A new craft beer bar is opening inside Manchester Victoria station, promising the end of underwhelming £7 pints.
At last, Manchester’s second-largest railway station will have somewhere decent for us to drink – and we honestly cannot wait.
Brought to Victoria station by the team behind Piccadilly Tap, the bar has been a long time in the making.
First announced in 2019, the original application would have seen the bar based inside a former refuse store on the station approach, on Todd Street.
The bar had also applied for an external seating area, but unfortunately, these plans never came to fruition.
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Now, however, it seems like the whole thing is back on – with the team behind Piccadilly Tap confirming to The Manc that the new bar will definitely open inside Victoria train station at the end of September.
Artwork promoting the new bar shows two full tankards clinking together, with a short bit of text underneath that promises the long-awaited beer garden will, in fact, be a thing soon after all.
The team has now moved into the space and started fitting it out, sharing images online of a stunning forest green bar with ornate signage above it reading Victoria Tap.
They’ve also been pretty vocal about promising ‘decent beer and decent prices’ – something we’re fully buying into, if the selection and pricing at Piccadilly Tap is anything to go by.
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Image: Victoria Tap
Image: Victoria Tap
With whitewashed brick walls, warm pendant lighting, and frosted glass windows looking out into the station’s main thoroughfare, the new boozer will definitely make an attractive addition to the historic site when it opens later this month.
Beer fans heading down can expect to find a whole host of different beers being poured from the end of the month, showcasing brews from both local and international breweries as well as a wide range of different beer and ale styles.
24-hour bus services are now running across all Greater Manchester boroughs
Emily Sergeant
24-hour bus services are now running across all boroughs in Greater Manchester.
You may remember that back in March, it was announced that every borough of Greater Manchester was set to get a night bus service in what is hoped to be a ‘boost’ to the night-time economy… and now it’s official, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has launched those 24-hour buses this month, along with a series of other measures.
Oldham, Stockport, Tameside, and Trafford now join the rest of Greater Manchester in having 24-hour bus services, meaning every part of the region will have a night bus operating Thursday through to Sunday.
It’s expected that these new services will help around 625,400 people working in the night-time economy across Greater Manchester, as well as those out enjoying the region’s nightlife, TfGM has said.
The routes which will run around the clock from Thursday until Sunday are:
50 (Salford – Manchester)
216 (Tameside – Manchester)
263 (Trafford – Manchester)
192 (Stockport – Manchester)
83 (Oldham – Manchester)
All Greater Manchester boroughs now have 24-hour bus services / Credit: TfGM
They launch alongside the most significant service changes to the Bee Network since the completion of bus franchising last year – including other new bus routes, and more frequent services across Greater Manchester.
“We want everyone to be able to enjoy everything Greater Manchester offers, without the worry of how to get there and get home,” commented Greater Manchester Mayor, Bev Craig.
“By growing the Bee Network, we’re making it easier than ever for people to use the bus, day and night.
“Our night buses are already providing a lifeline to some of the hundreds of thousands of people who are growing our night-time economy and working in essential public services.”
“Whether people are heading home from a night at the theatre or starting the early shift at a hospital, they can now get on board the night bus as a safe and affordable way to travel.”
Further improvements will delivered from January 2027, and a full breakdown by borough can be found on the Bee Network website here.
Featured Image – Aleksandr Popov (via Unsplash)
News
Police appeal after thieves steal 800 barrels of Guinness from HGVs in Cheshire
Emily Sergeant
Police in Cheshire are appealing for information after more than 800 barrels of Guinness were stolen.
Cheshire Police explained that, at around 7:45pm on Monday 31 August, a lorry entered an industrial estate in the Aston Lane area of Runcorn. The lorry is then connected to a HGV trailer containing barrels of Guinness, before leaving the site at 7:55pm and driving in the direction of the Mersey Gateway.
Then, at 9:12pm, a second lorry arrived at the same site in a different lorry and connected it to another trailer containing barrels of Guinness. The lorry left the site at around 9:30pm, in the direction of Rainhill and Watkinson Way.
The estimated total value of all the items stolen is approximately £205,000, police confirmed.
According to police, the trailers are described as white Tri-Axle Curtain side trailers with GXO company branding on curtains and rear doors.
The trailers also have unique ID numbers on their rear doors in the top left corner – with the numbers of stolen trucks being DL736 or DL542.
Both HGVs were believed to have been driven by men. The first man is described as white with a short dark beard and wearing a beanie hat, and the second believed to be wearing a cap.
Officers are now appealing to anyone with any information, or dashcam and video footage taken from around the time of the incident, to come forward.
“It is famously said that ‘Guinness is good for you’, but that is only the case when it has been bought and paid for,” commented Detective Sergeant McClatchy, from Cheshire Police.
“It is with this in mind that we have wasted no time in launching enquires to identify those responsible for the theft of £115,000 worth Guinness and the two trailers that housed the barrels.
Georgina Pellant -
4th September 2023 
