Bars & Pubs

Sankeys nightclub in Manchester has announced its line-up for May 2009:

• Friday May 1st – Bugged Out with Tiga, Brodinski, James Holroyd, Disco Bloodbath DJs
• Saturday May 2nd – We Love… with Layo & Bushwacka, Paul Woolford, Spektrum presents Classic Records with Derrick Carter and Luke Solomon
• Sunday May 3rd – Hacienda party with Darren Emerson, Justin Robertson, Peter Hook, The Whip (DJset)
• Friday May 8th – Religion with Fabio & Grooverider, Mampi Swift, Plastician
• Saturday May 9th – Bitch with Oliver Giacomotto, Chris Lake, H2, Spektrum –Community with Irfan Rainy
• Friday May 15th – Bugged Out with Crookers, Fake Blood and more
• Saturday May 16th – Disco Electronica with Jamie Jones, Clive Henry, Paul Rich (live), OD Muzique
• Friday May 22nd- Steve Angelo, H2 and more
• Saturday May 23rd – Tribal Sessions with Joris Voorn, Agoria, Greg Vickers, Peepshow Presents Nathan Fake (live) and Mistress de Funk
• Sunday May 24th – Red Light Meets Def Mix with David Morales, Irfan Rainy, Development
• Friday May 29th- Groove Armada (DJ set), Ellesse, Filth presents Lee Mortimer, Mowgli, Danny Savage
• Saturday May 30th- Dirty South, H2 and more

The club is located in the Beehive Mill, Radium Street, Manchester M4 6AY

The 2009 Northern Hospitality Awards were held at the Hilton Hotel in Manchester last night.

Winners from the North West were:

• Best Restaurant sponsored by The Hospitality Association & The Restaurant Association – Ramsons Restaurant, Ramsbottom near Bury
• Best Bar sponsored by Brown-Forman – Residence Restaurant & Bar, Nantwich
• Best Pub sponsored by Northern Restaurant & Bar – Kirkstile Inn, Cumbria
• Best Newcomer sponsored by The Russell Partnership – The Church Green, Lymm
• Best Chef sponsored by Steelite – Marc Wilkinson, Fraiche, Oxton, Wirral

The event is now in its 4th year and is organised by Moorfield Media, a Manchester-based exhibition organiser.

The Number 15 Wine Bar in Alderley Edge has closed.

The cosy restaurant and bar on London Road had been in business for more than 30 years.

A pub in Stockport has been named as one of the best four pubs in the UK.

The Crown Inn is one of 4 finalists in the Campaign For Real Ale’s National Pub of the Year competition for 2008.

The other finalists are the Tom Cobley Tavern in Spreyton, the Royal Oak in Rusper, and the Kelham Islan Tavern in Sheffield.

The winner will be announced in February.

The Crown Inn is situated on Heaton Lane in Stockport, under the Stockport Viaduct.

Yet another famous pub in the North West has gone out of business.

The Orwell at Wigan Pier served its final pint last Sunday. Regulars say the pub has struggled since the closure of The Way We Were Museum and the introduction of the smoking ban.

Neptune Developments Ltd have unveiled plans phase 2 of their £45 million waterfront development at New Brighton.

Features include a 60-room Premier Inn hotel, a 6-screen cinema, restaurants and bars, Morrison’s supermarket, sailing school, public lido, model boating lake, and car park for 750 vehicles.

Construction is expected to start in March 2009 and will take approximately 18 months.

The new Floral Pavilion theatre, part of phase 1 of the project, opens this month.

A pub near Nantwich is holding what it claims will be Cheshire’s biggest beer festival this month.

Novemberfest takes place at the Bhurtpore Inn at Aston from November 12 to 16 2008 and will feature 80 real ales, plus 150 bottled Belgian and German beers.

Admission to the beer festival is free. For further details call 01270 780917.

A new JD Wetherspoon’s pub in Colne will be named after one of the town’s most famous sons. The Wallace Hartley is set to open on November 28 and is named after the bandleader on the Titanic.

Wallace Hartley was born in Colne in 1878 and gained fame as he and his fellow band members played on as the ship sank. Hartley and the rest of the band all died in the tragedy. His body was later recovered and 40,000 people lined the streets of Colne during his funeral procession.

