The Britons Protection

First of all, what a name!? Our hometown is blessed with a catalogue of amazing pubs, but few resonate quite as much as The Britons Protection. A proper boozer, a stronghold of an ale house, this is up there with the most iconic historic watering holes in Manchester city centre, boasting Grade II-listed building status and a heritage that dates all the way back to 1806. Although the 200 year anniversary wasn’t marked until 2011, betraying a shroud of uncertainty that hangs over when the pub actually opened. 

A former army recruiting hub, hence The Britons Protection, once you strep inside this whitewashed address you’ll see plenty of evidence of that past. Beautiful rooms taken straight from a photograph of a traditional English public house boast dark woods, discreet corners, roaring fireplaces (now fuelled by gas) and plenty of pumps behind the bar. The Campaign for Real Ale has listed this place on its National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors, thanks in part to the terrazzo-tiled corridor floors and military murals adorning the walls — another nod to the backstory of this perennial favourite with everyone from hipsters to rockers, hikers to purebred Mancs. 

Independently owned and operated since 2014, when it was sympathetically refurbished and restored, drinkers can explore multiple spaces and areas, including an upstairs event room available for private function hire. Within walking distance of some of the city’s biggest attractions — the Oxford Road corridor, universities and Palace Theatre, HOME and First Street, and the iconic Bridgewater Hall, to name but a few — The Britons Protection defines the term hidden gem. And, for many, it represents a dying form of British drinking culture, as much of a community meeting point as it is an ideal waypoint on a big night out, afternoon relaxation spot, and must on any tour of Manchester as it is, and as it once was.