Derby offers a wealth of different pubs for the discerning real ale drinker, and when travelling on a Derbyshire wayfarer, half of the fun can come from travelling to or from Derby, and sampling the county’s pubs along the way.

By way of example, Dave and I recently travelled to Uttoxeter in Staffordshire on a wayfarer ticket, and tried to find the most interesting route back.

Uttoxeter is a good starting point with at least one regular GBG entry and a choice of other real ale pubs. Starting at the Bank House Hotel we found a comfortable back room with a small bar dispensing landlord, Abbot and guests. We both opted for the Peakstone Rock Brewery’s Nemesis, 3.8% and a hefty £2.50 a pint. Perhaps all beers are the same price here, but alas we didn’t have time to find out.

The Vaults in the Market Square has an impressive glazed Bass window, and unfortunately, is also currently closed. Luckily the near by Olde Talbot served Bass and Spitfire, both of which were tried and found to be in good condition, and £2.20 a pint.

We travelled to Ashbourne next and headed straight to the Green Man for a very reasonable bite to eat and a pint of Alton Black Hole, also £2.20. The Alton wasn’t off but had a strange taste and whilst I persevered with it, Dave swapped his for Thornbridge Jaipur.

With time to spare in Ashbourne we tried a couple of new pubs to us, firstly the Horns. This pub is opposite the Green Man and has several rooms on different levels, with beers coming from W+D. We tried Jennings Crag Rat and Pedigree here.

The White Hart is nearby on John Street and there are 5 handpumps dispensing regular regional beers and guests. We tried halves of Highwood Old Timber and Jennings Snecklifter in this friendly pub, which although deserted when we got there, apparrently sells most of its real ale at weekends.

A short trip to Fenney Bentley next saw us at the Bentley Brook Inn, home of Leatherbritches brewery. We tried their Goldings, and a new beer, Fandango, and Peak Ales Bakewell Best Bitter. Ten minutes down the road is the Coach and Horses, selling two real ales - we tried both the Osset pale gold at £2.25 and a rather expensive Pedigree at £2.54. Overall, Fenney Bentley offers a good range of real ales.

We continued our journey via Tissington Gates and on the 442 to Hartington. There is a guaranteed connection with the Bakewell bus at 16.45 and in the past we have always had chance for a swift half here. However this time we were delayed and lucky to make the connection at all, so our next stop was the George in Youlgreave.

Here we both tried halves of well kept Theakston mild and more Bakewell Bitter, before catching a bus to Matlock and then onto Belper. We tried a new pub here, the Lion Hotel, which sells Derby Brewery beers. This very large old coaching Inn has a starkly modern and very bright interior, with an emphasis on food, however the Derby Important was on good form, and cost £2.45 a pint. We also tried a botle of the Oberburgermeister, an unfiltered refreshing lager brewed in honour of Derby’s twin city - which may well be Osnabruck.

We just had time to grab a quick half in the Imperial Vaults, which was Landlord at £2.20 a pint, before moving on next to the Wheel at Holbrook. Although no longer selling a range of smaller breweries beers ( and seemingly no longer any on gravity ) the pub still sells up to 5 real ales. Unfortunately the Jennings Cumberland was off but we swapped it for Pedigree at £2.25.

With time passing us by we abandoned our plan to visit the Spotted Cow, as I was now in the mood for gravity dispensed beer. At the nearby Dead Poets, I had excellent Pedigree from the jug whilst Dave tried Skinners Cornish Knocker, the prices of which sadly elude me now.

After seeking advice from friendly locals we embarked on a punishing route march through the lanes in the dark to Coxbench, where we caught the bus into Derby with seconds to spare. Our final stop was the Alexandra, where we had halves of XL mild and Nelson pieces of eight, both £2.10 a pint and an excellent drink to round off the day.

We visited 13 pubs and tried 19 different real ales and all the journeys were covered by our Derbyshire wayfarer ticket. For more details visit www.derbysbus.net.

Wee Beefy