Macclesfield - revisited Pt. 1

Last Tuesday I enjoyed a really good, “Proper Day Out” when I visited the north-east Cheshire town of Macclesfield. It was only my second visit to Maccy in 40 years, although it’s a place I often travelled through, by train, as a student at Salford Uni, on visits back to Kent. This time around I was due to meet up with a select band of connoisseurs from the Beer & Pubs Forum, a group hosted by Tapatalk, where the plan was to visit a half-dozen or so of Macclesfield’s best pubs, close to the town’s station.

The high cost of train travel initially put me off from attending, but further online exploration and a second dalliance with “Split-Ticketing” brought the cost of a return ticket from Tonbridge, down to a manageable £53. My “Old Git’s” Railcard helped as well, but what didn’t assist was the continuing “industrial action” by the train drivers’ union, which led to a day of cancellations and travel disruption. No matter, I got there and back without too much hassle, and it was good to meet up with some familiar faces and people who were much more familiar with Macclesfield and its pubs, than I am.

The day didn’t get off to a flying start when I couldn’t find my woolly hat, but rather than spend too much time looking for it, I left the house hat-less and with the thought that Maccy would be cold, given its location close to the Peak District. Chaos on the London Underground was another issue, forcing me to take a rather roundabout, diversionary route to Euston, but I still arrived there in plenty of time, only to find my Avanti West Coast train was 12 minutes late in departing.

My Split-Ticket meant having to leave the fast and comfortable mainline train at Stafford, and switch to a Cross Country service to Macclesfield. That train was also running late, but more annoyingly, was absolutely rammed.  I managed to squeeze myself on, and then stood in a group of equally squashed passengers in the space at the end of one of the carriages, next to the toilet. Nice! Fortunately, it was only 30 minutes’ worth of discomfort, which was nothing compared to the lady I stood next to had endured. She had boarded the train somewhere in the West Country and was heading up to Whitehaven in Cumbria.

I wished her well, as left the train at Maccy, glad to have escaped the mele of the overcrowded train, and headed off into the town, keen to meet up with the rest of the group and get stuck into my first beer. I was slightly disoriented when I left the station, and nearly headed off in the wrong direction, but Google Maps soon put me right, and it wasn’t far to the pre-arranged second pub of the day (I had already advised via  Tapatalk, that I couldn’t make the starting point).

This was the Castle, tucked away on a bend, down a narrow, cobbled, side street, just a short distance from the town’s main shopping area. It is an untouched, and timeless example of an old-fashioned town boozer that quite rightly features on CAMRA Inventory of pubs having a nationally important historic interior. It is thought that the Castle started life as a row of late 18^th Century cottages which were subsequently remodelled into today’s multi-roomed pub. Given the choice of different rooms one could quite easily lost, but once through the front door, I had little difficulty in tracking down the “advanced party.”

In order to buy a beer, it was necessary to visit the centrally located hatch bar, which allows service to several different rooms, although not to the one where the group was sitting. Pavo Pale Ale from Manchester based, Squawk Brewing Co was my pint of choice, and this pale and well-hopped didn’t disappoint, in fact it hardly touched the sides and was just what was needed after standing in a cramped and rather warm train corridor. I spent the time catching up with the day’s participants, who were, Pub Curmudgeon, Stafford Paul, Sheffield Hatter, and Retired Martin.

The latter pair sloped off for lunch at a different venue, but with an alternative pit stop in mind for myself and the two Mudgies, there was time for a look around the Castle, before moving on. To the right, as one enters, is a tiny vault, with a narrow lounge on the left. This was where the five of us sat, after my arrival. Past the bar is another lounge on the right, plus at the far end there is a larger, raised area. Attractive, open fire places feature in three of the rooms, and these, combined with the leaded windows, moulded plaster ceilings, copper-topped tables, and old-fashioned bell pushes, give a lovely, cosy, and homely feel to this classic, heritage pub. As I am attempting to visit as many pubs as possible on CAMRA’s list of Historic Pub Interiors, the Castle with its three-star rating, was a worthy addition to my quest.

The next pub was a complete contrast, but in order to reach it we had to first climb the hill up to a street, which appeared to be one of Macclesfield’s main shopping thoroughfares, before descending at the far end, past the bus station.  Alfreds, a modern, town centre café-bar, appears to have had several incarnations, but following a refurbishment last year has traded under its current name (minus the possessive “S”). It now belongs to Hydes, a long-established family-owned, Manchester brewery whose beers I remember with affection.

