The Stocks Hotel, Manchester

The Stocks Hotel is a large pub that sits behind a front car park that has been fenced off to created a picnic table seating area adjacent to the A6 Manchester Road. This isn’t the most pleasant place for al fresco drinking, however the smells that waft over from Cottage Tandoori next door are amazing. There were up to 20 locals in attendance during a recent midweek late afternoon visit, but the size and open plan nature of the pub meant it felt relatively empty. The jukebox was cranked up and a very drunk man with terrible taste in 1980s pop was pumping his money into it. Televisions throughout were airing muted horse racing via Racing TV and one of the two pool tables along the right-hand wall was being used. I also noted a dartboard and some gaming machines in this area. The bar counter along the rear wall supports standard and premium keg alongside a couple of options from Brewdog. The service was friendly enough, but I decided to knock my pint back when Mel & Kim’s Respectable came on for the second time in a row. This isn’t a pub I plan to revisit.

A modernised nonentity. What looks like a traditional pub from the outside has been blandly redone as an open plan piece of, well, dullness. Even though there are 5 handpumps for real ale there isn't really anything to make you leave the nearby Wethers. It advertises a carvery but there was none to be smelled or seen on my Tuesday afternoon visit.