This week’s pub has the ‘best views a pub could ever have’ and is in a tiny village of less than 500 people.

The Rock Inn, Tockholes, has recently come under new management and is highly rated on Tripadvisor.

Introduce yourself

My name is Matthew Kavanagh, and I run the pub with my fiancée, Joanne Ashton.

Why did you want to take over the pub?

We used to live in Ashton-under-Lyne before moving to the pub, but my brother has lived in Tockholes for a while, so whenever we would come to visit him, this would be our local.

It’s weird because we never dreamed we would be actually running the place.

Are there better views for a pint? (Image: Rock Inn) Have you run pubs before?

No, we’re really out of our comfort zone. I’m 42 and have no experience running pubs, but we’ve got a great chef and we’re beginning to find our feet.

What’s the best thing about the pub?

So many things, the views are the best of any pub around, you can see Blackpool from here on a clear day. 

Some people come and use our car park just to look at the view, so it’s pretty special.

But, the food is great as well, we’ve changed the menu to a more traditional English pub menu, which locals seem to want, and that has gone down really well.

What’s the most popular dish?

Tough one, our fish and chip Fridays make the pub absolutely packed, but our rag pudding is also really popular.

It’s not cheap and cheerful but it’s quality, homemade food. The fish we get brought in fresh from Fleetwood.

We also do a cheese and onion pie that no other pub around here can beat really.

What’s the draught line-up?

  • Paradise IPA

  • Birra Moretti

  • Madri

  • Carlsberg Export

  • Carling

  • Guinness

  • Old Mout berries and cherries cider

  • Inch’s cider

  • Strongbow

  • Original Thwaites’ Bitter

  • Thwaites Wainwright Gold

The bar with its beer line up (Image: Rock Inn) What do you think of living in Tockholes?

It’s a lovely little quaint village of less than 500 people, and everyone has made us feel welcome. 

We’ve got our regulars and the parish council has been amazing, any issues we’ve had, they have helped us sort them.

What’s the most enjoyable thing about running a pub?

I’d say getting to meet new people, that’s been great!