The Devonshire Arms, Chesterfield

As luck would have it, this was my 500th new pub visited this year, but it won't be making my Top 500 of any year. After the dining pubs, the micro pub and the Craft Union pub on this day that lifted me from 495 to 500, this one was a bit of a let down. This is the noisy pub, the shouty pub, the rowdy pub, the pub where the TV and music are set at a volume that drowns out all other sounds...or tries to. The pub looks quite good from the outside, but after that it's downhill all the way. When I arrived at the bar there were two staff, one serving and the other doing the banter. After two or three minutes he identified me as a potential customer and asked if I was being served. He should know whether I was being served or not. There's no real ale, so it was John Smiths Smooth Crap for me. I drank up quickly and caught a bus into Chesterfield where I had a really nice Dancing Duck Dark Drake at the Rectory, which is opposite the bus stop. That helped to get this place out of my head.

Official site of The Devonshire Arms - www.thedevonshirehasland.co.uk

Official site of The Devonshire Arms - www.thedevonshirehasland.co.uk