A reminder that if you can’t be bothered to read my report look at my photos from the Stockport crawl you could always go straight to the more concise posts from Pub Curmudgeon (here), Kentish Paul Bailey (here) and Brummie Pete (here). I suspect Cheshire Life had a reporter there too.
Stockport had anticipated our invasion (even Mudgie is from the Heatons), and had a shop selling protective clothing to ward off BBB enthusiasts. Or something.
Our second stop, accessed via a charming walk through the picturesque shopping centre, was a Robinsons pub I hadn’t used for a decade.
Partly because it seemed to keep irregular hours that reflect its location in the retail heart of town (see also : a pub in a Crewe shopping centre I’ve long forgotten), but now the Swan With Two Necks is a reliable opener for tickers, tourists and topers.
Getting your hours right, and sticking to them, certainly works. The Swan was getting busier by the minute, with a mixed crowd drawn by chat, pies, and bench seating.
I particularly liked the drinking corridor,
and the “Brains” room,
but we picked the second room on the left where we could have proper Pub Men conversations in private, and where Mudgie could entertain the other “P”s in our group with his Megan Thee Stallion rap.
“Who’s Megan Thee Stallion ?” thinks Pete.
I reckon the Unicorn was the beer of the day, a cool, crisp, foamy, satisfying NBSS 4.
Almost as good as the pints in the Robbies Visitor Centre and the Arden Arms, which is a high standard.
Will had sneaked off, possibly keen to see the amazing sight of the Red Rock entertainment emerging from the back yard, also home to a Pie & Mash Hut.
I know some folk have questioned the grey makeover of the exterior, and I tend to agree that Robbies haven’t got a clue about design (they should take lessons from Sir Humphrey), but many of their Stockport pubs are magnificent.
The next one was good too.
retiredmartin 
I love this pub as well as the Armoury. Great rooms. Amazing when you first walk in and see the hall.
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Yes, I could imagine you liking the Swan. When I first visited nearly 20 years ago it was just another classic Stockport multi-roomer !
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Yes a good pub.
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….but I don’t like the cushions. Too many of them these days. They should have taken them out when they knew the Mudgies were in town.
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Good point, and they should have repainted the exterior black and white especially.
Sadly Stafford Paul Mudge was unable to join us, he loves these pubs.
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2 of the party look as if they are ready for an afternoon nap !
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It was a big walk up that hill, Pauline !
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One of those sleepy heads was me, but I blame the photographer!
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Always ready for an afternoon nap these days!
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me too -make a point of having a few zzz’s after lunch,although not usually in the pub !
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….maybe that’s why the pillows. Looks like a post lunch session on a Health and Safety course
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It’s two Swans, one behind the other isn’t it! Everyone falls for that…
Looks a proper townie boozer, and your billet looks good. As I’m sure you know, it’s sometimes possible to almost take against a pub, not because it doesn’t have great aspects, more that if you get the timing wrong you can end up sitting in the least interesting/convivial part of the pub and feel you’re missing the action. I imagine you’d have to get up pretty early in the morning to bag a seat in the corridor.
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Yes that’s a great point. I’ve been in a few pubs where there’s been no space with the locals and you have to sit on your own in the next room, never quite sure if the locals are wondering why you’re not joining them.
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A wonderful pub that we perhaps tend to take for granted. I did actually move some of the dreaded scatter cushions across to the side where we weren’t sitting 😈
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I think that before that Friday I probably did take the Stockport pubs for granted.
Moving scatter cushions is an act of rebellion !
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Is “Invasion” not a response to the BRAPA visit a couple of years ago?
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