Pub Culture in Manchester

CITY CENTRE Pub Crawl: Start in Piccadilly Gardens, walk up past the High Street tram stop and turn left for a pint at the Shakespeare. Laugh at the sixth-formers.

Head back up the High Street to Corporation Road, turn left and walk past the Royal Exchange (pop in to look at local artists’ work on sale - interesting pottery and jewelry). Check out Mr Thomas's Chop House. It is narrow, tiled in green and has great real ales on tap - sarnies are massive servings too.

Head up to Albert Square, nip down Tasle Alley to see St Mary's, the hidden gem, one of the oldest Catholic churches in the country. Amazing Stations of the Cross by Norman Adams. Head back to the Square, take in the Town Hall, it's open to the public and the ceilings are sensational. Refresh in the Square Albert. Walk back past to the left of the Town Hall and check out the City Art Gallery. Fabulous to get that close to Lowries and Valettes!

Get a quick drink at the Bank and wander back to Piccadilly Gardens.

If you need more food to mop the drinks up I'd recommend Chinatown. The Little Yang Sing has tables early in the evening.

Quick Tips:

China Town is just round the corner from Picadilly Bus Station. Supermarkets, Chinese and Thai gift shops and restaurants.

If you get lost, there are maps in signs around the place or ask in the nearest shop. Most people are friendly and willing to help. If you don't know anything about bitter or stout ask the barstaff. You'll be amazed at how much enthusiasm some of them have for the subject. If you've never heard of a beer, try it! I always do and you can sometimes be very pleasantly surprised!!

Best Way To Get Around:

Walking is fine as long as you have the same attitude to rain as Mancunians have - it's only water! Take an umbrella and pop into museums and shops if it gets too much for you.

Stagecoach buses cover most areas and you can buy a week pass for £8. It's called a Megarider. Cheaper for students. There also are day tickets which are valid on all bus companies. If you don't know which bus stop to get off at, ask the bus driver to tell you in a loud voice and more often than not a few people will offer to show you when you're getting close. Night buses are by and large safe, but you need to know where you're walking once you get off them. Be streetwise, watch your bags and pockets. The tram serves Salford and Mancunian suburbs.

Only flag down Black Cabs. All minicabs (taxis you have to order by telephone) have a Manchester Council plate front and back and are painted white with the cab company in a yellow panel on the side. Do not flag these ones down and beware of people pretending to be cabs - there are bad men out there!

This place is Chinese downstairs and Thai upstairs. They serve friendly, fantastic food with minimalist decor. At the Thai buffet, you can eat as much as you like; on Sunday, there are two sittings, 12:15pm and 2pm. I would recommend booking for the Sunday sittings.

The Gallery was closed for years being refurbished. It's beloved by people in the city and many of us pop in on a regular basis to see the new exhibitions or old favourites.

Notice how crowded it gets at lunchtime.

The website has information on up-and-coming exhibitions and children's activities. I particularly like spending time in the room of Lowrie and Vilette paintings and trying to work out where they were sitting when they drew the scene.

Another plus for the museum is that it's round the coener from Chinatown so you can break off for a quick Dim Sum meal and then return if you don't fancy having a quick meal at the cafe which always feels really bright despite how cold and grey it is outside.

Daniel Libeskind designed this building, basing it on a smashed hollow globe. It is set very impressively in the docks of the now retired Manchester Ship Canal, once one of the busiest ports in England. I love approaching from the Lowrie (where there's a large carpark) and crossing the footbridge to get to it. The building seems to be built slightly off true vertical which makes the climb up the first stair case a little virtiginous. Every time I go, I find another little gem of history, always very personal to the previous owner.

There are slide shows and film clips which are very cleverly edited and complimented with sound effects in the main gallery which are projected onto various walls around you.(Sounds odd, it's a little difficult to describe but well worth watching) Smaller children might find these a little loud and frightening but older ones seem to be fascinated. It has a very good website: http://north.iwm.org.uk/

This (in)famous pub crawl has many variations. Set in Didsbury, in the South of Manchester this was a pub crawl you had to train and work your way up to when I was a student. Most of the pubs are along the "high street" of the area known as Didsbury village or 'THE VILLAGE' to some who live here. They are all well-established pubs in great buildings though some have been modernised. I remember the Dog and Partridge having sawdust on the floor and monkey nuts in a barrel you could help yourself to...(sigh)

The number 42 bus from Picadilly bus station goes along Oxford Road, then Wilmslow Road past the Curry mile of Rushome and the student areas of Fallowfield and Withington to Didsbury- ask the bus driver to tell you when to get off.

It is generally agreed that 10 of the pubs were in the village with a quarter of a mile walk up Barlow Moor Road to the Barleycorn and the Woodstock. In Didsbury Village you can do the rest in any order, clockwise or anti clockwise. On going up and then returning down Barlow Moor Road to the 2 pubs mentioned above, to your left is the Clocktower, fairly basic modern pub with tables out back, then following Wilmslow Road towards Manchester town centre, you come to the Station, which is tiny.

Cross the Road to the Dog and Partridge, very good beers and friendly bar staff. Come out the side door of the Dog and turn left up Warburton Street. Cross School Lane when you come to it (pass by the pitcher and piano) and walk up to the Fletcher Moss- I recommend a pint of Hydes half and half or Jekylls Gold. Don't cheek the Landlord whatever you do!

From the Fletcher Moss,go back to the village and turn left onto Wilmslow Road to the Royal Oak which does a great ploughman's lunch if you're pubcrawling at lunchtime. Carry on down the village, past a petrol station and the campus of the Metropolotan University. Cross the road when you see The Didsbury opposite. The last time I was in there I had a nice pint of Marsden's Pedigree.

Next to this, heading back to the village is the Old Cock. Walking back up to the Village you will find the Famous Crown, which is nice on a hot day as it has French doors. Walking back up to the crossroads of Barlow Moor Road and School Lane with Wilmslow Road you will find the Nelson just on the other side of Evans the fishmongers.

I know I've only described 11, but one of these old pubs has been disguised and I let you pick the last from the Pear Tree, the Hogshead or O’Neill’s pubs, as they are each as modern and harmless as the other.