Snow On The Tracks....

We are in the first days of the New Year, 2025 limping to a close, and after a week or two of inertia over the festive period I dragged myself over to Manchester to see what was going on somewhere else....

It was certainly a change going to Manchester; I hadn't moved far over the first 3 days of 2026. The first two days I had been very local, my first pint and the only beer I consumed being Bradfield Farmer's Blonde at the Dusty Miller in Hove Edge, a beer which can often be rather bland, but is normally very good here. I did get some football in though even though there was a blank fixture list in the National League, and so it was the local derby just around the corner from me where Brighouse Town lost 2-0 to Bradford Park Avenue in the Northern Premier League East.

The day was cold, the air crisp, the sunshine bright in a clear blue sky as I waited for the Victoria train to arrive at Halifax station with very few other travellers around. The skeletal trees in their winter plumage on the large hill beyond were perfectly still as they looked down from above the factory, where an occasional exhalation of steam was the only sign of life. The train appeared from within the depths of the hill and a few minutes later we were passing through the Calder Valley. Such is the scarcity of light at this time of the year that by the time we'd crossed the Pennines the sun was lower in the sky and the light waa starting to fade.

It was bitter when I got off the train at Victoria, the concourse as cold as I could recall. I sought refuge in the Victoria Tap where I planned my next move. It was quiet, the Christmas bustle and once-a-year drinkers gone, and so I was quickly served with a pint of Marble Pint, sensibly restored to its former 3.9% ABV after a dalliance with 3.4% had failed to impress the majority of its customers. And it was an enjoyable pint with which to start the afternoon, refreshing and clean-tasting (NBSS 3). I had earlier considered revisiting its spiritual home, the Marble Arch, during the afternoon, but as I was half-looking for some music and books which would take me in the opposite direction from there, I had decided to save it for another day.

Outside there had been the odd flurry of snow and the pavements were slightly slippy as I headed from the station towards the Arndale Centre. The streets were busy but a lot quieter than they would have been only few days earlier, the buzz of Christmas and the New Year giving way to the inescapable gloom and torpor that creeps into January. I had no joy on the shopping front, so I made my way to Cafe Beermoth, which I had not called in on my most recent visits to the city, but which is always a reliable spot for a decent pint. I arrived to find a traffic warden gleefully writing out a parking ticket for a large BMW illegally parked outside this modern bar which lies at the bottom of a office block on Brown Street in the city's financial district.

It was quiet in the characteristically dimly-lit single room bar as I walked in, with a few people dotted around on tables and in the elevated booths by the large windows. I was about to scan the QR code to get the current beer list, but a guy behind the bar approached me and handed over a physical list, explaining that some of the beers were no longer available. From what was on the list, and at this stage of the day avoiding the strong beers, I went for a pint of the Kernel Drinking Beer, a 4.4% stout which was actually a collab brewed with a couple of the bar's team members, as the friendly lad explained. And very nice it was too, a rich and well-balanced beer, very drinkable with plenty of flavour (NBSS 3.5). A few more people came in whilst I sat enjoying drinking my beer, but overall it remained pretty quiet. And whilst the bar's staff here are always welcoming, they generally aren't ones for having a protracted chat, but it seemed that today probably due to the sudden quietness after the hustle and bustle of Christmas and New Year they were only too happy to do so today, as when I went back to the bar to check the ABV of my beer from the list a girl came rushing over to see how she could help, seeming slightly disappointed that I didn't need serving!

I moved on when I finished my pint, my plan to visit the nearby North Westward Ho!, situated on the corner of Pall Mall and Chapel Walks. However, I missed my turn and was virtually at the end of Brown Street before I realised. So I retraced my steps and discovered that the top part of Chapel Walks which had been covered in scaffolding and boarded off due to building week ever since the bar opened in October 2023 was now completely clear, so I reckon I can be excused for not realising! I headed down the newly-accessible road and before I crossed over and I stopped to take a photo of the impressive and rather imposing building.

