January - Vale Cottage
Vale Cottage
Kirk Street, Gorton, Manchester M18 8UE
The Stockport & South Manchester Pub of the Month for January is the Vale Cottage on Kirk Street in Gorton. Dave Hanson is a regular visitor and explains why it won.
The Vale Cottage is often described as "the country pub in the city" but a better moniker would be the country pub absorbed by the city. Its roots can be traced back to a beer house in the 17th century, when Gorton was a pretty village an hour by horse and cart from Manchester. The route is supposedly an old salt road and passed the front door on Croft Bank. It's made up from three country cottages, with low ceilings and dark wooden beams still visible in the bar (please duck if over 6ft tall). A quote from some five years ago said, "The place has only had four landlords in a hundred years." There have been a few changes since Enterprise Inns sold the pub, but Geoff McCabe returned in April 2017 and has already put his stamp on the Vale, even having a beer festival late September.
On the beer front, Timothy Taylor's Landlord, one of the Witches from Moorhouse's and a third guest are always in excellent condition. These are complemented by straightforward but handsomely portioned, keenly priced and beautifully presented home-made food. Such is the demand, the kitchen is currently being extended.
Amiable chat and gossip rule most of the time, with staff knowing many customers by name. Several groups meet there and the pub has its own darts team, but beware, they certainly have home advantage. The Champions Choice board is standard size and number layout, but has very thin double and trebles rings akin to a Manchester log end. If you come from God's Own Country (Yorkshire) it will be easy as their board is similar, except without the trebles! If you really must watch football on the telly, a screen is available, tucked away in the back room. On two nights of the week, Tuesday and Thursday, there is a quiz, so if you are coming along to the presentation on Tuesday 23 January bring along those 'little grey cells'.
Finding this hidden gem can be tricky as it only really reveals itself over winter when the leaves fall off the trees. If stood on Hyde Road at the end of Far Lane (by the Waggon & Horses) look towards the Gorton Butterfly Garden (honest!) and the lights of the Vale Cottage should be visible through the trees. There is a useful pedestrian cutthrough (not shown on Google) running over Gore Brook straight to the front door. A number of buses can get you there, from some surprising areas, 203 and 7 from Stockport; 201, 204, 205 and 206 from Manchester; 169 from West Didsbury and 53 from Salford or Cheetham Hill. Ryder Brow station is not far away either.