Robin Hood Inn, Baslow

After a four-mile walk, the first thing you want to find is a warm welcome, rather than wrangling over whether we had booked or not. However, the service got friendlier from then on, the food arrived promptly and the beer was refreshing and served up in bespoke glasses. Most of us had a lovely pint of Boondoggle, from the Ringwood Brewery but Hobgoblin, from Wychwood and Marston's Pedigree were also available. We sat outside in lovely autumnal sunshine but inside there were a couple of comfortably furnished rooms. All in all, a good pub.

Beehive Inn, Peasehill, Ripley

Despite the nostalgic 'Home Ales' sign, the Beehive, in all honesty, doesn't look that welcoming from the outside. However, what treats lay within! The front door gives into a tap room with TV and traditional pub games. Three beers were on offer here and we all chose something light and refreshing. On the direction on the landlady, we proceeded through the bar and out the back towards the Honeypot bar - a sort of shed conversion to provide an outlet for beer brewed on the premises. It offered a further four real ales and some basic seating accommodation. It seemed popular with the locals and it's easy to understand why, especially at £2.70/£2,80 a pint.

The Three Stags' Heads, Darley Bridge

Unexpectedly busy for a Tuesday night, the TSH offered a small range of ales: the ubiquitous Landlord, and a couple from Peak Ales. We had the Best Bitter and it was in good order and competitively priced at £2.90. There was a crowd of cyclists in, being served chips and other diners consuming well-priced pub grub. It seemed like a good place and well worth a second visit.

Barrington's, The Whitworth, Darley Dale

A decent pint of Farmer's Blonde, from the Bradfield Brewery was on offer at the newly-refurbished 'Barrington's' in the Whitworth Centre but was unattractively priced at £3.60. Doubtless, the punters are paying for the improvements. The surroundings are pleasant enough, although it's clearly pitched itself at attracting diners more than drinkers. The food being consumed by all our fellow patrons looked nouveau-cusinish, so probably over-priced too. Not worth a second visit.

The Crispin Inn, Ashover

Now it's an easy thing to overlook the Crispin, given its proximity to the fabulous Poets' Corner but it turned out to be surprisingly good. Although we sat outside, till it started raining, the interior is comfortable, wooden and varied. The bar had, as well as some fizzy pop from Mansfield Brewery, Pedigree, Oxford Gold and two from Jennings Brewery, Cumbria. On the night, the Oxford Gold (4.0%) was OK but Jennings' 'Cooker Hoop' (4.5%)was better, with a cleaner hoppy finish. The girl behind the bar was doing everything (serving drinks, taking food orders, serving meals, tidying up) but doing it all with good grace and a friendly smile. One to go to, even if you don't combine it with a trip to the Poets'.

George & Dragon, Bridge St., Belper

Just down from Strutt's Mill, the G&D makes a good start to a pub crawl in Belper. It looks like a proper pub and is. There's a range of styles of seating, a range of reasonable beers and a range of 1970s rock music on the jukebox (a connection to the live music that's sometimes on offer). If you want tradition mixed with noise, it's a place to go.

The Rifleman's Arms, Bridge St., Belper

A very friendly welcome, a bar dotted, on a Tuesday evening, with locals and a choice of 3/4 nice beers might all pull you into this pub and it's not a bad pub. However, it lacks a little in atmosphere as a result of slightly over-bright lighting and functionally clean furnishings. I think the beer was OK but there wasn't enough to keep us here with so much local competition.

Arkwright's Real Ale Bar, Campbell St., Belper

In many ways, the polar opposite of the Lion Hotel. Unprepossessing from the outside but glorious within. As many beer choices as any man could hope for, a reasonable array of seating and it was full on a Tuesday evening (although, in fairness, there was a skittles match on). An interesting innovation was that the skittles match, taking place in an alley to the side of the bar, was shown on a closed-circuit TV screen in the bar. Arkwrights won and the players tucked into some fine looking food, as a reward. Well worth several visits.

The Lion Hotel, Bridge St., Belper

More of a poodle parlour than a place for drinkers and perhaps a bit full of its own reputation as a 18th century coaching inn, the bar area, nonetheless, offered comfortable seating. The beer was reasonably presented but expensive. Beer-in-the-evening comments are quite complimentary about this place but it wouldn't be my pub of choice.

Puss in Boots, Windley

The twin attractions for this pub are its name and its rather pleasant beer garden. However, that's not enough to justify a visit. Its location is in the hinterland west of the A6, between Wirksworth and Duffield, so it takes a little finding and when you do, there are only two beers on offer - Draught Bass and Pedigree. The first was acceptable but the Pedigree wasn't. To be fair, the landlord changed it without any fuss but he might do better to get some more beers in. These days, there's no excuse for being a two-beer pub.

Rykneld Turnpike, Clay Cross

The exterior is so modest that a carload of enthusiastic drinkers missed it on the first pass. Inside, though, it's a treat. The seating is extensive, comfortable and full of that chunky wooden furniture you see in lots of places now. The bar is slightly small but full of beer pumps, serving several types of good ale, thoughtfully arranged in sample jars in front of the pumps. We were lucky to arrive on a Tuesday when selected beers are on offer for £2; these were tasty- the "Spring Green" went down particularly well. The lady serving on was friendly and the whole place had an atmosphere you wouldn't guess at from how it looks outside.

