Nestled beneath imposing limestone cliffs, this is the quirky Peak District village that draws visitors by their thousands - and even the occasional Hollywood star. Stoney Middleton in Derbyshire boasts some rare and unusual dining options while the cliffs and quarries around the village were used by film icon Tom Cruise for the filming of his Mission Impossible 7 movie last summer.
Sitting in the Middleton Dale valley around 13 miles from Buxton, Stoney Middleton was a village that developed and was near carved out from the dramatic scenery all around it. Limestone quarrying was extensive here for a centuries and until fairly recently still remained at the Dalton Quarry where Tom Cruise flew over in a helicopter as he engineered a dramatic stunt that saw a train carriage driven off the cliffs.
But it was far from the first drama to have played out on these cliffs over the years. One of the most famous stories of this Peak District village is that which gives the name to the imposing rock faces as you drive in - the Lovers Leap cliffs.
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According to local legend, back in 1762 the "most beautiful girl in Stoney Middleton" Hannah Baddeley was cruelly rejected by her lover William Barnsley. She climbed the cliffs, proclaimed her love for William and jumped.
But her woollen petticoats were said to have billowed out to act as a parachute - bringing her safely down to the ground and thwarting her attempt to end it all. The episode is said to have cured her of her desire for the chap, and she lived another two years until December 1764.
The episode inspired the name of the cliffs and the pub carved into the side of them which was formerly known as The Lovers Leap, commemorated with a sign on the building. But more recently it has been taken over to become the Curry Cottage restaurant which boasts a quirky geological secret...
The restaurant where you can dine in a cave
For yes, at the Curry Cottage you can actually dine inside a CAVE. Bosses of the Indian restaurant gave a chic modern makeover to the former pub (which had more recently been a greasy spoon style cafe) to become the Curry Cottage seven years ago.
And they've now made a feature of the restaurant's hidden gem - a private dining room that's actually carved into a cave inside the property. Manager Nadeem Khan has installed atmospheric lighting over the cave wall and says the cave room is one of the most popular spots for diners having a special night out there.
But guests should note that when it rains, waters continue to trickle down the side of the cave. Nadeem laughed: "Depending on where you sit and the weather you might get a little bit of spray, but it all adds to the atmosphere.
"Everyone loves to come and look at the cave. There's not many restaurants that have a room like this inside."
The Curry Cottage is open six days a week from 5pm to 11pm Tuesday to Sunday.
When Tom Cruise came to town...
Movie star and action man Tom Cruise stunned villagers when he turned up to film dramatic scenes for the new Mission Impossible 7 movie in Stoney Middleton last summer. A film crew took over a vast site at the Dalton Quarry in April 2021 to create a faux railway that saw a carriage plummet off the side of the cliffs.
Tom was spotted filming in a helicopter over the cliffs for what look set to be explosive scenes on the latest instalment of the action movies. And it sounds like Tom enjoyed many of the delights of Stoney Middleton while he was there.
According to Nadeem at the Curry Cottage he ordered an array of curries for him and his crew while he was in town - and he said he also heard he'd had takeaways from the village's famous chippy too.
The Grade-II listed chippy
Stoney Middleton can boast a very rare one-off - the UK's only Grade II listed fish and chip shop, no less. Toll Bar Fish and Chips is based on the village's main road and has been serving up fried treats since 1926.
The chippy is based inside the village's old Toll House - built originally to charge people who drove down this main road back in the 1800s. Its octagonal design was built to match the unusual shape of the village church.
But by 1926 it was taken over by Herbert Ford to become the village's chippy, before being taken over in 1940 by Eleanor Hall who ran it for some 30 years before retiring. It has remained a chippy ever since, and is now run by Dr Peter Grafton and his wife Kirsten in 2018.
They serve up traditional fish, chips, sausages, pudding and pies, as well as "Yorkshire fishcakes" which layer potato with fish and daily changing specials including halloumi fries, black pudding and haggis.
The building is rather happily situated right next to the Grove Garden where a clear bubbling stream runs directly underneath the Toll Bar and where you can sit and tuck into your freshly cooked chips on a sunny day.
There are a number of plaques attached to the doorway sharing previous awards it has received, including one from the Telegraph "Best Eating Guide" with the quote: "This tiny stone cottage always has queues out of the door as it sells the best fish and chips, not cooked in dripping. The drive to get here is lovely too."
The Toll Bar Fish and Chip shop is open Wednesdays to Saturdays only from 11.30am to 8pm.
Pubs and walks
The village's popularity as a staging post over the years meant a number of pubs sprang up over the past 200 years. But only one still remains - The Moon Inn - which moved across the road from its original location when it was known as The Old Moon Inn.
It boasts modern interiors and a full menu of pub grub. It sits at the bottom of High Street which heads on a steep incline up to the top of the village and which has helped it gain the title of "steepest high street in the country".
Across the road ramblers form a regular procession up the facing hill which has an excellent trail path all the way up the hill and across to Eyam. This is one of Derbyshire's most famous villages, for its tragic past as the "Plague Village" where 206 residents fell victim to the bubonic plague in 1665.
There are signs throughout the village commemorating the dead, as well as a visitor centre marking the terrible moment in the village's history.
For the more adventurous types, the stoney cliffs of this area are also used to great effect for rock climbing. The crag here is one of the most geologically important in the Peaks and has been climbed for decades.
How to get there
Stoney Middleton is based on the A623 between Buxton and Chatsworth in Derbyshire, and is around 35 miles from Manchester city centre.
The nearest train stations are at Hathersage or Grindleford, where there are regular trains to and from Manchester Piccadilly which take around 45 minutes. Buses including the 257 connect Hathersage and Grindleford to Stoney Middleton.
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