And National Geographic have named one of the pubs among the 12 best in the country!
Time for Prop Up the Bar to make a return visit to explore Stockport.
We set off from our Macclesfield Travel Lodge base, ready and waiting on the platform, next to the brutal concrete staircases of the station bridge by 11:15am.
The Northern Rail service was overcrowded, our carriage dominated by a group of twenty-something lads 'n' lasses on their way to go curling in Manchester. Which obviously requires a four pack of supermarket booze to be consumed on the train as preparation.
Is going curling a hip thing to do these days?
The trouble with visiting Stockport on Easter Sunday was that absolutely all the attractions we may have liked to visit were closed for the day. So we just strolled up the road from the station to take a picture of the town hall.
Is going curling a hip thing to do these days?
The trouble with visiting Stockport on Easter Sunday was that absolutely all the attractions we may have liked to visit were closed for the day. So we just strolled up the road from the station to take a picture of the town hall.
We didn't brave the neighbouring Town Hall Tavern, even though we were spot-on time for the landlord unlocking the door as we passed. Interesting decorations in the first floor windows...
Instead, our first pub of the day was the Heritage listed Swan With Two Necks. The walk to it through the modern shopping streets was eerily quiet on one of only two days of the year that almost all retail takes a day off.
So it was little surprise to find that the pub was also very quiet. Just one old boy in the lobby who looked a little like he may not have left when they called last orders the evening before, plus a couple of chaps in the front room, known as the vault.
A Robinson's house, our beer choice was 'Dizzy Blonde', 'Unicorn', or 'Old Tom'.
I really wanted an Old Tom on cask, but it seemed a tad irresponsible at midday, so I stuck to the Unicorn bitter.
We took our drinks into the wonderful snug at the end of the bar-corridor, sunshine through the skylight brightening the place up; the leather button-back bench seating proving comfortable.
A nice touch is the old bell pushes still visible behind the seating.
Glasses emptied and returned to the bar, we took a short stroll down the road and made our way to a second Heritage pub in quick succession.
Stepping into this Grade II listed pub, you're in a passageway with a staircase, glazed bar to the side, and doors leading off to a cosy-looking front room, outdoor patio, and dining room to the back.
The staff were in full-on Sunday lunch mode, asking us if we wanted to eat, which we did. When we said we'd rather eat in the bar than in the dining room area, we were offered a seat in the snug. Which is a little bit special as it's a hidden snug.
This is accessed by being invited to pass through the bar itself. According to the Heritage pubs description, this is only one of four such snugs in the country.
Okay, so it's also where the staff hang their coats, and where the fridge, coffee machine, and pub stereo are, spoiling the ambiance a little bit.
But the soft red cushioned bench seating around the sides of this small room is wonderful, the sun streaming through the frosted windows, the old couple sat next to us complementing the Sunday lunch.
But the soft red cushioned bench seating around the sides of this small room is wonderful, the sun streaming through the frosted windows, the old couple sat next to us complementing the Sunday lunch.
Sadly the Old Tom on tap had finished (should have started with it after all, shouldn't I) so I had a second pint of 'Unicorn' - on great form - alongside some good pub grub served with super efficiency.
Pub number 3 was another short walk up the hill to the market square...
Pub number 3 was another short walk up the hill to the market square...
There are a fair few drinking establishments facing the impressive Victorian market hall and I was a little sad we didn't get to try the Sam Smith's Old Boars Head. I was told we couldn't visit everywhere.
In a run of three pubs close together on the market square, we started in the Bakers Vaults, a stand-alone, bright and airy place with tall ceilings and big arched windows.
In a run of three pubs close together on the market square, we started in the Bakers Vaults, a stand-alone, bright and airy place with tall ceilings and big arched windows.
The pub was built in the 19th century, replacing a 16th century inn called the George & Dragon, and is apparently on the site where Stockport castle once stood.
You can do a full circle behind the big bar counter, with a lounge area to the rear. A big chunk of the front room was taken up by Pete Churchman and his band setting up their gear to provide some Sunday afternoon "rock and blues, folk and fun".
This is a Robinson's pub but, unlike the last two, there was a substantial choice of guest beers here to enable a change from the Unicorn.
I haven't seen a Burton Bridge beer for some time, so picked their strong 'Festival Ale'.
Just a few paces down the street was a bar called Thread which has only recently properly re-opened.
