Today’s pub is situated just off the main A623 on the old road at Curbar next to the bridge over the river Derwent.
It has a spacious garden area which is pleasantly situated on the edge of the river.
Inside it was nice and cool today and the house lager was also very refreshing; a good pick in this hottest of hot summers we’re having .
However, although hard to imagine today, it looks like it would also be cosy in winter with the fire lit and plenty of games to while away a cold and rainy day.
Less than two years ago the pub was threatened with closure and was operating on very much reduced hours but just in the nick of time it seems The Bridge was taken over by the Refined Pub Group. They have given the place a freshen up and a refurb and now it’s opening all day every day, seven days a week.
Besides the refreshing lager we spotted a very reasonably priced wine menu featuring some of our favourite wines (maybe we need to make another visit here when we’re not walking?)
A selection of main meals and sandwiches were available and we very much enjoyed our choice of the shared Ploughman’s Lunch.
Historically similar to The Anchor, our last week’s pub, The Bridge became a busy coaching inn back in the days of the turnpike roads having previously made the most of its strategic location by Calver Bridge on one of the old packhorse roads of Derbyshire.
And Wandering out of the main bar area it’s possible to see that some of the old stable buildings have been converted and incorporated into extra bar and dining areas.
Until the 1920s the whole village of Curbar including the pub building was owned by the Duke of Rutland ( of Haddon Hall fame) but due to post WW 1 taxes, swathes of his land were sold at auction in Bakewell in 1927, enabling many tenants to buy their homes and farms.
The pub was bought by its sitting tenant of the time, Bert Slaney, and he continued to run the pub but as an independent owner occupier rather than as a tenant.
Since then, of course, there have been numerous landlords, owners, breweries involved in the continuing story of the Bridge Inn.
Today we were served by two cheery young ladies one of whom thought we were mad to be out walking on such a warm day.
Today’s Walk & Transport Information
Today we started walking from Dore Co op having caught the 81 bus. Another option ( slightly shorter and one hill less) would be to catch the 272 or 65 and alight at the top of Whitelow Lane.
Coming home it was the 218 from Baslow to Sheffield.
Our walk took us out of Dore village and up Whitelow Lane to cross the main road to the footpath directly opposite, across Houndkirk Moor and Burbage Moor followed by Longshaw, Burbage Brook and Padley Gorge.
From Padley chapel we joined the Derwent Heritage Trail which we continued to follow through Froggatt and on to Curbar and The Bridge Inn.
After refreshments we walked up the first part of the Bar Road before detouring left to see some of the historic sites of the village starting with the well. Continuing back to the Bar Road we crossed over to take the footpath which skirts around the unusually shaped old lock-up and up the field to take a look at the Curbar Plague Graves before continuing along the path to Baslow.
Today was very hot but since we had made an early start we were able to enjoy crossing the heather clad Houndkirk and Burbage moors before the temperatures soared.
After this our route was mostly in the shade of trees and near running water which made for ideal hot weather walking. After the pub we had a hot climb up the Bar Road but well worthwhile to see some of the village’s historic sites and once we’d passed the plague graves the path to Baslow opened up with some lovely views.
Use the link below to access the full route with details of elevation and distance. Download the free Footpath app in order to follow the route showing your location at all times for a hassle free walk. Or, for old school navigators, go prepared with an OS Dark Peak & Light Peak leisure map as you will need to use them both. See you again soon for C.
https://footpathapp.com/routes/3EFA7800-0399-45A1-9496-B2ADF101579A?units=metric
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