retiredmartin

April 2026. Tyldesley.

A slight post now, perhaps, but I thought you’d like to see the highlights of my mile walk through central Tyldesley (pop. 16,142) in Wigan’s old colliery belt.

Love a Monkey Puzzle tree.

A spotless red brick town, with a heartening number of Chinese takeaways and an Indian gastro pub called “Ale & Aloo” that will turn up being included in Matthew Curtis’s new Manc Beer Book launched later that day.

You can run it, if you like;

Some high quality knitted post box,

the odd bit of unconvincing street art,

some classic ghost signs,

and a lot of pubs.

Double that number before the smoking ban, I wager, but the GBG favourites survive. The Half Moon, the heritage Mort Arms, and the Union (patience !).

But there’s also some new life, and I don’t just mean Skenning Bobs.

There’s also modern places called Grape & Graze (a wine bar), Roots & Chalice (a rum bar), and Hop & Hazelwood, the other crafty tip in the new Manc Beer Book.

Shamefully, I visited none of those. But you’ll like the one I did.