Stockport Venues 15 to 17

In the Stockport suburb of Heaton Moor you will find the Stockport Moor Top public house. There was originally a batch of six houses that were built on that spot back in 1875 and named Belmont Terrace. In 1953 the Wilsons brewery obtained four, then swiftly demolished them and built the hostelry in their place.

For a spell it was owned by Steve Pilling who at the time owned the well renowned Damson restaurant across the road, but that has now long gone. The pub had a dubious reputation back in the day and more recent refurbishments have endeavoured to change the ‘housing estate pub’ look, though its appearance does remind me of the old 1980’s Preston boozers such as the Spindlemakers and the John O Gaunt.   

Spindlemakers pub in Preston. Image Credit bloggergoogleusercontent.com

They have a large partially covered outside area that is very well populated in the summer months, the inside can be a little soulless with a large open room, but they are always friendly behind the bar. They don’t normally have live music, but I struck lucky one night when I saw a local singer called Marvin performing.

If you then weave off down Green Lane, you reach six bonny self-detached cottages on the left. These are a group of almshouses (defined as originally founded by charity) which are known locally as the ‘Ainsworth Homes’ and were originally built in 1907.   

A right turn from there takes you to the Nursery Inn which at the rear contains a beer garden which overlooks a large bowling green. Opposite the pub is the Bowerham chippy which has proper old fashioned opening hours of 11.30am to 1.45pm and 4.30 – 8.30pm, the latter times surely enabling punters to pick up their fish supper on their bumble home! A downhill path then guides you through to the huge Stockport Pyramid roundabout.

Backtracking onto Green Road brings you to the Stockport Heaton Moor Sports Club. Within their extensive grounds there is contained a rugby, lacrosse, tennis and cricket club and they were originally formed in 1899. They also stage a monthly comedy club that is a sister initiative to the nearby Didsbury comedy club.  

Heaton Moor Sports Club. Image Credit themanc.com

My one and only attendance was on a sunny day to attend the annual beer festival in August 2025, with a cricket match in full flow when we arrived. They were also staging outdoor live music, and I was finally going to see the nattily named Reservoir Dads, who are a South Manchester covers band.

I have missed them thus far on their regular appearances at the Crown pub down the road, and totally unjustifiably had the hope that their name would imply some performance in the domain of Arthur Brown or Ozzy Osbourne in his bat biting stage! I could not have been much wider of the mark as after much faffing they finally hit the stage and were exceedingly limp and even had a mum in the band that day!     

I am now transporting you from there into the heart of the city centre and the grand old marketplace where there is a plethora of pubs surrounding the indoor market hall. One such hostelry was Stockport Doctor Feelgood, which was named after the band who were formed in Essex and gained their initial following on the renowned pub rock circuit in the early 1970’s. Their most famous track would be ‘Milk and Alcohol’.

Doctor Feelgood. Image Credit manchestersfinest.com

They remain an act to this day with a much changed line up, with previous members including the original singer David Brilleaux who went on to form the influential Stiff Records in 1976. Perhaps their most famous alumni would be John Andrew Wilkinson (more regularly known as Wilko Johnson) who developed a highly unusual percussive guitar sound by playing with his fingertips and not the standard plectrum. In 2011 he garnered a part on Game of Thrones where for a couple of series he played the mute executioner Ser Ilyn Payne.

In June 2021 the pub opened as a rock bar staging live music most nights a week, but due to rising costs it closed a couple of years later. It then reopened under a new venture Amp which then closed itself eighteen months later. During its tenure the likes of Bez, Clint Boon, Miles Kane and You Me at Six performed there. My personal single foray was to see Rock Doctors, a band I had previously witnessed at the aforementioned Crown.     

Manchester Venues 212 to 215

Last month I returned to the vibrant Sounds From the Other City (SFTOC) festival in Salford for my sixth attendance, with my debut being back in 2012. The ticket collection point at the earlier festivals was Islington Mill, and even though this has now been replaced by Maxwell Hall within Salford University, it remains a central focus point.

The Mill is a Grade II listed, six-storey Georgian building located just off Chapel Street. It was originally purpose-built in 1823 and underwent a structural collapse a year later resulting in eighteen deaths before then being swiftly rebuilt. Like many of the dark satanic cotton mills of that era it was intertwined with the horrific slave trade.

As manufacturing industries declined in the 1960’s it evolved through retail and storage phases before falling into partial disrepair. It then moved into its current bohemian multi-occupancy arts status which has been greatly assisted by ample funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and they now trade under the name Islington Mill Arts Club.

Islington Mill. Image Credit Manchester Evening News.

They are ever expanding and a current example of this is that they own and are regenerating the adjacent Regent Trading Estate with the support of Salford City Council. Bands that have previously played the Mill include Acid Mother Temple, Ariel Pink, Boris and Peaches. There have also been one-off shows from the likes of Elbow, Grimes and Bjork.   

I have previously covered many of the venues in the building but was excited to see a new one on this year’s listing. There was an element of levitation and physical endeavour required to access the gig at Manchester Islington Mill 5th Floor. When I disembarked the metal stairs, I rewarded myself with a cold beverage whilst watching a rapper by the name of Cartier.

Back over on Chapel Street there is a small café originally known as GK Gallery & Tea Room when it first opened its doors in January 2016. As the name implies, they have an Art Gallery within where their mission is to support emerging artists by staging exhibitions. Many of these are graduates based at nearby Salford University. For me however their chief but dangerous pulling power is the ready availability of tasty homemade cakes!

Manchester ‘Beatz’ Cafe. Image Credit tripadvisor.com

More recently they have changed their name to Kith and Kin and for the first time were included in the SFTOC roster under the one day pseudonym Manchester Beatz Café. I saw an artist called Beatz Nails performing there.

As you progress back onto New Bailey Street there is a new bar called Manchester Tangerine which sits directly opposite Salford Central Station. The venue was opened in 2025 after a period of 12 months transformation work on two previously derelict railway arches and is modelled to a degree on other city centre venues, Diecast and Ducie Street Warehouse. It is owned by the existing team behind the Mala hidden garden bar and Want Studios.

It encompasses three individual areas, the first being Platform 1 which is the daytime Canteen Club which utilises seven independent kitchens including a bakery, in-house coffee roastery, florist and wine shop. Platform 2 then contains an art, dance and music performance hall, mainly used in the evenings, and the Grand departures bar is a specialist martini bar with a taproom with 40 taps. The building overall has a 300 person capacity.

Manchester Tangerine. Image Credit themanc.com

It is believed the colour scheme is a nod to Salford FC who are reverting to their original orange and black kit from the upcoming 26/27 season. This was their kit colour until the Manchester United boys of 1992 took over the club in 2014 and in a slightly narcissist touch changed it to red.     

Now, as a Preston North End fan I reacted in an allergic way when I first heard the name of the bar as it is the kit colours of our arch enemies Blackpool FC! But in the interests of ‘new venue’ research I took that on the chin and made an appearance.

I attended prior to heading down to the SFTOC event and my initial observations pertained to its unexpected size and a blazing orange hue everywhere. I had to admit grudgingly that it was quite impressive from a cocktail bar style viewpoint. Whilst I was there an act called Jazzy John was performing in one of the rooms.     

Whilst undertaking a rare foray to the Christmas Markets in 2025 and when traversing between St Anns and Cathedral Square, I noticed there was a pop up stage just to the side of Manchester M&S on Market Street where I saw a full band under the moniker of Dad and Lad playing.