Prices from:
£130 per night
Since restoring the now famous Bulls Head in Mobberley six years ago, Tim Bird & Mary McLaughlin had always coveted the 18th century Roebuck Inn situated opposite in Mill Lane and following its gradual demise and closure they were eventually invited to buy the freehold in May 2014. With the quintessentially English Bulls Head pub opposite and the Church Inn just 800 yards up the lane (which Tim & Mary also own) offering modern British cuisine, they wanted to restore the Roebuck back to an inn offering rustic boutique bedrooms and an intimate neighbourhood bistro. This they have achieved with style, panache and a huge dose of quirk, the refurbished Roebuck Inn opening in May 2016 with a very authentic bistro look and feel, with a red & black tiled floor, stripped brick walls, old French shutters, leather banquettes, a retro wood-burning stove, and an eclectic mix of café-style tables. Expect a totally relaxed and informal atmosphere, chilled music, menus brimming with Mediterranean-inspired dishes, an amazing drinks list, and super accommodation in the form of six very special bedrooms.
Under-10s are welcome in the bistro and garden until 7.30pm; over-10s in the bistro after 7.30pm. The garden at the Bulls Head welcomes children until 9pm.
One of the bedrooms can be used by dog owners at a charge of £20 and pet dogs are welcome in the garden and the ‘potting shed’.
Walk through the rustic and quirky ‘potting shed’ to reach a stunning outdoor space that will only improve as the careful planting matures and the jasmine engulfs the pergola that leads you to the upper decked terrace, replete with cool lighting, sleeper flowerbeds, an eclectic collection of tables, chairs and benches, and a big brazier, which adds heat, light and atmosphere on summer evenings. The lower terraces sport colourful French bistro tables, rustic benches, posh cream brollies, and a fragrant herb bed.
What’s the Damage?
6 doubles: £130-£150 (Friday & Saturday £150-£200); single £115-£135 (Friday & Saturday £135-£185) all including breakfast
What Else?
Mary’s passion and vision to create a stylishly ‘Petit Hotel and Bistro’ feel has certainly been realised. Named after grape varieties, the six hugely individual bedrooms offer a distinct WOW factor and a feast for the imagination. They ooze charm, character and quirky detail and will make you smile throughout your stay – you won’t want to leave, especially if you have one of the rooms with an open fire or wood-burning stove. Where do I start, well, the handmade mattresses on the antique French beds are amazing, super comfortable and topped with the best linen, down, throws and big cushions. Then, there’s the exposed brick or plank walls, polished wood floors, old antique French radiators (rusty, not painted), distressed shutters on the walls, huge gilt mirrors, leather armchairs, an eclectic assortment of lamps and painted furnishings, and stunning bathrooms. Bobal, Pecorino, Picpoul and Malbec and have freestanding baths; all have double sinks and posh Orla Kiely lotions and potions. I could go on – just come and stay and be taken away on a journey across Provence!
Handmade mattresses; quality feather & down; open fires or wood-burning stove (4 rooms); magazines; bathrobes; Orla Kiely bathroom products; deep copper tubs (3 rooms); room service for those little needs from a glass of wine to a pot of coffee.
Retro radio; free Wi-Fi; no televisions
Special deal with Cheshire Health Club & Spa (1.4 miles), so why not jog there and back, or make good use of the printed guest walk (4 miles) and jogging route (5km) from the Roebuck’s front door.
Freshly squeezed orange juice, local apple and rhubarb & apple juices; Dorset cereals; porridge & honey; eggs Benedict; avocado on toast; scrambled egg and smoked salmon; Roebuck toasted breakfast butty; full Roebuck breakfast
What’s the Damage?
6 doubles: £130-£150 (Friday & Saturday £150-£200); single £115-£135 (Friday & Saturday £135-£185) all including breakfast
What Else?
Very much in keeping with the French café/bistro atmosphere, chef Lloyd Treadway’s short lunch and dinner menus have a distinct Mediterranean flavour with some classic French and Italian dishes at each course. With small and middle plate options, alongside lunchtime filled flatbreads and evening stone-baked pizzas, the menu encourages a relaxed dining experience. Feel free to order a couple of small plates to accompany a glass of Picpoul, or a lighter middle plate option, perhaps saffron risotto with sautéed chicken livers, sherry and garden herbs, or you can settle if for three courses. The menu is exciting and inventive, making it difficult to choose, and the food is well presented and delicious.
