The Brook is Cask Pub Of The Year

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The Brook in Brooklands (adjacent to the Metrolink station) has won JW Lees’ Cask Pub Of The Year Award 2014. Manager David Barlow was presented with his award at JW Lees annual Pub of the Year Awards evening at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. He is delighted to have had his efforts to serve top quality real … Read more

Jackalope To Close

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Lee Gorton, owner of The Jackalope, Barlow Moor Road, Chorlton has posted this on Facebook:

Right folks, slightly bittersweet news here but The Jackalope, as we know it, is closing it’s doors as of midnight on Sunday, June 1st.

It’s been a wonderful ride, we’ve learnt an awful lot along the way and between me, you and the rest of the world, I think I’m fairly close to finding something, somewhere even more exciting.

But for now, it’s has to be about bowing out with good grace and sharing our final week, drinking, singing, dancing and chatting contentedly, amidst the damn fine company we’ve become accustomed too.

I’ve had more incredible nights within these tiny walls than should have ever been possible and that’s the way I want it remembered.

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Trafford & Hulme Website Wins National Award

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Most improve website award

At the CAMRA National AGM and Members Weekend 2014 held in Scarborough, thcamra.org.uk was named CAMRA National Most Improved Branch Website. The website team in the branch were pleased to receive the award for recognition of their efforts (if a little bemused as the majority of the improvements to the website were made in 2011!). … Read more

Craftsman Brewery Opens

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Paul Scrimshaw

Paul ScrimshawThe latest brewery to open in the Trafford & Hulme area is also one of the smallest. Craftsman Brewery is located in the cellar of The Old Abbey Inn on Manchester Science park and at time of writing was brewing on a 100 litre plant – a little over half a barrel or 175 pints. The first test brew was completed in the middle of March with the first beer – an English Bitter in the Taylors Landlord style – going on sale at the pub on 4th April – and selling out in one night. Opening Times tagged along a week after the launch when local branch Trafford & Hulme were invited to the pub to sample the beers.

Head Brewer is Paul Scrimshaw who has a long history in the licensed trade ranging from wine trader to landlord – in the T&H area he’s had stints at The Steamhouse in Sale and Lloyds in Chorlton, but this is his first foray into actually making the drinks. The tiny plant has been supplied by North Wales’ Powell Brewing (www.powellbrewing.co.uk) who specialise in nano-brewery kit mainly for home brewers.

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Pub Of The Year 2014

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cityarmssmall
cityarmssmallThe Trafford & Hulme Branch Pub Of The Year 2014 is The City Arms, Kennedy Street, Manchester.

While hype rages about the “Craft Beer Revolution” and the press raves about specialist beer bars, the City Arms is testament to the enduring popularity of a well run traditional pub. The pub is nestled away on Kennedy Street, a quiet narrow back street which runs parallel to Princess Street, one of Manchester’s busiest streets. Despite being so close to Albert Square and the heart of the city, once inside you could forget you are in the city and imagine yourself in a lively suburban local, the kind of which there are sadly fewer and fewer of these days.

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Chorlton Beer & Cider Festival 2014

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The Campaign For Real Ale & St Clements Church in association with  present The 10th Chorlton Beer & Cider Festival 3rd – 5th July 2014 – St Clements Church, Edge Lane, Chorlton   For more infomation, please visit the new festival website at www.chorltonbeerfestival.org.uk  Follow the festival on twitter at @ChorlBeerFest

Cider Pub of The Year 2014

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The Trafford & Hulme Branch Cider Pub of The Year 2014 is The Font, Chorlton. Former Regional Cider Co-ordinator Steven Swain tells us why: When the guys at FONT told me they were opening a sister pub in Chorlton with an even greater choice of cider than the Manchester bar (and 2013 Branch Cider Pub … Read more

Pub Of The Season, Spring 2014

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The Trafford & Hulme Branch Pub Of The Season for Spring 2014 is The Vine Inn, Manchester.

Situated on Kennedy Street, just off Princess Street near to the Town Hall, The Vine is one of the city’s oldest pubs sporting an impressive tiled frontage and stained glass windows. The pub is an excellent example of how a pub can offer a real sense of community built around it’s regulars despite being right in the heart of the city, yet still offers a warm welcome to the many visitors to our city who cross its threshold. Much of this is built around long time landlady Rachelle Stringer whose enthusiasm for life and people is infectious to both staff and customers.

Locals and visitors alike have long been able to sample excellent ales from the two handpumps crammed onto the bar of the small ground floor servery, with Timothy Taylor’s Landlord and Wychwood Hobgoblin having been the only permanent ales. However, December 2013 saw the biggest change at the pub since the original ground floor bar was expanded into the building next door in the 1970s. That expansion created the upstairs area and a cellar bar which in recent years has served as the pub’s restaurant and function area but late last year, the cellar bar was transformed into Malt & Cask – a pub within a pub.

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Club Of The Year 2014

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The Trafford & Hulme Branch Club of the Year 2014 is Flixton Conservative Club, deservingly retaining the title they gained last year. 

Flixton Conservative ClubRather than resting on their laurels, being crowned last year’s Club of the Year seems to have inspired Flixton Conservative Club to endeavour to reach even higher levels. This drive to continually improve is one of the reasons why the club has again been selected as Club of the Year.

It has been an impressive 12 months for a club which was probably not even on most CAMRA Members radar this time last year. It’s apparent that those who have visited the club since have been suitably impressed , reflected by the fact that the club went on to finish a very close Runner-up in the Greater Manchester Regional Club of the Year 2013.

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