Discovering the historic pubs of Manchester through Geocaching for a third time.
Third and final Adventure Lab Cache (ALC), taking me on a tour of Manchester's oldest pubs. For new blogfans, an ALC is an on-line treasure hunt where you follow your phone's GPS to answer a question at a location. With all of Manchester's Good Beer Guide Pubs ticked off, the game has provided an alternative pub crawl that requires little planning on my part.
And this one ends at a well known and much loved gem.
To get to the start location, I'm attempting a first use of the Manchester Free Bus #1 (this City is ahead of its time) to try and get from Piccadilly to Spinningfields. At 5:30pm, when Utd are at home. The "Drive" suggesting walking from Portland Street as we are going nowhere fast.
My destination - The Oxnoble, Liverpool Road. Possibly the first pub that I have visited named after a potato.
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| In the shadow of the Tower |
When I was working in Manchester at turn of the Century, this had a reputation as one of the finest Gastropubs in the North. I did visit once but it left no lasting memory. Unlike the chipper, just up the road.
So I entered with some trepidation. Is it going to be all tables laden with napkins, wine glasses and candles? Nope, it's got worse. It's now has a very chainy feel of a "family dining" pub, with large laminated menus containing anything you could possibly want as long as it is a meal deal burger. Harassed staff and dirtier tables than the JDW of your nightmares. Possibly my second trauma of the day to do with UTD being at home.
I was glad to escape the melee for an oasis of calm in the front patio, taking a below par Landlord with me.
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| Only 4 on Untappd. It usually gets a 5. |
Sticking with the Utd theme, a pleasant surprise for my next destination. I thought Gary Neville, having realised he needed to retire after his 2011 New Year's Day defensive display made the Baggies Jerome Thomas look like Ronaldo, had raised The Sir Ralph Abercromby to the ground.
Fair play to him - after a campaign to save the pub, he tore up his Bootle Street redevelopment plans.
This leaves behind a real hidden gem in the city, complete with a fine beer garden. Always worth knowing, as Brian from BC Camplight sings on his fantastic new album - "It Never Rains in Manchester". Paulaner in the sunshine made the most sense and was most enjoyed.
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| Since 1780 - Witness to the Peterloo Massacre |
Back on familiar ground to one of the previous ALCs. Next to the Wellington is both the observed but never visited before Sinclair's Oyster Bar and never noticed before Mitre.
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| Manchester - with its second set of three adjacent pubs |
Sinclair's cam trace its roots to 1720 - a chop house, then a tavern, then a purveyor of Oysters in the 1840s. To enable me to enjoy a Sam Smiths Stout, it had to survive two bomb attempts. First by the Luftwaffe in the Xmas Blitz of 1941 and then by the IRA in 1996. Google it and you may find some fascinating photos of it moving locations on stilts.
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| On reflection, did I need a top up? |
The Mitre is Manchester's oldest hotel, dating from 1815. There is a bar and I may have been hasty with my investigations. I got as far as the cocktails menu and thought maybe its not for me.
When Geocaching, you have got to pace yourself.
And the final historic pub? As if by design, it's one of my favourites, The Marble Arch, Rochdale Road. First time visitors will be wowed by the 1888 Gothic architecture, the vaulted roof, the sloping, tiled floor carrying you downhill to sample Marble brewery beers in peak condition.
No need for new photos - I can pull some from my Flickr Photostream.
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| Who's that knocking on the door of 73 Rochdale Road - Mappiman! |
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| A perfect place to drink |
A chance to sit and celebrate my success at a perfect combination of two hobbies. But what to do next - drink-wise - when in Manchester?
I'm open to suggestions but my "Want to Go" tag in Google Maps has Mulligans, Bar Fringe, Wolf at the Door and Corbieres highlighted.
Not sure what the theme of that blog will be but I am prepared to give it a go in the name of 2nd City originality.
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