A return to sample a few different places in what surely has to be one of the best beer towns in the country. I visited a popular micropub, a newly-opened brewery bar, a traditional pub that is a magnet for real ale afficionados, a lovingly-restored community pub, and an excellent brewery taproom. Here we go....
I had been planning to come back to Stockport for a while. All the word seemed to be it was up and coming, new bars were opening, there was a great vibe about the place, and there was some excellent beer to be had other than the local brew Robinsons, whose beers are fine and they have some wonderful pubs, but their erstwhile hegemony of the local beer market had until recent years rendered the town a fairly dull place to come for a drink unless you wanted to drink Robbo's. But the cost of running businesses in central Manchester has escalated in the last few years as the city has grown, and this in turn has enabled suburbs the beer and hospitality scene in general to flourish in suburbs like Levenshulme and Chorlton, and neighbouring towns like Stockport and Altrincham.
The last couple of times I had been to Stockport had been to see FC Halifax Town play Stockport County when the latter were playing in the National League a few years ago, but with Stockport now doing well two levels up in League One, football-related visits to the town are almost certainly off the agenda for the time being. I set off in bright sunshine and caught the train from Halifax to Manchester Victoria, from where I had a short wait for the Airport train which then took the spectacular Ordsall Chord line via Oxford Road to Piccadilly. A brisk walk from the far reaches of Platform 13 via the travelator to the heart of the station and then it was a Cross Country towards Birmingham for the 8 minute journey to Stockport.
I got my bearings as it had been a while since I had been here and headed into town rather than towards the football ground. I set off for a place I had been to a few times before, and after crossing the busy A6, it took just over 5 minutes to walk to the Petersgate Tap, which is run by father and son duo Chris and Alan Gent in a former betting shop. It has one countless awards over the years since it opened in 2016, and it is the current local Cider Pub of the Year. It consists of a single ground floor room with an attractive and welcoming decor with much breweriana on the walls, together with further seating upstairs. It was quiet as I walked in - it was only 12.30 - with just one guy sat on his own, with a couple of guys chatting behind the bar. From the 6 hand pumps on the bar - there are also 6 keg fonts - I ordered a pint of Through the Hopback Mosaic from Abbeydale, a 3.9% American Pale Ale with Mosaic as a single hop. It was rather bitter I thought at first, but it softened as I drunk it, with mango, guava, and soft fruits coming to the fore (NBSS 3). A few more customers came in, mostly greeted by name, and it seems it attracts a loyal group of regulars. There was a friendly, chilled feel here, and it was an excellent place to start my visit to Stockport.
The sun was still shining as I stepped back out on to the street, with my next stop virtually across the road. This was a relatively new bar which has been opened by Cumbrian brewers Fell, their 3rd in Greater Manchester and their 6th in total. Fell Stockport is a single room bar based in a former cafe bar/cum record store. There was a nice, chilled atmosphere as I walked in with a cool soundtrack playing over the speakers. There is a large window looking out on to the street with high stools and a drinks shelf along with additional seating on the way to the bar which is at the end of the room. An open door at the back suggested there was additional seating outside. The bar is keg only, and so I got myself a half of the Fell Session IPA, a pleasant 4% easy drinker. Whilst it is clearly work in progress in terms of the decor, I liked the bar and atmosphere here, and based on their other venues that I have been to I am sure it will soon become an integral part of the local craft beer scene. Almost next door is another bar, Saints Club, which I hadn't realised at the time had three beers on hand pump and a dozen or so on keg. and was Stockport and South Manchester Pub of the Month for March 2026. So one for next time....
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| Fell Stockport (Photo: CAMRA) |
I re-traced my steps back to the A6, and turned right down the hill. Stockport was once known for its hat-making industry and a museum dedicated to its history was over to the left. I was heading to one of the town's most famous pubs, a real institution which draws in visitors from far and wide. After arriving at the bottom of the hill, with the town's famous viaduct over to the left, my destination was a short uphill walk away just up from the bridge beneath which a relentless stream of vehicles on the M60 roar past the town.
