Bee Escape to Manchester, August 2018

 

 

You might have heard of Bee in the City, a collection of bee sculptures on display in the centre and other parts of Manchester until 23 September 2018, along with some mini bees created by schools and other organisations.  It’s well worth a visit, you can pick up a map at various locations or download the app and see them in an organised fashion, or you can just wander at will and see them by chance.  My favourites were Mr Been (think Mr Benn, for those of you of a certain age) and Hilda Bugden (ditto re the certain age).  Also really liked the mini bees in Central Library and in the cathedral.  The bees are very popular and have created a real buzz around the city (lame joke but true).

On the way back towards the hotel (Innside by Melia), we tried a couple of new (to us) bars, both with a good selection of real ales, The Brink on Bridge Street, and Café Beermoth on Brown Street.  We revisited a few too – The City Arms, The Knott and Gas Works Brew Bar just by the hotel.

Bees and beer, what’s not to like?

 

 

 

January 2018 escape to Manchester

New year, new trip.  As it was a nice day, we travelled by train to Manchester to have a wander and sample some beers.  As soon as we arrived at Piccadilly, we found our first destination, the Piccadilly Tap, just on Station Approach (down the slope from the front of the station).  We both had West Riding Summat at around 4%, a good starting point.

Next we headed into the Northern Quarter and to the Port Street Beer House.  There was a wide and tempting selection and I would have liked to try the Coffee Porter but it was early in the day – still regretting it!  The beer list is on Twitter.  However, we had two good beers – Red Willow Effortless at 3.7% and Magic Rock High Wire at 5.2%.  Next, still in the Northern Quarter, was 57 Thomas Street (Marble Brewery), for those of us on a tight schedule and not able to make it up to the Marble Arch pub.  Again a good range and thank you to the bar man for trekking upstairs for our cask selections – we plumped for Marble Tuckerlovsky 4.7% and Marble Chocolate 5.5%, both very good.

After that we had a short break and wandered through the streets, past some interesting mosaics, towards Albert Square (which seemed strangely empty after seeing it at Christmas during the markets), to the City Arms on Kennedy Street.  We had wanted to go in there at Christmas for old time’s sake (one of our old haunts in the 1990s), but it was just too packed.  Today was a little more comfortable and again an eclectic beer selection, we  chose Tickety Brew Double Hop Pale 4%, and Wildside Beers Key Lime Pie, 4.8%.

Our last port of call, towards Oxford Road Station, was the Gas Works Brew Bar.  We had stayed near here before Christmas and been impressed with the beer selection and today didn’t disappoint.  They also brew at least one beer on the premises.  We tried Tiny Rebel Billabong at 4.6% and Beartown Crème Bearlee at 4.8%, this had been one of our favourites in December and was still moreish.

A quick Vedett on Preston station and then back into our village for a couple more to round off the evening.

 

Pre-Christmas Escape to Manchester

Although we used to live in Manchester more than 20 years ago, we rarely visit these days so we took the opportunity to visit for a couple of nights at the same time as my Christmas lunch with ex-colleagues.  We travelled by train, using our Two Together card (approx. £22 return) and stayed at the Innside by Melia, close to Oxford Road railway station.  It is in a newish development (around 3 years old) on First Street, with roads named after Tony Wilson (appropriately near to the Hacienda) and Jack Rosenthal.  The rooms were quite a good size, with shower and basin inside the room itself – and the view over Manchester rooftops would have been interesting except for the thick fog on the day we arrived.  Appropriately for the weather (and the festive season), there was a small ice rink outside at the time of our visit.

We set off in the fog to wander round the Christmas markets which were quite busy.  After our exertions, we were going to have a pint at the City Arms for old time’s sake and because it usually has a good selection of ale, but the bar area was packed, so instead headed to Brewdog for a Santa Paws and an Elvis Juice, both tasty.  We tried one also at the Briton’s Protection, there were a couple of guest beers, but we had been spoilt by Brewdog – however, it was refreshing to be in a traditional pub with a couple of warm back rooms on this cold day, one with a real fire, so we passed a pleasant half an hour.  Back in the vicinity of the hotel, on First Street, we tried the Gas Works Brew Bar which had around 5 real ales, we tried most of them and my favourite was Crème Bearlee by the Beartown Brewery, but all of them were good!  They also had a lychee beer which is brewed on the premises, a little sweet and fizzy but nice all the same.  They also do food, but we returned to the hotel and had a good meal there, even better value with £10 off for booking directly with the hotel.

Next day I headed to the Grand Pacific for my Christmas lunch.  It was mainly delicious, although the main course was enormous and I couldn’t finish it – very tasty tempura seabass.  It is in a beautiful building which used to be the Reform Club.  The only drawback was that my feet couldn’t touch the floor when sitting in the booth for dining – needed a box! Perils of being short … Later we made a return to the Gasworks Brew Bar for more Crème Bearlee

The next day, after a hearty breakfast and excellent poached eggs (so I’m told), we left Manchester again – but would definitely make another trip there.