February 2025. Stockport. Cheshire. A day of culture with Blackpool Jane, Aberdeen Karen and itinerant Mrs RM, a day when the sun shone on the righteous (Me !), and Stockport’s visitor attractions looked the real deal. Unlike some recent flagship openings like the V & A in Dundee, the HatWorks, town museum and adjacent Staircase… Continue reading ALL THE PUBS IN THE MANCHESTER BEER BOOK. THE SWAN WITH TWO NECKS, STOCKPORT
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UNKNOWN PLEASURES
February 2025. Stockport. Part 2 of our cultured cruising of Cheshire’s finest town, as I narrowly divert our Blackpool visitors away from the Egerton Arms. Look what you could have had, Jane. I sometimes feel I know Stocky as well as Cambridge, bullying visitors into stopping at the best spots. “NO ! Look that way“… Continue reading UNKNOWN PLEASURES
HATS
February 2025. Stockport. Let joy be unconfined. Blackpool Jane is blogging again. Candid and colourful and a bit of cask and chocolate DIPA thrown in. We met up with Jane and fellow Tangerine Karen in Stockport to Do the Culture. I do like pub crawls, curated or otherwise, but CAMRA folk get awfully upset if… Continue reading HATS
MORE DISAPPOINTMENT FOR THOSE SEARCHING FOR SUB-PAR GBG ENTRIES
February 2025. Sheffield. “This Conference instructs the National Executive to reduce the number of pubs in the Good Beer Guide from the 2027 edition onwards, to ensure only quality pubs are featured.” Well, it’ll be worth going to Torquay next month for the big CAMRA shindig to hear that motion debated. There’s been a good… Continue reading MORE DISAPPOINTMENT FOR THOSE SEARCHING FOR SUB-PAR GBG ENTRIES
THE KIVETON TAP. 8% PASTRY STOUTS AND ALL
February 2025. Kiveton. The big trend in Sheffield isn’t hitherto undiscovered Victorian boozers, it’s suburban craft bars open from Thursday to Sunday. Kiveton Tap is one of a dozen Sheffield/Rotherham micros to emerge in post COVID and stake a GBG claim. Kiveton itself has pleasantly repurposed the old mining grounds. 20 years ago we dragged… Continue reading THE KIVETON TAP. 8% PASTRY STOUTS AND ALL
KIVETON PARK. THE FULL SAM SMITHS EXPERIENCE
February 2025. Kiveton Park. Rotherham. Without the pressure of attempting to complete the Beer Guide by mid-September (a doddle compared to probate/house clearance/Powers of Attorney) I’ve been able to enjoy what we used to call pub crawls before CAMRA outlawed the term in favour of “Curated, Cultured Tour of Notable Hostelries“. This means that YOU,… Continue reading KIVETON PARK. THE FULL SAM SMITHS EXPERIENCE
BEWARE THE RUGBY THEMED BEERS
February 2025. Hillsborough. Sheffield. Losing to Liverpool was inevitable, but back in Sheffield I needed immediate cheering up and that meant Sang Lung, still the only Hillsborough Chinese takeaway I’ve used. The on-line ordering (always Crispy Beef and Singapore Rice, as am creature of habit) wasn’t working, so I had to pop in a pub… Continue reading BEWARE THE RUGBY THEMED BEERS
ALL THE PUBS IN THE MANCHESTER BEER BOOK – BAR FRINGE
February 2025. Manchester. Back at Piccadilly, with 3 hours till the game against the Scouse Buswreckers XI, Matt surprised me; “What next, Bar Fringe ?”. You know you’ve brought your children up correctly when they can make an unprompted pub suggestion, rather than say “You decide“. Bar Fringe is one of his and Emma’s favourites,… Continue reading ALL THE PUBS IN THE MANCHESTER BEER BOOK – BAR FRINGE
PRETZELS, CHOCOLATE AND TIGER RUT. A RETURN TO MOSSLEY’S GILLERY
February 2025. Mossley (pronounced Mossley). I’d promised Matt lunch in Mossley, but while it’s a good pub town it’s not one for the gourmand, or even two blokes after a chip butty/bap/cob. Not on Sunday, anyway. Luckily, we had 28 minutes before the train back to Platform 1, Piccadilly, just time for pizza in the… Continue reading PRETZELS, CHOCOLATE AND TIGER RUT. A RETURN TO MOSSLEY’S GILLERY
THE BUTCHERS ARMS, MOSSLEY. ANOTHER PUB YOU’RE SURPRISED, BUT DELIGHTED, TO SEE IN GBG 25
February 2025. Mossley. Is it Moss-ley ? Or Moz-ley ? Or Moze-ley ? Who cares ? Whatever, it’s second stop out of Piccadilly on the line to York. Matt met me at Platform 1, 1 minute before departure, while I admired the flashy ad for the Mid-Cheshire line. Matt had never been to Mossley, quite… Continue reading THE BUTCHERS ARMS, MOSSLEY. ANOTHER PUB YOU’RE SURPRISED, BUT DELIGHTED, TO SEE IN GBG 25
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