Starting out early, we were in Derby by 09.35, leaving at 10.00 on the bus to Nottingham. Arriving at Long Eaton at 10.35, we’d time for a quick sandwich before visiting the Hole In The Wall at 11.00. This regular GBG entry has about 6 beers on, with an emphasis on local brews. We tried pints of Oldershaw Mowbray’s Mash, 3.7% and Nottingham brewery Extra Pale ale, 4.2 and both £2.10

On discovering that the station was half an hours walk away we bid a hasty retreat at 25 past, and were lucky to catch a bus instead. By 12.00 we were back in Derby.

To save time we walked to the Falstaff Brewery tap from the station, though its quite a walk. Arriving thirsty, we started on pints of Phoenix, 4.7, and To Be or Not ABV, 3.7 , followed by Smiling assassin 5.2, and The Good The Bad and The Drunk, 6.2, all brewed by Falstaff and costing £2.00 to £2.50. The stronger beers were excellent.

Owing to a lack of buses, we walked back along Normanton road, stopping off at the Babington Arms where we had heard there were Danelaw beers available. Here we had Milestone ESB, 5.2, £1.29 and Danelaw Dark Norse, 4.9% and £1.75. Both were excellent, and we also had time for halves of Green Tye Copper Hopper, 4.3 % and £ 0.89 and Derby brewing co Primus Porter, also 4.3 and £0.65 per half. Another Falstaff brew was also available.

Off to Smalley next, we were surprised to find the Bell was open. This gave us chance to try pints of Pedigree from the jug at £2.30 and Mallard Duckling, 4.2, then half each of the Hartington bitter at £2.10

Our next stop was unscheduled, that being the Royal Oak at Horsley woodhouse, Leadmill Brewery’s first actual pub, now open longer hours.

This seemed a good idea, as it was packed at 16.00. Here we each had pints of Marehay Mild, £1.90 and then Maple Porter, £2.05 and Ghost rider 5.2 respectively, all from Leadmill.

Having crammed more than half the days beer into the first 5 hours, inevitable confusion followed. Suffice to say it took us almost 2 hours to reach Ripley.

Here we headed for what seemed miles down Lowes Hill to the George, which we heard served a good range of beers. It was quite disappointing, on account of the atmosphere, and the beer being less than inspiring . We tried Cottage Christmas, 5.2% at £2.30

Further confusion surrounded our search for the bus stop to get us to Belper, and with our itinerary abandoned we opted for a bus to Derby and headed round to the Station on Midland Road for more gravity dispensed beer, Bass from the jug, at £2.30 a pint. As usual the bass far surpassed that tried elsewhere and we had to have 2 and a half pints before catching the train home.

The best thing about this crawl is that in all the locations (except Horsley Woodhouse) you have more than one pub option. On Saturdays you could go to the White Swan or Royal Oak in Ockbrook (from Derby), and travel out to Holbrook on the bus before you visit Smalley – where you could also visit the Nags Head. In Holbrook there is the Wheel and The Dead Poets, as well as the Spotted Cow all selling real ale.

In Ripley there is the Pear Tree, with Swanwick and Ilkeston nearby, and in addition to Belper’s GBG entries the Lion Hotel features a Derby brewery beer, and the Imperial Vaults and George and Dragon are both worth a look.

Despite our mishaps, we still got to try 18 different beers (10 from Derbyshire breweries) in 7 different pubs, our Derbyshire Wayfarer costing us £6.00 each.