A bottomless brunch with over 200 board games is coming to Manchester this month as street food and beer favourite Grub unveils its New Year’s Eve plans.
The venue has revealed it will be teaming up with Dungeons & Flagons to see out the last afternoon of the year with 90 minutes of endless booze and board games.
With non-stop glasses of fizz, mimosas, house pints and house wine, plus all your board game favourites from Monopoly to Scrabble, to Cluedo and Cards Against Humanity, it’s set to be a raucous and fun-filled affair.
That’s not all on the games front, either, as organisers have said there’ll be extra party games taking place too to help brunchers see 2022 out in style.
Image: Dungeons & Flagons
Image: GRUB
Food wise, brunchers can expect to dig into an array of different street food from Grub’s regularly-changing roster of brilliant vendors
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Taking place on 31 December from 1pm to 5pm, it’s being billed as Manchester’s first-ever bottomless board game brunch.
However, the event is accessible to everyone and its organisers state that guests can come alone or with a group of pals.
Bottomless board game brunch tickets are priced at £22.50 each and include entry, access to the board games for 4 hours, and 90 minutes of bottomless drinks. Guests can choose to start their bottomless at either 1.30pm or 3.30pm.
Alternatively, those who are keen for board games but don’t want to go bottomless can also get involved by purchasing a standard ticket for £2.50, which includes entry and access to the board games for four hours.
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Image: Dungeons & Flagons
Image: Dungeons & Flagons
Dungeons & Flagons are an independent tabletop gaming events company who are passionate about introducing board gaming to as many people as possible at their fun, friendly and interactive events.
Hosts will be on hand to help with games, so whatever your level of experience is you don’t need to let a lack of understanding of the rules get in the way of a good time.
Speaking on the upcoming event, Jules Bailey, Director and Owner of GRUB, said: “We’ve loved working with Dungeons & Flagons to bring Manchester’s most friendly board game meet-up to GRUB this year.We’re so excited to give everyone a fun way to see out the last afternoon of 2022.”
‘Stunning’ Old Rectory pub in Stockport suffers permanent closure
Danny Jones
One of Stockport town centre’s most beautiful pub venues, The Old Rectory, has officially closed down permanently following notices about its “final stages”.
Built circa 1740, the historic space itself has been there since before the Regency period.
Stockport‘s Old Rectory pub on Churchgate has been a number of different things over the decades, and has changed hands multiple times in more recent years, but now the Greene King site has shut down, what seems like, for good.
In fact, if you look online, it is already listed as ‘permanently closed’ on Google, as does a temporary sign now stuck to the gates of their entrance, with the most recent service last week being their final one.
With the news having since been shared on the Stockport Tourism notice board on Facebook, a post from the ‘Old Rec’ team reads: “We are sad to announce that The Old Rectory will be closing its doors at the end of this month. Thank you to everyone who has visited and supported the venue over the years.”
An update has also now been shared on the official CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) website.
Issuing a statement directly to The Manc, a spokesperson for Greene King said: “Following a period of team member consultation, we can confirm that the Old Rectory has now closed.
“We are grateful to everyone who has supported the Old Rectory over the years, and we look forward to welcoming them into our other pubs in the local area soon.”
They also go on to assure that they have worked with the team members who have sadly been put out of work to try and find new positions at other locations, with the operators urging Stopfordians to try other nearby pubs such as Gardeners Arms in Offerton and the recently refurbished Carousel in Reddish.
Described by CAMRA as a “multi-roomed pub-restaurant that still maintains a country house feel with plenty of dark wood and plush décor”, not to mention praising the all-day food service and “top notch” beer selection, its heyday may have been long ago, but it’ll still be missed by regulars and natives.
It’s also worth noting that the former Hungry Horse public house also long-served as an accommodation spot, too, with Premier Inn’s ‘Stockport Central Hotel’ attached to the back of the building.
There are no updates on this front at present, and they could easily repurpose what natives have hailed as a “stunning” Georgian structure – not to mention the expansive garden grounds – but the company is also currently cutting more than 3,800 jobs as part of a wider savings strategy.
Elsewhere, as SK residents bid goodbye to one veteran pub, they’re also gearing up to welcome back another former favourite…
Sacha Lord set to back local hospitality again with money behind the bar of Manchester pub
Danny Jones
Local figure Sacha Lord is once again looking to help support Greater Manchester’s food and drink scene once again this spring by putting a total of £2.5k behind the bar of one lucky pub.
Well, let’s be honest, we’re about to be the real lucky ones.
It’s far from the first time that the Night Time Economy Advisor has done this, having previously put sizeable sums towards shared tabs on a few occasions over the last few years.
Lining up his next handout for this coming early May bank holiday (perfect timing), it’s going to be a super and potentially very sloppy Sunday…
Tell me your favourite pub in Greater Manchester.
Bank Holiday Sunday 3rd May, I’ll be turning up and putting £2500 behind the bar.
Sharing the video above online earlier this week, the 54-year-old simply wrote, “Tell me your favourite pub in Greater Manchester. Bank Holiday Sunday, 3rd May, I’ll be turning up and putting £2500 behind the bar.”
The message is as straightforward as ever: “Support your local pub.”
Now obviously, the fact that people can reply with their go-to boozers and help influence the decision is one thing – something that has certainly always created an attraction each time he’s done this – but it’s also just a good way of marketing these watering holes to begin with.
Whether or not someone’s favourite public house tucked away in one of the 10 boroughs, or their bar of choice here in Manchester city centre, ends up being selected or not, it’s obviously great publicity having their names plastered on a notable social media account.
This is especially so when you see how much the post itself ends up being reshared and the overall exposure Lord ultimately lends them via creating such a big crowd discussion.
Confirming the chosen pub in a subsequent post, he said: “I asked you to choose a pub you wanted me to support. This Sunday, 4pm, I’ll be turning up at The Ape and Apple on John Dalton St, Manchester, and putting £2500 behind the bar.”
Here’s hoping we get proper beer garden weather over that long weekend – especially with that lovely refurbished outdoor terrace space up on the first floor of the Joseph Holt watering hole.
It’s also worth noting that the further support stunts like this have helped garner support for other regional businesses – in particular, indies that are battling the cost of living crisis and so many other challenges within the sector – has proved crucial for some places to stay open to begin with.
A good example is the Thirsty Korean, who teamed up with the Altrincham-born entrepreneur to cover hundreds of bills back in 2023, and has now been able to expand into a larger venue down the road from their original Chorlton location.
The obstacles facing the hospitality industry remain varied and numerous, but gestures like this can go a long way to helping prop up those who need it.
Which ones are you calling your favourites these days?
Georgina Pellant -
19th December 2022 
