The thing about pubs is that most 'reviews' of them I have read when looking for somewhere to go out to in a strange locality turn out to be very much the personal opinion of the reviewer and get out of date very quickly. You often find that a place was 'romantic' because the reviewer was in love, or 'relaxing' because the reviewer was relaxed. It is interesting how restaurant reviewers seem to differ in their views about a place when they are paying out of their own pockets, from when they are on a freebie with their pals.

Pubs are, in my experience, generally only as good as the mood you take to them and the people you are with. This is particularly the case because alcohol is a disinhibiter - it doesn't change moods so much as draw them out. Sometimes I like loud music and lots of action to join in with, at other times I want to have a quiet and thoughtful chat.

So this is not a blog in which I am going to state that the atmosphere is good or bad, or could be improved or promise that you will have brilliant time or write the place off as having such and such a crowd. The place has been known to be pretty full on a Friday night, with lots of music and crowds milling out the front door enjoying each others' company. This can seem quite odd in an otherwise near deserted High Street late at night.

I can't vouch for it being like that every time people go, or whether people who visit will enjoy the atmosphere. As one of my great drinking buddies used to say in the days when I would prop bars up nearly every night - you take the atmosphere to the bar. So I will merely tell you that when I last went in this pub for a swift half with a friend who knows him, the landlord Tom was friendly to us.

He is also also known as being particularly friendly to local senior citizens: he offered a free lunch for senior citizens on the 11th and 12 December 2007 comprising Turkey and Ham, Stuffing, Spuds and Fresh Vegetables. On 17 March 2008 he was giving away boiled cabbage, spuds and Irish Stew to all comers during the day.

The pub has a strict policy on headgear: headgear of any description is not allowed while in the premices. So there's a further clue to a perplexing local mystery.

The pub has a room at the back with a pool table, they have a successful football team, put sports on TV and have tables in the front bar by the window so you could watch the goings on in the market if the view wasn't blocked by paper that is covering them. I have never seen the pub empty. The Cock has been open for years and has happy memories for a lot of locals, and probably a few ghosts. If you know this pub and have any comments to make, feel free to add them to this blog.

Opposite Argos , Tradicia and the Post Office at the corner of Buxton Road and the High Street. To its right is 4 Seasons ladies shoe shop. The Cock, by the way, was designed by one T.W.Fletcher.

You often see people standing around outside the front of the Cock, as they don't have a beer garden and people go outside for a smoke, even in freezing weather. Back in the 1920s, according to an old timer called A S Jaspar, in a book written in 1969 called Look Back Without Anger, there would usually be a crowd of guys outside the Cock drinking pints of beer from cans that had been filled at an off-licence over the road. At least today's the landlord hasn't got that to contend with, but I bet the smoking ban has affected his trade.

[Updated 14 July 2009]