Tourism businesses in the North West were honoured at the Northwest Tourism Awards last week. The event was held at St George’s Hall in Liverpool on October 22 and was hosted by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. Winners and finalists included:

Large Hotel of the Year

Marriott Worsley Park Hotel and Country Club, Manchester (Winner)
Cottons Hotel and Spa, Knutsford
Macdonald Old England Hotel and Spa, Bowness
Big Blue Hotel, Blackpool
Marriott Liverpool City Centre Hotel

Small Hotel of the Year

White House Manor, near Macclesfield (Winner)
Appleby Manor, Appleby
The Shireburn Arms Hotel, Clitheroe

Bed and Breakfast of the Year

Augill Castle, Kirkby Stephen (Winner)
Number One, South Beach, Blackpool (Highly Commended)
Moss Lodge, Rochdale
42 Caldy Road, West Kirby
Sand Hollow Farm, Burwardsley

Large Visitor Attraction of the Year

Manchester Art Gallery (Winner)
Ness Botanic Gardens, Neston
South Lakes Wild Animal Park, Dalton in Furness
Sandcastle Waterpark, Blackpool

Small Visitor Attraction of the Year

The Quaker Tapestry Exhibition, Kendal (Winner)
Cotebrook Shire Horse Centre, Cotebrook
Farmer Ted’s Farm Park, Ormskirk
Smithills Hall, Bolton
Mersey Ferries Manchester Ship Canal Cruises

Self Catering Holiday of the Year

The Beach House, Blackpool (Winner)
Staying Cool, Manchester (Highly Commended)
Premier Apartments, Liverpool
Mellow Brook Cottage at Harrop Fold Farm, Macclesfield
The Lodge Holiday Cottage, Hayton

Holiday Park of the Year

Park Cliffe Camping and Caravan Park, Windermere (Winner)
Newton Hall Holiday Park, Blackpool
Manor Wood Country Caravan Park, Coddington

Excellence in Business Tourism

The Rheged Centre, Penrith (Winner)
Park Royal Hotel, Warrington (Highly Commended)
Barton Grange Hotel, Preston
Manchester United
The Conference Centre at LACE, Liverpool

Taste of England’s Northwest

Roses Tea Room, Heswall (Winner)
The Hollies Farm Shop, Cheshire (Highly Commended)
The Village Bakery Melmerby
Northcote Manor, Langho
Isinglass Restaurant, Urmston

Tourism Experience of the Year

Manchester International Festival (Winner)
Tate Liverpool – Turner Prize (Highly Commended)
Shacklabank Free Range Walking, Sedbergh (Highly Commended)
Byways Breaks, Cheshire
Downy Duckling Experience, WWT Martin Mere
Lancashire Food Festival, Accrington
Cholmondeley Fireworks Concert and Garden Party

Excellence in Customer Service

Gary Henshall – Sandcastle Waterpark, Blackpool (Winner)
Julie Lyons – De Vere Carden Park Hotel, Chester
Daniel Fairweather, Windermere Marina Village
Pam Simpson – World of Glass, St Helens
Madge Butler – Crowne Plaza Manchester Airport

Sustainable Tourism Award

Palace Hotel, Manchester (Winner)
Cote How Organic Guest House, Rydal (Highly Commended)

RSPB Leighton Moss Nature Reserve, Silverdale
Carden Park Hotel, Chester

Tourism for All Award

The Beacon Museum, Whitehaven (Winner)
The Trafford Centre, Manchester (Highly Commended)
Wyre Estuary Country Park
The National Wildflower Centre, Knowsley

Tourist Information Centre of the Year

Congleton TIC (Winner)
Fleetwood TIC (Highly Commended)
Manchester Visitor Centre
St.Helens TIC
Keswick TIC

Two pubs from the North West were among the winners in the Great British Pub Awards. The Plough Inn in Christleton, near Chester took the award for Best Gastropub and was also crowned North West Regional Champion. The Plungington Hotel in Preston was voted as having the Best Pub Staff Training Programme.

The awards were presented at a ceremony at London’s Hilton Hotel last Thursday. The Great British Pub Awards are organised by the Morning Advertiser, a leading newspaper for the pub trade.