The Royal Oak, High Lane, Cheshire

 

The Royal Oak

Buxton Road, High Lane, Cheshire SK6 8AY

TEL: 01663 309284

Right on the A6 road to Buxton, buses 199 and 394 pass by it, and if you walk about 80 yards from it in the Manchester direction you come to the Middlewood Way. Follow that for half a mile in the Poynton and Macclesfield direction and you will come to Middlewood railway station.

decor - 4

appealing, comfortable seats

ambience - 4

very friendly

real ales - 2

Had Wainwrights gold when I was there at the end of MAY 2026

service - 4

very welcoming and prompt

features - 4

pub food

dog friendly (dogs allowed in one room)

child friendly

pub games: darts, pool, board games

toilets - 4

clean and fully supplied

Score 22 out of 30

It should perhaps get an extra point for the location. It's on the edge of the Peak District, near Lyme Park and the Middlewood Way 11-mile trail, the route of an old railway line,  that runs from Macclesfield to Marple

The Snap Tin, Poynton

 

The Snap Tin

83 Park Lane, Poynton, Cheshire SK12 1RD

TEL: 01625 630009

Not a traditional pub, it's a bar that looks like it's in former shop premises, and it's a restaurant bar. But it has a good range of drinks. (For those who don't know, a snap tin was what miners used to put their lunch in to take to work. Poynton was historically a coal mining area.)

decor - 3

light brown, tables a but close together

ambience - 3

friendly and relaxed

It wasn't busy when I was there, but I hear it gets lively on weekends.

real ale - 1

It does a lot of foreign ales with fancy foreign names but there's at least one recognisable cask ale

service - 3

Good but a bit distracted

features - 4

serves food

dog friendly

child friendly

music night on the last Saturday of the month

toilets- 4

Score 18 out of 30

The Farmers Arms, Poynton

 

The Farmers Arms

90 Park Lane, Poynton, Cheshire SK12 1RE

TEL: 01625 875858

I can't find out anything about the history of this pub so far, and it seems to have been refurbed fairly recently so it's not possible to tell the building's age from its appearance.

decor - 4

ambience - 3

cheerful

real ale - none

It is a Robinsons pub

service - 3

features - 3

serves food

child friendly

location

toilets - 4

Score 17 out of 30

I've given it an extra point for location because it is near some fine countryside with a good network of footpaths and not far from Lyme Hall and Park.

 

The Brown Cow, Burrs Country Park, near Bury

 

The Brown Cow

Burrs Country Park

Woodhill Road

Bury BL8 1DA

TEL: 764 3386

Ambience - 1

noisy

decor - 1

shabby, dark and unappealing

real ales - 2

service - 2

offhand

features - 4

bug beer garden

serves food

child friendly

dog friendly

toilets - 3

Score - 13 out of 30

Castello, Rochdale

 

Castello

415 Rochdale Old Road

near Bury

BL9 7TB

TEL: 0161 763 4754

It's a restaurant bar rather than a pub but it's a good one. You can stop for just a pint or a coffee.

Ambience - 4

decor - 4

Swish, nicely presented

Service - 5

Impeccable

real ale - 0

features - 4

serves food

well maintained flowery beer garden

child friendly

dogs allowed in the garden

toilets - 5

Score 22 out of 30

The Globe, Wardle, Rochdale

 

The Globe Inn

218 Ramsden Road, Wardle, Rochdale OL12 9NU

TEL: 01706 374500

A grade II listed building in the centre of the village opposite the church.

ambience - 3

friendly atmosphere

decor - 4

cream walls and dark timbers, blue and red carpest, comfy padded wall benches

service - 4

welcoming

ales - 1

Timothy Taylor Landlord

features - 3

child friendly

pool room

TV screen

toilets - 3

Score 18 out of 30

The Hare and Hounds, Wardle, Rochdale

 

