Lancaster Venues 37 to 39

The next destination on our 2025 Lancaster Live music festival jaunt was Lancaster Boars Head situated on Great John Street near Dalton Square.It is a proper local establishment with pool tables and sports robustly advertised on the tv’s. One reviewer of the establishment eloquently described it as a ‘Star Wars’ bar, a phrase I have used myself previously to best describe the clientele encountered on the 1.24am ghost train from Manchester to Preston that I used to catch in the 1990’s.

The hostelry was in a boisterous state when I landed on a late Saturday afternoon and on stage were the Rock Twins.  The duo derives from the Blackburn area and consist of Steve Gaunt and Ian Wilson (known as Endy), the former named once apparently performed in front of the Queen. Their name evolves from the fact that the original singer was also called Ian Wilson, thus the alphabetical Twins moniker. I returned briefly the following day into another vibrant setting with a local lass called Loana Christy performing.

The Boars Head. Image Credit tripadvisor

We then took a detour to drop our bags at our digs for the evening, namely the Lancaster Sun Hotel & Bar. The Sun is a Grade II listed historic building with a handily placed south facing beer garden. It was originally built on the site of a Tudor residence named Stoop Hall and there is a recorded licence running all the way back to 1680. It reflected its roots for a while by having the name the Sun Inn on Stoop Hall, potentially named after the stables that were housed at the rear of the building.

It was a huge building in the 18th century with a grand total of 70 windows and in 1784 it was halved in size to make way for the adjoining Sun Street. It was chosen for the sheriff’s quarterly sessions prior to the judge’s lodgings being built and also for the Lancaster Musical Society. Like many other hostelries there are claims that Bonnie Prince Charlie once supped a cold ale there!

In the latter part of the 20th century, it was a tired looking hostelry before the Lancaster Brewery took over the reins in 2003. They undertook a highly comprehensive overhaul which took ten years to complete but was respectful enough to retain the original stone walls, beams and window frames. They also bought the next door property of 65 Church Street to build the hotel rooms and during that refurbishment some items of roman era pottery were discovered.     

 

Sun Inn. Image Credit sunhotelandbar.co.uk

I have been visiting the Sun for around three decades and it has always been one of my favourite pubs in Lancaster. One of the many reasons is due to the very fine Lancaster brewery beer where within their range they have Blonde, Amber, Black, Red and IPA which always presents a devilish choice when I approach the bar. Joyfully, though admittedly only periodically they stock their brewery beverages in my local supermarket.

As referenced above they have lodgings and it seemed an apposite place to rest our weary heads, and we were allocated an appropriate attic room with a sloping ceiling. They also served a fine breakfast for us to gird our loins prior to Day 2 of the festival!

I don’t think the pub normally stages live music, but they had made an exception on that day and we saw Molly Warburton playing, who I had earlier seen performing in the Borough. Those multiple shows are a regular occurrence at the event with bands straddling various venues across the weekend.   

We then made our way over to Lancaster Hogarths on George Street. The building first erected in 1892 has had previous lives as a Comet and Cycle 2000 store and also Milady House Toffees where they were apparently renowned for a mean caramel!  In the late 1990’s it turned into a hostelry, initially as Varsity until 2004, then looked like it closed for a while before reopening as Oscars wine bar and bistro in 2012. Then in 2018 it morphed again into its current guise and is kitted out in a Victorian Gin Palace style stocking over 120 brands, much like the Preston branch which is known locally as Hogwarts! 

Hogarths Pub. Image Credit ambertaverns.co.uk

There is a striking mural as you enter into the building, and they have a private karaoke bar in their upstairs space. When we visited there was a local lad called Mark McKenna singing and he did a decent cover of Chris Isaaks ‘Wicked Game’. His website outlines that he can also masquerade as a DJ, so you could receive a ‘2 for 1 deal’!

He was previously the lead singer of a Morecambe band in the 1980’s called The Ice Factory which was spookily named after the ice cream factory where they used to rehearse.  They were quite highly touted at the time but despite a few TV appearances and support slots to Youssou N’Dour and Blur they like many others before and after them, self-imploded in 1991.

