Saturday Morning

We chat refurbishments, Chris's story and Saturday Morning with Chris Mapp from The Tickled Trout, Barlow.

Words: Paul Chapman

Images: The Tickled Trout

With a recent relaxed TV appearance on James Martin’s Saturday Morning show and an award for Pub Restaurant Chef of the Year 2024 you might be surprised to find Chris Mapp, owner of the Tickled Trout in Barlow, unloading a boot full of plants for the pub. As I arrived at the pub this is just typical of the never-ending list of jobs that anyone running a successful gastro pub and restaurant takes on each day.

It’s a while since we’ve met and in April the pub closed for the trades to come in and refurbish the place top to bottom, check out the photo below, the place looks fab. A different feel from old, very five star boutique hotel feel and on the doorstep in Barlow, but still a relaxed, inviting place to eat where we’re all made to feel welcome.

11 years on and Chris described how he set out to create a pub that the village could be proud of, with the AA Rosette awarded in 2024.

Chris has ensured the Tickled Trout has stood the test of time, especially overcoming challenges in the last few years and has managed to take the pub from strength to strength from when he bought it in 2014. "It was a typical village drinkers’ pub," says Chris, "It needed some TLC and I was excited at the opportunity that presented itself."

Chesterfield has been home to Chris since he was nine years old. His parents were always in hospitality, his dad founded the Tom Cobleigh pub chain, and they were landlords when he was a baby so it was in his blood. However, Chris’ first job was in telecoms, before a chance conversation landed him his first job in a 5 star London Hotel’s kitchen in 2001.

“It was here that I fell in love with cooking,” says Chris. "I then moved to  work and train at Gordon Ramsay's and Marcus Wareing’s Michelin starred Pétrus restaurant, I later moved to

The Greenhouse in Mayfair, a two Michelin star restaurant.

"In 2005 I teamed up with Paul Ainsworth, a dear friend, to open and build the successful No.6 in Padstow."

Cornwall was fine but Chris was growing homesick for Derbyshire and his hometown, Chesterfield. "Cornwall is great in the summer, but it’s very remote and quiet in the off seasons."

So in 2009 Chris took a slight change of course and retrained as an Osteopath, carrying out private chef work to fund his study. He completed a masters in London over four years and then returned home, intending to practice as an osteopath. However, passing the Ticked Trout in his family home village he saw that the Tickled Trout was up for sale, he took a look and was hooked.

Chris is always looking for opportunities to share his love of cooking through demonstrations which he has done across the country, and it was through these demos that he formed a relationship with James Martin and was approached to appear on his Saturday morning cookery show.

"The whole crew and James himself were just fantastic and friendly, they helped calm the nerves. I also travelled down with Alysia, the Yorkshire Forager, a close mate of mine, it was a huge relief to have her alongside me there to help me through it."

See ITVx, S8 Ep:14 from 4 April 2025, (scan the QR code) to see Chris in action "I prepared one of my signature dishes, our already-famous spiced cod scotch egg with curry mayonnaise, a homage to my days in Cornwall with Paul Ainsworth. James is such a brilliant professional, it’s very easy being with him, he makes it go extremely smoothly and there’s always room for a chuckle during filming!"

Chris works hard with apprenticeships at the pub, he’s had nine apprentices who have moved on successfully to new Restaurants. Through the Springboard program he helps youngsters and the disadvantaged into hospitality. "It’s great to be able to give people the chance to cook, many simply don’t get the chance and I really enjoy spending time encouraging people. Recently Abbie, from Newbold has been studying an advanced pastry course and is producing some fabulous desserts for our menu."

The Tickled Trout takes pride in sourcing as much produce locally as possible and if you visit their website, they have a ‘food map’ showing who they use. They have their own kitchen garden in the village and compost almost all their food waste, focusing on being as sustainable as possible. This approach was also taken with the recent refurbishment with a local artist, Val Hudson, commissioned for artwork and local contractors and suppliers used throughout including S40 Local advertiser Ideal Carpets.

There has to be a love of fresh fish when you run a pub called The Tickled Trout and it can’t get any fresher than what Chris serves. He has suppliers call him with the catch they make in Cornwall each day, it’s then driven up and delivered to his fridge ready for the kitchen the same day!

Chris is keen to be a supportive part of the village community, they sponsor ‘The Red Barrows’ as seen on Britain’s Got Talent and always ensure the pub is at the centre of the annual Barlow Carnival.

If all this has you feeling hungry, at the minute the menu features the scotch egg as seen on James Martin’s Saturday Morning, mains of steamed cod with muscle cream sauce, an excellent pork dish, côte de porc sourced from Ashover, and a lamb dish using meat from Highfield House Farm. Chris adds "To finish off, our caramelised apple tarte tatin is fabulous to share, but you’ll need to order before your main as they are always cooked from fresh, it’s a dish I picked up from Marcus Wareing in Pétrus and I can wholly recommend it, like anything on our menu!"

But it’s not all fancy, there is always pizza on the menu using their homemade sourdough, and a  pub quiz on Tuesday night, what’s not to like?

It’s been a tough few years in hospitality, COVID, the constant increases in cost, labour and business rates, but Chris works hard to create a place to enjoy quality cuisine, last year picking up ‘Pub Restaurant Chef of the Year 2024’, awarded by Sophie the Duchess of Edinburgh. He quips, "I thought I was there just to make up the numbers, but the vote was unanimous."

With regards to James Martin’s Saturday Morning (Scan the QR code to view), he has already been invited back to the show and adds, “The TV show has over 1.5m live viewers, plus those watching on catch-up, which is huge. I excited to be helping to put Barlow and Chesterfield on the map… I envisage that the lads in the kitchen will be making hundreds of scotch eggs!”

The Tickled Trout 33 Valley Road BarlowS18 7SL

FB: tickledtrouts18

IG: tickledtroutbarlow

www.tickledtroutbarlow.com