The Anglers' Rest, Miller's Dale

Mostly you'll arrive at the Anglers' Rest on foot. From either end of the Monsal Trail, it is a convenient stopping place and promises a range of predictable food and ale. So we arrived in a keen state of anticipation but our enthusiasm was soon curbed by a swathe of negative notices. No dogs or muddy boots in one room. No children under 12 on the pool table. The 'welcome' from Mine Hostess (and, subsequently from her husband/partner) was brusque and purposeful and the table she had prepared for us was canteen-quality. The highlight of the meal was the ginger treacle sponge and custard. The ale was fine, even though the beer which arrived bore no resemblance to what had been ordered. If you stop off there, take your beer outside - the atmosphere is better there.

Stanley's Alehouse, Smedley St Matlock

Stanley's Alehouse is a little way up the hill out of Matlock but it's worth the climb. A rather grand building houses Stanley's but the inside has been refurbished as an outlet for the various products of the Bumpmill Brewery. there were ales, too, from other small local breweries and I had a rather nice pint (well, three and a half pints, actually) of 'Amberillo' from Dancing Duck. There was quite a mixed crowd, i.e. women, for a micropub and we concluded that it may be because the interior is tastefully decorated and doesn't look like a waiting room. A pleasant evening was had.

The Market, Chesterfield Marketplace

Obviously quite popular with the young and trendy crowd, the Market devotes at least as much energy to its food as to the beer. They lay claim to serving the following: Pale Rider – Kelham Island Moonshine – Abbeydale Landlord – Timothy Taylor Dark Peak - Raw Cornish Knocker - Skinners Blanco Blonde - Sheffield Brampton Mild - Brampton Golden Pippin – Copper Dragon Jaipur – Thornbridge Hooky Gold – Hook Norton but carry only 3/4 selected beers at any one time. The surroundings are fine and the service was adequately friendly. A place to see and be seen, if you're thirty something.

The Royal Oak, Shambles, Chesterfield

You have to look quite hard for the Royal Oak and that might explain why only 2 men and a dog were in there on a perfectly good Wednesday night when we visited. It's certainly worth finding, though, mostly for the quirky interior. The pub is divided into two halves and you have to go outside to get from one half to the other. The lower half houses the TV set, fruit machines and toilets but the other half is the architectural oddity. Apparently it was originally two butcher's shops with upstairs living accommodation and, as you sit amidst the beamed walls, you can peer up into the vaulted ceiling. The range of beer is not extensive but a good pint of Farmer's Blonde was on offer and went down well. If you're in the town centre, certainly worth a visit.

The Peacock, Chatsworth Road, Chesterfield

Now this is not quite the start of the 'Brampton Mile' but it's only about 100 yards from 'The Star', which is. Initially a little offput by the sight of a big screen, in one bar, we ventured in and found, in the other bar, some manner of folk evening (which eventually resulted in us being offered some sandwiches). the music was not invasive, nor was some seated bloke incanting a tale of drinking in Bradford. Now, by this stage in the evening, I am struggling to remember the beer but I do recall having a Farmer's Blonde, which was nice. Next time, if we come back and start at the 'Star', the Peacock is certainly worth a re-visit.

Rose and Crown, Old Road, Chesterfield

Now this is situated a little away from the main Chatsworth Road but is easily accessible. It is more of a 'civilians' pub than the ones we often frequent, i.e. there were women there. And not only seated in cabals making raucous laughter but also serving on (quite slowly) behind the bar. They had the same array of Brampton Brewery products, as at the Tramway, but also Everards' Tiger. The beer was well kept and, eventually, well served. they also rustled up, for us, a hearty pork pie with a choice of pickles - always a winner!

The Tramway Tavern, Chesterfield.

The Tramway is quite a well known pub, out along the Chatsworth Road in Chesterfield. You have to be doing the 'Brampton Mile' to take this in, as it's a fair stretch from the town centre. It is a few hundred yards (so a local told us) from the Brampton Brewery and the beer was certainly in fine order. We enjoyed some Golden Bud, 1302 and a Wasp's Nest (5% but that didn't affect the flavour). Their selection is available at: http://www.bramptonbrewery.co.uk/our-beers/. The surroundings were comfortable enough and the barman was friendly and informative but we didn't outstay our welcome cos we had a busy schedule of other 'Mile' pubs to visit.

Chesterfield Ale House, West Bar, Chesterfield

In the words of John Cooper Clarke "Limbo, baby, Limbo, It's a doorway in the rain" and the CAH is certainly no more to look at, from the outside, than a doorway. Inside, it's no palace, either, but it has the requisite collection of good ales, at the bar on a mezzanine, and enough basic chairs and tables for the Thursday evening clientele. I had a pint of  something light and hoppy from the Ashover Brewery but there were several other choices to be had and all, by today's standards, quite reasonably priced at <£3. The service was also bright and friendly, as were the locals. A good place for a pint, if you're in the town centre.

The County and Station, Matlock Bath

Local intelligence was that this pub had recently been taken over by the owner of Derby's Furnace Inn (see June 2014) and was being run by the couple who were running the idiosyncratic Abbey Inn in Darley Abbey, so the portents were favourable. However, Matlock Bath, despite its numerical wealth of pubs (5), has always been a bit dead as a drinking location. Nonetheless, we ventured in to find a quiet but welcoming, traditional interior (the fire wasn't lit, though) and a range of beers available. The something or another IPA was bitter to the point of sourness but there was something ("Tiny Rebel", perhaps) with grapefruit notes which was light and refreshing. It'll be interesting to see how this pub develops over time but it looks a good option, if you find yourself in Matlock Bath.