Stockport Venues 7 to 8

If you turn left off Shaw Road onto Heaton Moor Road in Stockport, you encounter many differing retail units of shops, restaurants and bars. The first of interest is the Cork of the North wine shop and bar, though I have only thus far graced the doors just the once and not frequented any of their numerous wine tasting events.

The next destination is the Stockport Crown Inn. Now, I don’t know if they were short of available names back in the day, but I can think of five different hostelries with the Crown moniker within a five mile distance of this one. This particular version is a highly traditional bar with one long room and two separate back rooms, one an old fashioned mini snug and a small beer garden with barbecue facilities at the rear.

The Crown Inn. Image Credit beerintheevening.com

It was built in 1820 and initially was set back from neighbouring buildings because of the existence in that spot of three poplar trees. A century later the local lumberjack felled them, and the pub was extended in 1930 by building forwards to line up with the other buildings. The pub was originally under the auspices of Richard Clarke’s Reddish brewery before morphing into a Boddington’s Bitter house in the 1960’s. It has retained many of the original floorboards and wooden effects which only embellishes the allure in my view. Apparently also the tabloids were reporting recently that Ricky Hatton and Claire Sweeney were spotting leaving the said establishment after a night out.

They have a few TV screens showing sporting events but also stage live music every Friday and Saturday in the bay window area by the front entrance. Our first musical visit was there on 20/07/19 with Jo and Paul after grabbing some tea at Valentinos restaurant in nearby Moor Top. The band on stage was a local rock covers band called Rock Doctors who mainly play 1970’s tunes and I recall two or three Bad Company and Free tracks.  

We visited again last month just prior to Christmas and the place was bustling with groups of menfolk imbibing prior to the later showing of Tyson Fury’s latest boxing match. There was a duo called Moor Irish playing which consisted of two lasses, one on acoustic guitar and the other playing a suite of instruments including flute and penny whistle and they were very enjoyable. When I look at the roster board outside there is an act who play there periodically called Reservoir Dads, who I must endeavour to witness one day as (Dad gag incoming alert) they could be ‘bloody’ great!    

Reservoir Dads. Image Credit reservoirdads.co.uk

As you progress down the road you pass (or go in) the Plough on the Moor, a regularly visited homely pub where they produce a rather fine Sunday roast, and we have whiled away many hours in one of their cosy corners.

Further on you reach Casa De Moor, our favourite Tapas restaurant in the region. Beyond the fine evening fare, they also provide huge hearty breakfasts where we have frequented a couple of times on Cheltenham Gold Cup morning before heading home to watch the racing. The last bar on that side is an establishment called the Eden Bar and Eatery which has various different incarnations including being called the Scarlet Door. The road then leads you down to the evocative old fashioned Heaton Chapel train station.

Across the road you will find the Moor Club, a private members club (previously the Conservative Club) which has been in place in that location for over a century. They have five snooker tables within and have professional exhibition matches there. They used to have monthly vinyl nights and have jazz musicians who play every Wednesday and in the summer months you can purchase cold beverages as a non-member and bask on one of the tables outside.

A more extensive beer garden is situated next door at the Stockport Elizabethan, though finding a seat in the warmer months can still be a challenge! Originally built in 1874 the pub started life as Bampton House, a private residence before in the early 1900’s morphing into a private members club but retained the original name. To coincide with the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977, it changed to its current name and became a public house.    

The Elizabethan. Image Credit searchstockport.co.uk

The hostelry is one of many in the area under the auspices of the local JW Lees brewery, which suits me as I am partial to a drop of their ale. It is a large wood furnished establishment and is generally always busy with many sampling the food on offer.

It had a short blast of fame in 2017 when Liam Gallagher’s brother Paul was turned away at the door for wearing tracksuit bottoms, generating an extensive twitter rant from his kid brother. Apparently, they have form in this regard as many moons ago a young David Beckham was refused entry for wearing trainers. For the record, I have never been denied entry, but this is probably more to do with the fact that I have rarely seen a bouncer in residence than of it being due to my sartorial elegance!    

I thought they were a non-live music pub but on one exception on a sunny August evening I just happened to be ensconced there when a local singer called Serena performed a turn. 

