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 Ring O Bells, Middleton

 

The Ring O Bells

St Leonards Square, Middleton, Manchester M24 6DJ

TEL: 0161 654 9245

This building has been a pub since 1831 but according to local legend there has been a pub on the site since Anglo Saxon times and it was originally built over a druid's temple. In the English civ/li wart a group of Roundheads who used the place for secret meetings were captured and killed They are said tro have been buried in the pub cellar butr nobody ahs yet found any human remains..It is up the hill from the centre of Middleton in the conservation area, next to the park and opposite the church. 

decor - 4

light browns and greys, natural wood with carvings round the bar

ambience - 5

lively, friendly and no canned music so you can hear yourself talk 

service - 4

real ales - 1

A J.W. Lees pub

features - 6

child friendly

dog friendly

TV

serves food

rather nice beer garden

darts

toilets - 3

Score 23 out of 30

Disabled access: there is access for wheelchairs at the back.

The Harbord Harbord, the New Inn and the Ring O Bells

 

I made entries in 2022 for three of the six pubs in Middleton that host the Pace Egg players and said then I would review the remaining three at some time. I only got round to it this year. Here they are, with some photos of the Pace Egg players in between. 

    (For those who don't know, a Pace Egg play was a custom that first developed 700 years ago and was performed around local pubs at Easter, with the performers asking the landlord for beer and food. It has been revived in a few places in Lancashire, probably the most well known one now is performed in Heptonstall in West Yorkshire on Good Friday. The Middleton version is performed on Easter Monday and features St George and his supporters fighting the King of Turkey, with a doctor who revives St George when he is wounded in the battle. This year there were two doctors. And a horse, who belongs to the senior doctor and doesn't say anything. I'm relating this history because some of the people watching the players had no idea about it. The players don't demand free ale for their performance these days but collect money for charity. Look up Middleton Pace Egg Players on facebook and you might still be able to donate to this year's.)

The Harbord Harbord

17-21 Long Street, MIddleton, Manchester M24 6TE

TEL: 0161 654 6226

This is a Wetherspoons pub and delivers what you would expect form a Wetherspoons pub. It's a free house, has a good value pub menu and the company respects and emphasises the building's history. This was never built as a pub but was a shop, then became a branch of Burtons in the 1950s, then became a Woolworths, then was a series of independent supermarkets until it was turned into a pub in the 1980s. It is named after Harbord Harbord, who later became Lord Suffield. He became the local lord of the manor by marriage in the late 18th century, after marrying the daughter of the previous Lord, and was the first to consistently develop Middleton so that it changed from a village to a town. 

    Middleton has a lot of history. If you want to know more about it read

www.jdwetherspoon.com/pub-histories/the-harbord-harbord-middleton 

decor -2

Mostly drab browns

ambience - 4

lively

service - 2

Bit lackadaisical

Features - 1

Serves food

real ale - 5

Serves a wide range, like all Wetherspoons pubs

toilets - 4

Score 19 out of 30

Extra point for having good disabled access. the entrance is level with the street and the bar is all on one level and there is a disabled toilet.

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 Boar's Head, Poynton

 

The Boar's Head

2 Shrigley Road North, near Poynton, Stockport SK12 1TE

TEL: 01625 409853

There has been a pub on this site for centuries but the current building, which replaced an older one, was built in 1906. In the mid-nineteenth century the local coal mine owner disapproved of the amount of drinking his employees did and had a Temperance Inn built right next door to it. The Temperance Inn is still there though it got a licence to serve alcohol in 1996. I may get a photo of it on a return visit. (I do intend to make a return visit as this area has nice walking routes and is also on the Middlewood Way, which goes from Marple to Macclesfield. I'll get a picture of the Boar's Head too. I didn't have my camera with me on this visit.)

