Alfredos Social, Stockport

A good looking pub from the outside, sadly once you get inside it's a bit shabby, as were most of the clientele. Upstairs is even shabbier, but it's worth a look as there is a glass cabinet displaying the workings of the large clock on the outside of the building. At 6 p.m. on a Friday the pub was very busy as there was a guy on stage playing country music on a guitar with a backing track. Pretty good he was too in a "pub singer" kind of way. I just had a half of Holts Bitter which was the only cask ale available and at £1.05 very good value.

An interesting shop conversion - a former jewellers and clock-makers, by the looks of it - with a nice old fashioned feel to it. Holts seem to be good at this sort of thing, with original details like the tiled and parquet floors and the pargeted ceiling blending in well with the more recent introductions, such as the bar in the right hand corner which has lamps sitting on the newel posts. There's a staircase up to the first floor toilets and the room behind the clock which acts as an overspill with a few tables and chairs, arranged around the showcase with the clock's mechanism. There's only one real ale on here: Holts Bitter, which is an OK beer.