The Hare and Hounds

76 Ramsden Road, Wardle, Rochdale OL12 0LQ

TEL: 01706 375389

There's not much to be found online about the history of this pub. It would be necessary to do some original research in local archives and newspapers. However, apparently the building was originally a farmhouse in the 17th century and was converted into a pub sometime in the 19th century. When the reservoirs were being built nearby the navvies working there made the pub their 'local', forming the major part of its custom. It was renovated and remodelled in 1925. That figures, it looks like a twentieth century building. But the next piece of information says that it was closed in 2002 and converted to residential accommodation. Well, it wasn't! It is still open as a pub, I had a drink in it just last week. I think the AI search has confused two pubs with the same name.

ambience - 3

decor - 3

dark and cosy

service - 3

ale - Timothy Taylor Landlord

features - 5

pub food

dog friendly

child friendly

live music

quiz night every week 

toilets - 5

pristine

Score 19 out of 30

The Vine Inn, Dunham Massey

 

The Vine,

Barns Lane, Dunham Massey, Cheshire 

TEL 

When I saw this pub I thought at first it was a residential house because it has no pub sign anywhere. Then I noticed a menu in the window and that the person sitting at the picnic table out front was drinking out of a pub-style pint glass. 

    It might have originated as a private house, a local directory of 1909 says it was occupied by a Mrs Katherine Allen, a beer retailer. That meant she was licensed to sell beer from her house.

    It has a cosy bar area and separate dining rooms and a nice outside sitting space surrounded by hedges. .

The disabled access is quite good.

ambience - 4

Friendly and relaxed

decor-3

tasteful but plain

service - 3

Prompt and friendly

real ale - 3

Samuel Smiths pub, has guest ales

I had the Moorhouses White Witch

features - 4

serves food

book swap, lots of books on the shelves opposite the bar with backgammon and other pub games on the lower shelf

child friendly 

dog friendly

toilets - 3

Score 20 out of 30

The Saracens Head, Warburton, Cheshire

The Saracens Head

Paddock Lane, Warburton, Cheshire WA13 9TH

TEL: 01925 753761

A rural pub out in the Cheshire countryside, which was a 17th century coaching inn.. I came across it because it is just 50 yards off the GM Ringway route. It is mainly a restaurant but has a bar area for drinkers. 

ambience - 3

Don't know what it's like when it's busy. I arrived just as it opened on a day early in the week, so it was quiet. I'm guessing it's lively at times. There's a huge, well designed dining room that takes up a lot of space but it's well separated from the bar area if you're only in for a drink.

No canned music and no tellies. (I like that)

decor - 4

Pale walls and lots of huge old wooden beams. A very traditional feel.

service - 4

Fast and attentive

real ale - 2

It's a Greene King pub but has two guest ales.

features - 5

Serves food, classic pub menu

Play barn and play area for children.

big pub garden

dog-friendly

The fifth feature is one you will only see in early November. This is when the Warburton Soulers perform a traditional folk play about death and revival. Their first performance of the year is at the Saracens Head on 1st November, unless that is a Sunday, in which case the first performance is on 2nd November.

Find out more about the Soulers and soul-caking on 

www.larchfieldhouse.co.uk/Souling/WarburtonSoulingPlay.htm

 

toilets- 3

Good, newly decorated and very clean. But no loo roll.

Score 20 out of 30

De Lacy Arms, Whalley, Lancashire

 

De Lacy Arms

61 King Street, Whalley BB7 9SP

TEL: 01254 823197

decor - 1

drab, White, black and grey colour scheme

Ambience - 3

relaxing

Service - 4

Real ale - 3

features - 5

child friendly

dog friendly

pool table

TV

live music

toilets - 3

Score 19 out of 30

The Peak, Castleton, Derbyshire

The Peak Hotel

How Lane, Castleton, Hope Valley S33 8WJ

TEL: 01433 620247

This pub in the centre of Castleton opened in 1809 and has several changes of name, being known first as the Board, then as the Butchers Arms (the first landlord was a butcher.) It was named The Peak in 1890. It has been run by the same family since the 1980s and had a big refurb in 2014.

