NO RAIN IN MANCHESTER

Hope you had a happy Easter. Morrisons in Hillsborough certainly know the true meaning of the day;

On Saturday we took advantage of the Government’s permission to leave our house for the first time since Christmas and meet people with long hair outside.

A pleasing trip across the Woodhead Pass (A616/628) to Manchester, stopping to admire the bonfire of unread 2021 Beer Guides at Ironbower Moss.

There’s three potential routes across the Peak. The short one (Snake Pass, windy in both senses), the long one round the motorways (dangerously close to Leeds) and our chosen one, which also takes in Deepcar tip and the car park known as the A57 through Mottram.

Half of east Manchester was heading towards Sheffield as we passed the Etihad and entered the eternal city at 1pm.

Straight out into Ancoats from Matt and Emma’s house, which I’ve denoted as “Ale House Pub” on the map, even though no such place exists. How mysterious.

Matt lives 3 minutes walk from Pollen, the world’s most desirable sourdough bakery. Matt hates sourdough.

He might like cask, if it ever opens.

Ancoats seems a bit wasted on Matt and Emma, who are no hipsters (thankfully). It’s a bit like Mark E Smith living in Didsbury just so he can grumble about the lack of Holt Bitter.

Still, they know their way around now.

Note how my very presence brought the sun out over Halle St Peters, despite warnings of gloomy weather for the weekend. The sun shines on the righteous, as Matt had to admit.
Despite a rumbling tummy, I stopped to admire the art, and the queues for craft cans outside Ancoats General Store. Life is slowly returning.
And then we compliantly stood outside Viet Shack for 20 minutes typing in a complex Click-and-Collect order, which failed at the final hurdle due to the technicality of not opening till 5pm.

We pressed on, through rows of those young people sipping sours soya lattes in Stevenson Square, on towards the painting of Sir Tom (replacing Mick Hucknall),

on towards the curry cafes of the Northern Quarter.

Even the graffiti is superior in Manchester.

Then someone decided we should cut our losses and head to Subway.

In Part 2 we cross the river.

Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

22 thoughts on “NO RAIN IN MANCHESTER”

  1. Looking at the map you would think the time differences of the three routes would be much greater. The Leeds route looks much much longer than 13 minutes more. Are places like Kabana doing take away? I really wanted to try that one but they close early and it intrudes on our cask intake.

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    1. Dave,
      There are many anomalies like that on British roads.
      Stafford to Shrewsbury for me means through Newport but Mrs Mudge, who does 97% of the driving for our household, prefers motorways, does a proper dogleg nearly via Wolverhampton and it takes no longer.

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  2. The Leeds route via M1/M62 is TWICE as long but there’s no roundabout and no bottleneck just east of Hyde. Which way have you approached Manchester.

    I don’t think the curry cafes are doing takeaway from what I saw, too much extra work in a slick operation. Kabana was a bit salty when I visited, but that was 5+ years ago so possibly worth a revisit.

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  3. Then there’s the fourth route, which is to head for Castleton on the A625. Swerve the bit of the old A-road that was demolished by landslips in the 1970s by taking a left up Winnats, then rejoin the old main road to Chapel en le Frith and the A6 to Manchester. Slower but scenically more interesting.

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      1. I *am* The Knowledge.

        I remember travelling that road in 1970 in my grandparents’ car on my first visit to the Peak District, and seeing it again years later when nature had “taken back control” (without the need for a referendum) made a great impression on me. One of my favourite places (as is noted in that “Sheffield edition” you refer to).

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      3. I don’t eat out all that much so I can’t tell you much about curry houses. (Sorry to be letting you down.) Like Dave says, it reduces the opportunities for having more beer.

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      4. We’ve hardly had a takeaway, let alone eaten out, since moving to Sheff nearly four (4 !) months ago. I’ll buy you a chip in Abbeydale Moonshine batter when I see you.

        You’re right about it slowing down the drinking.

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      5. I got 100% in “the Knowledge” exam for my local Hackney Carriage and Private Hire licenses fifteen years ago but it was an easy test and by then I had lived in Stafford for 33 years.

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    3. There’s a fifth route in principle.

      When all trans-Pennine routes have been shut with snow, and you really do have to be in Manchester, then people have been known to drive down the M1 to the A50, and across to the M6 at Stoke. Well, from Long Eaton at least…

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      1. Etu,
        That reminds me of Castleton one wintery Sunday lunchtime when the snow suddenly and heavily came down and we only just managed to get back via the A57, M1 and A50, and we only did the last bit on the A518 up Weston Bank with luckily being able to follow a snow plough. We don’t get proper winters like that nowadays – maybe why Holts have closed their Winters theme bar in Stockport.

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  4. Cask is excellent AND you can now get deliveries from the Hip Hop Chip Shop just over the road direct to you table at Cask. When it reopens of course.

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      1. Martin,
        Yes, I’m more often in the very nearby Peveril of the Peak and Britons Protection.
        I looked in two years ago but they hadn’t got Moonraker on.

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