The Maynard, Hope Valley

The Maynard is a smart hotel in a grand building beside the minor road (B6521) that runs between Fox House and Grindleford. It is less than five minutes' walk from Grindleford station, which is at the end of Totley Tunnel (6230 yards), the longest on the national rail network. The public bar has its own entrance, near the car park and a small terrace with three benches. The walls are painted olive drab, and the rest of the décor is a strange mixture of the modern (the bar itself - in slightly bad taste), the old (a baronial hall-type fireplace and chimney breast) and the downright odd (the butterfly wallpaper either side of the chimney breast). There are three deep leather sofas in the bay window, but all the other furnishings are hotel bar standard, with small chunky square tables set for bar meals, plush easy chairs and a few bar stools with backs. There were two hand pumps, one unlabelled which apparently had Abbeydale Moonshine on, the other with local Peak Ales' Bakewell Best Bitter, a beer I have enjoyed in other pubs around here. My pint this time took an age to pour, apparently because it was the first to be pulled through that day, and when a full pint finally settled it wasn't in very good nick - not bad enough to take back, just not good enough to make this place worth returning to.

Official site of the Maynard - www.themaynard.co.uk

Official site of the Maynard - www.themaynard.co.uk