The Townley, Beswick, Manchester

The Townley is an L-shaped pub on an estate to the south of the Etihad, so it was heaving when I visited just after final whistle on the recently passed FA Cup final Saturday. Coldplay was playing at the stadium that evening so as the football fans came out they were replaced by concert goers, the contrasting cultures inside the pub was interesting to witness. The interior is L-shaped with a large L-shaped bar counter in the left rear corner. Standard and premium keg, obviously including Blue Moon, were available. Unsurprisingly, this is a City pub so lots of memorabilia is up on the walls and the function room at the rear is named the Blue Room. Televisions are located throughout and a pool table and dartboard reside in the right rear corner. There is a jukebox for when the football isn’t on. This was the better of the three pubs I visited in Beswick.

Nicely decorated estate pub. Fake wooden beams and loads of City & England memorabilia. Several very large TV screens along with a DJ/Karaoke rig and a dancefloor. There's also a pool table and a dartboard. No real ale of course and a half of Carling was £1.60. This is a good, solid community local and I quite liked it even though it's not my type of pub.