Friday 23^rd August brought Salford Angels WI second Ale Trail around Eccles town centre.

We agreed to meet at the Cross Keys pub at 7.30…the only problem being the pub is closed for refurbishment! This was a shame as the pub is the oldest in Eccles with parts dating back to 1629. Sam our guide told us that the Cross Keys represented sign of St Peter who holds the keys to heaven, unfortunately we didn’t get to find out if there was a little bit of heaven inside. Hopefully it will be open soon.

After a shaky start we headed to the lovely Vintage Cafe Bar on Church Street. This new bar / tearoom has been here for over a year and was a welcoming sight to the ladies we settled outside for a range of international beers with a nice touch of some free nibbles. When the inevitable rain came we headed inside to the warm and cosy decor. We even made friends with little Marcus the dog!

Next stop was the Grapes. The current pub was built in 1810 by James Birch who was famous for making Eccles cakes. Another story tells that Friedrich Engels used to visit The Grapes when visiting his father’s mill (Ermen & Engels), and attempted to form a communist cell there. We couldn’t see any Eccles cakes or people writing manifestoes but had a pleasant drink and good giggle.

We moved round the corner to the Eccles Cross. Or if you prefer the Silver Screen club – our members had a great time remembering many a happy evening spent dancing and meeting friends when the music still played at this fantastic old cinema. Today we enjoyed some very reasonably priced beers.

Final stop was the Lamb Hotel. And what a revelation that was to members who’d not been there before! The beautiful Edwardian 1906 interior which welcomed us was unexpected but much appreciated. We were even more surprised to see a full sized billiard room with raised seating hiding at the back. We had a good chat with the landlady who advised us they have a Quiz on a Wednesday night – our new ‘local’ had been found!