CityLife

STOCKPORT is not known for the quality of its bars and pubs and, with a handful of notable exceptions, the south Manchester town has to little to attract the discerning drinker. Or even the people looking for a quality mainstream experience.

In fact it’s the largest town in the country that hasn’t been colonised by the branded bar chains, the only option being a rather dog-eared Wetherspoons, leading the charge among a bunch of decidedly down-at-heel pubs.

Unless fake Burberry caps and tracky bottoms tucked in socks are your idea of style, you’ll agree this is the land the style bar revolution forgot.

Not that it’s a landscape totally barren of quality places to drink.

Circumvent the horrors of central Grotport and there are a few gems to be found on the outskirts. Like the Crown Inn.

Viaduct

A Grade II listed building located under the arches of the famous railway viaduct, the pub was built in the 1700s and run as a small brewery from 1823 to 1833. Fast forward to 2009 and it’s swapped brewing for retailing, but the commitment to top quality beer is still evident.

It is CAMRA Pub of the Year 2008 award vouches for the quality of its cask ales: dispensed through 16 hand pumps, with many changing daily. Also available are guest farmhouse ciders – plus a respectable range of continental bottled brews.

The pub has a traditional feel: it’s warm and welcoming, serves good pub grub, is fronted by friendly people, you can take your dog and, an anachronistic quirk, doesn’t accept cards (so take lots of cash – because you’ll want to sample your way around these beers).

But as well as ticking the basic boxes, the pub has plenty of added extras: regular music evenings, a small folk club (notable for a group of happy looking people jamming unobtrusively together on guitars), Thursday night pub quizzes, and, for day to day distraction, there’s a pool table, dart board and a jukebox.

Most impressively, it does this with a sense of continuity and coherence – unlike other places where it might give the impression the licensee was chasing new crowds. It’s a fantastic pub.

154 Heaton Lane, Heaton Norris, Stockport, Cheshire, SK4 1AR (0161 480 5850).
 

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