Circus Tavern, Manchester

I called in here on an absolutely filthy evening with rain bouncing up off the pavement, a warm friendly welcome inside and the patient barmaid waited while I shook myself down and my steamed up glasses cleared. It really is a tiny place, a short corridor links two small rooms with the squint corner bar occupying a corridor corner. Tetley Bitter and Robinson's Dizzy Blonde are clearly the regular beers. The back room has football related stuff regarding the two Manchester teams with a montage also to George Best, Best, Law and Charlton feature in the front room where there are also appreciations of local actors. Dark stained wood panelling, old tiled fireplace with a small telly above. I settled in the front room and was straight into the chat with a Scottish bloke and a trio of American women who were fascinated by pub culture and football. A very enjoyable visit to another Manchester iconic institution.

Definitely a tiny pub. It is, as described below, a corridor with pine panelling on the ceiling and two tiny rooms on the right formed by wooden partitions. The bar is tiny. The plaque outside describes it as being a Tetley Heritage Pub. It looks Georgian. Beerwise it serves Tetley Cask and Robinson's Dizzy Blonde as well as the usual tap stuff. Compact and bijou, but very friendly, both staff and customers. I liked it.

The pub was very quiet on our afternoon visit. There were two ales on offer from the smallest bar i've ever seen. Tetley and Robinsons, so I went for the Robinsons Dizzy Blonde.

Basically a corridor with a tiny 'bar' squeezed in and a couple of rooms to the right (both pretty small as well). Given the cramped nature of the place, you're encouraged to take a seat (if there's any free) and conversation with other visitors is pretty much guaranteed. Ale choice has doubled since John Bonser's visit - Robinson's 'Dizzy Blonde' was available in addition to the Tetleys when I popped in. Worth seeing but, given the lack of space, you'll probably want to be moving on after a couple (which gives everyone else a chance, after all).

A few days away in the Manchester / Stockport area gave me the opportunity to revisit some old favourites that I hadn’t done for yonks and this was a good starting place. In the heart of the City Centre, The Circus Tavern is truly one of Manchester’s must see pubs. It’s an amazing survivor in a city that has inevitably had much redevelopment over the years. Flanked by fast food outlets with garish brightly coloured frontages, The Circus Tavern is unassuming and could easily pass unnoticed by the casual passer by As we approach the pub, we see a painted message high up on the wall of the small pub frontage proclaiming that the pub has “The Smallest Bar in Europe, The Biggest Welcome in the World”. We also see the familiar blue plaque denoting it as one of Tetley’s Heritage Inns. Inside, we find a small narrow corridor with two basic rooms leading off on the right, one behind the other. The front room has fixed bench seating around the perimeter, bell pushes and room for only 4 tables. The light coloured walls are decorated with a fine collection of photographs of people who have dropped in over the years – Malcolm Allison, Kevin Keegan, Mike Tyson and, inevitably, George Best, amongst them. Many photos feature “Greek George”, the former landlord, who has now moved on. Being situated on one of Manchester’s busiest roads, the windows rattle and shudder when a bus or large lorry thunders past. The rear room is similar in size and style and is decorated with photographs of past and present United and City players and teams. A strict neutrality is observed with both clubs given equal billing on wall space. Somewhat unusually, amid all these football prints and photos, there’s a signed team photo of the England Cricket team who played in the 1993 Ashes series. The pub is listed in CAMRA’s National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. The bar counter is effectively in the corridor and is little more than a small cubby hole under the stairs with room for only one person to serve at a time. There’s no proper cash register – money is put in a small coin drawer behind the bar counter. For obvious reasons, a notice here tells you to keep the bar area clear, but, pleasingly, the irritating habit of staff asking you to sit down and taking your order at the table, which I remember from an earlier visit, appears to have been discontinued. A solitary handpump serves Tetleys Bitter - £ 2.80p – but you come here for the atmosphere and experience, not the beer. I’ve been in here a few times over the years now and I still regard it as one not to be missed.

There was just the one real ale on here – Tetley’s Cask – but it was OK. This place makes the last pub I was in – The Grey Horse Inn – look positively enormous. When we ordered our drinks the barmaid asked us to sit in the front room and that she would bring our drinks in to us. I’ve never had that service in London, although I don’t think that I’ve been in a pub with such a small and cramped area around the bar counter. The “Front Room”, which is the only room, had four tables and chairs in it, a fireplace, and nothing else. Every inch of the walls is covered with photographs, mostly of people I didn’t recognise. I did recognise the photo of Beverly Callard, as well as that featuring Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. I can believe that Beverley might have visited this pub, but Fidel and Che? I doubt it. But one of my companions pointed out that Karl Marx used to frequent the nearby and now-demolished Grey Horse, so anything is possible. I remain unconvinced. We were the only customers when we arrived at around 1.30 PM on Monday, but it soon got crowded when a further half dozen or so customers arrived. This is a very welcoming and atmospheric little pub, but I can readily see the disadvantages of visiting when the customer numbers rise into double figures! But I would definitely visit again.

Supurb pub,Roger Button says it all in his review.A definite must see pub when anywhere near Portland Street.