retiredmartin

August 2026. Holmesfield. Derbyshire.

From Abbeydale Industrial Museum and the posh southern suburbs of Sheffield, with its abbeys and golf courses and Ember Inns, you quickly find yourself on the edge of the Peak.

For me, an unexplored triangle between Dronfield, Chesterfield and Chatsworth House, with hamlets called Unthank and Cartledge and barely a pub in sight.

Except this one.

I thought I’d revisited all the Beer Guide perennials close by after moving to The North, but Holmesfield’s Rutland Arms has cleverly eluded me by being on a different county page.

Just because it’s an overused cliche doesn’t mean it doesn’t apply; this is a real symphony in brown.

and a showcase for Wards memorabilia.

There’s another pub in Holmesfield, the dining pub, but the Rutland just has those weekend food vans in the car park and leaves the gleaming bar for drinkers.

Quite a few “bellwether” beers on the bar; Theakston, Landlord and Moonshine are acid tests of the cellar and cask turnover.

This was the best Moonshine I’ve had anywhere, so good I give the full “EXCELLENT” and have to explain my largess to CAMRA’s beer scores Auditor General.

Mrs RM’s Landlord is nearly as good, perfectly matched with scampi fries.

The bench seating is comfy, the cheery young barmaid tells us all we need know about Holmesfield (not a lot) in a way that makes Dronfield seem like a thriving metropolis, and I wonder why the Rutland seems to escape attention.

CAMRA seems to love to berate itself and our “insipid UK beer”. When you taste beer as good as the cask in the Rutland, or the keg in Kelham, you might wonder the fuss is all about.