(Pizzas & Middle Plates: £7.50-£12.50; Main Courses: £12.95-£16.95; Desserts and Cheese £4.50-£7.95)
Garlic, rosemary and parmesan pizza
Moules and Frites
Cod, ratatouille, black olive tapenade
Slow cooked curried lamb shank, rice, dahl, coriander yoghurt
Entrecote steak, Café de Paris butter, frites
Tarte au citron, crème fraïche
Affogato, toasted almond, Amaretto biscuit
Lunchtime flatbreads
(£7.95-£8.95)
Shredded chicken, fennel seed salami, courgette & mozzarella; avocado, heritage tomatoes & toasted seeds
(£13.95-£15.95)
Lemon & thyme roasted chicken, petit pois, frites; Leg of lamb, garlic & rosemary, pan juices, petit pois, ratatouille, dauphinoise
Breakfast: 8am – 9.30am (8.30am – 10.30am Saturday; 9am – 12.30pm Sunday)
Lunch: 12 noon – 3pm
Dinner: 5.30pm – 8.45pm (9.30pm Friday)
Food all day Saturday (12 noon – 9.30pm) and Sunday (12.30pm – 8.45pm)
Willington Farm apple juices
Eggs from Church Inn chickens
Rickson’s Rosemary nuts roasted in Mobberley
Honey from bees in Alderley Edge
There is no proper bar as such, just a lace-clothed table topped with olives, breads and other inviting nibbles, flanked on one side by a retro bistro-style cabinet chock-full of brandies, liqueurs and ports, and French café-style shelving behind that groan with glasses and spirits. Here, three handpumps dispense tip-top ales brewed for the Inn by local Cheshire breweries – Buck Bitter from Weetwood Brewery and Deer Beer from Dunham Massey Brewery. Peruse the unique drinks list, cleverly tucked into the front of small books, and you’ll find a mind-boggling choice that would put many pubs to shame. From English lagers on tap to excellent bottled ciders and unusual European bottled beers, the very individual drinks selection includes some interesting Aperitifs (Chapter 1) digestives and liqueurs (Chapters 8 & 10), some very fine ports in Chapter 9, and a short, well-chosen list of ‘Old World’ wines (13 by the glass).
(£1.95-£6.95)
Ricksons roasted rosemary nuts; Toulouse sausage cassoulet; roasted aubergine caponata with sourdough; artichoke barigoule
What’s the Damage?
6 doubles: £130-£150 (Friday & Saturday £150-£200); single £115-£135 (Friday & Saturday £135-£185) all including breakfast
What Else?
Take it back home
Tour the brewery that brewed your favourite pint, visit the shop on the farm that reared your delicious Sunday roast beef, and seek out the roadside stalls selling the local crab and samphire on the inn’s menu, the Food Trail features the local artisan producers and suppliers where you can buy to enjoy at home.
Change of scenery
Looking for a pub for lunch following a country walk, a different venue for dinner, or a good café for coffee, light lunch or afternoon tea, then the best in the area are listed below. If you find a new and exciting eatery in the area that’s worthy of a mention on the Food Trail, then please to do let us know – .
Inn Location - The Roebuck Inn
There has been a pub here since 1715, but it reopened in 2013 when Tim Bird and Mary McLaughlin saved it from dereliction and restored it to its original splendour. Located opposite the 12th Century village church and overlooking the famous stocks of Mobberley, this lovely old inn serves a range of local ales and good food.
The Cholmondeley Arms serves a few of the 40-plus varieties of Cheshire Farm ice creams and sorbets on its menu, but if you still want to taste more, visit this family-run business and see how it's made. With a play barn for the kids and a cafe for the grown-ups, it's no wonder the farm attracts 500,000 visitors each year.
Award-winning farm shop offering top quality local food including plenty made on site. They are so proud of their 'perfect sausages' that you can order them online by the. Great for browsing as well as shopping and there's a cafe too.
Dating back to 1812, The Bulls Head was saved by Tim & Mary Bird and reopened in 2010 after a major refurbishment. It now serves seven cask ales from Cheshire breweries within a 30-mile radius of the pub, 80 whiskies and enjoyable pub grub. The beer garden is a must-visit when the sun shines.
