retiredmartin

April 2023.

Another midweek trip to Manchester for haircut and pub tick, with a twist.

I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but it was actually cheaper to go to Hyde via Piccadilly than just go to Piccadilly.

Honestly, they paid me £9.90 (nearly a tenner !) to extend my trip beyond Manchester’s main terminus. How does that work ?

Of course, you MUST actually make that connection to Hyde. A little man will follow you on to the train and make sure you do.

But who wouldn’t want to go to Hyde in the rain ? Even if there’s no Bass.

My target is a wet 20 minute jog from Hyde Central to Gee Cross, which a decade ago served the best pint of John Smiths Cask I’ve had this century. Not today though.

Gee Cross is a tidy suburb best known for lovely Werneth Park, rather than some solid looking pubs,

but my target is the (inevitable) new micro.

3 Drinks Behind has just opened at 4pm, so I don’t expect much in the way of conversation,

but at the bar the barperson (top) proves my point that Young People are great by chatting to me as if I’m not a mad axe murderer or beer enthusiast.

“Are you a CAMRA member ?” he asks, and I cannot deny him once, let alone thrice.

No idea what beer I had, wish I’d some idea, but it was one of the ones on the beer board.

Anyway, it was gorgeously cool, crisp and tasty, an NBSS 4 for the ages.

Our young hero chatted Gee Cross, University courses in Liverpool, pubs in that city and Manchester, and made me feel thoroughly welcome. Which is all you can ask.

I wish I’d had the time and inclination to revisit Hyde’s own pubs, given that the rail companies are paying me £9.90 to visit the town. There’s at least a couple of crackers, as well at some lovely redbrick architecture around the town hall.

I know it’s wet in Greater Manchester, but do seals really live here ?