IN A city where beloved boozers are dropping like stacked beer matts in the hand of a drunkard, a bunch of round-spectacled designers, apron-wearing artisans and local volunteers are resolved to buck the trend.
The pub is going forward in the safest hands imaginable
The Pilcrow is a new community pub venture. Located in Sadler’s Yard, within Manchester’s emerging £800m NOMA district, organisers have combined the wisdom of traditional crafts folk with the avidity of crowd-sourced labour to create something quite beautiful; a pub ‘built by the people, for the people’.
Since its inception early last year, the project has seen dozens of professional makers, creators and tradespeople lead hundreds of volunteers in workshops ranging from tile glazing to cooperage, conduit laying to coppicing.
From the bar stools to the crisp flavourings, the 3D printed washers to the ‘Manchester log end’ dart board, every element of the new boozer has been knocked together using traditional techniques and local graft.
Now, as the project nears completion with eyes on a September launch, they’re bringing in the hopsters.
Pilcrow project team debate beech vs birch bog brushes (credit Rob Evans) Cloudwater Brewery co-founder, Paul Jones, has teamed up with Jonathan Heyes, the owner of Common bar and Port Street Beer House, and organiser of Indy Man Beer Con, to form All Our Yesterdays – the ‘safe hands' charged with the running the pub.
Offering a rotating list of seasonal beers from Cloudwater, alongside a tailor-made Pilcrow beer (brewed in volunteer-built barrels, naturally) and ‘multiple choice’ bar snacks, All Our Yesterdays also plan to run a series of regular events at the pub, preserving the community camaraderie long after the last nail has been knocked.
“It’s been a long run up to this and this is a significant moment for everyone involved in The Pilcrow," said project leader, Ben Young. "We’ve worked closely with Jonny and Paul on everything from the design of the bar to the beers on tap and the pub is going forward in the safest hands imaginable.”
The Pilcrow Pub will open in Sadler's Yard, Hanover Street next month. For more info keep an eye on @ThePilcrowPub
Heyes owns Northern Quarter's Common (above) and Port Street Beer House
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