You might recognise the home-pressed apple juice sold at this well-stocked farm shop as it appears on the drinks list at the Cholmondeley Arms and The Roebuck. Apart from farm-made apple juice and cider, there is a vast range of local fruit and veg, honey, cheese, eggs and ice cream. From June onwards, you can buy strawberries picked straight from the field. Closed Mon-Wed.
A wonderful farm shop whose philosophy of ‘fresh, local and simple’ really shines out in the produce they stock. A family run farm for more than 65 years, they’ve now branched out and are selling their produce (and some tempting bits and pieces from other Cheshire suppliers) in their farm shop. There’s also a deli filled with an array of temptation and foods you never thought you needed, or you could stay for lunch in their café and have all those temptations served up on a plate for you – literally!
Another incredible farm shop, deli and café – prepare to leave bankrupt but with the best bag full of goodies! Allow a good amount of time to wander around, as there’s an unbelievable amount to browse – a real treat for the senses.
Family-run craft brewery set up in 2007 in a converted barn on National Trust land close to Dunham Massey Hall. They brew quality traditional English beers using only English malt and hops and they brew the Deer Beer especially for the Roebuck. Although they don’t offer tours, you can buy bottled beers from the on-site brewery shop.
Part of Tim & Mary’s select Cheshire Cat Pubs, this smartly refurbished freehouse is worth the drive out for a spot of lunch. Situated the other side of the M6 deep in unspoilt Cheshire countryside, it boasts a cosy and intimate layout with four fires and, as you would expect, great food and drink menus.
Inn Activities
Shopping
Places of interest - Filter results using pins Inn Location - The Roebuck Inn
Only a short drive from the Roebuck, Mottram Hall is the ideal venue for a day spa with the use of swimming pool, gym, sauna and steam room. If you prefer the great outdoors, try the ‘pay and play’ 18-hole, par-72 championship golf course.
The refurbished 178-seat Curzon offers a movie experience in the real sense. There’s one small screen, the place is clean, comfortable and quiet and it’s the perfect venue for sitting back and enjoying some great and varied cinema. There’s also a licensed bar and café.
Perched like a giant iron spider on the bank of the River Weaver, the Anderton Boat Lift was constructed in 1875 to hoist cargo boats 60 feet from the Weaver Navigation to the Trent & Mersey Canal. Take a trip aboard the Edwin Clark and find out more.
If you fancy a flutter, head for Chester, which boasts the oldest racecourse in Britain. This is where you can enjoy the sport of kings at its most stylish and glamorous.
With the emphasis on conservation and education, the Gauntlet Birds of Prey Centre houses more than 120 birds from 46 different species – from eagles and hawks to vultures and owls. There is also the chance to handle and fly the eagles – a rare privilege.
Outside, the Knutsford Antiques Centre is all quaint sash windows and ivy-covered walls, while inside there is floor after floor of antiques and bags of period charm. Discover a fascinating world of furniture, crockery, glassware and fine bone china in the heart of Cheshire. The top floor of the building is devoted to shelves of old books.
Described as having the air of a Milanese boutique, this is where you’ll find rows of exquisite shoes made by high-fashion designers such as Capollini, Calpierre and Rupert Sanderson.
Dazzling flowers, pots, plants and gorgeous displays as well as a variety of fabulous fragrant smells capture the attention as you step through the doors of Knutsford Bloom. There is also a little gift shop stocked with unique and unusual items.
Established in 1997, Pyramid is now acknowledged as one of Britain’s leading glassware retailers. Here, you’ll find an impressive choice of quality glass art and glass sculptures, in addition to many other items.
In the middle of chic Cheshire, you’ll find a shoppers’ heaven. This is the venue for shopping on three floors – over 35 local independent businesses co-exist here, including fashion, home and crafts.
Family-run Toycraft, in the city’s Watergate Street, prides itself on being both traditional and inspirational. Here, you’ll find soft toys, jigsaws and games and just about anything else of quality to keep children – not to mention many adults – amused and well-occupied for hours on end. There’s a great atmosphere here and fun for all the family.
Situated in 1,000 acres of superb deer park a stone’s throw from picturesque Knutsford, Tatton Park offers plenty to gladden the eye and capture the imagination. In the main mansion, you can witness life above and below stairs; then, back outside, take the children to see Tatton’s working farm. Throughout the year, this popular National Trust estate hosts more than one hundred events.
