As we head into summer, it is a great time to be heading out into the countryside to visit some of the wonderful country pubs on our patch! In Sheffield & District we are lucky to have the Peak District National Park offering a rural landscape that is breathtakingly beautiful and some useful bus and train links to get you around. For this month’s PUBlic Transport column I thought I’d highlight a few of the routes to try.
A Derbyshire Wayfarer ticket offers unlimited travel all day on any local bus or train in Derbyshire (except the Peak Sightseer tour) plus direct services between Sheffield City Centre and Derbyshire. The bus only ticket costs £9 whilst the bus and train option costs £17. Note you can’t use trains on weekdays before 9am. Alternatively at the moment there is a government funded bus deal where the maximum single fare is capped at just £3.
THE HOPE VALLEY LINE (along with buses 257 and 272)
Northern run an hourly local train service between Sheffield and Manchester that calls at Grindleford, Hathersage, Hope and Edale. Running parallel to the railway is bus route 272 Sheffield-Castleton which serves Fox House, Hathersage, Brough, Bradwell, Hope and Castleton. Both also serve Bamford railway station, however the village itself is a mile up the hill from there, which is served by bus 257 from Sheffield.
There are four pubs in Hathersage that serve real ale. The more down to earth venue in the centre of the village is the Little John Hotel where the tap room features a pool table and table football. A bit of a walk down the road past the railway station to Leadmill Bridge brings you to the Plough Inn with a fantastic choice of outdoor drinking areas. Elsewhere in the village is the George and the Scotsman’s Pack. Alternatively up in the hills with a spectacular view over the valley is the Millstone.
Bamford has just the one pub – the Anglers Rest, offering up to 6 cask ales including some from local breweries, however further up the road is the Yorkshire Bridge Inn and Ladybower Inn, located near the famous Derwent Dams and enjoy a wonderful setting by the reservoirs.
In Bradwell there are two pubs, including the White Hart, which is run by Bradfield Brewery. The bus also passes through Brough, home of Intrepid Brewery.
Hope is where you will find the Old Hall Hotel which hosts a beer & cider festival on most bank holiday weekends whilst across the road is the Woodroffe Arms, a tradional local, whilst down the lane towards Edale is the Cheshire Cheese Inn where you can enjoy cosy dining inside or al fresco drinking in their beer garden.
Castleton has enough pubs in the village for a full days pub crawl as well as a really good specialist off licence, whilst Edale has a couple of pubs including the Old Nag’s Head, which sits at the start of the Pennine Way footpath.
BUS 173 – BAKEWELL TO CASTLETON
If you are travelling from Sheffield, you can connect onto this rural minibus service by using the 218 to Bakewell or at the other end of the route you can connect at Hope from the train or bus 272. Alternatively bus 65 from Sheffield serves Litton and Tideswell. The single vehicle on route 173 shuttles up and down providing a departure once every 2 hours linking a number of villages and offering a scenic ride. Note this bus doesn’t run evenings or Sundays. Check the timetable carefully for the two trips a day that divert via Cressbrookdale.
In Great Longstone you’ll find a couple of pubs and in Little Longstone is the Packhorse Inn, a cosy little pub offering Thornbridge beer and home cooked food. Up the hill from here on the main road junction is Monsal Head with a view over the valley including the former railway viaduct below. You can take in the sights sat outside the Stables Bar behind the Monsal Head Hotel, which is also serves Thornbridge beer.
At Wardlow Mires is the legendary Three Stags’ Heads, a historical, no nonsense small two room pub listed in CAMRA’s National Inventory. A choice of local ales is available.
In Litton is the Red Lion, a cosy cottage style pub with real ales and food
Next along the route is Tideswell, there are three pubs here – the George Inn, Star and Horse & Jockey. A short distance outside the village and also on the bus route is the Anchor, which had its moment of fame as a result of providing tractor spaces in the car park catering for local farmers popping in for lunch!
BUS 65 – SHEFFIELD TO BUXTON
This bus service runs about once every 2 hours during the daytime, 7 days a week. There is no evening service. It serves a number of villages along the way including Grindleford, Calver, Eyam, Foolow, Great Hucklow, Tideswell, Litton and Millers Dale.
At Calver you’ll find the Calver Arms, Eyam the Miners Arms and in Foolow the Bulls Head. Great Hucklow is home to Eyam Brewery along with the Queen Anne pub. Hidden away from the main road at Millers Dale by the river is the Angler’s Rest.
BUS 257 – SHEFFIELD TO BAKEWELL (the long way round)
This bus provides an hourly service out of Sheffield via Yorkshire Bridge to Bamford seven days a week (no evening service) with buses continuing to Bakewell Monday to Saturday. There are some route variations at certain times of day to cater for rural school travel, however the core route runs via Hathersage, Grindleford, Calver, Stoney Middleton, Eyam and Baslow. If you are travelling from Sheffield to Baslow or Bakewell then bus 218 is more direct. The only village on this route not previously mentioned for buses 65, 173 or 272 is Stoney Middleton, here you will find the Moon Inn.
BUS X17 – BARNSLEY TO WIRKSWORTH
This bus links Sheffield, Chesterfield, Matlock, Matlock Bath, Cromford and Wirksworth.
PEAK SIGHTSEER – OPEN TOP BUS TOURS
Mentioned before and covering some of the above areas, two routes operate from 24 May until 25 October, with a daily service up to 21 September. The Red Route is a circular tour from Chatsworth House to Bakewell whilst the Blue route is a linear tour from Chatsworth House to Castleton via Baslow, Calver, Grindleford, Hathersage and Hope. Buses run daytime only on an hourly frequency and a couple of feeder trips run from Meadowhead, Woodseats, Millhouses and Totley. The tour ticket costs £12 and you can hop on and off as much as you like so can visit a pub or two along the way as well as enjoy the scenery!
BUS 61/62 – HILLSBOROUGH – BRADFIELD
These buses run a circular route from Hillsborough Interchange (you can connect with trams and other buses there) taking in Loxley, Bradfield, Dungworth and Stannington and run all day every day except Sunday. Pubs along the way include the Wisewood Inn (home of Loxley Brewery), Nags Head Inn (Bradfield Brewery’s original tap), Old Horns Inn (offering a fantastic view over the valley) and Bradfield Plough.
NEWS
First bus are no longer using X (formerly Twitter) and are directing customers to their app and website for service updates and information.
Rail replacement works take place on Supertram 24 to 30 May (between Cathedral and Middlewood/Malin Bridge), 28 July to 15 August (between Sheffield Station and Gleadless) and 16 to 29 August (between Hillsborough and Middlewood). Replacement buses will operate on the closed sections of route. Additionally Tram Train is not serving Rotherham on Saturday evenings until 25 October to allow a new station at Magna to be built – hopefully it will be open in time for Great British Beer Festival Winter next February!