A HALT IN HARDWICK HALL

28 April 2025. Hardwick. Derbyshire.

A brief cultural interlude to break up the pubs, and a first visit to one of the big (well, £23.10 for non-members) National Trust houses on the way home from Smeeton Westerby.

Quite how we’ve avoided it, a few yards off the M1 between the bucolic towns of Chesterfield and Mansfield, is a mystery. I guess we’re no fans of stately homes, and Hardwick is uber stately.

There’s a lot more than tapestry, but the embroidery is what you come for.

This piece from 1569 is an early map showing the GBG pubs of Mansfield.

And the parchment room contains all editions of the Guide, including the controversial 1566 edition (box 242) which attempted to define “Goode beyer”.

Mrs RM and I set off in different directions to avoid a coachload of perplexed Pleasley pupils, and were entertained for a good half hour, which is 25 minutes more than Anglesey Abbey.

I liked the modern tapestries, but they can be a bit jarring placed in front of the medieval stuff.

Mrs RM was traumatised to find her name absent from a directory of “virtuous women” which stretched from Britney to Charlotte.

Great views over the mining villages of north Notts too. You can probably see the astonishing Market in Huthwaite, which is as different a house to Hardwick Hall as you can get.

While Mrs RM took more pics I checked Untappd for nearby pubs, and was staggered to see that top ticker Jim B. was here at the estate gastro on 28th April.

I sent a quick message to see if was still there, so I could escape the needlework for a pint.

And then I noticed the year.

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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.

10 thoughts on “A HALT IN HARDWICK HALL”

  2. I was at the Hardwick Inn (S44 5QJ) earlier this year on Tuesday 25 February (my 2nd ever visit).

    I had a Peak Ales Chatsworth Gold 4.6%

    Also available were TT Landlord, Theakston Best and Old Peculier

    Much preferred the other two pubs I visited that day – Elm Tree at Heath, and Shoulder at Hardstoft.

    MARK DANIELS

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      1. I used the Hardwick Inn once. I thought it would have been a nicer pub without the ambiance of a National Trust property

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    2. Theakston Best is only on the keg taps, despite a pump clip appearing to indicate it’s availability on cask.
      And the Old Peculier was a bit below par when I was there last week, but they still charge £23.10 for it. (I jest.)

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      3. And there’s keg Theakstons Mild described as ‘Traditional’ in the Swan at Brewood and Jolly Crispin at Upper Gornal !

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