Over in Bury, there’s a charming East Lancashire Railway pub that’s just won a huge award for its collection of real ales and ciders.
Called The Trackside, you’ll find it at the heritage railway’s Bury Bolton Street Station serving up a huge selection of special beers and ales from local breweries, like Brightside’s Odin Blonde – brewed just down the road in Radcliffe.
Recently voted the area’s Pub of the Year by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), the award-winning booze is also a former CAMRA Cider Pub of the Year winner -boasting five different ciders, all dispensed from its cellar.
Image: The Trackside Pub
The pub combines some really excellent cask and keg ales with the nostalgia of the East Lancashire Railway, with a whopping 11 different hand pumps all permanently in use – one permanently pours the pub’s house ale, whilst the rest fluctuate with a variety of regularly-changing guests beers.
It also offers canopy seating on the station platform itself for those wanting to make the most of the full train station experience, a spot that’s a veritable sun trap when the Gods are blessing us (and with ample wall heaters that can be switched on the rest of the time).
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Inside, arches and alcoves are covered with old beer pump labels, whilst old globe chandeliers hang from the ceiling throwing a warm light across happy punters swigging their pints of local beer.
Image: The Trackside Pub
It’s easy to see why the Rochdale, Oldham and Bury branch of CAMRA named The Trackside its Pub of the Year for 2022.
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Voting was carried out by members of the local CAMRA branch, who looked at a number of elements including the selection of real ales and ciders available at the pub, service, welcome, inclusiveness, comfort and community feeling.
Tim Stronach, Supervisor at The Trackside, said: “After the difficult last few years we’ve come back stronger than ever, the entire Trackside team especially Thomas Jackson who runs the cellar. I could be here mentioning names all day over who deserves a shout out – the whole team work incredibly hard to deliver an excellent experience for our customers and it’s an honour to have played a part in the pub being named Bury area Pub of the Year.”
Local CAMRA Chairman, Peter Alexander comments: “I am delighted that this excellent pub has been chosen by a vote of our members. These awards are always closely contested and the exacting standards plus a great choice of real ale and cider have clearly been recognised.
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“The whole team at the Trackside is to be congratulated, with a special mention to Tim Stronach for his superb cellar work in ensuring beer and cider is always presented at its best. Congratulations to a very worthy winner.”
ELR Chairman, Mike Kelly, added: “The Trackside at Bury Bolton Street and Buffer Stops at Rawtenstall are an important and integral part of the heritage railway experience. Today we pay tribute to the entire Trackside team past and present, and this award is for them and recognises that they know their beers.”
Tipped for a renovation any day, make sure to get in touch before planning your visit – just in case they’ve started work already.
For information on upcoming events at The Trackside, visit the pub’s Facebook page here.
Food & Drink
Popular American fast food franchise Shake Shack is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester is getting another big global franchise as Shake Shack is finally set to make its Northern debut.
With so many good burger joints and a million and one great places to grab a good portion of chips in town alone, they’ll have to hit the ground running to fight off the competition.
The well-known transatlantic multinational is nothing short of massive in the States, vying with the likes of In-N-Out Burger, Five Guys, Carl’s Jr. – also eyeing up multiple UK sites over the next few years – Whataburger and Wendy’s, just to name a rather large handful. Oh yeah, and Maccies, of course.
Yanks will debate until the cows come home (pardon the pun) about which is best, and many believe Shake Shack is right up there, so Manchester foodies have every right to be excited. Consider this a belated Thanksgiving contribution.
The New York-founded company already has multiple locations on this side of the pond, such as several in London, which is where we first sampled it for ourselves.
Other venues include Birmingham, Cambridge, Oxford and Cardiff, as well as one inside Gatwick Airport; as for the brand’s first Manchester branch, Shake Shack UK no. 18 will be coming to the borough of Trafford and one of the biggest shopping destinations in the region.
But what sets this burger and milkshake-driven brand apart from the others?
Well, for starters, you could argue they’re not even most famous for their patties, buns or shakes; the first time we ever heard about Shake Shack was regarding their fries – specifically, the crinkle-cut shape and that very American-style cheese sauce.