Times change, and whilst Hydes remain family-owned, and still trading, they now operate from a new, state of the art brewery, in Salford’s Media City. The beer range too has been revamped, although it still includes a couple of favourites that I remember from my time in the Manchester area. Hopster, a 3.8% zesty, blonde ale, is a new addition to the range and proved an excellent accompaniment to my lunch of cod, chips, and mushy peas. The two Mudgies and I parked ourselves at a convenient table, looking out across the bright, spacious, and airy interior of this popular new addition to Macclesfield’s town centre, and settled down to enjoy our respective menu choices.

We’d arranged to meet Martin and Will at 2.30 pm at the Queen’s, an imposing, red-brick, Holt’s pub, opposite the station, but in reality, it was nearer 3pm by the time we arrived. As the advanced party were already well stuck into their pints, most of us opted for half pints of the sole cask offering – Holt’s Bitter. I’d renewed my acquaintance with this legendary Manchester brewery’s beers on a couple recent trips to the local area (Manchester & Stockport), so felt I wasn’t missing too much by sticking with a half. I was also feeling rather full, following my ample, lunchtime meal.

It wasn’t far to pub No. 3, but we’re going to skip that one, until next time. This isn’t because the pub wasn’t any good, as on the contrary it was excellent. Instead, we’re passing on it for now because it was almost two good, and so much so, that a few lines at the end of this article wouldn’t do it justice at all. 

 

Pub No. 4 was halfway up a hill, on the other side of the rail tracks, but still only a short hop from the centre of Maccy. The Silk Trader, named in honour of the silk spinning industry that the town was once famous for, is a Robinson’s house that has undergone the full company refurb, and if you don’t know what that entails, then ask Pub Curmudgeon.  

 

The pub was selected as a potential source of Robinson’s Old Tom, the legendary dark ale, named after Tom, the brewery cat, and almost as old as the company itself. Brewed to an abv of 8.5%, this potent, barley wine is available in bottled form all year round, and makes an appearance in cask form, each winter, in selected Robinson houses. The Silk Trader was thought to be a good bet for a glass of cask Old Tom, but sadly, it was not to be. Instead, we had to make do with a choice of either Unicorn or Trooper.

The former was formerly known as Robinson’s Best Bitter, whereas Trooper is a beer developed in collaboration with heavy metal rock group, Iron Maiden. I wasn’t sure whether I’d drank this beer before, although I was obviously familiar with Unicorn, when it was known as Best Bitter.  My Untappd listing described Trooper as a refreshing and hop-dominated, golden beer, and it’s a brew that has obviously been a success, for both Robinson’s, and Iron Maiden vocalist, Bruce Dickinson, who helped the brewery develop the beer. Our group sat in an area at the right of the entrance, and away from the bar, where the lighting was rather subdued. A request to increase the intensity, seemed to fall on deaf ears.

With time ticking on it was time to move on to the final pub of the day, which was just a block or so further, up the hill from the Silk Trader. The Wharf turned out to be a pleasant free house, offering a range of four cask ales, all brewed in Yorkshire. For me it was a choice of either the Ossett Yorkshire Blonde, or Barnsley Gold from Acorn Brewery. I opted for the latter, in memory of two people I used to know who originated from the famous South Yorkshire, former mining town. It was a pleasant enough beer, but by this time I had other things on my mind.

As the afternoon slowly wore on into evening, I had been checking my phone for travel updates on the trains home. A spate of cancellations indicated that the sooner I left Macclesfield, the better my chances were of getting home that night. There was only myself plus the two Mudgies left in the pub by this time, Will and Martin having departed earlier, so looking at my watch and realising the train for Stafford departed in 20 minutes time, I thanked Peter and Paul for their company, hurriedly said goodbye, and hot-footed it to Macclesfield station.  Fortunately, it was downhill for most of the way, and I managed to catch my train without having to break into a sweat.

As hinted earlier, there’s more to come about my visit to Maccy, the trials and tribulations associated with train travel during a period of industrial unrest, and, most importantly the other amazing pub we found in the town, that was every bit s good as the first one (Castle). To be continued.