The Blossoms, Stockport

2019 Good Beer Guide Entrant. Took a while to walk from the Station, with nowhere else to stop. 192 bus may have been a better option! Initially disappointed it was Robinson, but the old school feel of the place - including separate rooms with a lovely snug/lounge with stained glass windows and wrap around benching made it worth my while. The band took their name from the pub. Don't message me to ask which one.

A good 15-20 minute walk from the centre of town will lead you to this historic Robinson’s house at the corner of a busy junction. The pub has a well preserved interior which sees you enter into a tile floor corridor with rooms to either side and a pleasant servery to the rear where things open out a little. The curved counter and regulation bar back appear to have been refitted but they still remain pleasing to the eye and stand beneath a rather attractive patterned ceiling. There is a small front lounge in the right hand side of the pub which you pass on the way to the bar. The room has chunky bench seating and a bar billiards table and is nicely lit through a stained glass window. Further on, there is a second room to the left with tartan carpet and a big bench underneath the spectacular stained glass windows, with standard chairs and low stools elsewhere. A compact fireplace with a small stove inside stands on the back wall and displayed a good collection of CAMRA certificates on its mantle, whilst a TV screen above showed coverage of live rugby. The walls have been covered with some corporate wallpaper that shows images of old bottles of Robinsons beers, with the decor rounded out by tap and tankard display cases, old pictures and a dartboard. The rugby commentary was initially audible, but this was quickly replaced with an old-school 70’s rock soundtrack. There are six handpulls in here, spread around the curved bar counter, five of which were operational on this visit. The options were Robinson’s Double Hop, Wizard, Dizzy Blonde, Unicorn and Old Tom and I gave the Triple Hop a try and found it in decent enough shape. The barman who served me seemed a bit odd and eyed me suspiciously throughout my stay, but another member of staff who was watching the rugby in the side room was much friendlier. This is a nice little pub with a couple of cosy rooms and a decent selection of Robinson’s beers to work through. It’s a bit of a trek out of town and therefore doesn’t easily lend itself to inclusion on a crawl, but I was glad I made my way out here and found it made a good double-header with the nearby Fairway.

A 3 roomed, unusually shaped pub on a very busy toad junction. One room has some neat stained glass and a bar billiards table. The second room has stupid wallpaper with bottles all over it and a large screen TV. There was a function on in the last room, so I couldn't visit. 5 handpumps on the bar serving 4 Robbies beers and a real cider on my visit. The Trooper was in good nick.

Still a Robinsons tied house, but now run by Eric Mills, formerly of the Wellington in Bedford, who has had seven hand pumps installed and boasts the largest range of Robinsons' beers in town, plus a cider. This is a basic, multi-roomed, old fashioned street corner local, with no frills and no music. The beer is well kept but there's no escaping that underlying blandness of the Robinsons range.