UPDATE: return visit at the end of May, I got photographs.

decor - 5

posh, browns and greens, comfortable seating and little vases of flowers on the tables.

ambience - 4

friendly, relaxed

real ale - 1

Though it has up to three guest ales. Two of them were not available on my visit.

service - 3

A bit inattentive, even though the pub wasn't busy at the time.

features - 5

serves food

Welcomes 'walkers, muddy boots and dogs'

dog friendly

darts

quiz night once a week

toilets - 4

Score 22 out of 30

This is the Temperance Cafe next to the Boars Head. Although internet information says it got an alcohol licence in 1996, it doesn't serve alcohol now. It is a cafe and sweet shop and serves hot drinks, soft drinks, cakes and a few main meals. It is open from 9am to 4.30pm. 

The Bull's Head, Castleton, Derbyshire

 

The Bull's Head

Cross Street, Castleton, Derbyshire S33 8WH

TEL: 01433 620256

This is the first pub in the village you come to if you approach from the direction of the railway station at Hope. I haven't been able to find a date for it, so no idea how old it is. It was refurbished in March 2024.

ambience - 4

relaxing

decor - 4

comfortable seating

warm, light brown wood interior

service - 3

real ales - 1

features - 5

serves food

also serves savoury bar snacks and scones

accommodation

dog friendly

*location - I don't often give a point for a pub's location but this one is in the lovely Hope Valley, and in a village with Peveril castle (called Peak castle until the 19th century when Sir Walter Scott wrote Peveril of the Peak) on the hill above it.

toilets - 4

Score 21 out of 30

If you can get to Castleton on 29th May it holds the Garland Festival, which is believed to date back to at least the 17th century.

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 Stonemason, Timperley Village

 

The Stonemason

365 Stockport Road

Timperley WA15 7UR

TEL: 0161 282 0958 

decor - 4

dark greens and browns, comfortable seating

ambience - 4

laid back (piped music but not intrusively loud

service - 4

real ale - 2

features - 3

serves food

TV screens

dog friendly. Keeps a jar of dog treats on the bar

toilets - 3

clean and pristine but no working locks on any of the doors

Score 20 out of 30

Slug and Lettuce, Sale

 

Slug and Lettuce

7 Waterside

Sale 

TEL: 0161 969 8966

decor - 3

ambience - 3

service - 3

bit distracted

real ales - 0

features - 1

serves food

toilets - 3

Score 13 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 Bridgewater, Darwen

 

The Bridgewater, 

9-10 Church Street, Darwen

This is not a traditional pub. The building was originally a cinema called the Palladium from 1920 to 1971. Then it was used as a shop until 2006, when it was converted into a pub. 

decor -2

a bit plain

ambience - 2

service - 3 

prompt

real ales - 6

I had the Wainwright

features - 3

serves food, big pub menu

TV screens

child friendly

toilets - 3

Score 19 out of 30

The Railway, Bromley Cross

 

The Railway

37 Chapeltown Road, Bromley Cross, BL7 9LY

TEL: 01204 324601

This reopened in 2018 after being closed and derelict for some time. It closed again in 2022 but reopened late in 2023. It is directly across the road from the railway station and an easy walk from Jumbles Reservoir..

decor - 3

ambience - 3

service - 3

real ales - 1

features - 3

serves food

TV screens

big pub garden

toilets - 3

Score 16 out of 30

Unusual feature: in the pub garden at the back it has an ancient horse chestnut tree with a massive trunk that I estimate at 12 feet in diameter. There are a few younger ones which might be the offspring of this ancient tree.

The Pack Horse, Affetside, near Bury

 

The Pack Horse

52 Watling Street, Affetside, Bury BL8 3QW

TEL: 01204 884584

It's a restaurant rather than a pub, all the tables are set out for diners and there is no bar space just for drinkers. But it's the kind of restaurant where you might not get a table if you haven't booked. It has an upmarket menu and a very swish setting.

    It is at the highest point, 900 feet above sea level, of the Roman road that ran from Manchester to Ribchester. It was originally built as a manor house and did not become a pub until 1650. It got its name because pack horse trains travelling from Lancashire to Yorkshire frequently stopped there. 

