Mel’s work for today was cancelled at last minute, so we decided to go off for lunch at the Ladybower Inn, seeing as it’s been a year since our last visit. But a bit surprised on arrival to see an array of beer kegs out front, and a notice telling people not to park there. The entrance door was closed, which was odd as they used to open quite early. So, waited till after 12pm – but no sign of any action, so just buggered off to Castleton for yet another visit. (Still not sure what the state of play is with Ladybower: Tripadvisor has a review dated 24th August, but maybe that wasn’t the day of their visit; plus all recent views are 1 star, and their website is just a blank page now.)
Car park was totally full, of course, so we ended up finding a space a fair way up on the old Mam Tor road. While walking back into the village, I noticed that Castleton has its own Sycamore Gap (on the ridge above Cave Dale)! Well… it’s a gap… and might be a sycamore…
So… where to have lunch? Do like the Castle Inn garden, but their beer choice has been rubbish lately (only 1 or 2 pumps on). Checked out the George, but didn’t fancy their garden much. And so Bull’s Head it was. With a nice view of Sycamore Gap! (The image at the top of this Post is looking at the Castle garden from our table.)
This is just a view of Mam Tor from the pub garden.