Pub Walks with Chris Morris
Chapel-en-le-Frith to Whaley Bridge

PLEASE REMEMBER: Details accurate at time of writing

It has often been suggested that real ale enthusiasts have a fondness for transport heritage. In addition to fine pubs throughout, there’s much to digest in this scenic adventure. As well as walking along a canal and former tramway, we pass under the unique twin railway viaducts at Chapel Milton. This straightforward, five-mile walk is mostly flat with good paths. All pubs are dog friendly.

Public Transport Information

The walk uses the 199 bus, which connects Stockport to Buxton and runs half hourly during the day and hourly after around 6pm and on Sundays.

The Walk

At Chapel-en-le-Frith, get off the bus at the Town Hall stop. Walk back up Market Street for 150 yards, and then turn right to the town’s picturesque marketplace. Here you will find a number of pubs selling cask beer, including our pre-walk venue – the Old Cell Ale Bar (opens 5pm during the week, earlier at weekends - check times on the CAMRA website). This welcoming micropub opened in 2016 and has set the standard for cask beer in the town ever since. The cosy interior is tastefully furnished with comfortable seating, with a generous log burner in use during the colder months. On my last visit the cask beers were Wincle Bad Bill, Stancil Citra, Hobgoblin Gold and Amarillo from the pub’s own Chapel-en-le-Frith Craft Brewing Co.

Old Cell Ale Bar To start our walk, turn right out of the pub and walk along Market Place. When the road narrows, take the footpath between the road and St Thomas Becket Church. We then rejoin the road which we follow for 400 yards until we reach the main road, where we turn left. After 50 yards, cross over at the traffic island and turn right to join Burnside Avenue. Take the next left and follow the right-side pavement to the end, when it turns right and takes us between two houses. Follow the path through woodland, then across a main road to the path opposite. We now walk through another woodland which leads to a quiet lane where we turn left. After 500 yards we come to a busy main road which we need to cross over. For maximum visibility, I would recommend walking to the left side of the footbridge opposite.

On the other side, turn right to cross the water on the footbridge, then take the first left to join the Peak Forest Tramway Trail. Keep straight ahead to cross another bridge before walking underneath the impressive twin viaducts. Exiting through a gate, we now follow the trail beyond, through a field. Looking back you now get the best view of the viaducts. At the end of the field and through a metal gate, walk straight ahead through a small industrial estate to the road beyond. Bear left here to walk along the road briefly before taking the path to the right, over a little stone bridge and newly gritted path. Follow the riverbank path keeping the water on your right. Follow this path for 400 yards before leaving the riverbank to climb a small slope and rejoin the tramway, where we turn right. Following the trail for a half mile takes us to a road where we have the option of a mid-walk pub stop with a choice of two excellent pubs. For this, turn left and walk up the hill for 200 yards.

Old Hall Inn The 16th century Old Hall Inn excels in all aspects of an upmarket country pub, with a charming interior of exposed timbers, flagstone floors and log burners throughout. The quality continues with their popular food offerings and excellent cask beer, with Good Beer Guide entry awarded every year from 2010. On last inspection, the cask beers were Abbeydale Deception, Whim’s Hartington IPA and Arbor Light, Timothy Taylor’s Landlord, Charm and Big Love from Duration, with cider and perry from Hogan’s. The relaxing beer garden hosts an annual beer festival in September.

Over the road, the Paper Mill Inn is a fine establishment run by the same team as the Old Hall and keeping to the same high standards. As well as another cosy interior with more flagstone floors, oak beams and log burners; a recent renovation has proved very popular. An investment in their food offering has given more seating at the rear of the pub, with an impressive pizza oven now taking centre stage. The cask beers were Burning Sky Springtime, Timothy Taylor’s Boltmaker, Thornbridge Brewers Best and Jaipur when I last dropped by.

Retracing our steps back down the hill, take a left to continue on the Tramway Trail as before. Crossing the next road to carry on straight ahead, walk through the industrial estate, which eventually leads us back to the traffic free trail. After half a mile at the junction, take a left and immediate right, signposted to Bugsworth Canal Basin. Walking through the car park, we pass the Navigation. Closed at the time of writing, hopefully this delightful pub will reopen in the near future. Carry straight on, over the road, and along the track that lowers us to the canal side with the water on our left. Follow the towpath for a half mile until the canal forks. Here we cross over the water using the footbridge and follow the towpath around to the left with the water now on our right. After a further half mile and across a footbridge, we enter Whaley Bridge. Passing the Transhipment Warehouse on our right, at the road we turn right, then follow the road as it turns left to the centre of Whaley Bridge and the 199 bus stop.

Goyt Inn Before heading back, I recommend post-walk drinks at the nearby Goyt Inn. Full of charming canal memorabilia, this cosy pub offers a warm welcome, an enduring quirkiness and a rewarding pint of cask beer. When last sampled these were Tetley’s, Boddingtons, Abbeydale Moonshine, Coach House Gunpowder Premium Mild and Timothy Taylor’s Golden Best.

For full pub details, including opening times, visit camra.org.uk/pubs.

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