Cat and Fiddle Inn, the second-highest pub in England
The Cat and Fiddle Inn is a pub and distillery located in remote moorland between Macclesfield Forest and Wildboarclough, sitting at over 1,640 feet (500 meters) in elevation. The stone building with traditional architecture now houses a craft distillery producing gin and whisky on-site, sold in an attached shop where visitors can also enjoy drinks.
The inn was founded in 1813 by silk merchant John Ryle as a stopover for travelers on the busy turnpike road connecting Macclesfield and Buxton. After serving as a popular gathering spot for decades, it closed in 2014 until a local distillery company took over the building in 2019 and fully restored it through a crowdfunding campaign.
The building carries a name rooted in traditional English nursery rhyme culture, reflecting how rural pubs were named after folk motifs. Today it serves as a gathering place where locals and visitors meet after exploring the moorland, continuing a long tradition of hospitality in the countryside.
The location is best reached by car or bike, as the surrounding roads are winding and narrow, requiring careful driving. The moorland surroundings offer walking trails, and visitors can take guided tours of the distillery process before browsing the shop stocked with local products and goods.
The building sits at one of Britain's highest locations for a whisky distillery and uses its underground cellars as ideal storage for maturing spirits. This geographical advantage transformed the former pub into a perfect location for the modern distillery now producing award-winning spirits there.
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