User name:

Password:

Login


Sign in with Facebook


Not already a member?
Join our community and - Rate & review pubs - Upload pictures - Add events JOIN for free NOW


Chat about:
Cambridge PuG Crawl, Friday 5th April 2024 with Gann on the Pub Forum

Holly Bush Inn, Belper

Holly Bush Lane
Makeney
Postal town: Belper
DE56 0RX
Phone: 01332841729

Return to pub summary

Reviews (Current Rating Average: 9 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Pub SignMan left this review about Holly Bush Inn

This is a lovely unspoiled 18th Century village pub in the pleasant surrounds of the Derwent Valley, between Derby and Belper. The pub has retained a multiple-room layout that I suspect is relatively unchanged with the exception of the newer left-hand seating area that occupies what was once a neighbouring cottage. The front door brings you into a passageway from which each of the rooms can be accessed. Almost directly in front of you is a highly unusual snug style room formed by two long, high backed benches, with a small access point to the bar, which the snug is positioned directly behind. It’s a strange space unlike anything I can recall seeing in any other pub on my travels, although it was sadly occupied when we arrived, so I could only admire it in passing. Turning right, you emerge into the main public bar which has a lovely tiled floor, half panelled walls with faded paint on the upper sections and a series of dark beams crossing the ceiling. The bar is to the left and has a compact dark wood counter and matching bar back that looked pretty old and was adorned with various enamel mugs, pewter tankards, Toby jugs and other such drinking vessels, with a large rifle hung from the beam above. A nice stone fireplace dominates the opposite wall and has a detailed beer board hung above it, whilst the rest of the room has been decorated with old brewery mirrors, framed pump clips, aerial photographs of the pub and village, CAMRA certificates, old photos, maps and paintings and a few ceramic pieces. Ancient looking hard backed settles run around the perimeter of the room, serving small tables with chunky metal bases and it felt like a great room to get settled into for a decent session. Heading back along the passageway, you pass the snug and the aforementioned left-hand room in the extension which looked to have plenty more seating in a slightly brighter room with similar décor to the main bar. Eventually the passageway winds round to a rear conservatory that is almost as big as the whole of the original pub building and offers rows of longer tables and benches under beams decorated with a great array of items ranging from drinking vessels to farming equipment to an old fire alarm and plenty more in between. A small hatch can be used to save the effort of walking around to the main bar and this is also of use to those who have chosen to sit out in the paved garden area which had a small marquee and loads of additional seating when we visited shortly after the restriction on indoor drinking had been lifted.
The pub has a reputation for providing a wide selection of cask ales and didn’t disappoint on this visit, with Taylor Landlord, Thornbridge Jaipur, Otters Tears and Makeney (a house beer), Oakham JHB, Whim Hartington IPA and North Riding Porter all available on handpull whilst Marstons Pedigree is poured directly from a jug that is regularly topped up from the cellar. I restrained from participating in such a great bit of pub theatre and opted for the Porter which was luscious and warming and served to me by one of the friendly and chatty bar team.
This is an incredible pub that I was very pleased to have been able to visit. There’s so much to explore here that it really demands repeat visits – something it’s location doesn’t exactly help to facilitate – but even if you only get the chance to come here the one time, you can still enjoy the unique snug, interesting décor and maybe even some beer from the jug. A great pub that is well worth making the effort to visit.

On 23rd June 2021 - rating: 9
[User has posted 3102 recommendations about 3102 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Will Larter left this review about Holly Bush Inn

This pub is worth the effort of getting here - it's a bit of a pull up the hill from the bus stop in Milford. Once inside, the bar is to the right and features eight real ales and several real ciders. As well as hand pumps, there's Pedigree available from a jug filled directly from the cask, and this was a very nice drink. There are two real fires. The room behind the bar is a snug formed of curved wooden panels with glazing at the top. There's a covered patio to the rear, through which the outside toilets can be accessed, and there's a hatch for customers to order their beers without going back into the pub. I didn't stop long as I was going on to do all three pubs in Holbrook before catching a bus into Belper, but I would like to come back here for a longer session some time, as it's a delightful building and the beer needs further exploration too.

Date of visit: 29th November 2017

On 11th January 2018 - rating: 8
[User has posted 3699 recommendations about 3440 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Real Ale Ray left this review about The Holly Bush Inn

Features in Camra's National Inventory of Historical Pub Interiors. The main feature being the high backed settles, with a central door, which can be closed over to create a separate room with access to the corner of the bar and of course the original Quarry floor tiles. We went into the main bar area at the end of the pub and were lucky to get seating over in the far corner. The majority of the customers were outside in the beer garden, so the inside was less congested, which was great for having a nose around. Seven ales on handpump, so I went for the Hairy Brewers Hair Raiser 7.3%, a half of course. I also ordered a Cheese and Onion cob, which was ok, only gripe was that the cheese was grated and you were given the onion separately and it was red onion.
The pork pies looked massive and it took two blokes on our next table to polish one off.

