Universities/Oxford Road

There are many pubs and bars down the Oxford Rd corridor due to the three universities to be found in it's proximity. This inevitably means that a lot of students go to these bars so most are aimed at a young audience and are relatively cheap. It's also extremely easy to get to, as it is one of the busiest bus routes in the country. There are also many new bars that have sprung up since the summer of 1998 that I haven't managed to look at yet, and appartently several have also unfortunately closed down.

The Bowling Green, Grafton Road (north side of the Royal Infirmary off Oxford Road)

This pub has recently been refurbished and is now part of the Porters chain. To be fair, the pub was probably due a revamp, but again, it now looks a lot like any Hogshead, Yates’ or Weatherspoon’s you’ll find in this or any other British town or city. Fortunately, a bit of character is still provided by the diverse nature of the clientele, with the locals mixing with students and hospital staff from the adjacent Royal Infirmary. A reasonable selection of beers, and they still do their fantastic hangover beating breakfasts. (TM)

The Clarence, Wilmslow Road, Rusholme

The Clarence lies in the heart of Rusholme nestled between the curry houses and kebab takeaways. For some reason it has a reputation as a locals pub and therefore hostile to students. This is completely undeserved however. True it does cater for Manchester City fans before and after their home games but I have seen students whoop the regulars on the pool table with nothing more than good natured banter being exchanged afterwards. Not only do they offer pool but they also have a darts board in the backroom and a juke box, which is a relief in these days of non stop dance mix CDs not allowing anyone to get a word in edgeways. It is worth noting that the backroom does have a rather overactive air conditioning system which must be heaven in summer but only then. For those of you who have not been there for a while they have recently refurbished the pub, so what better excuse have you got to try it out again. The Clarence is a Guinness pub but also offers Stones and Worthington's bitter and Carling and Grolsch lager. (KS)

The Cornerhouse, Oxford Road

Joined to the cinema and art gallery of the same name, and takes it's atmosphere from both. A place to go for a coffee as much as for a beer and great for people watching, though you're as likely to see your old english teacher from school as you are anyone else. (TM)

The Ducie Arms, Devas Street off Lloyd Street North

My favourite pub in Manchester, either for a swift lunchtime pint, an all-day session or pre-clubbing pint. The Guinness is widely acknowledged as being the best outside of Dublin. It's a bit of a hidden gem as its tucked away behind the University of Manchester Library and you only really discover it by accident. Pete the barman, who always seems to be there, is a top bloke. It has a nice mix of locals, students and university workers which creates a good friendly atmosphere. As mentioned, Guinness is the most popular beer here, but there is also Burtonwood Bitter on tap and draught, and Castlemine XXXX. Prices are very reasonable. This is a good old fashioned drinking pub in the best irish traditions (none of this Irish theme bar tripe). A must visit, if you can find it. (TM)

Fab Cafe, Whitworth Street

Theme pubs, would the world be a bland, monotonous place to drink without them? Erm, No, but they do add to the rich tapestry of life on a night out. This little place just round the corner from the Odeon cinema specialises in cult viewing. It is for this reason that it is festooned with memorabilia from programmes as diverse as Dangermouse, one of my all time favourites to Star Trek, not included that category. As you walk in you are confronted by a massive creature from a B-Movie. After you have finished making jokes with regard to the bouncer or a mate's ability to pull you can then move hastily to the bar and order drinks from the usual big brewers selection.

The beauty of this place is that they simply do not rely on kitsch to drag in the punters as they hold special events most nights of the week. For example Wednesday nights play host to the Clint Boon Experience, remember him, he was responsible for the mad organ playing on Inspiral Carpets records, which is free to get in and open until 02:00 am playing classic records from the last five decades. Even on Sundays they have a cable download of the latest films from America. This does provide the odd situation of watching films in a pub and nobody appreciates it when someone attempts to have a conversation. Still for those of you who watch too many programmes where Americans have a lot of makeup applied to their foreheads this will seem a home away from home! (KS)

