The Blue Stoops, Walton

 

 

First question - what are stoops? Nobody in the pub seemed to know. You'd think they'd have been asked that before, or maybe Walton folk are naturally incurious. But apparently a stoop (noun) is a step, though why they should be blue is another matter.

 

Anyway, this was a pub we'd all driven past many times on the Matlock road just outside Chesterfield, and it's rated by Camra, so we paid it a visit on a Tuesday evening. It looks like a 1930s roadhouse type pub, with interior to match - nice enough if a bit uninspiring. The service was helpful and we found a decent range of three or four beers - all that we sampled were very tasty. So no complaints there, but nothing really to set the pulse racing, either, in terms of that magical quality, atmosphere.