One Sunday in Macc – Real Ale
capital of Cheshire?
The Magnificent view of three Pubs from Macclesfield Train Station
A chance of a few beers with
the brother who had 24hours in Manchester got us looking at Good beer guides
and websites, we had done a couple of recent crawls around Manchester and
Stockport, (see August
blog
for one of them) We initially thought about Congleton which has seen a bit of a
beery renaissance lately but unfortunately the Sunday train service is much
restricted so we settled for Macclesfield instead which was about 20 minutes
away for me and son from Stoke and about the same from Manchester Piccadilly
for brother. I had made a beery visit to Macc a couple of years ago (Macc
Blog) and had kept an eye on the beer scene through
local CAMRA branch comms and mags. Its compact geography – everything is within
15 minutes of the railway station and indeed the fact that there are three decent
pubs directly opposite the station make it a good choice when you have 4 hours
on a Sunday afternoon.
We arranged to meet at noon, we were slightly delayed due
to a broken down train somewhere south of Stoke and met Nick just after noon at
the station ramp -I led the way to a Micro bar about 5 mins away that had I
found on my last visit, it had actually closed for a while but had reopened
just before Christmas and handily opens at 12 on a Sunday.
The Treacle Tap, a classic micro bar originally opened way
back in 2010 – at the very start at the start of Britain's craft beer revolution. Closed since
August 2022 it was taken on and reopened
by Buxton Brewery – more correctly their sub company; Axe Edge Bars Ltd in
December 2023 handily placed on Sunderland Street – a couple of minutes walk
from the rail station – two minutes from the Snow Goose and just round the corner
from the Red Willow in the bottom bit of town.
Recently reopened Treacle Tap
Named
after a legendary tale and town nick name – it was originally a saddlery shop. A board in the pub explained the treacle link. Apparently, a
barrel of treacle fell from a wagon at the top of Hibel Road and rolled down
the hill, spreading treacle as it went, the locals not wanting to miss such a
gift horse rand out with as many receptacles as possible to scoop up said
treacle and scuttle back home before the authorities arrived. The other
nickname for the town and the one used by the tonws Football Club, the Silkmen
of Silk Town.
According to www.discoverbritainstowns.co.uk, Macclesfield was known as
‘the silk town’ by the 1850s.
The town’s silk heritage started with button making. This
established itself as the principal industry of the town by 1749. However, it
rapidly declined from then on, as horn buttons became prevalent.
The town had a pool of skilled silk producers. They manned the
throwing mills, which were built from the 1740s onwards. The building of
weaving sheds commenced in the 1790s, and by 1826 there were 70 throwing mills.
However, many failed due to economic downturn. Closure of 30 mills had happened
four years later. Silk products from Macclesfield went on display at the 1851
Great Exhibition. Items included ribbons, shawls and handkerchiefs.
The Silk Museum explains Macclesfield’s silk story. It is housed
in the former Art School. Many artists and designers trained here.
Nearby Cheshire Towns of Stockport and
Congleton also had extensive silk industries, the fast flowing rivers coming
down from the Peak Hills that provided power via water mills and transport
links to Liverpool and Manchester, the raw silk was predominately imported from
Italy. two
companies continue to produce thousands of metres of finished silk
products
A beery tour of Stockport was featured in a
August 2023 blog https://pe4ucouk.blogspot.com/2023/08/hunting-heritage-pubs-in-cottonopolis.html
Choice of cask and keg beers, obviously with
Buxton beers on the majority of taps. It was an all Buxton offer on Cask;
Featherbed a New England pale, Nuts & Crosses a Peanut butter mil stout and
Grinlow, a session bitter – I went for a pint of Featherbed which was rather
good a new untapped check in for me. We were the first customers in, it’s a
nice chilled vibe in here, bar at the back with table down each sides, the
previous tap was renowned for its pies and it looked like this tradition has
been carried forward, a bit of research on the return home picked up that the
previous owner/manager is still in charge of the venue.
Cask Choice in the Treacle Tap A settling Featherbed
We then took to the cobbles that lead
up the hill to the top of the town where the market and main shopping centre is, the so called, Castle Quarter which links
the two parts of town together but allows you to step back into history. (The quick way back down to the station is
via the 108 steps beside the Church)
An ancient Inn of Macclesfield
Cheshire Live gives a tantalising
overview of the next pub on our planned itinerary.
