The Cocked Hat, Stockport

The Cocked Hat entrance leads to a short central corridor with a TV at the far end facing the entrance. The bar area is to the left and seating is to the right. The bar supports six handpumps, three of which were unused during a recent Tuesday evening visit. The available cask was Timothy Taylor’s Dark Mild, Wainwright’s Golden Ale and Pictish Brewing’s Brewer’s Gold. There is also a standard and premium keg selection. I found the four other customers who were propping up the bar to be a very odd bunch and certainly not welcoming. Thankfully the guy behind the jump was very polite and put me at ease. Food is advertised and I was looking for something to eat, but the ambience put me off staying long enough to dine. The seating to the right has banquettes, a fireplace with coal effect fire and a large TV screen at both the front end under the windows and at the rear. Live sport is shown, during my visit muted cricket was airing via Sky Sports. Some background music was playing only in this seating area. Drink promotion posters on the walls and on one of the televisions raised my suspicions that this place could be a nightmare at weekends. I wasn’t overly impressed and do not plan to return, but on a plus note I drank my first mild and I liked it.

Located just outside the market square, this is a large pub with an interior that has mostly been knocked through but still retains three distinctly separate areas. You enter into a corridor of sorts which divides the pub in two and has a couple of high tables and stools at the far end, beneath a large TV screen. The bar is in the area to the left and has a nice counter along the end wall plus a pump clip lined bar back which sported three different sized yard-of-ale style glasses. Seating is pretty limited on this side of the pub, but the area was nevertheless very busy, with most patrons sat on stools at the bar or else stood close by, making it a little tricky to get served. The right hand side of the pub is by far the best place to grab a seat and has been laid out as a comfortable lounge area with firm padded benches around the edge of the room and low stools elsewhere. The shape and positioning of various pillars and doorways suggest this side of the pub might well have been split into two rooms in the past and there was also a suggestion that the servery might once have been more central, around the area where the corridor now stands. The lounge tapers to a point at the rear, where another hard banquette can be found next to a nice tiled fireplace and some smart stained glass windows. The room has been decorated with a collection of black and white photos but the dominating factor was the numerous TV screens showing a live Premier League football fixture. Six hand pumps proffered five cask ales – Moorhouse Pitch Craft and Black Cat, Phoenix Hopsack, Dunscar Sessh and Wily Fox Crafty Fox. After fighting my way to the bar, I ordered a pint of the Black Cat which was very enjoyable and slowly supped whilst watching the conclusion of the football. This place struck me as a straight-up, workmanlike pub with no real pretensions but the added bonus of some well kept ale. The bar area seemed like a lively spot for chat whilst the lounge offered pleasant surrounds for those wanting a quieter visit. A pub that would be revered in many a town, but not quite in the top tier in a place like Stockport.