Camping – Day 1 (Bakewell – The Manners Pub)

There are no Good Beer Guide pubs in Bakewell, but The Manners looked the most interesting of the options that were listed on CAMRA’s app.

The current health situation means that there is no standing at the bar, so this was something of a fly-by photo opportunity. The pub is part of the Robinson’s Brewery estate and there were four different beer options from them available.

The staff member recommended the Robinson’s mild as the best dark option and this was perfectly agreeable, I like seeing milds as an option. As an aside, I’m not sure that it’s the most useful word to describe a drink and a few breweries have renamed their beers to reflect better what it is, such as Brains Brewery renaming their mild as Brains Dark. It’s quite a change from fifty years ago when a mild was one of the most popular drinks served in pubs.

Motivational quotes were dotted around the sizeable beer garden.

The interior of the pub, with a couple of guest rooms upstairs and numerous smaller areas for drinkers and diners. The pub was serving food which looked of a decent quality, but Richard had suggested that we go for a Bakewell Pudding, so our culinary delights were on this occasion coming from a shop down the road. More on this in another post.

The staff here were notably friendly and engaging, offering us the opportunity to pay separately and they were knowledgeable about the drinks options. For a pub in a touristy town, it didn’t feel overly commercialised and it’s one of the better-rated hospitality businesses in Bakewell judging by the reviews.

On which point, looking at the reviews, there was an angry customer who wanted to know whether the salami they had been served was gluten-free. I didn’t quite get the customer’s argument, they said that the pub refused to provide the packaging and that the chef didn’t seem to know whether there was gluten in the product. That seems to be a moderately unfortunate situation for the kitchen, but I’m puzzled why then the customer ate the salami anyway and then complained they got ill. The pub noted in their response:

“You were not refused the packaging, but it was not clear on the labelling, whether there was gluten in the product. The waitress advised you that the chef was calling the supplier for clarification and not to eat the salami. You then proceeded to eat a small amount of the salami, which you had raised concerns about. I do not understand why you would eat something that you were worried about. You then walked out, without giving us any further opportunity for discussion or apology.”

Perhaps I’ve misunderstood the original complaint as well…

Anyway, I digress. I liked the pub, a comfortable and relaxing environment.