Sleuth is a sideways glance at the city every week, it's the truth, but Sleuth's truth. He's several people all at once. We give £25 for every story/rumour and piece of absurdity you find for us to publish. Sleuth sometimes even gets serious. We ask for the money back if any legal action follows. Follow Sleuth on twitter @mcrsleuth

THE HAIRY BIKERS AND A BUSY CLOSED PUB

Sleuth was watching the Editor Schofield recording a TV show with the Hairy Bikers in Middleton. This will be a new BBC vehicle for Dave Myers and Si King, going around the UK looking into Britain’s pub life. In Greater Manchester the focus is on pubs and politics, so Schofield was banging on about people meeting at The Olde Boar’s Head in Middleton and setting off for Manchester and a date with the Peterloo Massacre in 1819.

Filming didn’t go too smoothly. First a smoke alarm went off (disturbing in a timber framed building), then the landline rang twice, then someone’s mobile sounded twice, then two unexplained ladies appeared from nowhere, giggling, to have a fag in the pub garden, then a man wandered past with a coffee flask.

“This is magical,” laughed King heartily, “busy pub.”

“It is for 10am,” said Myers, “it’s not even open yet.”

“Hello,” said a lady appearing from nowhere, “I just wanted to say...er...hello. Oh I’m so starstruck...” she yelped and ran off.

“Was that a ghost?” asked the bikers together. Maybe. The pub is supposedly haunted.

Sleuth was thinking never work with children, animals and pubs. Although having said that folks you’ve got to get up to the higgledy-piggledy Olde Boar’s Head, it’s perhaps the region’s oldest pub building, and has a charming hostess in Leanne. Sleuth loves the place.

 

EDDIE ROCKET'S

No sooner had Sleuth accepted the news that retro American’burger & shake chain, Ed’s Easy Diner, are to occupy the prime Grade II-listed mock Tudor former-furniture store at no.15 King Street, then he gets word of another American-style diner chain eyeing up sites in Manchester.

According to Sleuth’s source, Eddie Rocket’s – the 25-year-old Dublin-based American diner chain with over 30 restaurants in Ireland – are looking to open their first UK venue and are currently rifling through a number of empty units in Manchester. You know the score: red baskets, nachos, cheese, burgers, cheese, dogs and chilli cheese with cheese fries and loaded chilli cheese fries. Oh and The Onionator. Sleuth can’t wait…

 

GAUCHO RAISES A BAR

Gaucho Manchester, the London-based Argentine steak providers and meat specialists, are opening a bar fronting onto St Mary’s Gate next to their existing restaurant and jammed up against Cote restaurant. Sleuth peered in this week, it looks elegant but dark with lots of plush and beaten metal panels as wall adornments. Top class cocktails are promised. Naturally. The opening event takes place next Thursday 24 April and Sleuth isn’t sure whether rumours of a Bone Marrow Bellini and Tripe Daiquiris are true, but he hopes so. If so he would also like to request a Cow-heel Pie Cosmopolitan.

 

GLOSSOP GRAFTERS

Glossop North End A.F.C. are on the brink of a treble (league, league cup and the FA vase final at Wembley) and have reportedly been playing their socks off all season. Moreover, they’ve done it with the most ridiculous fixture backlog which sees them playing twelve fixtures in 24 days – a competitive match every other day. Madness. What’s more, they’ve played five games in the last eight days and not conceded one goal. No wonder Robbie Savage made them his “Team of the Week” on BBC 606.

Here’s Sleuth’s favourite Glossop North End fact. In 1899-1900 Glossop played in the English top flight against United, Chelsea, Everton and so on. They got panned, but that makes Glossop the smallest English town ever to have a top flight team. And if the owners who bankrolled Glossop, the Woods family, hadn’t buggered off to London when the textile industry collapsed and taken on Arsenal (Peter Hills-Wood is still an Arsenal shareholder and honorary Chairman) who knows what would have become of “the Hillmen”. Tickets to the FA Vase final here.

 

 

SLEUTH, PARK-CAFES AND CIVILISATION

Sleuth is delighted that Chorlton’s fine tea, coffee and cake purveyor, Teahive, is opening a summer cafe in the elegant surroundings of the Pavilion in the revamped and wonderful Alexandra Park, Moss Side. Teahive is in the Guinness Book of Records for the largest number of prams and buggies parked in a three square metre area. This occurs at the Manchester Road site  in Chorlton around mid-morning time, when the Chorlton mums gather to talk about the General Election and how they would dearly love a Conservative and UKIP coalition government to ensure the future for their little Jessicas and Archies (Is this right, Sleuth? Ed). Anyway Teahive is trialling the Alexandra Park cafe this Sunday. Sleuth says go along and give it a try. And Sleuth also says, jabbing his finger forward to emphasise the point, this rediscovery of park catering in say Longford Park and Boggart Hole Clough is a recovery of something civilising and beautiful.

 

BUM DEAL

Rough week for Northern Quarter bar restaurant, Luck Lust Liquor & Burn, who were targeted in what they called an 'Ocean's Eleven' job. Thieves broke in in the early hours of Thursday and somehow managed to make off with a safe weighing around a tonne (read here). Bum deal. Speaking of bums, notice anything weird about their twitter page?

 

SLEUTH’S RANT OF THE WEEK

After Confidential published the Best of Steaks a ranter on the site spotted an error. A reader with the pseudonym of Gentleman’s Relish said: ‘Now I like sauce with my steak... But your description of "freshly made COMEMAN'S mustard" is just wrong wrong wrong.’ David Blake, the deputy editor, who’d edited the piece, replied ‘Yes. Yuck. Good spot. Changed now.’ With one L of a change the meaning comes (so to speak) clear.