Day out to Stalybridge & Stockport

Saturday 11th November saw another outing on our social calendar, this time to Stalybridge and Stockport. We left Leicester at 9am on a fresh dull day. We had visited The Station Buffet at Stalybridge on Keith Satterly’s first trip in January 2005. It was such a superb location; we could hardly drive past it without calling in. We were given an hour and a half to sample some ten beers or more, most of which were from micro-breweries. 

We then set off to Stockport. This town has many good watering holes and the railway viaduct running through Stockport is very impressive. Keith had given out maps of Stockport, outlining all of the decent pubs; our thanks go to David Sharpe for providing them. Having been dropped off by The Railway, most people made a bee-line for this pub as it has an extensive range of micro-breweries beers, including the Porter beers from Rossendale, but sadly, it will close forever early in 2007.

From here, just around the corner stands The Arden Arms. This Robinsons pub is on CAMRA’s National Inventory (pubs of historical Interest). It seems untouched since the 1950’s and beyond. Amongst the many rooms, it has a snug which has one access, through the centre of the bar serving area.  Another pub in the Inventory was a Samuel Smiths pub, The Queens. It has a superbly preserved interior and has the smallest known gents urinal, measuring approximately 4 feet by 3 feet. Robinsons Brewery is situated in the town and The Spread Eagle is deemed to be their Brewery Tap. It sells good beer, but lacks something. It’s just a basic town pub, the sort we have got too many of in Leicester, reading between the lines, but they do STILL have a Spread Eagle.

Most of us at some point visited The Swan With Two Necks, also on the National Inventory. This was a well-kept Robinsons pub with a very welcoming atmosphere. I then ended up in The Pineapple followed by The Crown, as by now it was pouring with rain. It did help with Dennis parking the coach under the railway viaduct, saving us all from getting even wetter. The new management at The Crown deserve a big thank you for it’s impressive range of beers (over 12) and it’s hospitality. After all, we did present forty people to serve all at the same time without warning in readiness for departure.

I visited eight pubs out of the twenty listed by David, which only scratched the surface. The return of Robinsons Old Tom, their winter brew was noted at The Tiviot, costing £2.00 a half.

After leaving Stockport, we headed off to what seemed like the middle of nowhere; something Keith has a talent for doing. It turned out to be The Monsal Head Hotel at Monsal Head. There were 6 excellent beers on here. Thanks to Nigel for making us welcome and providing us with an exclusive room to drink in. We had just over an hour here, then set off back to Leicester. Once again, we all had an excellent day. Thanks again to Dennis, our driver, for a safe journey and Keith Satterly for his organisation. More trips to come in the New Year.

K Williams.

This page last updated: April 15, 2011

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