A busy Spring has seen lot’s of positive news stories in the Chesterfield CAMRA branch. We’ve two new pubs open in our district and two pubs reopen in our town centre after been closed for some time. The Winding Wheel Beer Festival was a big success with much praise and positive feedback. Ashover Brewery has been reborn as Ashover Brew Co (Follow this link for more details) and The Derby Tup has won our Spring Pub of the Season 2025 award (Again follow this link for more details). The Summer 2025 issue of InnSpire is currently being printed but you can get a sneak peak on the website right now (See below). The magazine will be out soon.
Thank you to everyone who has supported our projects and supported our pubs. We owe you a pint. The Chesterfield CAMRA AGM (Annual General Meeting) is on Thursday 1st May 2025 at the Rose & Crown Brampton (104 Old Rd, Chesterfield S40 2QT). Please come along and get involved. Non members are welcome too. Our Branch Diary will be updated soon with future meetings, events and socials. Cheers!
The news below is taken from the Summer 2025 issue of InnSpire magazine (Adapted for our website where possible.
InnSpire Magazine 156 – Summer 2025
The Summer 2025 issue of Chesterfield CAMRA’s InnSpire is now available to read and download on our website (Click here to view the magazine). The printed version of the magazine will be available in local (and not so local) pubs from Mid May to Early June. The magazine features two pubs that have reopened (Ye Royal Oak and the Spread Eagle) and two new pubs (Holmewood Cricket Club & Micropub and Original Gravity Micropub). We’ve been on tour to Ashover, Dronfield and Bradford. And, we also lots of wonderful articles, news stories and local pub awards.
Ye Royal Oak Reopens
Chesterfield’s oldest pub Ye Royal Oak, in The Shambles (Chesterfield S40 1PX) reopened over the Easter Bank 2025 holiday weekend. After being closed for over three years, this was a historic moment for a truly historic pub. Read all about it here.
Original Gravity
Josh Clarke, owner/ brewer at Resting Devil and the Chesterfield Arms spoke to InnSpire magazine about his latest pub…
“The exciting news from us is the opening of a new venue on Chatsworth Road. ORIGINAL GRAVITY is a micropub and bottle shop. Offering 3 cask and 2 keg beers along side over 120 beers from around the country and Europe, as well as locally produced products from hot sauce to artisan biscuits. Resting Devil beers will be available along side other great cask offerings”
Original Gravity is located between Koo & Libby’s cafe at 477A Chatsworth Road, be sure to call in and say hello when you’re next passing.
Holmewood Cricket Club Micropub
Great news came for the village of Holmewood in North East Derbyshire as a new micropub opened on Saturday 29th March 2025. The mastermind behind the project is Pete Grafton, the owner of Toll Bar Fish & Chips at Stoney Middleton. Having seen Holmewood lose all of its pubs and clubs over recent years, Pete wanted to create a space where residents could socialise and enjoy a drink together.
He said to the local press: “We want to bring a bit of social life back into the village. Not too many years ago there were four pubs in Holmewood: The Williamthorpe Hotel, The Holmewood Hotel, Stoneys and the Miners Welfare – but all the pubs have slowly closed down one by one and turned into houses”.
The new micropub will be based in Holmewood Cricket Club (Heath Road, Holmewood, Chesterfield S42 5RB). Opening hours will be Thursday and Friday (Evenings)
and Saturday to Sunday (Afternoons and Evenings) to begin with. There will be real ales from EYAM BREWERY (Great Hucklow in the Peak District), giving visitors a chance to sample local beers. On the opening weekend there was a number of real ales from Eyam Brewery including their Best Bitter, an IPA, pilsner lager and a stout. A great local enterprise and forward thinking for a village in need of such a community hub. Well done to everyone involved and please give them your support.
The Spread Eagle
On the eve of the Summer issue of InnSpire going to print, great news came that The Spread Eagle (7 Beetwell St, Chesterfield S40 1SH) was to reopen in early May 2025.
The pub has been closed since December 2023 but was a popular destination, featuring in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide. The new owners also own The Galleon Restaurant on St Mary’s Gate. The former coaching inn is the Grade II listed building with a sun-trap beer garden. It was refurnished before closing in a modern but sensitive style. Food and a selection of ales will be available, as well as overnight accommodation. More news when we visit them soon.
Street Spirit
Independent specialist alcohol retailer, Street Spirit gave us an update on what’s happening at their shop: “We’re now almost 18 months into our move from Chesterfield Market Hall (as Ginspired) to our home at number 10 Steeplegate (part of Vicar Lane Shopping area) as Street Spirit. Our range of products has increased over this time to now over 1300 different bottles of spirits, beer, mead, wine, hot sauces and more.
We’re proud to stock many outstanding local drinks as well as unique and interesting alcohol from all corners of the world. We hold free tastings on most Saturdays from 1-4pm, if we have the bottle open you can try it. If spirits aren’t your thing you can enjoy a free beer to drink in while you browse, again on Saturdays 1-4pm. Yes, the beer is free, no you don’t need to buy anything, just smile and enjoy. Planning is underway for our first social nights this summer when you can join us for a drink or three in store and enjoy some street food and live music.
Can’t wait for this. Evening ticketed tasting events are also in the pipeline for this summer. Thanks to you all for your amazing support of Street Spirit so far, we are so grateful. Cheers, Matt, Kim & Holly”.
Two new bars on the way?
Applications for new two bars in Chesterfield’s town centre were submitted to the borough council’s planning authority in February 2025. As the Summer issue of InnSpire went to print we awaited hopefully positive news. The first proposal would see the former Halifax Bank building (6 Central Pavement, Chesterfield) turned into a bar with live entertainment. The applicants Nine Kingdoms Ltd are seeking change of consent with unconfirmed rumours the bar may have a Viking theme. The second town centre application would see the former restaurant the Thai Pavilion (37 Glumangate, Chesterfield S40 1TX) turned back into a pub. The building was previously home to The Manhattan Bar, which closed its doors in 1998. The proposed floor plan includes a small low-levelstage area and space for a DJ (We’ll follow this breaking story in the future.