The team at the Dead Poets Inn, located on Chapel Street in Holbrook, are celebrating after retaining their title of Amber Valley CAMRA Pub of the Year for 2025.
To mark their achievement, the Derbyshire Times visited the Dead Poets Inn to learn more about the pub – including the range of real ales they have on offer and the venue’s new beer garden.
These photos show what you can expect from the pub – will you be making plans to visit at any point over the coming weeks?
5. Next stage of competition
Natasha said: “We’ve won the Amber Valley CAMRA Pub of the Year, so now we qualify to go forward and fight against everyone else in South Derbyshire - so whoever has won for Derby, Erewash and South Derbyshire. It’s a tough competition. We’ve got all these lovely beers here, so hopefully with help from our Brunswick Brewing Company, we can win.” Photo: Brian Eyre
6. Wide variety of real ales and ciders
Talking through the variety of beers on offer at the pub, Natasha explained: “We’ve got eight hand pulls. We’ve got eight real ales, and we normally have a range of around 20 traditional ciders as well. We’ve got lager for the lager drinkers, but it’s not our forte. We’re linked with the Brunswick Brewing Company, so we’ve always got a house beer on. We’ve always got draught Bass because we’re in Derbyshire. We had the lease for the pub with Everards, so we always have Old Original on as a nod to them, which is amazing.” Photo: Brian Eyre
7. Popular pints among regulars
Natasha also discussed the most popular drinks on offer at the pub. She added: “Aside from Bass, I would definitely say that Brunswicks is becoming a firm favourite. When we moved here in 2018, not many people had tried Brunswick beer in the village before. James Salmon, who is the head brewer, took over the business alongside Alan from the Brunswick Inn in Derby. We started putting our house beers in, and it turned out that they were massive hits - we sell no end of Rocket now which is really good.” Photo: Brian Eyre
8. Lunch offering
Natasha said: “We do a small lunchtime menu, so we serve Tuesday to Sunday, from 12.00pm-2.00pm in the week and 12.00pm-4.00pm on the weekends - light bites like chip cobs and pork pies.” Photo: Brian Eyre