THE OLD NAG’S HEAD, EDALE. FOR WHEN YOU NEED THAT PINT OF OLD PECULIER.

January 2025. Edale.

A flying visit to one of the honeypot villages on the Dark Peak line from Sheffield to Manchester,

where Mrs RM had successfully delayed our assault on Kinder Scout by nipping in the closest pub to Edale Station,

and so, ill-prepared and with dusk an hour away, we disappoint Kentish Paul by postponing our hike up the hill in favour of a pic of the church.

It would have been a nice day for a stroll beyond those flagstones,

but at that very point the Funeral Administrator from Peasgood and Skeates (honest) called and we had to head home immediately.

Well, after a pint in The Old Nag’s Head, anyway.

American readers will be distressed it’s not “Ye Olde“, of course, but it is an authentic old Peak pub, busy with young walkers, if not Hi-Vis at the Golden Hour.

CAMRA’s updated What Pub site, possibly its crowning glory in 52 years overseeing the decline of cask, is a little quality scoring system based on NBSS using yellow pint pots.

One for the Rambler, two for the Nags, which means “If you’re looking for a good, decent pint then look no further“. Naff, but accurate.

That Theakston Kinder beer, slightly thin down the lane, is rich and warming here (NBSS 3.5),

and Mrs RM’s house beer, brewed to a secret recipe for the pub, is very definitely the best re-badged Old Peculier you’ll get in the Peak, even if the sign rubs the “6” off the “5.6”.

More cask than Cruzcampo being drunk here. Turnover matters.

“What time did you say the train goes ?“.

“In ten minutes“

“And how long does it take to walk back to the station ?“

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

4 thoughts on “THE OLD NAG’S HEAD, EDALE. FOR WHEN YOU NEED THAT PINT OF OLD PECULIER.”

  2. “And how long does it take to walk back to the station ?“ wouldn’t have been asked had the Hope Valley Line not got reprieved from Beaching’s closure list. But had it been shut you’d probably still have an electrified railway line between Sheffield and Manchester.
    Having spent 24 nights in Edale ( yes, at the Youth Hostel ) from 1982 to September 2022 I’ve known both pubs for over forty years.
    The Old Nags Head was, in about 1982, the first of the Dorbiere Pub Company’s forty or so pubs. Originally the Church Inn, the Jolly Rambler became the Rambler Inn at about the same time when it was bought by the Rambler’s Association.
    Now both pubs are Dorbiere’s with much in common such as Celtic Gold and other Theakstons beers.
    Nearly 2½ years ago I was surprised to find so much wrong with the Old Nags Head but couldn’t fault the Rambler.
    I’m thinking of having a pint in the Rambler when using my Derbyshire Wayfarer ticket but that won’t be for a few weeks.
    I don’t know if Dorbiere having four pubs in Stafford has anything to do with a member of the Gray family residing within six miles of the county town.

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