Castle Hotel

According to the Campaign for Real Ale, the Northern Quarter’s Castle Hotel has “an interior of exceptional national historic importance.” Opening in 1776, when it was The Crown and Sceptre, it took on its current name in the late-19th Century and by 1904 Kay’s Atlas Brewery had remodelled inside, introducing glazed tiles, and changed the exterior ground floor frontage. As of 1988, it has been protected under Grade II listed status, although this didn’t stop it falling into disrepair and closing in 2008. Thankfully, Rupert Hill, an actor from the Salford-set ‘Coronation Street’ — Britain’s longest running TV soap — managed to save it from certain doom the following year. 

Now fully and lovingly restored to its status as one of the city’s centre’s finest pubs, The Castle Hotel is way more than just a drinking hole. By day, you’ll find locals steady away, pints in hand picked from a great selection of British and imported beers alike. By night, the back room hosts a packed calendar of amazing gigs, with a leaning towards rawer sounds such as punk and post-punk, and electronic-indie. These shows are intimate to say the least, so getting here early is essential, especially on the weekend, and there’s every chance you may catch tomorrow’s big stage headliner today — betraying how on-point the programming is. 

If you don’t manage to get tickets or arrive in time to beat the queue, The Castle is still a top shout for a great night out, with this deceptively large, classic boozer rewarding those who press on to explore beyond the nostalgia-hued main bar. Upstairs seating and a hidden courtyard out back are two highlights. Run by the same team as Gulliver’s over the road, also regarded as one of the most vital spaces for grass roots music in town, we cannot recommend this one enough.