Buxton town centre pub reopens with new name and new look

The Milton’s Tap, formerly The Milton’s Head, welcomed customers back at the weekend for the first time since last year.

After taking on the Spring Gardens pub in November 2019, manager Rick Ellison kept the pub open up until the first lockdown in March 2020 then decided to make some changes.

The 36-year-old said: “The turnover of the town centre’s only pub wasn’t what it needed to be and now we have had the time to think about what we wanted to do with it.

"We wanted to make it different than it was before but we also wanted to pay tribute to its history and heritage.”

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The pub, which has both Victorian and Edwardian architecture, is now celebrating its past and in the front room an original stone arch which has been hidden for years has been rediscovered and put back on display.

Rick, who also runs the Old Hall in Hope, the Peak Hotel in Castleton and the Anchor Inn in Tideswell, said: “We have tried to recreate the original features from the fireplace to the seats and even the wallpaper.

"We’ve got lots of old Victorian signage up now and there is a one-arm bandit machine and old style jukebox.

"We have been working on this for months and when you add everything up from the money and time spent it has topped £100,000.”

The pub welcomed customers back on Saturday and Rick said: “Pubs are not a dying industry, people are happy to be back in them and going out.

"For me pubs are my way of life. They are my job and my hobby and it’s great to pour my passion into something and watch it grow.”

The Milton’s Tap will be serving lunches seven days a week and Rick has created a new menu.

He added: “There will be everything from roast beef in a Yorkshire Pudding wrap to old school favourites like potato smileys but with a modern salt and pepper twist.

“And we are excited to welcome people back to come and see what we are doing now.”

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