Derby

The Derby evening excursion allowed 3 hours in Derby and covered 4 pubs. The first pleasant surprise was that you can get to and from Derby on the train for only £3 in the evenings and, with a willing wife to take us to and pick us up from the local station, all our transport problems were solved.
Anyway, as to the pubs (The Dolphin, The Silk Mill, The Brewery Tap and The Brunswick), they were varied, interesting, staffed by friendly helpful people and provided good beer and ambience. They were also arranged along a convenient route from the north end of town back towards the station, with 5/10 minute walks between.
The 'highlight' of the evening (in terms of novel experience) was sharing two platters of ale with cheese. The Brewery Tap (the old Royal Standard but re-named since being taken over by the Derby Brewing Co.) offers 5 x one-third pints of beer + a bowl of cheese cubes for £6.10. Seemingly a good way to sample a range of beers and have some nibbles too. Possibly a good thing but it was a strange thing to be sharing ten small glasses of beer with 4 other blokes. In the next pub, we were all quite happy to return to having our own pints.


All in all, another excellent night out for the HDDC!

The MoCa Bar, Matlock

This place is a surprise for real ale drinkers because, from the outside, it looks like the sort of place which offers a couple of mass-produced lagers for those whose preference would really be a cocktail. It is, however, a bastion of the real ale tradition - at least in terms of beers on offer - offering a least three alternatives, with a range of different flavours. The seating was a bit posy - elevated tables and accompanying unwieldy stools - but the ambience was good - the MoCa seems to attract a mixture of ages and, to cap it all off, they offer pork pie and pickle for £1.20. Excellent!

The Boat House Inn, Matlock

We turned up with low expectations, mostly because few of us had been in the BH before. We were met with a warm welcome, a choice of 3 real ales and a range of eclectic seating. The beer was so nice we decided to stay for a second pint, only leaving when there wasa danger of being dragged into the pub quiz (for which many regulars arrived, it has to be said). A pleasant surprise and well worth a return visit..