Duke of York, Elton

This delightfully unchanged village pub is well worth seeking out despite the limited opening hours. The plain, symmetrical, three-bay frontage of this 200-year-old pub conceals a three-room pub which has been in the same family since 1968. It was bought from the Derby brewers, Offilers, by Bill Elliott, and is still run by his nephew (his widow, long-serving licensee Mary, sadly died in 2022). A central tiled corridor leads down to the heart of the pub – the rear main bar entered via a latch door in a partition wall, which has a ‘3’ on it and short vertical, draught screens / baffles either side of the door on the inside – very rare in a pub these days. This small room has a red quarry-tiled floor, fixed bench seating and wood-panelled ceiling, The open coal fire has recently been replaced with a glass-fronted multi-fuel stove but is still set in an old stone surround of the kind typical of houses in this area.

Until about 1985 the counter did not extend as far as the window then the three right-hand panels of the counter and of the glazed screen above which were originally at right angles to the rest of the counter / screen were extended with great care so that one needs to look carefully to realise that they have been re-positioned. They were straightened out to give more room for staff and the storage of bottles, crisps and a small fridge. Up to around 1985 where the present sink is situated there was a table and four chairs. The screen had vertical glazed sashes (see the traces of the runners etc on the left-hand side). Note the old photo on the wall which shows that the basic old bar back shelving was originally to the left of where it is now and after it moved to the right in c.1985 a hatch was cut for service to the room behind.

Left of the corridor is a plain snug with a Victorian tiled fireplace and a modern hatch to the servery. On the right is room with a no. 2 on the door which retains its Victorian fixed bench seating, but the Victorian-style fireplace was installed in about 2000. Note the old panelling at the end of the corridor. Service to both of these two rooms is via the window in the split door to the servery just short of the door to the main bar. Note the ‘C’ on the door to the cellar opposite. A set of three well-worn steps on the rear right leads to an external door and what is now a flagged coutyard seating area; until recently the outside toilets occupied this space but the loos are now indoors. Upstairs is a large club room which can be divided into two parts by a sliding partition and was used by the local branch of the Oddfellows Society. Only open Tuesdays to Sundays from 8.30pm to 10.30pm.