Footage and Firkin (formerly Flea and Firkin), Oxford Road

Part of the ever growing Firkin empire, this is one of several in Manchester. It's a massive pub which is a converted theatre. It's themed with film memoribilia everywhere. I was never too keen on this place until watching the World Cup here. If the atmosphere at the match was anything like it was in here then I'd be surprised. It was absolutely packed and the number of people there must have approached four figures. The best place to watch big screen football. There's all sorts of things happening here, with a late licence at the weekends and some weekdays. It gets very busy and very loud with a mostly student clientele. Also some good cheap pub grub. It's the usual Firkin beers here. (TM)

The Grafton, Grafton Road, (north side of the Royal Infirmary off Oxford Road)

The Grafton is an old fashioned Holt's pub. This means it's full of professional drinkers from 11.00am until 11.00pm taking advantage of the great beer for just about over a pound a pint. Great if you're a student and want to get away from students, and lets face it we all want to do that (from time to time). (TM)

The Granby, Princess Street

The Granby is a big place and I never thought much of it until I went to one of its late license nights and had a great time. It's got a very definite pub atmosphere and can get very busy. Recommend it if you fancy an after hours drink on a weekday. It never gets busy until 10.30 or later, though. (TM)

Grand Central, Oxford Road

Near Oxford Road Station on (surprisingly)Oxford Road, Grand Central is part of a refreshing oasis of pubs within what is becoming blanket bar culture. All the best aspects of the local are found here from reasonably priced drinks, a pool table, fruit machines, a well stocked jukebox and even friendly charity workers. One could complain about the supposed run down look of the place but if it were to be done up it would lose its charm, they would no doubt charge more for drinks as well! The clientele is a mix of hardened drinkers, late night revellers and a few Rockers getting ready before spending the night at Jilly's. Typically for a no nonsense pub they even serve John Smiths! (KS)

Generation X, Wakefield Street, off Oxford Road

A bar/club type arrangement here. Fancy decorations make this place a bit posh. The bar is decent enough and the club is also reasonable, but it relies quite heavily on moneyed students for its business so can be quiet during the summer months. It sells Absinthe and also doubles as an art gallery and restaurant. (TM)

Hogshead, Oxford Road

One of two in the city, this one was only opened last year in a new specifically built building. It's right next to the hospital and opposite Whitworth Park halls of residence, so expect medical types and students here. These pubs, while nice enough with decent beers and prices always seem slightly soulless to me and lacking in atmosphere. A bit like drinking in the pub equivilant of a MacDonalds. Like Weatherspoons pubs, you find one in most cities and large towns these days. Still this Hoghead is decent enough if you are stuck for somewhere to go for a few pints. (TM)

Jabez Clegg, Dover Street

The perennial favourite with students year after year, which is probably due to it's location opposite the University students' union. One of the first pubs many students will see in Manchester. Very busy during term time, especially at lunch time and in the evenings. It has it's own nightclub above the ground floor which is also very popular. It's set out as a large beer hall, with a smaller room (which is still a fair size) for big screen TV. Also has a couple of pool tables. There is a wide selection of beers, but if I'm being honest, you're best sticking to the lagers in here, as the bitter is variable in quality. Prices are quite expensive considering its aimed at students, service isn't great, but a place that you'll return to for the bustling atmosphere. (TM)

Joshua Brookes, Charles Street (Next to BBC)(changed its name recently)

The sister pub to Jabez Clegg and therefore taking it's name from the same book as Jabez (The Manchester Man). It's situated close to the Lass O'Gowrie with only the River Medlock seperating the two. Joshua Brookes has an outside area overlooking the river, which in the summer gives off the odour of sewage. And very popular it is too with pissed up students. If Jabez is for the University of Manchester, then Joshua is for the Metropolitan University, and the clientele and atmosphere can be quite, and perhaps rather suprisingly, different. Same beer and prices as Jabez. (TM)

Kro Bar, Oxford Road

Located across the road from the University of Manchester Students Union, this recently opened bar is currently City Life Bar of the Year 2000. Similar in style and execution to the more established Sand Bar, this bar offers something quite different to the more traditional fares offered by many of the student bars in its immediate vicinity. It has a vague Danish theme to it as apparently ‘Kro’ is the Danish word for a bar. So it isn’t just a daft play on words which would have stolen the thunder for my upcoming Bar Bados, or Bar Mitzvah, or ... no I’ll stop there.

