There’s a back bar with servery and pool table. Otherwise there’s not much to recommend the place, it’s nicely decorated apart from the dodgy animal heads on old portraits wallpaper, there’s a mix of furniture high and low, it also claims some ghosts. On the counter to the rear left we have three pulls with a dispiriting choice of Pedigree, ( what happened to that excellent beer?) and Hobgoblin Gold, now an equally nasty drop, I suspect it’s the filtering and reseeding they get up to that produces beer this poor. Anyway back to the pub, not much more to say it’s so bland and featureless, the most exciting thing was the barmaid and her boyfriend having a quick snog and grope.

The Bate Hall is a long and thin Marston’s pub that reportedly dates from the 16th century, which I could sense even with the knocking through of rooms over the years. The Oak Bar is found in the left front where seating in the front window is separated from the bar counter across the rear by a flagstone floor. There’s a mix of standard and high tables on laminate to the right where a burner sits on the rear wall. I sat on one of these high tables facing the television in the bar that was showing an England pre Euro24 friendly. About five minutes from the end of the first half the landlady turned the sound off and declared that Love Island would be going on for the start of the second half. Steps to the left of the bar counter lead up to a rear bar where the pub’s dart team were practising ready for a Monday night league match. They weren’t very friendly, maybe they were just in the zone awaiting the arrival of their opponents, who knows! In the right rear of the pub is an nice parquet floored room that is being used as a dining area, although it looked like half the table and chairs were missing. Standard keg was available alongside Ringwood’s Razorback and Wainwright’s Amber, the former being very much past its best. This isn’t a pub I’ll be revisiting.

Official site of The Bate Hall - www.batehallpubmacclesfield.co.uk

Official site of The Bate Hall - www.batehallpubmacclesfield.co.uk

Venerable town-centre pub, with "Oliver Cromwell stayed here several times" being its claim to historical fame. Nowadays, though, it's a fairly basic town-centre boozer; and on a cold, wet Saturday afternoon, populated by older blokes watching the horse racing or playing darts. Apart from that, the two-part front area houses the main bar and a pool table, and a separate lounge bar can be found behind this and then a back room beyond. As a Marston's house, it was no surprise to find Pedigree on one of the three handpumps, but Banks's Amber (£3.00) was also available on another.