Manchester Venues 221 to 222

It has been cited here previously that there were many sections of Manchester in the 1980’s and 1990’s that were still harking back to the Industrial Revolution era. An example of this was the large Spinningfields space located in a square bordered by Bridge Street to the north, Quay Street to the south, Deansgate to the east and River Irwell to the west. It consisted of a suite of grubby back alleys and tenement buildings and even the name was derived from the dark satanic cotton mills heyday.

The Manchester bombing of 1996 resulted in a comprehensive regeneration programme across the city including Spinningfields which went through a £1.5 billion gentrification phase over the next decade and was labelled by the marketeers as the ‘Knightsbridge of the North’. It was loaded up with various bars, restaurants and boutique shops over the 22-acre (89000 square metre) site with 16000 punters employed. The old magistrates court and the Manchester Evening News buildings amongst others were demolished as a result.  

Spinningfields. Image Credit Visit Manchester.

So, if you enter via Deansgate your first landmark is the impressive John Rylands Library which is well worth a visit and beyond there are the Australasia, Hawksmoor and the sorrowfully named Sexy Fish restaurants.

Nearby is a posh cocktail bar called Manchester Dear Sailor with three separate menus and drinks called Pecan Mai Tai Yuzu Meringue Martini if either of those delicacies happens to float your boat! Their blurb outlines they are inspired by the premise of 1930 Tokyo speakeasy bars and there are gentle house rules including that gentlemen cannot approach ladies unless they have already made the first move.  

One afternoon I happened to be trundling past on my way to the train station after work and the doors were wide open and live music assailed my lugs. I hung around for a spell and caught a portion of the Steel Band Boys set and their Caribbean influenced beats.

Dear Sailor. Image Credit spinningfields.co.uk

As you continue your circuit onto Quay Street you roll past Schofields Bar and the Opera House and then reach No 1 Spinningfields. This structure was built in 2014 and gained a highest new entry placing as the fifth highest building in Manchester and they house various accountancy and law firms and also have a large M&S food hall on the ground floor. At the top of the tower block you would find 20 Stories restaurant.  

In the central thoroughfare behind there is the Manchester branch of The Alchemist and The Ivy, the latter which Gill and I attended after her graduation. Further down New Quay Street you reach River Irwell and there is the obligatory branch of Slug and Lettuce.

There is a bridge over the river to the New Bailey estate taking you past the long gone Mark Addy pub and through to Salford Central station. However, the bridge has been closed for a couple of years now whilst awaiting repair thereby making my work commute slightly longer. This is also the location for commencements of tourist boat trips down the River Irwell.  

Onto Bridge Street you then alight outside the award winning People History Museum which after several previous homes settled in its current location in 1994. Artefacts there include Peterloo Massacre memorabilia, ex-Spitting Image puppets and Michael Foot’s inimitable donkey jacket. Last year it was included in the city’s art trail with all 48 of the instruments in the guitar trail exhibited there with additional donations from Oasis, Doves and New Order. Our new prime minister Andy Burnham recently chose the venue to deliver his first major speech after announcing his Labour Party leadership bid.  

You then pass the Civil Justice Centre which opened in 2007 and is known locally as the ‘filing cabinet’ due to its design shape. It was quite a ground breaking venture as it was the first major court complex built in Britain since 1882.  On that main drag there is the grand old freemasons Manchester Hall building and the Indian restaurant Dishoom with their breakfast Bacon Naan Rolls.

The ‘Filing Cabinet’. Image Credit insidehmcts.blog.gov.uk

To the rear of there is Manchester Oast House, which is designed based on a resemblance to an olde-worlde Yorkshire barn and was a brick by brick rebuild of a reclaimed 16th century oast house which was located in Kent, for which its original use was for brewers when roasting hops. It was originally a pop-up temporary location when it opened in 2011 but proved to be so popular it became a permanent venue. I have attended a couple of Christmas do’s there, one in the indoor building and another in the marquees that they install for the winter season.   

Oast House. Image Credit morningadvertiser.co.uk

There is a large outdoor seating space with two alfresco bars and a bespoke bandstand for live music, and they hold monthly festivals that are very well attended. I have seen seven acts there, either on post-work drinks or a cheeky Sunday visit on sunny days and they have all been comprised of cover acts.