Ambience - 3

lively and cheerful

decor - 4

Colour scheme in browns and greens with an odd clutter of items on the shelves at random. No collection of horse brasses, teapots or old photographs here but things like pewter pots, an oil can, pottery jugs, electrical items of indeterminate use, an old telephone. As though the owners had just slung items on the shelves which had no other particular storage place.

service - 3

Not bad but a leetle bit inattentive

real ales - 4

features - 4

dog friendly

child friendly

serves food

rooms

toilets - 3

Score 21 out of 30

 

The Cheshire LIne, Cheadle

 

The Cheshire Line

Manchester Road, Cheadle, SK8 2NZ

A nice restaurant pub in a country setting, even though it's little more than a mile from the urban centre of Cheadle. The building started life as a railway station in 1866; the railway line still runs only yards away. Traffic on the line was reduced to occcasional freight trains in the 1960s and the stattion was closed. The building was left derelict until the 1980s, when it was given a refurb and turned into a restaurant and pub, originally called The Station. It was owned first by Banks Brewery then by Chesters. Now it is a free house.

decor - 3

ambience - 3

service - 3

friendly, a little slow

features - 2

serves food. 

I'm not sure but it is probably child-friendly

It is next door to a garden centre which sells gifts and confectionery as well as plants and garden equipment. There is a car park between the pub and the garden centre, accessed via a U-turning driveway off the main road.

   

real ale - 5

It's a free house

toilets - 4

Score 19 out of 30

The Ram's Head, Disley

 

The Ram's Head

Buxton Road West

Disley 

near Stockport SK12 2AE

TEL: 01663 767909

There has been a pub on the site since 1650. The current building dates from 1840. It was a coaching inn on the Manchester to London route. 

ambience - 4

relaxing

decor - 4

muted greys, comfortable new seating

real ales - 1

The guest ale was Doombar when I was there

features - 4

serves food

big shady beer garden out the back

dog friendly

child friendly

service - 5

toilets - 3

score 21 out of 30

The Moorcock Inn, LIttleborough

The Moorcock Inn

Halifax Road

Littleborough OL15 0LD

TEL: 01706 378156

This pub is also a B&B and a restaurant. It has been serving customers since 1641, according to a sign on the premises. I can't find out anything independently about its history - so far - but the bar area looks seventeenth century, it has thick stone walls, thick timber roof beams supporting a low ceiling and a stone floor. The restaurant section next to it is less solid in design and looks like it was a later addition, perhaps 19th century. This pub is only two miles out of LIttleborough town centre but it is in the middle of moorland and about a  mile below Blackstone Edge on the Pennine Way.

   In 2022 there was a report that it planned to close due to having lost a lot of business during Lockdown Year but in June 2023 it's still there. Check out its facebook page for its live music nights.

ambience - 2

The bar area is cosy and would be worth a 4 on its own but the restaurant section is a bit characterless.

decor - 2

Unoriginal white painted walls in the restaurant section. Makes the place bright but looks boring, no  pictures or decoration. The bar area has more character.

Ales - 3

In the bar 

Service - 5

Can't fault it

Features - 5

serves food

dog friendly

child friendly

accommodation

live music in the evening

toilets - 4

Nothing to dry your hands on

Score 21 out of 30

It's on the edge of spectacular countryside, the Pennine Bridleway passes half a mile from it.

 

The Angel, Lees

 

The Angel

2 Nicholson Street, Lees, Oldham OL4 3BW

Big open plan space with a smaller tap room, just off Lees High Street. Children and dogs allowed in before 8pm.

Decor - 3

dark walls and furniture but not stylish not gloomy

ambience - 3

service - 5

real ale - 0

features ;- 5

TV screens

bar food

quiz night

darts

toilets - 4

The disabled access is reasonably good, no stairs and the main room is well lit.

