First…a poem:
I know it’s late for a review,
My “Recap” is quite overdue,
The event was late in '21
And now it’s '22,
But family stuff and holidays
And food and drink and New Years Day,
Got in the way,
I’m sad to say,
But now it’s here,
The “RECAP’s” done.
You’ll read of our
Mancunian* fun. *Glossary: Mancunian = coming from or to do with Manchester
So on December 18th 2021, a pretty cold and wet afternoon, a very small group of hardy Manchester Local Guides met in a rather deserted and underdeveloped area of Manchester running parallel to the rail tracks serving Piccadilly Station. It didn’t take long to find the small independent breweries (ironically in Temperance Street*) who were putting on the Alternative Christmas Market and Food and Drink Stalls.
*Glossary: Temperance is a word for those people who advocate no alcohol at all!
We started by eating a gradely selection of street food at ABC (Alphabet Brewing Company) which was the first venue we visited.
The staunch Local Guides were Alan ( @deadmanjones ), Zoe ( @ZoeOooe ), Pete ( @PeteMHW ) and special guest from Coventry, who made the train trip of over 100 miles to join us, Kristin ( @TheRealKristin ).
Erstwhile Mancunian Local Guide Adrian ( @AdrianLunsong ), now in Malaysia, made a brief and heartwarming virtual visit. Shame he couldn’t be there in real life to Eat and Drink with us, but it is good to keep the long-distance connection going.
I have to admit, I was a little disappointed that, although it was advertised as an Alternative Christmas Market, there were very few market stalls of any sort, just a couple of book and craft stalls, most of which closed early, because of the lack of customer-flow.
However the lack of market stalls was made up for by the warmth of the company, and the warmth of the welcome from the micro-brewery staff. We got to talk with each one about their products, sample a range of the ales they brewed, talk about the processes, and in the final microbrewery we visited, spend a considerable amount of time with the owner who talked us through the whole brewing process (from the individual brewers who hire his facilities and brew less than a couple of hundred pints a month) to the slightly larger producers - and he gave us a sample of many! Not only that, he pretty much explained, discussed, dismantled and put back together again, the whole of Manchester Society .
A good sign that all were enjoying themselves so much was that @TheRealKristin chose to miss the opportunity of several trains home, waiting till the very last possible one.
At that point @deadmanjones and @PeteMHW - staunch to the end - continued the evening by moving on to the newly relocated independent food outlet Grub. Here there is a whole range of international food stalls arrayed around a courtyard, with adjacent bars. Purchase the food of your choice, each one individually, but eat collectively in the open courtyard, or (as we did, due to the cold) the indoor upstairs hall.
Although we were few in number, we had a great time. You can see a selection of photos taken on the day here and get a flavour of the way we enjoyed it.
Photocredits for this post @deadmanjones with great thanks.
If you are in the UK, and particularly if you are in the North West of England, you’d be more than welcome to join Manchester Local Guides for either our virtual or actual events. We’re a very warm, friendly and inclusive bunch. Please search #ManchesterLG frequently to to see what’s coming up!