Between 2018 and 2023 this was a bar called Project 53 which made a brief appearance in the Beer Guide. After closing in that guise, it reopened on weekends only, but now seems to have extended into a full-time (or as full-time as anywhere is these days) operation. The name Thread comes from the one-time use of the building as a tailors shop.
Something gave me the expectation that this was going to a crafty micro, so it came as a surprise to find that this was a big space, stretching way back from the front room.
We did the views, which were very rooftop orientated.
We didn't need to build up much energy to move on, stepping out of Thread and straight into the next door neighbour...
Surprisingly, this has only been open in its current form since 2018, having been transformed from redundant shopping premises. But head back to the 1700's and you would found this building operating as the Angel Inn. The current patterned white facade was completed in 1886 when local brewers Bells took over, looking after the Angel until a couple of years prior to its closure in 1951.
The Angel had five cask ales to pick from six hand pumps when we visited. A stout or pale from Sussex brewery Only With Love, Beartown pale, Brew York 'Juice Forsyth', and - my choice - the lovely Bank Top 'Port O' Call'.
With a choice of areas to sit in, we took drinks down a couple of steps beyond the bar into a sunken area with sofas and fireplace. Where we were entertained with the best soundtrack of the day, covering New Order, The Cure, Nirvana, and Martha & the Muffins.
Next up was a pub I was really looking forward to, a recent Stockport CAMRA pub of the year, and winner of the Manchester cider pub of the year award a couple of times.
This has the vibe of a large busy micro, having opened in 2016 in a unit which used to be a betting shop.
I thought it was great. A good crowd of customers in - a bit of luck in a table becoming free just when we needed it to - overwhelming choice of beer which isn't very conducive to a pub crawl.
Normally I raise a frown at any pub/bar with a suspended ceiling, but the display of old brewery trays on the wall made up for that here.
I'd enjoyed the stout in the Angel, so stuck with the dark stuff here with a Wily Fox 'Dublin' Up'.
Right...from one local award winner to another.
You'll find the Magnet back on the A6, just up the hill from the shopping centre, on the way to Heaton Norris.
Right...from one local award winner to another.
You'll find the Magnet back on the A6, just up the hill from the shopping centre, on the way to Heaton Norris.
This is the Stockport pub that has been named by National Geographic as one of the 12 best in the country.
Fair to say I liked it here a lot. Although I'm of the opinion that no self-respecting pub enthusiast would be able to narrow their 'best of' list to 12.
The Magnet has various different spaces and a good Sunday afternoon crowd giving it a bustling cheery atmosphere when we visited.
And a great beer choice - their website advertises 14 casks and 12 kegs. I randomly picked the Briggs Signature Beers 'Metal', then returned to the bar when I spotted they had a cask Sureshot beer available (having had their beer on tap at the brewery the previous day).
And the pizza from the stall in the back yard wasn't half bad too...
And the pizza from the stall in the back yard wasn't half bad too...
So that was our pub explorations done for the day.
Well...just about. We found our return train cancelled when we got back to the station.
I briefly pondered if we'd got enough time before the next service to get back into the centre for an Old Tom, but instead we headed into the bar at the foot of the glass-fronted blocks next to the station.
I briefly pondered if we'd got enough time before the next service to get back into the centre for an Old Tom, but instead we headed into the bar at the foot of the glass-fronted blocks next to the station.
As you can see from the picture, this is a thoroughly modern bar with industrial ceiling, spotlights and speakers suspended from it, TV screens located at frequent intervals on posts between the big windows.
The drinks range is very mainstream, with Beavertown looking to be the beer of choice for most folk.
I picked the keg Bask Best Bitter, none-the-wiser as to who brews this for them. It did the job for a quick delayed-train beer whilst I tried not to prolong the stay by getting hooked on Bochum v Darmstadt on the TV.
The next train arrived on time and whisked us back to Macclesfield in time for a visit to the Castle.
Stockport had made for a great day out - we'll be back again - hopefully on a day when Runaway Brewery and the Hat Museum are open.
Stockport had made for a great day out - we'll be back again - hopefully on a day when Runaway Brewery and the Hat Museum are open.
A great write-up there on Stockport, Nick. It brings back memories of the day out I had in the town, with Mudgie, Martin and various other, serious pub men. That was back in October 2021, although it seems like only yesterday.
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