No one can deny, us Mancs love a good pub. For us, the older the better, but as long as the vibes are good and the pints are flowing, we’re pretty happy. Now, the Cholmondeley Arms in Cheshire has officially been named the best in the North West at the National Pub & Bar Awards 2024, and it’s around one hour away from Manchester − well worth the trip, we’d say.
No stranger to prestigious awards, the Cholmondeley Arms, affectionately know as ‘the Chum‘, is set in beautiful Cheshire countryside adjacent to Cholmondeley Castle. It sits inside a former Victorian village schoolhouse, on Lord Cholmondeley’s estate, dating back to 1862, and was converted into a pub in 1988 − making it the first public house on the Cholmondeley estate for over a century.
Many of the schoolhouse features have been restored and act as novel elements of the pub, including the ‘please report to headmaster’ sign and framed school photos on the walls. The Cholmondeley Arms has won many accolades over the years, including Country Dining Pub of the Year and Cheshire Life Food and Drink Awards, building a great reputation for freshly cooked, locally sourced food.
Its menu is quintessentially English and includes such truly flavoursome favourites as ‘Our Traditional Pub Plate to share‘, ‘Devilled Kidneys on toast‘ or for your main meal the ‘Hand crafted Steak and Kidney Pie‘ perhaps followed by sticky toffee pudding.
Of course, the drinks offering is also something to be admired. Famous for offering 366 different gins (one for every day in a leap year), local ales brewed within a thirty-five mile radius of the pub and wonderful wine and Port, the Cholmondeley Arms is truly a real pub ‘Local and Proud‘, popular with suits, Barbours and a smattering of farmers − plus a few more from further afield after this accolade.
The Cholmondeley Arms was also one of 13 pubs to be named as the best in its Region at the National Pub & Bar Awards, which brings together 94 pubs and bars from across the UK, each one having been awarded the title for the best in its county back in April.
The Awards also saw three other accolades handed out. Bar Group of the Year went to The Blues Kitchen; Nottingham’s Castle Rock Brewery scooped Pub Group of the Year; and the inaugural Tyrrells Tyrrellbly Good Taste Award went to Cheshire Cat Pubs & Bars’ Fitzherbert Arms − sister pub to the Cholmondeley Arms.
The National Pub & Bar Awards 2024 Winners:
- East Midlands – The Tollemache Arms
- East of England – Galvin Green Man
- London – The Audley Public House
- North East – The Bay Horse, Darlington
- North West – Cholmondeley Arms
- Northern Ireland – The Dirty Duck Alehouse
- North Scotland – Macgochans
- South Scotland – Vic’s, Prestwick
- South East – The Mutton at Hazeley Heath
- South West – The George Inn, Norton St. Philip
- Wales – The Bull’s Head Inn, Beaumaris
- West Midlands – The Tally Ho Inn, Bouldon
- Yorkshire and the Humber – The Harrogate Inn
- Pub Group of the Year – Castle Rock Brewery
- Bar Group of the Year – The Blues Kitchen
- The Tyrrells Tyrrellbly Good Taste Award – Fitzherbert Arms
- National Pub & Bar of the Year – The George Inn, Norton St. Philip
You can book a room or see what’s on at the Cholmondeley Arms here.
📍 Find the Cholmondeley Arms at Wrenbury Rd, Malpas, SY14 8HN.