Derbyshire Dales are best for ales

IT'S A TRICKY TIME FOR PUBS, SO IT'S HEARTENING TO HEAR ONE AREA'S STILL GOT IT WHEN IT COMES TO WETTING YOUR WHISTLE, SAY MILO BOYD AND DAVID DUBAS-FISHER

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THE pub capital of the UK has been crowned, and it’s a beautiful area with its cosy inns and rolling hills. Step forward the glorious Derbyshire Dales.

Our data team has crunched the numbers and found that drinkers in this area get more pubs than anywhere else in England and Wales.

However, it’s been a rough year for the industry with many pubs facing increasingly tricky futures.

A report by UKHospitality warned that six venues will close every day in 2026 without support - a total of more than 2,000. That far outstrips the 378 that closed in 2025, according to the Institute of Licensing.

The British Beer and Pub Association also worries pubs will need to sell an extra 1.3 billion pints of beer a year to offset surging taxes.

But there are still thousands of incredible pubs across the country, and areas where the trade thrives.