Score 20 out of 30

pool

Aggie's Bar, Marple

 

Aggie's Bar

54 Market Street

Marple SK6 7AD

Cheshire 

TEL: 07521861570

An open plan small bar in former shop premises. It feels like having a drink in someone's living room, in a nice way. It's a comfortable space.

ambience - 3

Comfortable but too-loud music with poor quality sound

decor - 4

But there are a lot of high stools which can be difficult and uncomfortable to perch on.

service - 5

real ale - 0

features - 4

child friendly

dog friendly

bar snacks and sandwiches

weekend disco

toilets - 3

Score 19 out of 30

The Pace Egg pubs

 There are only two places I know of in the country that still do the ancient Pace Egg plays during Easter. One is Heptonstall in Yorkshire. The other is Middleton in Greater Manchester. The Middleton Pace Egg players perform their short play seven times in seven of the local pubs and collect money for charity. Middleton has been lucky in that all of its town centre pubs are still open, none have been closed down. I didn't get round all six of them, only three but I've named all seven pubs and expect to get round the rest and review them sometime soon.

The Pace Egg play: Saint George the champion of England is challenged to a fight by the Turkish champion. The plot involves a couple of his men (this year played by two six year old boys) and Captain Slasher having a go at the Turkish champion and losing.  St George gets wounded and has to be cured by the doctor. The doctor has a horse though nobody seems to know why. St George wins in the end. Then the players collect money from the audience. Back in the day the players would have collected money (and beer) for themselves, now they collect for charity. This year (2023) they were collecting for the Stroke Association.

The Dusty MIller

34 Middleton Way

Middleton M24 4DF

This pub was renamed the Edgar Wood in 2018. It was closed temporarily while its licence was reviewed. According to articles in The Rochdale Observer the police asked for its licence to be reviewed after there had been a few fights on the premises. One of the conditions for getting its licence back was that it had a name change. Not all the regulars were happy with that. The name Dusty Miller is historic. there has been a pub on the site since the 1770s and it was so named because it was near the local flour mill. A lot of people still call it The Dusty Miller.

The Roebuck

18 Middleton Way

Middleton M24 4DF

TEL: 0161 643 7066

Ambience - 3

decor - 4

tasteful greys and greens

service - 4

fast and friendly

real ale - 0

But serves the full range of other drinks

features - 3

pool table at the back

child friendly

dog friendly

toilets - 4

Score 18 out of 30

Britannia Inn

6 Middleton Way

Middleton M25 4DF

ambience - 3

decor - 4

comfortable seating

service - 4

real ale - 0

But serves the full range of other drinks

features - 3

quiz night

child friendly

dog friendly

toilets - 4

Score 18 out of 30

Harbord Harbord

17-21 Long Street

Middleton M24 6TE

TEL: 0161 654 6226

A Wetherspoons pub so it serves food and has a range of real ales and ciders

New Inn

34 Long Street

Middleton M24 6UE

The Olde Boar's Head

111 Long Street

Middleton M24 6UE

I should have got a picture of the inside of this (I've just got photos of the yard when the Pace Egg players were performing.) because it's very old. This pub dates from the 16th century and has most of the original interior layout and features. The session room at the back, which is now used for functions, is where the local magistrates once held their court hearings. It is now mainly a restaurant pub with a space at the back just foir drinkers though as pub restaurants go it's friendly .and not offputtingly posh.

ambience - 5

decor -4

plain wood beams and tasteful cream and brown colour scheme

service - 5

real ales - 3

features - 1

serves food

toilets - 4

Score 22 out of 30

The Ring O Bells

St Leonards Square

Middleton M24 6DJ

I have in fact been into this pub before, five years ago, and reviewed it (I'd forgotten, only realised when I reviewed this blog this week.) Here's the link to that review:

https://ups-and-downs-pubs.blogspot.com/2018/04/ring-o-bells.html