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This page contains a couple of suggestions for pub crawls. The "Northern Quarter" isn't really what it was, but you can't go far wrong in Manchester city centre. Or try a Mild Crawl.
For other ideas about Manchester's pubs, visit the For a reminder of how (some) pubs used to be, have a look at this reproduction of a 1979 guide, published with What's Doing.
And remember - a pub is for life, not just for Christmas and the occasional works night out. Retrace the steps of our intrepid band of surveyors as they wandered round inner city Salford and Manchester in May 2003. Most of the pubs mentioned are still selling mild of one kind or another though in some cases the actual brew does vary from week to week. This crawl is described on a separate page.
Pub Crawl No. 2 - Manchester City Centre - Portland Street to Kennedy Street
This crawl takes in some of the more traditional pubs in the city centre. Portland Street was once lined with imposing nineteenth century warehouses. The Watts building near Piccadilly was one of the most impressive and this can still be seen, now the Britannia Hotel. Carry on down to the Princess Street end of Portland Street to find Pub 1, the Old Monkey (90-92 Portland Street). This is a modern Holts outlet, opened in 1993, the first new-build city centre pub for the brewery and an instant success. It can get extremely busy thanks to the cheap price of Holts beer (£1.28 a pint for mild, £1.35 a pint for bitter in May 2004).
Right next door are Pub 2, the Circus Tavern and Pub 3, the Grey Horse, both tiny pubs located in an old terrace. The Circus (86 Portland Street) is one of Tetley's Heritage Pubs. it has two rooms linked by a panelled corridor with a tiny quadrant bar. Tetley Bitter is the only draught product. The back room betrays a strong support for Manchester United and the topic of conversation in the often crowded corridor is mostly football. The Circus tends to get busy in the early evening and it is certainly a pub where you will not be a stranger for long.
The Grey Horse (80 Portland Street) is even smaller but friendly and busy. There's just one room with paintings, photos and plates adorning the walls. And there's a choice of beers: Hyde's Mild and Hyde's Bitter. The Gentlemen's Urinals are Manchester's last surviving example of an open air lavatory, out in the back yard and open to the elements (well, at least there's a shelter from the rain).
Between Portland Street and Mosley Street is Manchester's Chinatown, where old buildings have found new uses as restaurants and shops. From the Grey Horse, turn left, then left again along Nicholas Street, passing the Chinese Arch, and Pub 4, the Seven Oaks, is on the right. The only pub in Chinatown proper, it's faced in cream glazed bricks with unusual ironwork. There is a single room bar on the ground floor and a first floor function room which is opened at busy times. It offers Boddingtons Bitter, Tetley Bitter and a couple of guest beers.
From here, continue to Mosley Street (where you'll pass the recently re-opened City Art Gallery), cross over and go along Booth Street to Cooper Street. Turn left and then right into Kennedy Street for the Pub 5, the Vine Inn, and Pub 6, the City Arms. Kennedy Street is in an area near the Town Hall where the eighteenth century street pattern has survived. Not far away is King Street, where a number of the ornate banks have been developed for other uses.
The Vine (42-46 Kennedy Street) offers John Smiths Bitter and a guest beer. From the street one enters a small vault and a bar. The main lounge is upstairs and there is a smaller lounge downstairs (no smoking at lunchtime). A popular meeting place, the Vine can be very busy, then suddenly empty, only to fill up again a few minutes later.
The City Arms next door (48 Kennedy Street) is sometimes referred to as the Town Hall Tavern, owing to its popularity with council members and officers from the massive Victorian pile over the road, though there is a real Town Hall Tavern some distance away in Tib Street. It's a Grade II listed building with a tiled corridor, bare-floored front bar and a larger rear lounge at a lower level. The house beer is Tetley Bitter but its reputation is for guest beers, usually six and usually all priced at around £2 a pint, which means the stronger beers tend to be the best value. This pub is busiest in the daytime when it can be difficult to move there - if you like to sit down with your pint, visit it at night.
Just around the corner from the City Arms is a newish Wetherspoons. The Waterhouse, facing the Town Hall on Princess Street, opened in July 2002. Again, it's a Grade II listed building so it's a bit more like a proper multi-room pub than the usual 'Spoons aircraft hangar.
Here's a map to guide you:
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This page was last updated on 14th January 2007
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ScottyWeb Thursday Pub Crawl page, or the very comprehensive Central Manchester Slow Pub Crawl.
