From a Bury Micro Pub to an Eccles Holts Classic

There's a bit of randomness to this post, in which I make the most of a £4.90 Metro pass and veer from classic pub heritage to the modern developments of Salford Quays.

I felt I should really do something a bit cultural in Manchester to prove I do more than just sit in pubs.
Surely that box could be ticked by hopping off the metro at Prestwich to admire the wonderful Mark E Smith mural...

Back on the tram, it was just a few more stops to Bury at the end of the line, where I decided to make my way to Good Beer Guide entry, the Thirsty Fish.

This micro pub is actually very easy to find from the Interchange, unless you're me and you walk the wrong way around the shopping centre and market in a search for it.

Thirsty Fish (Unit 1a Princess Parade, Millgate Shopping Parade, Bury, BL9 0QL)
As I arrived the gaffer was on the phone making a very angry call, his mood not improved by muggings here standing underneath the 'table service only' sign at the bar.
During his phone call he threatened to "just shut the pub" which would have made this an epic pub ticking fail.
Not sure what had upset him so much, but looking at my picture maybe he was on the phone to the company that looks after the shutters.

Here's the beer list...

Local brewery Deeply Vale was well represented with three beers and it was their  'Equilibrium' that I picked at a respectable £3.20 a pint.

I was the second person to arrive, but another half dozen fella's came in shortly after, drawn in by the cheap Bavarian pilsner and classic rock soundtrack.
We got the Stones, Bruce going down to the river, Neil Young and a bit of Elvis.

A couple arrived, the woman settling the man at the end of my table with a pint before going shopping, just like those 'husband creche' blackboard signs, except I never thought it really happened.

From somewhere that's been open a couple of years, to somewhere with a bit more heritage...
I walked up past the Robert Peel statue onto Bolton Street to the Old White Lion.

My picture was scuppered by the sunshine/shade combo...

Old White Lion (6 Bolton Street, Bury, BL9 0LQ - web)
You enter through a fine revolving door, which has recently been restored, taking you into a single open room with the bar to the left.  Now a listed building, the Old White Lion was built in the late 19th century on the site of an earlier pub.
Lovely white lions on front of the bar, proper pub carpet and a nicotine yellow ceiling second only to the one my Uncle cultivated over many a year of pipe-smoking in his front room in Plymouth.

The heritage gem is the oak room to the rear, which I poked my head into, but didn't photograph because all the folks sitting there were watching me suspiciously with hawk-eyes.

Ales on the bar were Tim Taylor 'Landlord' or Brightside 'Odin'.
I picked the Odin which was incredibly just £2 a pint, but not great value as it was a tad too warm and I struggled through it.

Moving on from Bury, I caught the Metro back through the centre, changing trams at Cornbrook.  The Eccles tram twists and turns through newly built glass fronted buildings of Salford Quays.  There appears to be an insatiable appetite for city-living apartments and budget hotels in this neck of the woods.

I hopped off at Media City with a desire to see where BBC Match of the Day and the Breakfast News comes from.

On the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal, this was once the Manchester Docks, which closed in 1982 and has now been transformed beyond recognition.

My intention was purely to marvel at the modern architecture, not to visit any drinking establishments at Media City.  Then I spotted the Seven Bro7hers Beer House and was lured in by the evils of craft beer.

Seven Bro7hers Beer House (Media City, Salford, M50 2EQ - web)
There were actually more people in the beer house than my photo suggests, tucking into food in the booths to the side and a few hardy souls taking their drinks out onto the chilly outdoor seating.

My pick here came from the specials - a Chocolate Honeycomb Stout, well balanced and not too sweet, weighing in at a sensible 5.5%.
I missed Mrs PropUptheBar's text instructing me to buy a can to bring home for her, for which I don't think I've been forgiven yet.

  

Following this distraction, I caught the next tram and continued on my way to Eccles at the end of this branch line.

The Heritage-listed Lamb Hotel was what brought me here and I was chuffed to see it lit up in the late afternoon sunshine...

The Lamb Hotel (33 Regent Street, Eccles, M30 0BP - web)
This reminds me of the red-bricked Heritage pubs in the West Midlands.
It was built in 1906 for Joseph Holt's Brewery, a large multi-roomed pub designed around a central servery and lobby.  It's full of character and a quite wonderful place.

The locals in the small front bar were distracting the girl at the bar from serving me by trying to convince her that spaghetti was made out of dead worms (?!).  When she did spot me she pulled a superb pint of Holt's 'Best Bitter'.

It's a shame to see that the full size billiards table has gone from the Billiards room to the rear.  Regular tables and stools fill the room now.  Around the sides is raised bench seating  on which you could once have sat watching the game and pressing the bell behind you when you were ready for more drinks.

The same architects designed a couple of similar fine pubs in the area.
Sadly the Royal Oak nearby has recently closed, whilst I deemed the Grapes a bit too far to walk this evening.