Tucked away under a church
tower in the centre of Macclesfield, a cobbled street run steeply
downhill. On either side the street is lined with independent shops, including
a café and cake shop, a trendy micro bar serving ales, a shop selling gems and
crystals, a traditional butcher, a bistro and two tattoo parlours.
Table wiht a view - the bay bar of the Castle
At the end of the street is an ancient pub, with whitewashed
bricks billowing under the timber frame, and down narrow Back Wallgate a small
tapas bar and late-night gin bar make this place an evening destination. It's a
world away from busy Mill Street, with its big name shops, which lies just
yards away behind the pub.
It was this ancient pub that was next on our itinerary, a local
legend but one I had not ventured in on my previous trips to Macc. The Castle
has been serving fine ales and refreshments since the 1800’s, it was closed for
quite a while a number of years from 2014 but was reopened by the present
owners in 2021. The refurbishment gained the pub a CAMRA Historic England Conservation Award, and
the Castle is listed as a nationally
important historic pub interior. Tardis like – the typical cheshire frontage –
White brick with black timber framework – doesn’t really match the warren like
interior with a range of quirky rooms, many with traditional features including
the little inset seat where we sat in the upper lounge area with grandstand
view of the wonderful hatch bar which reminded me of the Blue Bell in York.
A very busy Sunday lunchtime we managed to get the last table in
the pub, noting the fantastic front sung, a roaring trade in Sunday lunches was
in full flow – Beer offer was a definitely LocAle with beers from Red Willow
(Macc), BearTown (Congleton), Wincle (15 miles away in the Peak) and Lune Brew
Co (Ok Lancaster). I went for a bit of a Beer Tick – I am still a little
Untapped obsessed and went for a Lune Brew LB101 Bitter – Admiral and Goldings
– not sure it quite lived up to the extensive name – Brewery, a new one for me,
bill it as a session bitter with a modern twit which does feel like its
becoming a bit of a 2024 trend – it was OK.
We just had the one and then set off back up the cobbles,
Passing the Earl of Mercia that looks like a place to check out in a future visit
and the sadly closed Wet Led micro bar (See previous Macc Blog) to have a quick browse around the Treacle
Market which is held in the market square once a month, it certainly acts a
great pull for the town – the market was heaving with both folk and also an
impressive range of stalls – mostly craft and antiques. Our next venue just on
the edge of the market but giving a great place to watch the world go by – the
Five Clouds Tap – situated next to the R & G’s Beer Vault (was Beer Dock)
there now appears to be a permanent suite of continental style tables and
seating which are always full when ever I have visited – think its fair to say
both bars have slipped a little in beery terms, the Five Clouds had no cask
offer on this visit and What Pub reports that D&G’s no longer serves Real
Ale.
We were lucky to get a seat in one of the front windows of the
Five Clouds Tap, another placed rammed – all keg offer – I was pursuauded by
the son to try a where’s me fruit machine gone from Manchester’s Sureshot
brewery – a double dry hopped hazy New England named we presumed from Phoneix
Nights as most of their beer names seem to have a comic connections, indeed one
of their strap lines is ’bringing joy to beer’- I have actually had this once
before at on of my regular locals the Hop water Cellar in Newcastle under Lyme.
A walk back through town to a venue the Brother had unearthed –
a brewery tap in a Cinema well worth the 10 minute walk west of the town centre
down Chestergate.
The
picture Hall opened as a food hall in
2019 and housed in the towns oldest cinema dating back to 1911 was
located next to the Theatre Royal(which now demolished is where the current car
park is) seating up to 700 folk, it was converted into a bingo hall in the
1970’s but was closed down in 1999 and for a while was let as office space
until it was repurposed and opened a retail, bar and restaurant complex. A
number of the original features have been retained the vaulted ceiling is
particularly impressive and a lot of the original plaster work is still in
place – it really does work well as an eating and drinking space.
A busy Picturedome
 |
| Black Jack Brewery Bar in the Picturedome |
Black Jack Brewing run the bar concession, born like many
newish craft brewers in a railway arch in deepest Manchester betwixt the
Northern and Green Quarters, back in 2012, they have since taken over the arch
next door as well and after wearing out their original ex Marble 2nd
hand kit invested in a spanking new brewing kit in 2021.
They run 4 bars/outlets all with a similar food hall setting
and vibe
- Tap House at The Smithfield Market Tavern the one real pub in the Brewery’s estate.
