Like everywhere else in the UK, Manchester’s “proper British pubs” have been devastated by energy bills and reduced consumer spending in the years since the pandemic. Nevertheless, the city is still blessed with some great traditional boozers, with certain districts better served than others. The narrow back streets around the Town Hall, for example. Oxford Road and the areas straddling the corridor itself is another corner where a number of these institutions have survived and continue to thrive, with Peveril of the Peak arguably the most iconic. Certainly the most aesthetically pleasing.
The Pev, as it’s colloquially referred to, is a real stunner from the outside. Sticking out like the most beautiful sore thumb we have seen in and among the modern and post-modern glass, steel and concrete of the neighbourhood, you’ll find it a stone’s throw or so from the Bridgewater Hall and very close to St Peter’s Square’s 21st Century offices. Here, though, it’s all about Victoriana — green and yellow tiles adorn the exterior walls, hanging baskets adding a touch of nature to the windows. First built in 1820, the building we see today really took form around 1900 thanks to extensive outer remodelling, and things have remained roughly the same — give or take — since then.
Barring a potentially made up story about this place being used as a brothel by G.I.s during Wold War II, The Pev is best known for its intimacy and pouring proper pints. Once inside, marvel at the craftsmanship of the wooden fixtures and fittings, then try and find a table and stools (this place gets pretty busy on a busy day) where you can enjoy lagers, ales, stouts and the like. No-nonsense, we struggle to think of a more authentic pub anywhere in Manchester, and for that can’t help but feel there needs to be more than a blue heritage plaque protecting this one.