North Westward Ho! takes its unusual name from an old sailing ship that was moored at the former Pomona dock in Salford, the area in which the Pomona Island brewery that owns the bar is situated. The ship was originally based in Cornwall, but was brought north and ended up here in the 1970's, with its name adapted from the West Country Victorian holiday resort of Westward Ho! During that period, there was a trend to create bars and clubs in unusual locations, and eventually a makeover of the ship was undertaken to create, according to sources from the time, "a plush bar and restaurant, offering six bars, Bass ale, a late licence and disco". An alcohol licence was granted and when it opened, the ship soon became a popular if somewhat unsteady location for a night out for a number of years, particularly for those in high heels traversing the notoriously steep stairs within the venue. It did though acquire the sobriquet The Love Boat, before finally, metaphorically speaking, running aground and hitting the rocks in the 1980's.

The current version of North Westward Ho! is a smart modern bar, with polished flooring, tiling, and gleaming brass work. There is dark wood in abundance and plenty of mirrors to go along with sympathetic lighting to give the place a sense of elegant style. One feature that does detract in my opinion is a pillar which effectively splits the bar into two halves which makes spotting the beers that are on in in the other half a little difficult. But, hey, that's a small point, it is a lovely place to come for a drink.

It was fairly quiet when I walked in, and decided not to go for any of the 5 beers on hand pump, instead opting to go for one from the impressive array of 22 keg beers. Pomona Island do have a large range to go at and do seem to retain their place in the line up unlike some breweries, and I went for a pint of Phaedra, one of their core beers which is a refreshing 5% hazy pale. I grabbed a stool at the end of the bar, where I chilled out and enjoyed my beer as the odd frozen shopper came in to warm up after traipsing the cold streets of the city.

A view of the bar at North Westward Ho!

I finished my beer and headed back out into the cold and set off on the short journey to another one of my favourite Manchester pubs, situated close to the Town Hall and St Peter's Square on Kennedy Street. Along the way the pavements were damp and slippery and the wintry feel was enhanced by the odd Christmas tree which was lingering on in to the early days of the new year.

The City Arms, which was my pub of the year in 2024, is a great place to visit at any time of the year for its good selection of beers and friendly welcome. It is a small pub, with a couple of small rooms and a drinking corridor, sandwiched between the Waterhouse, one of the city's Wetherspoons, and the Vine. The City has always had the feel of a local's pub despite the fact that it probably gets a similar level of churn as most of the city's leading real ale pubs. But with its comfortable lounge down a step beyond the room with the bar, it is a place that many linger if they can get a seat. And with its attractive decor which features inscriptions of famous drink-related quotations it certainly is a pleasant spot to enjoy a couple of pints along with a chat, a scroll through your phone, or read of a book.

The room with the bar is more spartan, with wooden floorboards and not much seating, being more geared up for the standing drinker. There are 8 hand pumps on the bar with one dedicated to Odin from Brightside brewery from nearby Radcliffe, who have been brewing since 2009 and whose name was partly inspired by the Killers' song of almost the same name. The rest of the beers often come from small and sometimes new local and regional breweries, whilst more familiar names that reularly appear include Thornbridge, Neptune, and Titanic. There are also a number of keg lines, but on this occasion I went for cask, opting for a pint of the Odin, which I took down the step in to the lounge which was fairly quiet for once. My beer was well-balanced with some fruit on the nose, a lingering bitterness, and some sweet malt undertones which made for a refreshing and clean-tasting pint (NBSS 3). I finished it and reckoned I had just enough time for a quick half, so I went for a Oatmeal Stout from local nano-brewery Courier, whose beers I first came across here. This was another enjoyable beer with dark malts and a pleasant mouthfeel (NBSS 3), and made for a pleasant conclusion to the afternoon's drinking.

A little snow was coming down and a light covering had indeed settled in one or two places as I headed around the corner to St Peter's Square to catch a tram back to Victoria. I had a few minutes to wait on the cold and draughty platform before one appeared that was going my way, and after rumbling along Mosley Street, around to Market Street, and then on to Shudehill, I arrived at my destination. With my train back home already on the nearby platform for once there was no time for a final half at the Victoria Tap. It had been a cold and miserable afternoon but it had been most enjoyable to make a return to some of Manchester's excellent pubs....

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