SNEAKING A PEAK AT GBG22 IN THE WATERS GREEN TAVERN

Let’s get on to the Macclesfield Meander then, starting at the Waters Green Tavern.

Possibly Macc’s best known pub, the one that for years declared “We are NOT a free house !” in Opening Times. There’s nothing wrong with belonging to a (good) pub chain, you know, as we’ll see later.

Now, if you want the well-written, concise, factually correct version I suggest you go to Pub Curmudgeon’s post here.

Mudgie writes “Martin Taylor had not yet received his copy of the 2022 Good Beer Guide, which is a bit of a problem when you’re trying to tick off the entries, and so he took advantage of the opportunity to photograph some of the pages of mine (top photo), although he did occasionally talk to us too.”

For his part, Old Mudgie seemed pleased enough to see Mrs RM replaced by Baa Baa. He’s just a big softie, as we shall discover when we see his jukebox selections shortly (unless he bribes me sufficiently in the meantime).

“You always know where you are with a sheep” was one of my big takeaways of the day.

The Waters Green is in GBG22, extending 20 years of settlement, and if you’re after a comparison I’d say the Live & Let Live in Cambridge or Three Pigeons in Halifax, though it seems to have a proper lunchtime food trade that brings in the gentlefolk in decent numbers.

Our small and select group comprised Mudgie, Sheffield Hatter, Jon from Frome, myself and Baa Baa, which a good example of quality and quantity.

Lovely seating, beer mats, an unfussy atmosphere and beers you’ve heard of. Here’s Will looking for something rare;

He’d missed the Plum Porter by a fortnight, proving that the sun doesn’t always shine on the righteous.

Pleasingly, my non-rare Salopian Oracle was served in a proper glass that appealed to the UK’s No.2 Doom Bar fan.

Mark Crilley will be keen to know the soundtrack. Be afraid, Mark, be every afraid;

Talking of music (sort of), we were only one pint in and someone was comparing the bloke from Keane’s face to a runny cheese. Investigate this for yourself and tell us what you think.

Talking of cheese, it was now 12:45, time for lunch.

Don’t look so worried Baa Baa, it was squid.

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.

11 thoughts on “SNEAKING A PEAK AT GBG22 IN THE WATERS GREEN TAVERN”

      1. Pauline is a lady of impeccable musical taste.

        Obviously the bribery to get you to suppress that photo didn’t work, although at least you didn’t post the scowling one 😮

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  3. Well I’ve been reading your blog for years now so I guess it finally had to happen: you’ve written about a pub that— gasp! —I’ve actually been to!

    Happy memories of the Waters Green, on a chilly late November evening something like 10 years ago; my friend Ian took me there just an hour or two after I arrived in town, which I’m sure you’d agree, is just as it should be for all visitors to Macclesfield. Full of customers as I recall, and of that classic “somebody’s front room” atmosphere.

    Delighted to hear they’ve been GBG regulars all these years. Not sure I’d even heard of the GBG back then!

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      2. There was a book around in the late 2000s called “Crap Things” or suchlike, along the lines of “Crap Towns”. It wasn’t much good, tbh, and I ended up lending it to a work colleague and never getting it back, but the one thing that sticks in my mind is it describing Tom Chaplin out of Keane as having “a face like runny cheese”.

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