Author: jimmyc1968

Manchester Venue 93 – Rose and Monkey

Nearby to Shudehill Bus Station, you will find two fine old-fashioned boozers, The Angel and the Marble Arch, the naming of the latter indicating its linkage to the Marble brewery and the pub also has the added bonus of a sloping floor, evident even before you have imbibed a drop of ale! If you then headed from there over towards Ancoats you would locate the Wing Yip Chinese supermarket where Gill and I used to visit in the 90’s to obtain ingredients for us to be wannabe chefs during the time Gill was undertaking her nurse training further across the city.

Marble Arch pub. Image Credit timeout.com

Back on Swan Street is the food hall Mackie Mayor where you can take your pick from a choice of cuisines and a plethora of craft beers, and I have sampled a couple of wares there, including some tasty pizzas. Mackie seems to have set a trend by inciting other similar establishments to spring up in other suburbs of the city and also at Stockport Market.

Just around the corner is Manchester Rose and Monkey. The building that now houses the pub was built in 1783, the reason for the creation was a reaction to the boom in population resulting from Richard Arkwright building the world’s first ever steam powered mill right outside the front door. Sixty years later it was first recognised as a pub, in fact two, as there was an additional one in the basement! There were many names across the years, The Glasgow Tavern, The Grapes, John O’Groats, Tam O Shanter and then latterly the Burton Arms.  

In the late 19th century, the two local gangs of ‘Angel Meadows’ and ‘Bengal Tigers’ regularly clashed. Around that time the Smithfield Market was built directly behind the pub and the olde world charm of the nearby Smithfield Arms still remains. Music also abounded on the streets with the production via the residents in ‘Little Italy’ of barrel organs and hurdy gurdies and the proximity of the market turned the Burton into a renowned yet somewhat dubious musical establishment.

Manchester Rose and Monkey beer garden. Image Credit mancunianmatters.co.uk

It was a brash Man United football supporters haven in the 90’s before rebadging itself into a real ale pub and a subsequent name change to the Rose and Monkey. It is now a homely establishment, and the small stage is just inside the front door and has hosted events by The Blinders, Goa Express and John Bramwell of I Am Kloot fame who performed in the large beer garden at the rear which contains a fully functioning vegan bar in the summer. There is also a bonny resident pub dog called Django who has somewhat bizarrely been credited on a recent Mysterines album.  

My one musical visit there was during the 2019 Dot to Dot festival. It was the most geographical stretching version of that event I had attended, and we had walked up from somewhere in the Ritz area so were craving a quick sit down. They had closed the front door due to the proximity to the stage, so we gained access via the beer garden.

Upon entering we were met by the sound of a lass who was performing on a piano on the little stage, she had a beautiful voice and was a compelling soothing watch. The artist in question was Megan Dixon Hood from Macclesfield and she has been referenced in the ‘forest pop’ genre and perhaps could be likened to Florence and the Machine and she has recently released her debut album ‘East of the Sun’.   

Megan Dixon Hood. Image Credit bandsintown.com

Lancaster Venues 8 to 10

I have always been fond of the old-fashioned quaintness of Lancaster train station and to further embellish their standing in my eyes they have recently opened a craft beer bar on the platform. In a nod to their heritage, they have named the establishment Tite & Locke after William Tite who built the station in 1846 during Joseph Locke’s expansion of the British railways.  I have not yet had an opportunity to visit but hope to rectify that in the near future.

Tite and Locke pub. Image Credit whatpub.com

Gill and I use to undertake an annual summer trip to Windermere passing through Carnforth station en route where Brief Encounter was filmed. We would raid the huge Booths supermarket outside the station for tasty picnic snacks and then catch the open top bus down to Bowness and chill on the green near to the lake.  On the way back to the train we once dived into the Albert pub in the village and I sampled a couple of pints of Hartleys Gold in the sunny beer garden, arguably the finest pint I have ever tasted!

On one other such trip we returned via Lancaster and visited the Penny Bank pub. Just before leaving I randomly slung a pound into the fruit machine which proceeded to instantly pay out two consecutive jackpots resulting in paying for the entire trip including a banquet feast at a local Chinese restaurant!

I can recall another lad’s trip to Bowness which involved a visit to the pitch and putt golf course, and I famously holed a 100-foot putt (the length increases every time I tell the tale!) from off the 18th green in monsoon conditions to win the day!

Back in Lancaster on Market Street there used to be a downstairs hostelry which I think was called Mitchells. We visited there on a stag do in 1998 and there was a couple of lads who for some bizarre reason began aggressively flicking beer mats at us, so being peace-loving souls, we bid a hasty departure to avoid any potential escalation. For the record, I have other wise found Lancaster an extremely friendly place to frequent.

The venue subsequently morphed into Lancaster 1725 Tapas Bar where alongside the food and drinks they used to periodically have live acoustic music and I saw Becky, Hannah and Richard and also the Italian Stallion (not Rocky Balboa!) there. The restaurant closed in 2018 and has only just recently reopened as Sydney’s, a second site following the success of the flagship endeavour in Settle.

1725 Tapas Bar. Image Credit pinterest.com

Heading down Market Street towards the train station you will find Lancaster Ye Olde John O Gaunt, which was established in 1871. It has always been an old-fashioned rustic pub with an Edwardian frontage and Grade 2 listed status and was named after the 14th century Duke of Lancaster. There are photos of musicians on the walls and a small beer garden at the rear. They have live music on the weekends and an open mic night on a Sunday. Whilst visiting I have witnessed a band called Sound Forum and an Oasis covers band.

Even nearer to the station is another small cosy pub called Lancaster Robert Gillow. It is owned by the Salford based Hyde’s brewery and is their most northerly outpost. As with all Hyde’s owned establishments, like the Fletcher Moss near me, it is a homely place with fine beer on tap and they had a more food focused area upstairs.

The Robert Gillow. Image Credit Her Campus.

They had music on most nights of the week, and they were firmly in the jazz/blues domain. Prior to heading off for the last train, around the 2013/2014 era I caught Dave Mitchell & Tony Crane and Boogie Bill play there. I had read that recently that the pub has changed its name to the Jailor’s Barrel but is still under Hyde’s tutelage.