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Manchester
Jan 22nd 2010
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Up for it were:
17 eventually,
including Yupmeister, Mid Week Tone, Pedro, Richee-Lionel, Granpop Bill,
Keithee's up for it, JayCee, Craigee 50/50, Stevey 60/40 Phone a friend
– Sid, DCeen, Utterly, Corky - Graham Cork, A fine mess – Harmesh, Benny
(Kev Benfield), Charles Hobson "chaz" and Huge.
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Ali Gee had been
tango’d and was forced to attempt a pasadoble at a ‘come dancing’ event
in Brum; and Sean was making every effort to finish a training course in
quick quick quick quick slow time to be with us later.
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The Winter Ales
Festival at Manchester was the first squaree do of the year, after a
much welcomed Christmas break.
Most of the clan
turned up on Stoke Station’s platform 2 whilst the remaining would meet
up at Manchester. It was clear Santa had not turned up at Sid’s with a
new razor judging by the state of his chin.
Pedro bought along
Chaz, another mug-gle in the group, from Newcastle rugby club. Welcome
Chaz. We almost had an ‘up and over’ as Pedro dived down to pick up a
five pence piece off the platform.
It was a damp start
in Stoke, and it would be more than likely raining in Manchester. The
rain, at least, was keeping Richee in a job, who was swamped out with
flooding claims.
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Previously unvisited
by us, the listed Crown & Kettle was our first stop, situated at the
Oldham Road/Swann St junction.
http://www.crownandkettle.com/
After being closed
for around 20 years, the Crown and Kettle had re-opened in 2005. |
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The splendid and ornate interior of the Crown and Kettle, according to
legend, arises from the fact that the building was intended to be used
for law courts. So there we go.
Salopian Oracle and Wrens nest were amongst the favourite tipples. The
Salamander was disappointing, whilst the Old Chestnut went down well
with Huge and other dark addicts.
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Traditional bar meals were available, and it wasn’t long before the
orders were flying in. Soup in a basket with chips was ordered by Sid,
or was it chips in soup? Either
way, using 2 chips as chopsticks proved
rather tricky.
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Across the road was our second stop, the quirky Bar
Fringe or Minge, perhaps renamed by us after the cat which hung from the
ceiling?
Northern lights from the Green Mill brewery and At Ten Shun from the 6
Bells brewery of Bishops Castle were available, along with others all
served in their own named glass.
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Pedro brazenly supped a Belgium Wheat Beer from a ladies glass, with no
handle!
Chaz confirmed that the rugby club beer festival would be taking place
at the same as the trip to Audley. He would be on hand setting the
tables and shelving up which he can get cheap. If you want a good deal
on shelves, Chaz is your man.
We waited a short while for JayCee to finish his ale,
and consent was given as he’d been talking to Richee!!
He
proved he was still a new man and finished it off in record time.
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This year’s beer festival had moved to a new venue, The Sheridan Suite,
a mile or so up the Oldham Road. So we trundled outside and stood at
the bus stop. I’ll have the same as him was repeated several times as a
quid was handed over to the driver.
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CAMRA members amongst us slipped through the entrance at a reduced
entrance fee. There was only 1 of us rich enough to buy a programme,
namely Mid Week Tone.
We thought Granpop
Bill had bought one too, but he'd cleverly borrowed Tone's who never saw
it again.
As
we moved into the room, Keithees rennies came out from his pocket,
swiftly followed by JayCee’s fruity pack.
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‘We need to move to K & L for Kelham Island’, said Tone. Everyone
agreed and followed his wise words. Some strange anorak approached us
and asked if he could join us. The group disbanded gradually leaving
the anorak standing with his arm firmly placed around DCeen’s
shoulders. Later on, it looked as though DCeen was describing his
experience to Corky, Keithee and Huge.
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‘Gottle a geer, gottle a geer’, cried JayCee. Oh no, he’s bought
another teddy !! Last year’s present for Carol must have done the
trick?
Sid was drawn to the ‘Bitter & Twisted’. Yup became bitter and twisted
himself as he struggled to pass off stomach cramps. After a long queue
for an empty cubicle which seemed like a life time, and a couple of
tirds he was back on the halves with a smile on his face.
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A
couple of swingers were spotted. Apparently they were colostomy bags
worn by Utterly and JayCee.
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We caught the bus back and walked across town towards
the East z East restaurant situated under the Ibis hotel in Charles St.
(Tel 01612 445353). Another highly recommended Indian by none other
than A Fine Mess.
As
we had ten minutes spare before our 6pm booking, an opportunity to check
out the Lass O’Gowrie was taken. There were some suspicious looking
guys in there. Would you buy a car off them?
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The East is East Indian in Charles St was voted the best restaurant in
Manchester at the Food & Drink Awards in 2007, and was only a 10 to 15
minutes walk from the railway station
(http://www.eastzeast.com/manchester-ibis.asp).
Sean of the Dead arrived having struggled to find the restaurant. The
restaurant lived up to its expectations and excellent feedback was
received from most of the group.
Only a couple of bottles of wine were consumed along with a few cobras
and kingfishers, with the bill of around £20 proving excellent value for
money.
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As
the evening wore on, another Sean of the Dead, Utterly, slumped in his
chair. The excitement had been too much to bear.
Eventually we woke him up and made our way back to the station. Those
with flexible day tickets caught the next available train, and the rest
who had bought advance tickets wee forced to retreat back to The
Brunswick to finish off with a short. Ah well.
Anuver gudun
Yuppers
(enjoy yer baltis)
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