Dear readers — if you were to ask the Mill editors what the best pubs in Manchester were, we would answer you thus: Vicky Tap (train times, peperamis, pigeons), Microbar (a pub! In the Arndale!, Irn Bru flavoured beer), The Subterranean Chophouse (weird statue of Lowry, fried shrimp, staff that smile sympathetically when we show up for the fourth time that week). But nobody’s actually asked us.
Instead, we asked Matthew Curtis, author of Manchester’s Best Beers, Pubs and Bars — and, as of in two days time, also author of Manchester’s Best Beers, Pubs and Bars edition 2. Many things are better in their second edition. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, instantly springs to mind. And like a barrel-aged beer only improves and develops a fine smokey flavour profile with time, so too the long-awaited second edition of Matt’s book promises to be superior in every way imaginable to the first. Here, below, is a taste. But just before that, your briefing, naturally.
Your Mill briefing
🍺 One pub that won’t be making Matthew’s list is the Duke of Edinburgh in Royton, where the far-right group British Movement North West filmed themselves celebrating Adolf Hitler’s “136th birthday” last year, with a Swastika cake. After the event nine arrests were made, following police raids which found imitation firearms and Nazi memorabilia. Staff at the pub said they had been tricked by the group, who concealed their paraphernalia when they entered. However, this week Greater Manchester Police announced that it would not be pursuing charges due to “insufficient evidence” to submit a file to the Crown Prosecution Service.
🏥 Staff at the Northern Care Alliance NHS Trust, which has four main hospitals in Manchester, have received an email from their senior director discouraging them from calling in sick, even if they are “sniffly with cold symptoms”. The email, seen by the Independent, says resident doctors risk not getting a job in the future if they take too much sick leave, warning that job offers have been withdrawn from medics who took “several” sick days annually. Dr Matt Church, chair of the resident doctors’ committee at the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association, a trade body and union for hospital doctors, said the email was “an outrageous attempt to bully sick doctors into work”. Rafik Bedair, chief medical officer at the Northern Care Alliance, said their approach to staff sickness centres on compassion and that they “support staff to recover properly”.
🏠 New figures show that Greater Manchester has the highest levels of child poverty in the North West. In a table comprising the 10 constituencies with the highest child poverty rates, seven are in Greater Manchester. Rusholme is at the top, where 48% of all children are living in poverty, Gorton and Denton and Oldham are joint second at 46%, and Manchester Central is in fifth place at 44%. Graham Whitman, chief executive at Resolve Poverty, a Manchester-based charity, said: “These figures are a stark reminder that too many children and families in this region are still struggling and unable to afford essentials like food, heating and school uniforms.”
By Matthew Curtis
There’s a hold up at the bar in Port Street Beer House as I’m waiting to be served. The gentleman in front of me is choosing a beer — there are 25 on draught, seven on cask, 18 on keg, and the fridges are piled high with cans and bottles from exotic countries across the world: Belgium, Germany, the USA. After much deliberation, he opts for one from Huddersfield. It comes out the handpull in brilliant nick, white foam capping the straw-coloured ale. By this point I’ve waited long enough, so I order one of the same.
When I began researching the first edition of my book, Manchester’s Best Beer, Pubs and Bars, in mid-2022, Port Street was one of the first pubs to grace its pages. Established in the Northern Quarter by husband and wife Jonny and Charlotte Heyes in 2011, it marked a sea change in the Manchester beer and pub scene. But you might not see it on your average top-10 listicle of Manchester pubs, because of one (well three) good reasons — it doesn’t sell Guinness, Murphy’s or Beamish.
In fact, Port Street doesn’t sell any mass-produced beers from multinationals, instead concentrating on those made by small, and typically local, independent breweries. When it opened, drinkers in Manchester were suddenly exposed to a vast world of exciting beer. It preceded a brewing boom in the UK, when more than 1000 breweries opened in just a decade. It’s no coincidence that many of Manchester’s independent breweries, including Blackjack, Runaway, Track and Cloudwater were all established within four years after Port Street first opened its doors.
Today, I consider Manchester to be the best place in the UK to experience great beer from small, independent producers. This might have been why the first edition of my book was a hit, and why its publisher, the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) commissioned me to produce an updated second edition. This was a chance to make good on all the, shall we say, constructive feedback I received from pub enthusiasts about the first. Yes, the Salisbury on Oxford Road was cruelly ignored, an oversight on my part (sometimes the ‘research’ gets the better of me). And I know there were only three entries for the whole of Bury, but perhaps Bury just needs to try a bit harder? Either way, this gave me an opportunity to remove many of the pubs that had closed since its release — around 10% of the 185 entries — either as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, or the disastrous trading conditions that preceded it.
Despite this, it still feels like a good time to be releasing an updated guide to Manchester’s best beer and pubs. I’m a huge believer in the value of pubs in terms of supporting their local communities as ‘third places’ — somewhere that is not work or home, free from the burdens associated with both. But how, exactly, did I determine which are the ‘best’ and thus worthy of inclusion in the book?
The answer was to get out there and visit them. Over approximately 18 months I not only spent time refamiliarising myself with the city centre, but returned to far flung suburbs such as Middleton, Urmston and Westhoughton, and more familiar locales like Altrincham, Rochdale, Bolton, and many others. My gut was my only real guide.
Still, there were some basic criteria to keep in mind. It was important to me to find places like Port Street, which amplify the work of fantastic local breweries. This wasn’t the only rule I set myself — I was looking for pubs that gave you a good reason to visit them; interesting architecture, history, and maybe some outstanding food. And yes, my favourite spots for a Guinness are in there — but I consider if you can sit somewhere that’s warm and comfortable, that feels welcoming, with a great pint of something brewed just a few miles away, it just doesn’t get much better than that. It might say ‘Second Edition’ on the front cover, but with over 200 pubs in this updated guide, I prefer to think of this edition as definitive.
But before you commit to the whole 200, here’s a Top 10 selection of my absolute must-visits, in ascending order. My one piece of advice is, if you can, do yourself a favour and explore the whole of Greater Manchester — not just the city centre.
1. Café Beermoth
Brown Street, M2 1DA
If you love beer as much as I do, there is no better place to drink it than at Café Beermoth. Here is a place in which to explore beer as much as it is a place to relax, but is it a pub or a bar? I once asked this question to manager Callum Darley, to which he responded with a puzzled look and said “it’s a café, Matt, it’s literally in the name.” They also do amazing cheeseboards, which only serves to enhance its already formidable offering.
Best for: The most exciting beer list, great music, cheese
2. The Swan & Railway Hotel
80 Wallgate, Wigan WN1 1BA
Mercifully close to Wallgate Station, this gorgeous pub and hotel dating back to 1898 is worth planning a day out in Wigan on its merit alone. The gorgeous multi-roomed interior has been lovingly restored to form a platonic ideal of what traditional pubs could be. Grab a pint, put a quid in the jukebox and cancel the rest of your plans, you’ll want to spend the entire day here — and don’t worry about missing your train home, as times are handily displayed above the bar.
Best for: Gorgeous interiors, local real ale, pie and mash
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