Saturday 28 May 2022

28/05/22 - The Didsbury Dozen

Distance - 2 Miles

Pubs - 11 (!), Good Beer Guide Tick #683

Walk Inspiration 

An Improvised Map - (Google Maps only allows 10 Destinations on a Route)


There's a few of these epic pub crawls knocking about. The Otley Run in Leed, the Monopoly Pub Crawl in London, for example.. Somewhere along the way I made a note of the Didsbury Dozen for a time when I was in the area.  Stage 3 of the Greater Manchester Ringway dropped me off on at 1pm on a Saturday afternoon, with nothing else in the diary apart from the evening Champions League Final.  

There's quite a few on-line resources, blogs, and historical forum posts for planning. However, nothing stays the same. The main resource I planned to use has already lost the Greenfinch. To Flats. I'll substitute the Nelson.  According to blogs, it was possible to complete with "12 traditional pubs and no poncy wine bars". Forums from the late 90's suggest "You are a puff if you only drink halves". To the unreconstructed of the last century, "I am a puff".

A rambler having an (admittedly impressive) post walk drink in 12 pubs will make a lengthy and dull blog.  I'll tell the story in photographs. Which may well be dull but at least it will be short(er).    

Didsbury Dozen #1 - The Didsbury
#1 - The Didsbury - Chef and Brewer hangout for middle class dogs.  TT Landlord.

Didsbury Dozen # - Ye Olde Cock
#2 - Ye Olde Cock - Directly opposite, punters hoovered up by #1. Paulaner Weissbier

Didsbury Dozen #Dead - The Famous Crown
#Dead - The Famous Crown.  Famous for being closed.  Goodbye, no beer.

Didsbury Dozen #3 - The Royal Oak
#3 - Royal Oak - Proper Marstons pub, with a lovely interior.  Ringwood Boondoggle.

Didsbury Dozen #4 - Fletcher Moss
#4 - Good Beer Guide Tick at the Hydes Fletcher Moss.  Celebrated with a pint of Lowry.

Didsbury Dozen #5 - The Nelson
#5 - The Nelson, a substitue.  Horse Racing (TV 1).  Football (TV2).  Iron Maiden (Jukebox).  Staropramen.  

Didsbury Dozen #6 - Dog and Partridge
#6 - Dog and Partridge - So good, I didn't even recognise as a Greene King.  Landlord.

Didsbury Dozen #7 - The Dockyard
#7 - The Dockyard - Huge TV Screen showing the Grimsby Wrexham 5-4 Ding Dong.  A proper game of football.  Staropramen.

Didsbury Dozen #8 - Head of Steam
#8 - Still Halves.  Just 11% Straffe Hendrik.  Champions League in jeopardy for more than just Scousers

Didsbury Dozen #9 - Wine and Wallop
#9 - Wine and Wallop.  Poncy wine bar.  Fine club sandwich.  And Chips.  And Lowenbrau.

Didsbury Dozen #10 - The Railway
#10 - The Railway.  Like all pubs named The Railway, earthy.  Holt Bitter

Didsbury Dozen #11 - The Metropolitan
#11 - A finale - The Metropolitan.  A monster barn of a pub.  Landlord to reflect on how I spend my leisure hours. 

Didsbury Dozen #11 - The Metropolitan
That's if they let me in.  I am dressed as a 10 drink in rambler


2 comments:

  1. Great set of pub pictures.
    I lived in a West Didsbury hovel for one of my student years and am sure I visited all the Didsbury pubs (not all in one go, though). But I only recognise a couple of these. Either they've changed a lot or my memory is letting me down big time!

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  2. Cheers Nick...... quite a variety and some looked unchanged for decades.

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