I arrived at the Magnet, a rambling but otherwise unassuming white-painted building sandwiched between the railway line and the A6. It is an award-winning family-run freehouse with up to 14 beers on hand pump and a further 12 beers on keg. I walked in and there was a quiet, almost reverential atmosphere to the place. I had turned left in to a long, narrow room with the bar on the right hand side. Despite the fact it was still only early afternoon, most of the tables were occupied; a couple of older guys, a couple with a small dog sprawled out at their feet, a guy in his thirties with his lad drinking coke through a straw. I walked the bar to survey the beers on cask. Most of the beers on offer were from Manchester or the wider North West. I spotted one I had never seen before on cask, Factotum from Pomona Island, having only ever seen it on keg where it is an excellent hazy session pale. So that's what I ordered. I headed down some steps into a room with a pool table, and then headed though another area and up a step into a snug-like lounge with a few tables, one of which was occupied by four older guys discussing gardening. I sneaked into one of the vacant tables and took a sip of my beer. It was excellent, with all the flavour and character I knew from the keg version but with an added depth in this cask version. It was in excellent condition (NBSS 4) and hopefully this was not a one off as on this quality I would love to try it again.
I returned to the bar for a second drink. I decided to try something different and so this time I went for a beer from another brewery I know well, Ludicrously Capricious Bag from Sureshot. With am ABV of 4.5%, it was a hazy pale dry hopped with Luminosa & Mosaic hops. It was another excellent beer with a soft mouth feel and plenty of juicy citrus flavour with a slight tang, and another beer I felt worthy of a 4 rating. The old boys were still exchanging gardening tips as I finished my beer, and I left them to it. The pub had got busier in the hour I had been here and with the quality of the beer here and the general feel of the place it is easy to see why it draws in customers from far beyond Stockport. As it should, as it is one of the best pubs in the country, as the quality of the beer had shown today. I look forward to returning to the Magnet in the not too distant future.
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| One of the best pubs in the country: The Magnet, Stockport |
I retraced my steps down the hill towards the town centre and then turned right towards the viaduct which sweeps across the Mersey Valley. It certainly is an impressive structure with no less than 27 arches that dominates this part of the town. The viaduct was designed by George W. Buck in consultation with the architect John Lowe for the former Manchester and Birmingham Railway, with work beginning in March 1839. Despite its scale and regular flooding from the River Mersey, the viaduct was completed in December 1840, and amazingly services started up that same month. Around 11 million bricks were used in its construction and it remains the biggest brick structure in this country, and one of the largest in the world. At its highest point above it rises 33.85 metres above the valley below (or just over 111ft in old money). And since March 1975, it has been a Grade II* listed structure. For those of us that like such things it is up right up there with Ribblehead Viaduct in the Yorkshire Dales.
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| Train not included: Stockport's iconic viaduct |
My destination was the Crown Inn just beyond the viaduct but still well within its shadow (opening image). As the etched sign on the outside wall indicates, this is a former Boddingtons house and when I first visited here back in the 1970's it was one of the finest pubs in their estate. With it being a rare outlet for Boddies in the town, it was not surprisingly very popular, and when I visited this multi-roomed gem during my time as a student at Manchester it was always very busy with a cracking atmosphere. With the volume of beer and bitter in particular being sold you were always assured a great pint along with a friendly welcome. Boddingtons eventually sold out to Whitbread and in the subsequent years the Crown was sold off, and became a free house. It still made frequent appearances in the Good Beer Guide and had been very good the last time I visited a few years ago. It was local CAMRA Pub of the Year in 2008, but in the late 2010's the pub went into a decline and it lost its reputation as the premier free house in Stockport. It closed in 2021 when the licensee died, then reopened in 2023 and then a couple of years later in early 2025, it sadly closed once again following regular managerial changes and general uncertainty.
