The Racecourse Hotel is back under orders and has re-opened in time for Christmas.
It’s some of the best news for lovers of cask beer and real pubs in months.
Sam Smiths of Tadcaster have taken on The Racecourse Hotel, and the handpumps are pulling beer once again.
As our readers tell us you may not have noticed that the lights are back on as there have been no external changes to say the pub has re-opened.
The Littleton Road pub first opened in 1930 under the stewardship of Salford brewery Groves and Whitnall.
The Racecourse Hotel – by Salford Pubs of the 70s via Flickr
It was required to satisfy the thirst of punters at the nearby Manchester Racecourse, which closed in 1963.
Its wood-panelled interior and multiple historic items made it a favourite with locals.
In 2012 it was awarded the ‘Neil Richardson Trophy’ by CAMRA North Manchester.
But the then-owners, the Oakwell brewery in Barnsley, decided to close the doors in June 2013 when the company went under.
SalfordOnline.com reported in 2013 with community reporter Dawne Sheldrick-Keating how beer-lovers were being offered one last chance to sup at The Racecourse Hotel.
But now The Racecourse Hotel is open under new management, and is serving Sam Smiths’ only remaining cask-conditioned beer, its Old Brewery Bitter.
The brewery is considering plans to reopen the first floor letting rooms in the not-too-distant future.
What will be absent from The Racecourse Hotel are be products from other companies: no lagers with European-sounding names, no Irish stouts. Everything sold here will be produced and brought up from Tadcaster.
Even the spirits, soft drinks and crisps are own-brand.
The cask beer comes only in wooden 18-gallon kilderkins; Sam Smiths is one of the last breweries to remain true to this traditional practice.
Another of the brewery’s oddities is their practice of anonymity; none of their pubs carries their name.
In the case of the Racecourse, there is no external difference apparent to a passerby to suggest that the pub has even re-opened.
But rest assured this community favourite is back up and running, so if you get the chance, pop by and give it a try.
Main image: The Racecourse Hotel – By Steve Robertson via Flickr
With thanks to CAMRA North Manchester
