About us
Meet Ross & Gemma.
The family behind The Old Dog, and the story of finding a pub to call their own.
Ross, Gemma & the team
Nearly ten years in the making.
Ross and Gemma — known as Gemm — took over The Old Dog in May 2022. They wanted a village pub that felt like an extension of home, with a fire to gather around and a welcome for everyone.
The idea began in 2013 while planning their wedding. When they couldn't find a venue that felt right, they organised it themselves. Finding a pub of their own took almost another decade.
Before pub life, Gemm worked as a live-in nanny and Ross spent 20 years in corporate procurement. They wanted to build something together that gave them more time to see their family grow.
Today, good food, local produce and fair prices are at the heart of their independent, family-run pub. Regulars and first-time visitors are equally welcome. Even the logo has a family connection: its dogs are Neep and Mabel.
Our introduction on Instagram
A house, stable and garden on Spend Lane.
In 1798, a lease and release in the FitzHerbert family papers records a house, stable, cowhouse, croft and garden here on Spend Lane. Later deeds in the same sequence refer back to those premises, giving us a reliable trail through the property's early story.
It tells us the site was already established. It does not tell us exactly when every part of the stone building guests see today was first raised.
Built into the journey.
Spend Lane formed part of the old Ashbourne to Buxton turnpike authorised in 1738. The former road towards Cheadle also began outside the pub, and a surviving milestone still marks the junction.
Long before modern walking routes and cycle trails, this was already a place people passed on the way through the Peaks. The inn sat exactly where a traveller might need it.
A few chapters from a longer story.
These are selected milestones supported by the sources below. We would love to fill the gaps with photographs, records and memories from people who knew the pub.
The inn is named
A mortgage in the FitzHerbert family papers explicitly names the Dog and Partridge Inn, with its stable, cowhouse, croft and garden.
A publican in print
Pigot and Co's directory lists the Dog and Partridge at Thorpe and names James Yates as its publican.
The Old Dog arrives
After a full two-year refit, the former Dog and Partridge reopened in late December under its new name.
A fine new chapter
The Ashbourne and District branch of CAMRA named The Old Dog its local Pub of the Year.
How we know.
The historical sections draw on archive records, a contemporary directory, the county historic environment record and CAMRA's local pub record. We will update it if new evidence comes to light.