More of those photos of food you love, as I travel between Salford and Bury, the two gourmet capitals of the north. In my mind anyway.
A beautiful morning to explore Salford and walk off the previous night’s pie.


Salford may lack Manchester’s expensive craft beer scene and disposable clothes shops, but on a good day Peel Park and the churches along Chapel St shine.
Sadly, the Crescent is still closed, and Lupo was just about to take its stunning Italian breakfasts and espressos off to the Quays. Best breakfast this year, and the sourdough lasted till the weekend.


A fairly slow walk to Victoria, past a pub I never knew actually existed. It looked great, but a pint of Bombardier at 11am is pushing it.

Sadly the one round the corner is long dead…

Good job I’d ate well, as Bury market was closed when I got there on t’tram. I know you’d love to have seen the black pudding and hot potatoes. I couldn’t have walked those off on the half hour up to the Sundial in Walmersley.
The craft tidal wave is clearly irrepressible as it surges into Lancashire. Joining the Clarence and Trackside in the Guide is a modernised Thwaites house next to the sort of street art you see in Bethnal Green.

It’s a classic red brick local, lacking only the lunchtime trade it probably last had in March 2007.
If there were beers from the Thwaites craft range they were well hidden, but who can resist the lure of Wolves’ finest ?
It was decent beer (NBSS 3), served at an ideal temperature, and I watched ten minutes of Real Madrid TV in an empty pub. The pub ticker’s lot.
Perhaps Sunday is the time to come here to see Lancashire complaining at its best. 9.30am opening and a cooked breakfast.
Even better beer, and food, lay ahead.
Well can’t wait for the next episode then!!
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Paul would love a breakfast like that when being a tourist.
“and disposable clothes shops”
Why do I get the feeling you don’t mean clothes you can rip off in a mad frenzy prior to some rumpy pumpy? 🙂
Cheers
PS – As for the Rovers Return; pfft – there’s a Moon Under Water as well as a Peaky Blinders so there’s a lot of folk getting in on the act of famous “not” pubs. 😉
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Calm down, Russ.
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Canadian winter is approaching*; the nights are drawing in. I can’t help it. 🙂
*I was going to use the first synonym here, but thought better of it:
http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/approaching?s=t
Cheers
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You’re very high maintenance, Russ, but us UK pub bloggers are very appreciative of you 👏
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That’s a breakfast and a half!
Planning a nostalgia trip back to Salford In January. I was at Uni there from 1973-76, followed by a year at Manchester Polytechnic (called something else now!)
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I knew someone famous went to Salford ! Quite a bit of development at the Uni, but the area itself is still in need of some TLC.
Let me know when you’re there, I might join you for a pint of Holts 😉
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I dont think The Rovers Return in Salford is a gimmick,i went in it on the 3rd August 1995,also done The Crown and the Sundial.
I had done all pubs in Marple and Marple Bridge before the new micro ones appeared.
I am pretty sure i will never do a pub in Greater Manchester again,not through ill health but because i had done so many pubs there.
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You’re right, Alan. It’s a proper pub. I just wondered if the pub was named after the fake one or vice versa.
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I also wondered the same when i did it,Martin.
You should get some of your more Google savvy readers to look into it,but was Google going in 1995 when i did it.
On another note i have been told to look forward to things to keep me going,so we both think going out for a drink is a good thing,did Birmingham a couple of weeks ago,it did not go too well as i felt a bit unwell,doing Wellington this Saturday hope i feel better,that will be my last pub crawl this year.
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I hope you feel well enough for that Alan. All best wishes from readers of this blog.
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The Rovers Return was originally the Lord Nelson until a name change in the 1980s. It is pictured here in the 1960s https://www.flickr.com/photos/61756486@N05/6319539136/
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Thanks Luke.
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Martin, Salford/Manchester nostalgia trip designed to coincide with Manchester Beer Festival. I’ve missed the past two, so am determined to combine the festival with a visit to a few of my old haunts. Would be good to meet up in a Heritage pub, and Holt’s certainly have a few of those.
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I’ll certainly be up there for some of that. I need to be protected from the evil strong IPAs though..
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