They have long proved divisive among the masses, but those who love them go NUTS for the stuff, and you’ll find all manner of fakeaway recipes online of people trying to make their best imitation of the side and sauce, specifically.
Put it this way, Colonel’s gravy on KFC chicken is what cheese sauce is on Shake Shack fries. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but fans will stan this scran to no end.
Case and point:
My first time at Shake Shack 👌🏼💚 The cheese fries might be my new hyper fixation 🍟 pic.twitter.com/3HVwAgxRtD
Honestly, you’ll find countless examples of this kind of post on social media…
Richard Franks, Business Director at Shake Shack UK, said: “Manchester’s a city that does things proper; it’s full of heart, graft and great taste. We’re so pumped to be growing Shake Shack across the UK, and to be opening our first Northern Shack at Trafford Centre. We can’t wait to be a part of this city.”
The major mall and North West tourist attraction’s Centre Director, Simon Layton, added: “We’re really excited to welcome Shake Shack’s first Northern restaurant to the Trafford Centre.
“We know our visitors are going to love getting their hands on those iconic ShackBurgers and crinkle-cut fries. It’s a huge moment for the North – and we can’t wait for everyone to experience it with us in 2026.”
Opening in place of the Costa in the Great Hall, the opening of Shake Shack Manchester at the Trafford Centre is scheduled for next March. Exciting times.
Featured Images — bryansjs (via Flickr)/LN9267 (via Wikimedia Commons)
Food & Drink
New survey reveals Britain’s ULTIMATE Christmas dinner combo – including ‘surprising’ sides
Emily Sergeant
A new survey of the British public has revealed what our ultimate Christmas dinner combination is, including some very surprising sides.
With December now well underway and the festive feasting season already thriving, it won’t be long until the big day is here and lots of Brits sit down to tuck into the heartiest meal they’ll likely have all year – their Christmas dinner, of course.
But do we all like to eat the same things? Apparently not.
You may remember that a survey conducted a couple of years back found that a good chunk of Brits would prefer to eat a curry over a traditional Christmas dinner, but now, a big new survey by YouGov has revealed what the nation’s ultimate Christmas dinner combination would be in the year 2025 – all the way from mains, to sides, to dessert.
A new survey has revealed Britain’s ultimate Christmas dinner combo / Credit: PickPic | Pxhere
When it comes to mains, it’s no surprise (or maybe it is?) that turkey still rules the roost at the Christmas dinner table, with 57% of Brits having it as part of their main meal.
On the other hand though, chicken or beef are not uncommon, with just under a quarter (24%) having either as part of their Christmas dinner, while one in seven(15%) tuck into some Christmas ham, and 10% of festive dinner tables feature other joints of pork.
Vegetarian or vegan alternatives, such as the ever-popular nut roasts, were found to feature on the Christmas dinner table for 13% of Brits.
When it comes to sides, it really is no surprise this time that roast potatoes and gravy take the crown, with around eight in 10 Brits (79-81%) accompanying their roasts with the duo.
Everything from mains, to sides, to desserts are on the menu / Credit: Realmac Software (via Unsplash)
Carrots will be on the table at 76% of Christmas dinners, while just over two thirds (70%) will feature stuffing, pigs in blankets, or Brussels sprouts, 62% typically have parsnips, and half (49%) add Yorkshire puddings to their plate.
Roughly four in 10 (40-42%) include cranberry sauce or broccoli, and 51% of us lot in the North will include mashed potatoes in the mix too.
Surprisingly, 16% add bread sauce to their plate, and 5% even opt for potato dauphinoise.
Ready to chat sweet treats? When it comes to dessert to finish things off, traditional classics like Christmas pudding (41%) and mince pies (31%) come out on top, but a little lower down the list you’ll also find trifle (18%), sticky toffee pudding (9%), and even stollen (5%).
On the flip side though, the survey also found that a traditional roast dinner doesn’t feature in everyone’s festive seasons, with 7% of Brits saying they have something else as their main meal on Christmas Day.
Georgina Pellant -
1st April 2022 
