86 Church Inn- Denton

Not  visited

The  400  proceeded  to  a  T  junction  with  the  A57  and  turned  right  into  Denton.

The  Church  Inn  was  situated  on  Manchester  Road  and  was  demolished  around  1980 apparently  due  to  subsidence   so  it  didn't  have  long  left  when  we  recorded  it.

85 Bull's Head - Reddish

Not  visited

The  Bull's  Head  was  further  up  Gorton  Road. The  lovely  building  is  still  there  but  is  now  owned  and  used   by  a  building  firm.

It  closed  down  around  2010  and  in  2012  there  was  a  planning  application  submitted  to  turn it  into  a  mosque  which  was  quickly  withdrawn.

The  pub  had  a  minor  piece  of  football  history  attached  to  it. It  owned  a  nearby  pitch  and  Gorton  FC , the  forerunners  of  Manchester  City  were  based  there  for  two  years  from  1885  using  the  pub  ( though  a  previous  building )  as  changing  rooms.    

84 The Fir Tree - Reddish

First  visited : 27  October  2014

The  Fir  Tree   is  situated  on  Gorton  Road , not  far  from  a  park  and  Reddish  North  station.  It's  a  large  pub  that  serves  food  and  I  thought  it  would  be  a  cut  above  the  last  couple  of  places. That's  just  about  true  but  I  was  a  little  disappointed.

The  Fir  Tree  sells  its  parking  spaces  to  the  public  during  the  day; you  get  the  fee  back  if  you  go  in  and  buy  something. Inside  it's  cavernous , dark  and  utterly  charmless, set  out  like  a  Witherspoon's  but   without  spending  anything  on  the  fittings. Much  of  the  floor  is  bare  boards  which  is  an  improvement  on  the  atrociously  dirty  carpet  in  the  lounge  area. There's  an  area  set  aside  for  the  weekend  disco  , some  large  TV  screens  and  warning  signs  about  CCTV  and  drugs. There  seemed  to  be  some  transaction  going  on  in  the  car  park  when  we  left.  The  clientele  on  a  Monday  afternoon  was  sad  ageing  men  who  probably  won't  work  again.

Against  all  that,  the  food  Simon  and  I  had  was  actually  quite  good, not  outstanding  VFM  or worth  going  out  of  your  way  for  but  certainly  better  than  the  environs  would  suggest.