The Old Rectory, Stockport

A traipse uphill from the town reveals a magnificent building, with a large outdoor area (if you can tolerate the Manchester Airport flight path) and probably the largest conservatory I have seen on a pub. Then the dreaded words 'Hungry Horse' come into view. Actually the scale of the place makes it tolerable, with the family dining bit in the aforementioned conservatory and various corners in the main building amongst some good architecture. Sadly the dead corporate hand of Greene King looms over, with dull decor, crappy music and some really naff advertising screens, but mostly through the lack of decent ales: just IPA and Abbot except even the IPA was off. I suppose it could be worse but it could also be so much better.

The Old Rectory is a Hungry Horse pub located adjacent to the Premier Inn that I stayed at during a recent visit to Stockport. The toy grab machine by the entrance makes it patently obvious that this is a family orientated food led pub. The food is very reasonably priced, the cheeseburger is around £8. The main seating area is in a large split-level conservatory at the rear, and this is where I had my Premier Inn breakfast in the morning. The evening before I had a pint of IPA in the over 18s bar area. There were two handpumps, the other option was Abbot Ale and there is a standard and premium keg selection. Out the back is a large patio area with picnic tables. This pub serves a purpose and I found the staff to be friendly enough whilst I supped a quiet nightcap. However, I imagine it is hellish in here when busy. This certainly isn’t somewhere I would go out of my way to visit, but it’s location means it is very handy for the traveller on an overnighter.

Old Rectory page at the Fayre & Square site - www.fayre-square.com

Old Rectory page at the Fayre & Square site - www.fayre-square.com