Anyway, there is a fantastic range of foreign beers, both bottled and draught, a good food selection (Danish pastry!) and a fancy minimalist design (well that’s what they told me). Recommended, and nice to see an independent bar doing so well when sometimes it seems as if only identikit chain pubs/bars are able to survive these days. (TM)

Lass O'Gowrie, Charles Street (Next to BBC)

One of the most popular and well known pubs in Manchester, this pub has its own micro brewery which can be seen from the bar. The resulting beers can be rather variable in quality. Often very busy with a good atmosphere and good pub grub. Well worth a visit and handily placed near Oxford Road Station. (TM)

The Old Garrett, Princess Street

Right next to 5th Avenue, a popular student/indie club, this is a decent but very loud pub with a good selection of beers and prices. A broad cross-section of people here create a decent atmosphere. Good place to go for a few swift pints before going to 5th Ave. (TM)

O'Sheas, Hulme Street

A second O'Sheas, and only about five minutes away from the original on Princess Street, this serves a mainly student clientele. The drinks can, as a result, be slightly cheaper here than the other O'Sheas. The atmosphere is quite different too, being aimed at a younger target audience. (TM)

Overdraught, Princess Street

Situated above the 5th Avenue nightclub, this is a large bar that seems to be popular with people going into the city centre for clubbing. Well designed and very brightly lit. (TM)

The Pheonix, University Precinct Centre, Oxford Road

I used to live above this pub and it was a great place. Then they did it up and for some reason it went rubbish. It might have something to do with the fact the beer is rubbish and expensive. And the pool table is useless too. The Pheonix club, however, is meant to be very good, though I can't speak from personal experience as I've never been. (TM)

Rain Bar, Great Bridgewater Street

Or RA!N Bar if you want. This pub was City Life Pub of the Year 1999, and its easy to see why. The building was previously an umbrella factory, but the Oldham based Lees brewery has converted the old warehouse building into a fine pub. The beers are reasonable priced and there are plenty of real ales (like the lethal Moonraker) nestling alongside more modern bottled drinks. In fact this is exactly what the bar succeeds in doing so well. It manages to keep all the traditional qualities of a British pub and mixes it with the more contemporary feel of the modern British bar, but without the pretensions. A large bar area, a terrace area (very nice in the summer) and also lots of smaller rooms with comfy chairs and real fires. Very relaxing, your afternoons can disappear very easily here! As a result of its design successes, it can get very busy. They also do a reasonable selection of fairly standard modern pub grub.(TM)

Revolution, Oxford Road

This is a vodka bar and serves some pretty mean vodkas, up to 80 per cent alcohol. An absolut (ho, ho) madhouse at the weekends, but pretty quiet and relaxed during the daytime. It's quite small and compact with a great view of the cars and buses hurtlingly down Oxford Road. Sit by the window in here for a couple of hours and you'll be unlucky not to see some motorised carnage. Expensive, and your best bet is to pop in for a couple of cheeky shots before going somewhere else where you have room to breath. (TM)

Sand Bar, Grosvenor Street

Situated among a plethora of pubs and bars between the University and The Metropolitan, this bar offers something a bit different. A large selection of continental lagers are available as well as an array of teas and coffees. It has a very academic appeal to it and it would seem perfectly reasonable to take in the days' papers or a hefty book to read whilst enjoying a relaxing drink of some exotic lager. It's a little more pricey in here than in some other establishments, but then the beer doesn't taste like its been routed straight from the lavatories. Its worth it for the very relaxing atmosphere that the bar even manages to maintain whilst very busy. I don't know quite how to explain, but it just seems genuine. Recommended.(TM)

