retiredmartin

February 2026. Stockport.

Hah ! Clickbait. Not a new local for me, though Mrs RM is already tired of Sheffield as our house has a garden that she now regrets buying. Why can’t you make an increased offer to buy a property without a garden.

Youngest lad Matthew is looking to leave the rents of central Manchester and has been scouring Right Move for starter homes in Greater Stockport, which under CAMRA boundaries seems to extend from Stoke to the Etihad. What use is a dad if he can’t help his son evaluate potential local boozers ?

I’m not one to feed a stereotype, but it was raining as I headed from the station to the Underbanks, pausing only to wonder what become of Robbies brewery site.

Be a good place for that Museum of Pubs that Wolverhampton Spoons never got around to.

Talking of Spoons.

I’m not saying it’s as good as the Jaipur that had just gone on (causing a rush to the bar),

but that Isotonic low alcohol Erdinger is a decent lunch-time option, and counts as the cheaper soft drink option with your Korean chicken. Don’t be fooled like I was, though, it’s the fried chicken you want, not the grilled one.

I know you find my dietary advice useful. I also advise Superdrug for your umbrella that won’t get confiscated that night at the Etihad but will disintegrate at the first drop of actual rain. In fairness, the drizzle stopped as I headed past new hipster bar “Holy Diver”,

but then became torrential crossing the M60 on the dash yto Navigation Hill.

As you’ll see, a flood of pubs in Heaton Moor and Stocky centre,

slimmer pickings at Navigation Hill/Heaton Norris (east).

“Fancy a coke, Matt ?“. Matt, on a dash from Heaton Chapel, was soaked. He fancied a pint.

It’s 25 years since the Navigation was local Pub of the Year, an outlet for Congleton’s finest and a GBG regular, and just as I remembered it.

The landlady, as cheery as you’d hope, offered tasters of the two Beartown cask beers. “A pint’s a taster !”. I didn’t want to cause a scene by refusing.

I cannot lie about beer quality. The Creme Brulee and IPA veered towards NBSS 4 and 3.5, and that’s a win.

The bloke at the bar chatted City and VAR, the Gents provided poetry,

and there’s even a pool table.

Matt seems to have been won over by the charms of the Crown, but the Navigation would do for me.