    For a long time the skull of a 17th century farmer, George Whewell, was kept behind the bar. He was the man who executed James Stanley, the 7th Earl of Derby, in 1651 during the Civil War. Whewell is said to have volunteered for the job because James Stanley was part of the Royalist Army that overran Bolton and massacred its inhabitants. They included Whewell's family. Nobody knows how his skull came to be kept at the pub but it was there since the late 1800s, when the Butterworth family owned the pub.

    According to an article in the Bolton News it was still there in 2022. The pub apparently had a major refurb in 2023 and the skull was placed in a glass case with an account of its history inscribed on the glass.

ambience - 3

decor - 4

Refurbished only two years ago and has kept the historic features: huge timber beams and open fireplaces.

real ales - 4

service -4

Polite and attentive

features - 2

serves food

weekly quiz night

toilets - 0

The trouble was, they weren't working when I visited. The water supply to the cisterns had failed. Naturally that's an unusual occurrence but I can't review what isn't there.

Score 17 out of 30

Fabulous views over Winter Hill

The Garsdale, Bury

 

The Garsdale

Woodhill Road, Bury BL8 1BT

TEL: 0161 764 1968

Country pub just outside Bury, near Burrs Country Park.It was refurbed and given a dining room back in 2003. It is close to the ruins of Higher Woodhill Mill and used to be the mill manager's house, so must date from the mid-19th century, though it doesn't look that old.

Disabled access isn't bad.

ambience - 2

Another occasion when I was in a pub early lunchtime early in the week, when it was bound to be quiet. Except it wasn't all that quiet, there was piped music playing, including out in the big beer garden.

decor - 3

Brown. 

real ale -2

Two guest ales

Service - 1

I don't think all the staff are the same but I got the bar person who was blank faced and offhand and dead slow at serving.

features - 4

Serves food

dog friendly

Nice big beer garden out back that looks on to a field but I'm not a bit impressed by the plastic lawn. 

monthly open mic night

weekly quiz night

toilets - 4

Pristine

Score 16 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 Swan, Whalley

 

The Swan Hotel

62 King Street, Whalley BB7 9SN

TEL: 01254 916685

An 18th century coaching inn that used to be a staging post for the mail to and from Manchester. A grade II listed building.

Decor - 2

A bit bland in cream, light brown and grey

Ambience - 2

Noisy. Piped music too loud for conversation.

Service - 2

Inattentive and the staff seem not too well trained. The person who served me had trouble using the till.

Real ale - 0

A Timothy Taylor pub

Features - 2

small food menu

TV screens on every wall

Toilets - 4

Floor a bit grubby but fully supplied

Score 12 out of 30

 

The Dog Inn, Whalley

 

The Dog Inn

55 King Street, Whalley BB7 9SP

TEL: 01254 823009

A seventeenth century pub, with the date 1641 over the door, this is Whalley's oldest pub. It was originally called the Spotted Dog and was a farmhouse up to the 19th century and sold only beer. At some point it expanded into the shop premises next door. You can see on the inside that it was once two different premises.

decor - 2

shabby

ambience - 3

Inviting

Service - 2

A bit off hand

Real ales - 4

Included Portmadog dark ale and Golden Salamander when I was there (May 2024)

Features - 4

TV 

pool table

dog friendly

Serves food

Toilets - 3

Score 18 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 Railway, Marple

The Railway

223 Stockport Road, Rose Hill, Marple SK6 6EN

0161 427 2146

This was the pub in Marple that I left out when I did the pubs there a few years ago. It is a little way out of the town centre next to Marple Rose Hill train station. This is the last station left of the line that used to run from Marple to Macclesfield and which is now a 10 mile footpath, cycle path and bridle path that runs between the two towns called the Middlewood Way.

Ambience - 3

Relaxed

decor - 3

brown and cream colour scheme, comfortable seating. Seats on the balcony at the back.

Service - 4

Friendly

Real ale - 3

 It's a Robinsons pub. When I visited it had Citra and Dizy Blonde pale ale and Wizzard bitter.

Features - 5

Serves food between 12 and 2

dog friendly

TV sport

Regular quiz, karaoke and other events

Right next to the Middlewood Way

Toilets - 3

Dryer didn't work

Score 20 out of 30