Scruffy Murphy's, Grosvenor Street

Just what Manchester needs, another Irish theme bar. This one has a sister pub by the same name in Fallowfield. Basically its everything you'd expect it to be. Guinness, Irish bar staff and 'Irish' bric-a-brac everywhere. Good prices though (£1.60 for Carlsberg). It's somewhat dwarfed by the Footage and Firkin, and somewhat bettered by Sand Bar.(TM)

Scu Bar, York Street off Grosvenor Street

This schizophrenic building has been known as McNally's, Green, and now Scu Bar. A clever play on words with the new Commonwealth Olympic sized swimming pool situated within metres of it? Or am I reading too much into it, or just simply misreading it? Whatever, its almost unrecognisable from the old McNally's changing from a definite 'pub' to a definite 'bar'. Gone is the dim lighting, table and chair arrangement, bitter and cheap lager. Instead what welcomes is a bright interior with comfy sofas and designer beers. When we visited here it was still in the process of its redesign, and it seemed nice enough, though the staff were having big trouble with the draught beers. Hopefully these are just teething problems, as the pint of Budvar I got was reasonable at £2.20.

I for one am slightly sorry to see the old Green/McNally's disappear. Regulars will particularly lament the passing of the old spiral staircase, the downfall of many inebriated fool daft enough to try and negotiate it. To see the review of this bar in its former guise, click here.(TM)

Solent Bar, University of Manchester Student's Union, Oxford Road

Why is the Union bar at the University of Manchester named after a river in the home counties? The Steve Biko building (named after the murdered South African civil rights activist) used to have a terrible bar, it was hard to get to, the service area was tiny and tucked away at one end of a very long room. This has all been consigned to history after a major overhaul. The bar fell though to the ground floor and is the first thing you see as you walk in.

As it is a Student bar, sorry professional alcoholics, this has subsidised beer that is not watered down. They also have food area selling chips and the like to those of you who feel they need to "soak up the booze" a la Withnail and I. The ease of access to the bar means that in the summertime they can take advantage of the large windows and let people drink on the green outside the Arts building. All in all a great improvement for the Students Union, but what happened to the old bar you may well ask. Well that is now a coffee bar which used to be where the Solent is now. That is what I call progress! (KS)

Temple of Convenience, Great Bridgewater Street

You can be sure you’ve never been in a bar like this before! Located just off Oxford Road, underneath Great Bridgewater Street, this converted Victorian toilet is now one of the most original and successful bars in Manchester. Challenges the Grey Horse Inn as Manchester’s smallest drinking establishment, it can apparently hold around thirty people though I’d imagine that would be quite a tight squeeze. Wherever you sit or stand, you’ll find yourself within shouting distance of both the bar and the DJ. Perhaps fortunately, you’ll find both to be friendly enough. Good draft beer and a surprisingly large array of continental bottled beers, I can certainly recommend paying this bar a visit, a unique experience. (TM)

The Whitworth, Wilmslow Road

Charles Whitworth gave his name to this cracking little boozer just off Great Western Street. This honour was bestowed upon him because of his invention of the thread screw (You can insert any jokes you can think of relating to screwing here!). It also has more macabre elements to its history. The Moors murderer Ian Brady is reputed to have worked behind the bar and Myra Hindley was one of the regulars, although unsurprisingly they do not shout about it. Strange that. Fortunately the clientele these days consists of a mix of students, ex students and locals making for a pleasant atmosphere. The pub has a very Victorian feel to it with the walls being decorated with prints from the nineteenth century. I recommend that anyone drinking here take a close look at them as some are not as innocent as they seem to be. It's a Marston's pub so they have the usual fare available in their establishments as well as Pedigree bitter, an acquired taste but popular with the Camra set. Though it is worth drinking in at any time the highlight of the week has to be the Quiz night on a Tuesday. This is the best quiz night in Manchester which is in no small part due to the efforts of the compere. He not only asks questions but also comes up with silly games for worthless tat that seems desirable at the time due in no small part to the alcohol consumed. (KS)

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email to:tim@tmossey.freeserve.co.uk