Comparisons between Manchester & Birmingham

[mrsmelly]

1 hour ago, BilgePump said:

Go on, enlighten us as to which one it was

The Anglers arms, do you know it? Google tells me it's still there.

Edited March 19 by mrsmelly

[Lady M]

I think that is the pub we visited when on a canal holiday.  We were accompanied by my mother and there was a fight in the pub!

[BilgePump]

9 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

The Anglers arms, do you know it? Google tells me it's still there.

Yip. Know it well. Only just shut as pub recently. Most recent tenants have taken on the Oak at the pole as food place with good reviews. In all honesty, I think it takes a certain type of person to be running a bar, rather than the location as such. I'd feel happy walking into any bar in Failsworth on my own. Would I ever want to run one on a Friday night? No, ta! But I know people who did it for years.

[mrsmelly]

7 minutes ago, Lady M said:

I think that is the pub we visited when on a canal holiday.  We were accompanied by my mother and there was a fight in the pub!

There was a pub directly opposite that I don't recall the name of, I wonder if that survives also? And one 100 yards down the road. The area was called The Pole iirc?

2 minutes ago, BilgePump said:

Yip. Know it well. Only just shut as pub recently. Most recent tenants have taken on the Oak at the pole as food place with good reviews. In all honesty, I think it takes a certain type of person to be running a bar, rather than the location as such. I'd feel happy walking into any bar in Failsworth on my own. Would I ever want to run one on a Friday night? No, ta! But I know people who did it for years.

We were typing together lol. I did remember the name the Pole then lol. It was 91 and 92 we did it, a proper pub then with absolutely no food available and packed each evening and absolutely rammed at weekends. 

[BilgePump]

1 minute ago, mrsmelly said:

There was a pub directly opposite that I don't recall the name of, I wonder if that survives also? And one 100 yards down the road. The area was called The Pole iirc?

All shut on that road now. It was The Bay opposite which closed a year or more ago and is going to be turned into housing. The Pack Horse further down near the pole closed before Covid and is now owned by an alarm/security business. Still a few around but many have closed over the years.

[Midnight]

Basically as @IanD mentioned Manchester us a dump now. Castlefield used to a be a very good overnight mooring, but quite scruffy and usually full now. The nicest moorings are at the top of the nine just around the corner on the Ashton. Islington is okay but £25 a night last time I stayed there.

 

I find Birmingham to be rather pleasant to moor. The approaches are a bit grim but I never had a problem. Both cities have lots to offer but moorings in Birmingham feel far safer.