RedWillow, Buxton

Lovely old bank building taken over by RedWillow brewery, frosted glass and dark wood bits are either original or rescued from elsewhere and knitted together in a convincing way. Four cask beers and a selection of kegs. Furnished in traditional manner but the beers are shown on a laser display screen. There’s a mezzanine floor with seating above but the majority of the bar is at ground level with the counter against one side wall.

Table service is now a thing of the past. In fact the service here was very friendly. 3 of their own beers on cask - Headless, Wreckless and Pale Bitter. The 2 I tried were excellent (£4). A decent choice on keg also with a Cider and a couple of lagers. This place ticks the boxes for me on the beer front, add that to a nice bank conversion and it's a must do in Buxton.

For some reason this bar is still insisting on table service, the only pub we visited in Buxton that was doing. It was also the only pub that was dead as a post. I think there may be some correlation there. I went to the bar anyway, just to see what they had on. I got told off for doing so as the barman said that they would supply a beer list to the table. They did, it was wrong. It had 5 cask beers listed, but they only had 2 on. I ended up with a pint of their own Simcoe/Strata, which was a nice pint. No atmosphere, slightly snotty bar staff, not impressed at all on this visit. What a shame. we love their bar in Macclesfield, so we were very disappointed with this one.

Brewery tap housed in an old bank branch, with booth-like tables along the side walls opposite the bar. There are also three more small, high tables nearer the counter plus some more seating up on a compact mezzanine. Three of their own real ales - Lazy Hazy Days (£3.59), Extra Special Bitter and Breakfast Stout - available from the five handpumps, with seven of the 18 keg taps also dispensing various other beers from the range. Good atmosphere, with a mostly younger clientele.