Located in a reconstructed 17th-century, timber-framed building on King Street, Knutsford Heritage Centre has three galleries spread over two buildings, two beautifully maintained gardens and a well-stocked gift shop. Expect an impressive exhibition programme, demonstrations, walks, talks and activities. The centre, home of the remarkable Knutsford Millennium Tapestry, also tells the story of Cranford novelist Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-65), who spent her formative years in the town.
If you’re a fan of Elizabeth Gaskell, you’ll want to make a point of visiting 84, Plymouth Grove, her Grade II-listed Regency-style villa in Manchester, where she entertained many friends and social contacts – Charles Dickens and Charlotte Bronte among them. Gaskell’s wedding veil and passport are among many items on display. The house also hosts a year-round programme of talks and concerts.
If you are a certain age, Jodrell Bank is a name from the past that exudes a real sense of excitement for those fascinated by the mysteries of the Universe. Set up in 1945 to investigate cosmic rays, it later played a vital role in the research of meteors, quasars, pulsars and gravitational lenses. Jodrell Bank was also involved with the tracking of space probes at the start of the Space Race. A visit to the discovery centre, complete with its own planet, space and star pavilions, explains everything in fascinating detail.
Magnificent National Trust moated mansion set in spectacular parkland and including a deer park, formal avenues and woodland. Inside the house are many paintings and a significant collection of Huguenot silver among many other items.
In Warrington’s cultural quarter, you’ll find over 200,000 objects covering ethnology, archaeology, numismatics, local and social history, natural science and fine art. Here, you can travel through time and around the world.
Beautifully designed, half-timbered Tudor manor house with a manicured knot garden. A National Trust guide describes Little Moreton Hall as being ‘straight from a fairy story, a gingerbread house.’
There’s plenty to see and learn at IWM North. Take a tour around this aluminium-clad, futuristic-looking venue and you’ll find this is where exhibitions and events cover real stories of war, from the horrors of the First World War to today.
If you regularly travel in and out of Manchester by train via Stockport, you’ll probably have seen the 200-ft chimney of the town’s hat works from the window. This is Britain’s only hat museum, dedicated to the hatting industry, hats and headwear. The site was formerly a cotton-spinning mill.
Quarry Bank is an18th-century cotton mill, complete with working machinery powered by steam and a water wheel. Learn all about the work done at the mill and its key role in the Industrial Revolution.
One of Manchester’s iconic visitor attractions, The Lowry is a theatre and gallery complex, located at dazzling, rejuvenated Salford Quays. If you happen to be a fan of L.S. Lowry (1887-1976), 300 works by the renowned Lancashire artist can be seen here.
www.visitcheshire.com
South of Manchester, the Roebuck is ideally placed for lots of varied walks in leafy Cheshire and the hills of Derbyshire. The western boundary of the glorious Peak District is just a few miles away. Two popular routes – the Gritstone Trail, with fantastic views towards the cathedrals of Liverpool, and the Sandstone Trail, which crosses Cheshire into Shropshire– take walkers to the heart of this unspoiled corner of the North-West.
www.visitcheshire.com/things-to-do/explore-the-countryside/cycling-trails
From easy canal towpaths in Cheshire to rugged Peak District grandeur in neighbouring Derbyshire, there is certainly plenty of choice for a rewarding cycle ride while staying at the Roebuck. As well as several national cycle network routes, there’s the very popular Cheshire Cycleway, running for 176 miles. You probably won’t have time to fit it all in during one visit but try completing different stages of the route. It’s well worth the effort.
www.visitcheshire.com/whats-on/top-events
This part of the North-West is packed with exciting events and fun-filled festivals. Look out for motorsport in the grounds of Cholmondeley Castle at Malpas, there’s the annual RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park, summer concerts at the Anderton Boat Lift, Northwich, the Cheshire Game and Country Fair at Knutsford and the Arley Christmas floral extravaganza.
By Road: Mobberley is located on B5085 between Knutsford/Alderley Edge, 2 miles east of Knutsford
By Rail: Nearest stations are Knutsford and Mobberley, both a short taxi ride from the Roebuck
Mill Lane, Mobberley, Cheshire, WA16 7HX
Atmospheric old schoolhouse, now a cracking pub with imaginative all-day menu, gins galore, and cosy-smart rooms
See more
Historic country inn in stunning conservation village with quiet, luxurious rooms and a fish-centric menu
See more
Revel in the calm of this exquisite, ancient inn and tuck into some innovative food; bedrooms are smart and charming.
See more