- Jack in the box market bar at the Mackie Mayor- a Eagle Street, Northern Quarter a stunning Market hall built back in 1858
- Altrincham Market, Market House (Indoor food hall)
- Greenwood St, Altrincham, WA14 1SA
- The Picturedome, Chestergate, Macclesfield
Another seat with a view - The Picturedome
The Picturedome bar was offering a good range of beers
on cask and keg, I
went for a Black Jack Ragged School, a 5.6% American Pale, as a bit of a closet
urban historian the name was probably the biggest pull, this is one of their 12
seasonal cask beers they brew a different one every month and this was
Febuary’s offer. Ragged schools were free schools for the poor sustained by
charities and generous patrons – the name was a reflection of the clothing
these poor mites had to attend school in. We also indulged a little and I
splashed out on a Turkish style BBQ mezze from one of the food concessions Reubens
and very nice it was to.
A groaning platter from Reubens
Time was pushing on and I was determined to get to the Red Willow Brewery tap which I had missed on my last visit to the town, another trot through down though at east downhill now took us past the interesting looking Shamrock Bar – another to visit in the future we came to a more gentile part of town – Park Green, passing the large Spoons, The Society Rooms, we arrived at the rather swish looking Red Willow Tap – all large windows and rolled out canopies, a very smart tap this, but welcoming and a good hum of folk, on a what was now a late Sunday afternoon.
Into the Willow
The large electronic beer board perhaps spoils the vibe a little but does showcase the great range of
beer on offer –
4 cask and 6 keg were available on our visit – a Faithless 189 Citra & Chinook was my choice, a gluten free 4% citrusy pale and one of my beers of the day.
We found a very smart window seat and watched the world go by whilst enjoying our beery choices–
there are also a number of very nice
settees, large and small table – a very pleasant
space in what was formerly a rather upmarket shop.
Red Willow
beers
are becoming more of a feature in the North Midlands/South Mancs area – I have also visited
their sister Tap in Buxton housed in the old Nat West bank – indeed I drank my pint on what
was the bank managers
office. Red Willow are based in Macclesfield – ‘Traditional cask and modern Ales’ is how they vision themselves and I have to say their beers normally spot on. Beer connoisseurs magazine, Pellicle,did a recent article about the
development of the brewery If
The Apocalypse Comes, Beep Me — RedWillow Brewery in Macclesfield, Cheshire —
Pellicle (pelliclemag.com)
 |
A blend of old and modern - the rather swish Red Willow Tap |
It was time to head back to the Station turning left
from the RW tap gets you back on Sunderland Street, where we started the crawl – walking back towards the
station and before you get to the Treacle Tap. there are two more potential visits the Jolly Sailor and the Snowgoose, with very fine mural on its wall – both
get good reviews with the Snowgoose being billed in What pub, as a thriving
Alpine chalet style bar – very intriguing and yet another future trip
target.
Two for the future along Sunderland Street
The Snowgoose Mural - thriving Alpine chalet style bar
As we reached the station we still had about 20 minutes before trains departed so we ducked into the Queens which slightly dominates the station approach – a large red brick edifice with white arches – this traditional station hostelry is a Holts House
Into the Queens
On entering
a huge seating area with numerous other
rooms – a little Spartan
though not without warmth,
there was a smattering
of punters
in here and large
TV showing sport – a small neat bar rather out of scales serves this huge area - a couple of cask on offer we ordered swift
halves of Holts bitter and sat in one of
the very nice front windows – Joseph Holts of 1849 heritage are hanging on as
one of Manchester’s Victorian breweries
- still family run and fiercely independent the Queens is one of their 123
tied houses – most mainly dotted around Greater Manchester.
Small but welcoming bar in the Queens
Having swiftly seen of our halves – which were good – we headed back up the station ramp and said our good byes as Brother took the Up line north to Manchester and son and I took the down line south back to Stoke. Having shared notes afterwards we all agreed it had been a great four hours in this compact town, a nice range of venues and beers and with a few missed that would make another return visit a must for the near future.
 |
| Keeping an eye on the station from the Queens |
Manchester Evening News undertook a
similar soiree back in 2014 its an interesting read and good to compare then
and now (not much has changed by the look of it) Plenty
for Macclesfield beer lovers at Redwillow, Treacle Tap, The Wharf, Snowgoose
and Park Tavern - Manchester Evening News
The MEN dubbed Macclesfield the real
ale capital of Cheshire – and we would not dispute that – though we will be
making a trio to Congleton in the near future to test their assumption.
Back up to the Station
