Swan with Two Nicks — Restaurant in Little Bollington with Agden

Lovely Pub but first experience ruined by rude affiliate named Paul.

Myself and my partner were back visiting the area over the festive period from London. Having just walked around Dunham Massey we decided to try this Pub. The time was just before 12, about 11:45 and as we approached the entrance to the pub car park it was blocked by a couple's Dalmatian dogs.

We walked past and into the area outside the pub however as we were about 3 meters past I head a sarcastic "thanks" come from the gentlemen who owned the dogs (Paul), I looked round at him as it was clearly their fault for blocking the public entrance with their dogs. As I made eye contact he then proceeded to say "the bins are out there, we pay for our bins, the council pay for that one" (To put this into context, myself and my partner were holding two disposable coffee cups purchased from our walk round Dunham Massey earlier) the man had no idea if we had finished with our drinks, he was merely being rude and harassing us for one reason or another. Perhaps he had some undiagnosed anger issues?

Being the reasonable person I am and having actually finished my coffee, I obliged and walked off the pub premises and put my coffee cup in the bin next to the public footpath. It was as I walked back, he then began to ask us if we had parked our car in the pub car park (further harassment for no apparent reason!), we had not as we had parked near Dunham Massey. This was no doubt because he wanted to tell us we had to pay for the privilege had we parked it there.

Finally, as we walked back he then continued to say the "pub doesn't open until 12"... A perfectly normal thing to say you might think, but the constant verbal harassment of myself and my partner who were doing no more than having a look to see if the pub was open was very strange and unusual for a person we had just met. My partner then challenged him to ask if he had a problem with us, after this challenge he and his wife began to walk away.

As we entered the pub, we had the inclination that this person must be associated with the pub. We asked the lady at the bar and she confirmed his name was Paul and she would raise the complaint directly. We decided to stay and eat at the pub and later we saw the man in question going upstairs in the pub and come back down again, no attempt at an apology or explanation was made. Instead the poor lady on the bar had to act as a go-between to tell us that he had made the original comment (the one about the coffee cups, not the sarcastic 'thank you') as there had been incidents of fly tipping in the area recently. An excuse which almost had me laugh out loud, two coffee cups and two large empty bins on their premises... Hardly going to cause an overflow old chap!

If you are still following - I must stress, the pub and it's staff itself are lovely and the review is purely directed at the associate who ruined what was an otherwise lovely day. Morale of the story, avoid a man named Paul at all costs and...

Worst experience of a pub ever! The staff should be ashamed. Had been for a nice walk and wanted to end with a nice Sunday lunch in what I thought was a good pub. I was greeted at the bar by a very unfriendly lady who I ordered drinks with whilst collecting menus. Went back in to order after deciding what to eat, where I explained our 1 year old son had allergies to milk and egg and asked if the fish fingers contained any of these. He disappeared into the kitchen to check and returned to say he was told they contained milk. Ok I will take the sausage instead. Then a colleague came out and explained she had read the packet and they did not contain either. So we changed back to fish fingers. £6 When the server brought our starters out I asked if he could double check on the allergens, as I was concerned. He said he would check. I had ordered pan fried garlic and herb prawns. I was expecting some lovely large pan fried shell on prawns at £7.50 but in reality what I got was some small frozen shrimp. Very disappointing and tasted exactly how they looked. The wife had the ham hock terrine, also £7.50 it was fairly tasty but mostly due to the piccalilli. Presentation of both dishes was terrible. Certainly nothing like the website would suggest. I also had to ask for cutlery. He didn’t return with any so I had to go in and get some myself . The same fellow came out with the mains, accompanied by another 2 server. I asked if he had checked regarding the allergens. He said he had spoke with the young lady who had previously assured me the fish fingers dis not contain egg or milk. I thanked him and we began to eat. Well I say began to eat, we began to ate after I had to go back inside AGAIN for cutlery. All 3 had not thought bring any. I had ordered the lamb shank which was average at best. Seemed very old and tough, it was also extremely fatty. I didn’t finish it. The mash was nice though, butter makes anything taste great. My wife ordered the lamb hot pot which looked awesome but unfortunately tasted more like liver hot pot. It was awful! She did not eat it. We waited for some one to come out to ask how everything was but I might as well have expected cutlery. As we finished up, my son broke out in hives all over his neck. I went in to ask for the manager who came over to check the babys neck. I can only assume to make sure we weren’t lying. I asked how this could possible happen as I had expressed my concerns with 3 members of staff. She disappeared inside and returned to shove £25 into my hand and tell me the chef must have cooked the fish fingers with battered fish, batter which contains egg and milk! Absolutely unacceptable! She didn’t seem to take it very seriously. Clearly the chef or the 3 members of staff I told didn’t either. It’s a good job that he isn’t anaphylactic or they would be getting sued! Someone could die! Lovely pub in a great spot but I would never return. Worse food I have ever had in a...

I came. I saw. I was fed so well I briefly considered proposing to the roast potatoes.

The Swan with Two Nicks isn’t just a pub — it’s a spiritual experience wrapped in gravy and served with a smile. Nestled in the kind of countryside that makes you want to write poetry about sheep, this place is hands-down one of the best pubs I’ve ever accidentally inhaled half a roast dinner in.

The Mrs had seabass so fancy it looked like it had a LinkedIn profile. My Sunday roast, on the other hand, was so good I blacked out for a moment after the first bite and woke up halfway through Yorkshire pudding number three, whispering “I’m home.”

The staff? Incredible. Lovely, warm, and probably trained by Mary Poppins and Bake Off’s Paul Hollywood — just enough charm, just enough sass, and I’m convinced at least one of them had magical powers.

Now, let’s talk about the name. “The Swan with Two Nicks” – not some dodgy EastEnders plot twist, but an actual bit of Tudor-era bird marking banter. Back in the day, if your swan had one nick on its beak, it belonged to the Dyers. Two nicks? Vintners. No nicks? Belongs to the Crown. Basically, it was like Game of Thrones but with more feathers and fewer decapitations. And yes, people really had full-time jobs rowing up the Thames putting rings on swan legs. Royal hobbies were wild.

Also worth noting: if you Google “Swan with Two Necks,” you’ll discover just how niche 16th-century pub puns got. Shakespeare would’ve lost his mind.

In summary: ✅ Food: biblical ✅ Staff: elite level humans ✅ History: swans, monarchy, and 16th-century sass ✅ Roast potatoes: spiritual awakening

Would I travel again from Haworth just to eat here? Absolutely. I’d crawl...