On 12th August 2017 - rating: 10
[User has posted 3376 recommendations about 3376 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


John Bonser left this review about The Holly Bush Inn

In the small village of Makeney, a few miles north of Derby, is The Holly Bush, an attractive 17th century stone built pub that is now Grade 2 listed.

Unusually, the inn sign is painted on the front exterior wall from which we learn that the pub is a Free House.

The main bar, to the right, features dark low ceiling beams, a quarry tiled floor, some old fixed wooden bench seating and a fine, stone surround fireplace. Subdued lighting, a collection of jugs suspended from the beams and the absence of music, TV or fruit machines contribute towards a room that is charming and characterful. The walls are decorated with a number of old prints, photos and paintings, many showing the pub in days of old when it was owned by Offilers, Bass Charrington and, more recently, Marstons.

On the left of the entrance, a small corridor leads round to the superb snug, the walls of which are effectively formed by high backed curved settles on either side with small windows in the upper part. This room is much smaller than the main bar, but in similar style, with a quarry tiled floor and a fine range fireplace. The CAMRA Heritage Pubs website, which features this pub, describes this room as “one of Great Britain’s finest unspoilt pub rooms”. Service in this room is via a small hatch to the back of the server, which is situated in the main bar described earlier.

Carrying on down the corridor, we reach a further seating area, mainly for diners, which is an extension to the original building, being a former cottage next door purchased in 1981.

If you believe all the folklore, Dick Turpin was clearly a prolific pub goer of his era and several framed newspaper articles on the corridor walls recount how he once hid in a barn in Makeney and, surprise, surprise, visited the pub on several occasions. A reproduction old poster offers a reward of 200 pounds for this “wanted highwayman”. We also learn that he was hanged in 1739. Apparently, he had Derbyshire roots and there was a campaign ( unsuccessful ?) to bring his body home.

At the back of the pub is a conservatory extension with a flagstoned floor, some exposed brickwork, an old table football machine and an old red telephone box. One small corner of this conservatory is dedicated to the countryside, with a number of useful maps and guides of local walks in the immediate area. Hanging from the ceiling are pots, pans, horse riding equipment, gardening tools, copper bells etc. As with the snug, there’s a serving hatch – effectively an open window – to the main bar

On my recent visit, no hot food was available – it was apparently the chef’s week off – but there was a good selection of cheeses, pork pies etc, which were disappearing quite quickly. However, and notably for a country pub, The Holly Bush would appear to be what the big pubcos would classify as a “wet led pub” with a good collection of friendly regulars enjoying the warmth and hospitality and clearly settled in for a longish stay. It’s very much a community pub with events advertised including carol singing by candlelight on Dec 11th, a New Years Eve Party and an Annual New Years Day Fun Run being organised by the management.

Notably, whilst this pub appears to be thriving, a large not unattractive pub about ten minutes walk away and enjoying a prominent position on the A6, virtually opposite from where the bus from Derby had deposited me, was closed and boarded up and, looking at the state of the weeds growing in the pub’s former car park, had clearly been so for some considerable time.

The Holly Bush Inn offers a number of real ales which, on my visit, included London Pride, GK Abbot, T T Landlord, Oakham Ales – Green Hop Harvest and Shankar IPA from Great Heck. Also available from the barrel, via jugs brought up from the cellar at regular intervals, were Pedigree and Ruddles County. All beers were priced at between £ 3.00p and £ 3.30p, although I did note that the pub appears to be trying to cash in on the craft keg bandwagon with a beer called Buxton Yellow available for £ 3.80p. Beer quality was reasonable, but a few more micros instead of some of the usual mainstream suspects, would have been welcomed. The pub is in the 2014 CAMRA Good Beer Guide, but seems to have missed out in the previous few years.

This was a very enjoyable visit – probably one of my best first visits of this calendar year.

On 19th December 2013 - rating: 9
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Andy Ven left this review about The Holly Bush Inn

This was my second visit to this pub and its still a good place. It's multi roomed with real fires, a snug and a conservatory at the back. It's on the CAMRA Regional Inventory.

On handpull there was Pedigree, Abbot, Landlord, London Pride, Exmoor Gold, Courage Director's and Copper Dragon Golden Pippin. Despite the temptation of the pies on the bar we stayed for lunch and it was decent value.

Worth its place in the GBG 2010 (and CAMRA's book of Peak District Pub Walks) and I'd return if I was in the area again.

On 22nd August 2010 - rating: 8
[User has posted 244 recommendations about 240 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Simon Bridges left this review about The Holly Bush Inn

What do you want from an Olde-Worlde Pub?
Set in a peaceful village, serving Jugged Real Ales, Large portioned "home cooked" and inexpensive daytime meals, log fires and snugs for that "quiet pint", with no "big screen tv" or Jukebox, and even bbq food weekend nights, say no more, its all here!

On 27th June 2005 - rating: 10
[User has posted 1 recommendations about 1 pubs]