CityLife

Crown

The Crown Inn 1 / 2 images

The Crown
Stockport
May 2011

(Pub review)

Overall 5/5

In 1844, Friedrich Engels, travelling over the newly-constructed Stockport Viaduct, was afforded a clear view over what he called “that repellent town”.  

If he’d paid more attention, however, he might also have found The Crown Inn, which predates that great industrial structure and lies literally beneath one of its grand, elegant arches.

I’ve lived in a bunch of different places, from LA to Sydney, and now choose to live in Engel’s repellent town.  It suits me perfectly – my house but a stumble from The Crown (regrettably an uphill stumble on the return journey).
 
Formed of three cottages knocked into one, the pub builds from a central bar – the hearth or hub – with four separate rooms radiating out like spokes.  Laughter radiates too, and warmth from these various areas, comfy like a cardigan. 

Out back is a bigger yard than you might expect, with a stage for bands and BBQ for reasonably priced burgers, all within the glow of the up-lit viaduct.

There’s entertainment and award-winning pork pies but really it’s all about the beer. 
Punters crowd the whiteboard above the bar as though anxious commuters awaiting news of their train. 

As each cask goes off, a new one is hooked up, the labels upgraded from the subs bench, the whiteboard wiped clean and written anew. 

Manager Steve Alexander was a punter at the pub before he bought the place and wanted to take things “back to basics”.  There are now 50-60 different beers through the week, brewed from Cornwall to Arran, with up to 16 on at any one time.

This pub is an bejewelled Crown atop the head of “that repellent town”.  And what did Engels know anyway.  He was wrong about communism too.

The Crown Inn, 154 Heaton Lane, Heaton Norris, Stockport, SK4 1AR (0161 480 5850, thecrowninn.uk.com).

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Review by Paul Ogden | Thu, 09 July, 2009

THIS is a pub for purists. Any self-respecting member of CAMRA, or indeed anyone who likes their beer to come with names like Newt Botherer or Wizard’s Beardclippings has to visit the Crown Inn at least once. It may then develop into a worrying habit.

But first, a rundown of what The Crown does not have: flat screen TVs; piped music; food that will excite a Michelin judge; women. Well, very few women anyway.

For this is a proper man’s pub. Not in the sense that there are amoeba-brained Stella suppers flexing their muscles and hoping trouble will be along soon.

No, this is a place where men go to drink good beer. So much so that I was surprised the ancient weighing machine in the tiled gents (“New 10p piece in here”) only goes up to 20 stones.

Exhibition of bellies

The one thing almost as impressive as the array of 16 handpumps at the bar is the exhibition of bellies gathered round it.

But who would not be tempted by the choice of ale here – a selection which last year saw The Crown being named as national runner-up in Camra’s Pub of the Year award.

When I visited there were brews you only really see at beer festivals, including a couple from Cornwall’s Coastal Brewery: Hop Monster and Handliner, as well as ones from brewers nearer to home, including Millstone, Pictish and Copper Dragon – and they also do bottles from the likes of Marble.

But first I had to sate a hot-day thirst with a pint of Broadoak Perry, a still, translucent, 7.5 per cent pear cider. During the first third you swear you could drink it all day – into the last third you decide you’d better not.

Awe-inspiring viaduct

The green, red and cream boozer beneath Stockport’s awe-inspiring viaduct has four traditional rooms leading from the crowded bar.

Food is only served at weekday lunchtimes – I suppose to entice office workers from the nearby town centre to tuck into the sandwiches or simple mains.

Out back is a cobbled yard which looks like of the day after a beer festival, with covered benches and tables, old metal kegs, skips of bottles and a stage for the bands which frequently play there.

Here you can marvel at the viaduct’s marvellous brickwork overhead while you sup an organic ale. Like I said, a pub for the purists.

Crown Inn, 154 Heaton Lane, Stockport, SK4 1AR (0161 480 5850).