retiredmartin

February 2025. Stalyvegas.

The new Good Beer Guide is a joy. Trips to Mansfield, Uxbridge and now Stalybridge for the avid ticker.

And folk who want to see how the eastern suburbs of Greater Manchester are looking post-COVID.

Some smart central flats above Gladstone’s barber shop-cum-bistro,

and some promising street art,

almost suggest some modest gentrification in a town 12 minutes by train from Piccadilly.

The famous nightlife goes untested,

and we join what seems to be half of Staly in the packed Spoons.

I’d challenge anyone deposited in the middle of the Society Rooms (Mrs RM actually worked out what it was before a pub) you wouldn’t know whether you were in Stalybridge or Stoke or Stowmarket.`

Even from the beer prices. Wilde Child seem ubiquitous in JDWs at the moment.

Only coffee and eggs bene I’m afraid, and no stocking up at the town’s signature shop.

No, not the funeral directors.

Melbourne Street, the main pedestrianised shopping lane, looks a bit sad with those micros all locked up till later, but follow the art to the end of the road,

and join me in the Guide newbie when I’ve had my tea.