January 2025. Manchester.
Wednesday brings a train from Rye to Ashford, and then to St Pancras (no pub stop), on to Sheffield (where the boiler has frozen), and off to Manchester for City v Brighton, whose fans have had a similar journey.
I’m also here for an overdue cut from Matt in Chinatown’s Helvete, during which my youngest son outlines his exciting travel plans for 2026. Edinburgh, Rome, Geese in Cologne; I’m jealous.
Emma joins us to say hello.
“Are we going for a pint Dad ?“. What was I just saying about the social role of pubs ?
“I’m having a day off beer Matt. Coffee ?“. Matt’s anguish is palpable.
We agree I’ll have a non-alcoholic beer in the bran’ new Head of Steam on Dale Street, in what used to be Cottonopolis.
It’s notable that a smart modern restaurant is replaced by a wet-led pub (there is a burger pop-up but I didn’t notice it). It’s on the walking route from Northern Quarter to the Etihad, so should get a fair bit of passing trade,
and City fans like their cask, so the Vocation Porter seemed a good bet.
Hey ! What happened to the non-alcoholic beer ?
One of you can work out what my pint of cask cost. With pints of Jubel and Brugse Zot Matt paid £17.85. It’s no wonder he can’t believe the prices in Sheffield.
Has much really changed since Head of Steam launched in 1995 ? Brugse Zot, Cameron Strongarm, “How Soon Is Now” by The Smiths, a lack of comfortable seating…
But that Victorian Porter is gorgeous, rich and chewy (NBSS 4). Head of Steam aren’t my favourite pub chain, but the staff are great and the cask is consistently good.
retiredmartin 
Pint of Jubel £7.20
Pint of Brugse Zot £8.80
So that’s £16, leaving only £1.85 for your Vocation.
Assume instead a modest half of Zot, that’s £4.40 + £7.20= £11.60. Then your Vocation would be £6.25.
How can they afford to live in Manchester?
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You are a winner ! I think he had a schooner. What’s the answer now ?
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Guiness prices are a law unto themselves. My own usual drinking hole in Willesden, NW 10, a simple Irish bar which will never grace the GBG, sells perfect, double-pulled, pints of The Black Stuff for £4.20 a pint and still makes a profit. Elsewhere…
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Well that’s Willesden for you ! I think I paid under a fiver in a genuine Irish pub in Stoke Newington 2 years ago.
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“on to Sheffield (where the boiler has frozen),”
How ironic that the first thing I read after returning from the holidays is THAT!
“I’m also here for an overdue cut from Matt in Chinatown’s Helvete”
I’m overdue myself. Will I get a discount if I fly over there?
“Edinburgh, Rome, Geese in Cologne; I’m jealous.”
At this point in time, my darling wife and I are putting a kibosh on more travel, at least by car.
“We agree I’ll have a non-alcoholic beer in the bran’ new Head of Steam on Dale Street, in what used to be Cottonopolis.”
Good compromise! 👍
“It’s notable that a smart modern restaurant is replaced by a wet-led pub”
A sign of the times? Also, makes sense what with being near local transport. I’ve heard they are thinking of making it a wee bit more difficult to have a pint, then jump in the car to go home.*
* – see my remarks in the PS at the end 😏
“Hey ! What happened to the non-alcoholic beer ?”
It’s becoming a bit of a ‘thing’ over here.
“One of you can work out what my pint of cask cost. With pints of Jubel and Brugse Zot Matt paid £17.85.”
(recovers from fainting); I make it, £1.85?
“Has much really changed since Head of Steam launched in 1995 ?”
Everything changes every day! I’m just thankful that I can keep up… for now.
“But that Victorian Porter is gorgeous, rich and chewy (NBSS 4).”
Blimey; definitely no ‘zero’ beer then (though the Head of Steam Gold was less ABV). 😎
Cheers
PS – Yes, I’m back, sort of. January is always a ‘blah’ month for me with my muse taking it’s on holiday so to speak. So I’ll reply to at least one post a day (by you) but no guarantees after that. 🫠
As for the remainder of my travels after our car was ‘frozen’ on Christmas Day; we arrived in Edmonton six hours late (a bit like the year before when it was seven hours late, but that was due to cancelled flights). We had hoped to see our youngest without everyone else, but that was a no-go, again (we don’t go to our eldest’s house – where our grandkids are – until Dec 26th as he has a big family get together with his wife’s side of the family). We at least had our own Christmas dinner this year, as my darling wife purchased two pre-cooked turkey, mash, stuffing etc. before leaving home (we take a cooler with us on the drives). So, Christmas Day, we get up to drive to our son’s house and… car won’t start (only -31C overnight). We take an Uber and decide to try to ignore it for a few days. Luckily, our eldest drove Rose (my darling wife) to the hotel later than day and, it started! I spent the next few days coordinating getting a block heater installed over the holiday period, with success (we needed it on the drive home as it was still -30C overnight in some parts). It actually warmed up to 2C on the day I needed to get the car to the dealership, so didn’t have to have it towed. However, that meant the snow melted and refroze, so our trip home was just as horrid as the trip out. We ran into black ice on the first day, actually fishtailed into the passing lane and back before recovering. Drove at 45mph after that with hazards flashing (speed limit was 70mph), and we counted 24 vehicles in the ditch, some upside down or on their sides). The next day was whiteout conditions so drove even slower! The 3rd day was good for the first half, then we hit wet snow, fog, and slippery conditions (we were just over 4,000 feet up at this point on the highway:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coquihalla_Summit
We arrived at our stop too early to check in (my wife wanted to go shopping where we land on Vancouver Island before going home, so we stopped to take the ferry the next morning). She, of course, took this as an opportunity to do some more shopping before checking in, so I dropped her the mall and went for a pint. Luckily it was just one pint as, when I left the bar/pub at 2:30pm, a nice policeman pulled me over for a breathalyzer, due to the fact I’d been at a bar/pub. I passed! (thank goodness), but that left a sour taste in my mouth. 😏
Anyway, the final 90 minute drive on Vancouver Island was delightful, as opposed to the other 34 odd hours we spent driving.
Needless to say, we have now decided to NOT drive through the Rockies in the winter. We will fly from now on, even if it does require us taking a 2nd mortgage out on the house. 😉
Cheers, again! 🍻
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Argh, edit to say we (tried) to drive to our eldest’s house on Boxing Day, not Christmas Day. Christmas Day was spent in Hinton, Alberta, paying for an extra day at the hotel/motel while we kept our fingers crossed someone would come out to warm up our car in their garage so we could drive three hours, only to have it happen all over again on Boxing Day. 😉
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