Ashford Arms, Bakewell

My first visit here, and my daughter drove me as she was not drinking anyway for other reasons. We entered from the car park at lunchtime and found the place busy: we had to check with the reception staff that there was a table free. Yes, it's that sort of place. It's incredibly smart and has several different rooms, three of which have sections of bar counter. There were four real ales on - the lines to all those different sets of hand pumps must require a lot of beer pulling through at the start of a session. I went for Thornbridge Lord Marples (£4.70), but there were also Landlord, Farmers Blonde and another Thornbridge - the brewery is just down the road. My beer was in good condition. My daughter had a very cold Adnams Ghost Ship zero alcohol (£5.50), which she said was ok because the hops can stand the cold, and anyway it's better than Peroni Zero. We ordered a vegan sharing plate (humous, arancini, falafels and baba ganoush with salad and pitta bread). The staff have been trained to say "perfect" when you order your food, and the pictures on the walls in our room were animals in posh clothes from the Regency period. Yes, it's that sort of place.

Facebook page of Ashford Arms - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of Ashford Arms - www.facebook.com

Official site of Ashford Arms - theashfordarms.com

Official site of Ashford Arms - theashfordarms.com

Pub appeared to be closed as of 25 January 2022. Concrete obstacles blocking the car park and no sign of life.