"Guinness and Gold Cup" a Manchester Travel Page by St_Vincent

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John and Andy on the 2006 Tour

My association with Manchester goes back a number of years as my company has an office there and I usually visit once or twice a year on business. If I can I will take a couple of days annual leave and extend the trip to meet up with friends for a beer or two…or sometimes more.

One event that is becoming a regular trip is the “Guinness and Gold Cup Tour” in mid March. By coincidence, and maybe by design, it is usual for St Patrick’s Day (Ireland’s National Day on 17th March) to fall in the same week as the Cheltenham horseracing festival which includes a race called the Gold Cup. In case anyone was wondering Cheltenham is nowhere near Manchester but the Cheltenham festival is a big event and always televised. A group of friends from around Manchester usually take a day off work on the Friday to watch the racing and have a few pints of Guinness and I lead a small party from London to join them. It is now in its fifth year and the only year I didn't go was 2008 because we all went to Hamburg instead. I've just returned from the 2009 event.

Having put up with the locals drinking keg John Smiths or local brew Boddingtons on Friday we usually set out on the Saturday in seek of real/cask ale and there are no shortage of opportunities in Manchester. The Northern Quarter has some particularly good real ale pubs like the Marble Arch, Bar Fringe, the Smithfield and the Crown & Kettle to name but a few. Reviews of some of Manchester’s pubs can be found in my Nightlife tips.