The Old Wellington, Manchester

Fine looking building - Manchester's last Tudor building, according to what I was reading - with a well noted history of moving 300 yards during the redevelopment after the IRA bomb. Small downstairs (more room out on the front patio), with a 1st floor for dining and then another floor in the rafters for drinking. Decent choice of ales but I was disappointed with my service - half a dozen kids behind the bar, talking amongst themselves. Eventually coaxed one into serving me - with no interaction, he served a decent Tiny Rebel Cwtch into a London Pride glass, slammed it down in front of me - then looked, to top it up to not quite a pint. Over £6 for the privilidge. Carried upstairs for a peaceful drink in the rafters. 10/10 for history, 8/10 for the drinks, 4/10 for Value and 1/10 for service. I'll call it a 5.

The Old Wellington is a Nicholson's establishment, set back slightly from the main road and sitting just in front of the cathedral. Its black and white timber frame makes it look quite attractive and being set back, there is plenty of space for outdoor drinking in the courtyard, making it particularly popular in warmer months. The ground floor interior is much smaller than you'd initially expect, with stairs leading to upper levels primarily used for dining. Although the ground floor had a few people eating whilst I was there too. I've found the beer selection in Nicholson's pubs to be pretty mundane of late. But they seem to be gradually improving again now, since the pandemic was declared over. The house beer was St Austell Nicholson's Pale Ale. Also on were St Austell Tribute, Sharp's Doom Bar, Salopian Shropshire Gold & Black Sheep Best Bitter & Fresh Start. My Fresh Start was a pleasant winter ale that went down quite nicely. Still one of the better pubs in this part of Manchester.

Nice Nicholson's pub with a good choice of beers on including A pale ale called Bibble which I enjoyed. Can't recall the others but I tried at least 3 different and they were all fine. Worth a visit.

The Old Wellington is a historic pub that dates back to the 16th century, although it has been moved twice, once in the 1970s and again in the 1990s. A sign in the pub gives more detail on the events surrounding these moves. Outside there is lots of seating in the square, or Crumbles as known locally, that is faced by the Tudor style exterior. Inside the pub there is a narrow bar to the left that supports eight hand pumps as well as a standard and premium keg selection. To the right is some seating and a staircase behind the bar leads up to more seating, mainly for diners. I quick scan of the menu revealed that the burger is priced at £15. During my recent weekday evening visit there was some background music playing whilst the televisions aired muted Sky News. No live football here, but the Six Nations was advertised as it is on terrestrial TV. I’ve been to some cracking Nicholson’s pubs over the years, but this one didn’t do it for me. Worth a look for the story, but I’ll not be rushing back.