Manchester Venues 130 to 132

Levenshulme is a suburb south of Manchester, residing on the A6 equidistant between there and Stockport. If you drive out of the city centre past Manchester Apollo, you will then pass through this area. It is historically badged under Lancashire before falling under the Manchester borders in 1909. Levenshulme is situated next to the suburb of Longsight where the fabulous venues of Manchester Internationals 1 and 2 were located in the mid to late 1980’s and early 1990’s.

It has its own small train station, which is on the London Euston route. A quirky fact is that the 77-yard stretch of road the station is located on has never been christened. Thus, via lottery funding in 2007 an unofficial road sign was erected with the informal locally used moniker of ‘The Street With No Name’. Sadly, though I don’t think Clint Eastwood’s character ‘The Man With No Name’ from Sergio Leone’s ‘Dollars Trilogy’ westerns has ever visited the road!

The Street With No Name. Image Credit flickriver.com

Close to the station is where the weekly local markets were held from 2013, but due to rising costs were closed in 2023. The old ‘dandy’ highwayman Dick Turpin used to frequent the old Blue Bell Inn, a pub which still stands to this day, now owned by Samuel Smiths brewery and an Italian restaurant named Cibus on the A6 has just been awarded the Good Food Guide of best local restaurant in the North West.

Nearby to there your nostrils are assailed by the fine aromas emanating from the McVities biscuit factory. Liam and Noel Gallagher’s mum Peggy used to be employed by them and bring home the rejects and broken biscuits to the two lads which Noel then used to increase his popularity to taking them into school earning him the nickname of ‘Gallagher the Biscuit’.  I became very animated when I discovered they had a shop on site, but then instantly distressed when I subsequently uncovered that it is only open to employees! I think I may need to raise this ultra important anomaly with my local MP!

McVities Factory. Image Credit themanc.com

Levenshulme alumni include actors Arthur Lowe who played Captain Mainwaring in Dad’s Army, and Gwyneth Powell who was headmistress Bridget ‘The Midget’ McClusky in Grange Hill. From the musical spectrum you have Oasis drummer Tony McCarroll and Wayne Fontana who fronted the Mindbenders.  

When it became apparent this year that my accumulation of gigs could feasibly result in attending 200 singular venues in Manchester, I have begun to make a concerted effort to achieve this aspiration by invoking Project 200. In this regard I took advantage of the fact that Levenshulme is the key Irish enclave in the city, therefore they had events on and around St Patricks Day that I could advantage of.

In July 2023 Aunty Ji’s restaurant closed and was taken over by an Irish and Scottish establishment called Manchester Bia Café Bar. They apparently excel with their fried breakfasts and also commendably provide ‘free porridge breakfasts’ every morning for school children where the need arises. They are also licensed and have periodic live music acts.  On the Sunday afternoon of my visit there was an Irish duo called Grace Kelly & Debbie Garvey playing in front of a packed venue.

The Manchester Union Inn is a traditional sports and music pub where on the same Sunday I saw a Manchester University student violinist Coleen Langan perform. As of today’s date, I am now sat on 192 Manchester venues, so a remaining 8 required for my double century!  

The East Levenshulme district was original known as the Talleyrand, allegedly named after the French statesman of that name who was in exile there during the French Revolution. Respecting that tradition there is now an establishment on the A6 called Manchester Talleyrand.

It is a very homely establishment as you initially enter into a dimly lit continental style beer café, and then encounter the in-house STOCK art gallery. They also utilise the small back room as a multi-functional arts space which includes live gigs in its schedule. The establishment is owned by pals Tom Hughes and Dean Brocklehurst, who met when they were working together at HOME.  

The Talleyrand. Image Credit creativetourist.com

I became aware that they were hosting some interesting eclectic sounding bands, and previous acts who have performed are John Otway, TV Smith and Laetitia Sadier from Stereolab. In April 22 we decided to make our debut visit with my pals Paul Catterall and Mark Barry in tow. The latter named is a fine fellow, highly knowledgeable muso and a serial gig goer back in the day but alas now only a very sporadic attendee, so I had to coax him out of semi-retirement!     

The band playing was the Flatmates who were formed in 1985 and part of the C86 scene. The guitarist and songwriter Martin Whitehead formed his own record label The Subway Organisation and were based in Bristol. They are best remembered for their No 2 indie chart single ‘Shimmer’. They disbanded in 1989 but subsequently reformed in 2013 and provided an enjoyable set on the night. They were supported by a fuzzy guitar band from Leeds called Nervous Twitch.