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| The Crown back in 2017 |
Cut to July 2025, and the lease was taken on by none other Chris and Alan Gent. They immediately set about refurbishing both the historic interior and exterior following a few years of unsympathetic redecorations and general neglect, although much of the traditional layout of the pub still remained. Broken window panels and mirrors were repaired, and other features were restored. The exterior was tastefully repainted and when the pub re-opened in August 2025 former regulars were delighted to see what had been done to bring the pub back to like. The Crown was soon nominated for CAMRA's Heritage Pub Award and finished as runner up, whilst the local branch of CAMRA, Stockport & South Manchester awarded a rare Most Improved Pub Award.
I walked in to the first door I came to (there are three in total at the front of the pub, although only two are in use) and walked into a small but smartly decorated room with a servery at the right-hand side of the bar which was set against the wall opposite the front windows, I walked into the main bar with 8 hand pumps on the bar. It is free of tie with most of the beers changing, with one regular being served, Draught Bass, which seems to be having something of a revival these days. One beer jumped out to me though. Boddingtons was one of the others on the pumps, and whilst the latest version of the beer is has considerably different since the days when I'd first drunk it here back in the 1970's, I couldn't pass on the opportunity to drink it here. It felt kind of symbolic, as both beer and pub have been revitalised after falling on hard times. I paid my money and took my beer into the smaller of the two snugs to the left of the bar, the larger one pretty full, whilst the smaller one had a couple of free tables. Both were very tastefully decorated. The sound of ukuleles and singing was coming from another room, which made for a pleasant accompaniment as I enjoyed another excellent pint (NBSS 3.5).
I went to have a look for the source of the music. I didn't have to go too far, it was coming from a lounge to the rear of the bar, all seats were taken as the majority were occupied of ladies and gentlemen of a certain age playing classic pop, folk, and bits of Americana like the ubiquitous Wagon Wheel on ukuleles, banjoleles, and the like to which they were singing along. They were clearly having a whale of a time, as after all it is virtually impossible to feel miserable with the sound of a ukulele in the air. It was a bit unusual for a Saturday afternoon, but it all added to the atmosphere at the Crown, which is highly recommended if you find yourself in Stockport. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit here and I hope to visit again soon.
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| The Crown, Stockport |
And finally, I had one more place to call in which was just around the corner. This was the Runaway Brewery Tap which was another new one for me, although I had been to the original taproom a few years ago when they were based in the so-called Green Quarter in Manchester's Irk Valley which is close to Victoria Station. I'd met the brewery's effervescent owner Mark Welsby that day, and since those days when they were a small, keg-only brewery, it has been good to see how they've developed over the years. They moved to their current site here in Stockport, a former metal works beside the River Mersey, in 2022 since when with extra capacity they have not only expanded their keg options but moved into cask, with one beer, Stone's Throw, a 4.2% easy drinking modern session pale ale, an exclusive cask collaboration between and Café Beermoth in Manchester, a fixture on the bar for the past year or two.
I didn't see Mark on this occasion but the bar manager here was a familiar face. It was Nick who used to work at Dukes in Halifax, the former Brownhills and various other places in and around Leeds. I ordered a pint of the Sunday Best Bitter, a 4.4% cask bitter brewed on the premises which was well balanced and had plenty of flavour and so maintained the good run of beer I had enjoyed throughout the afternoon (NBSS 3.5). The brewery where it was produced is visible through a window from the taproom and they do tours at certain times as advertised on the brewery's website. The taproom meanwhile was busy, with most tables occupied by a real mix of people of all ages plus the odd dog who all seemed to be enjoying the great atmosphere here. Another familiar face appeared at the bar, an old friend who I used to see regularly at the Buffet Bar in Stalybridge and various other places around Greater Manchester. It was great to catch up over a pint after not seeing each other for a few years. I liked the Runaway Tap and it is another place in Stockport that is well worth a visit.
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| Runaway Brewery Tap, Stockport |
And from there it was a walk back up the hill to the station for the journey home. It had been an excellent afternoon with everywhere I went being most enjoyable but I realise that there are so many other places I could have visited in what is one of the best beer towns in the country. So, Stockport, be warned, I'll be coming back soon....
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