By Damon Wilkinson
Copyright manchestereveningnews
After a 13 year wait, loyal fans are now able to raise a ‘proper pint of Boddingtons’ again. The much-anticipated revival of the Manchester beer has already been a massive success. And one man who was looking forward to getting his hands on a pint is M.E.N. exec editor Todd Fitzgerald. “When Boddies was last available on cask, I loved nothing more,” he writes. “Creamy and golden with a hint of banana and caramel, it was among my favourites. “When it was announced Middleton-based JW Lees would be brewing a revived, hand-pulled version under licence from Budweiser Brewing Group, I was thrilled. I needed to try it.” But his quest for a taste of the prized amber nectar wasn’t quite as straightforward as it might have seemed. Two days, six pubs and 15,000 steps later, Todd is still waiting to try it. And it seems he’s not alone. The comeback has been so popular pubs are selling out almost as soon as it’s on tap. “If like me you can’t wait to sample the new cask Boddies, you may have – so far – been left disheartened,” he says. “Fear not, our time will come.” It’s Saturday morning in Reddish and the start of one of Greater Manchester’s more unusual weekly rituals. At exactly 9.10am the one passenger service a week departs from the platform at Reddish South station, bound for Stalybridge in Tameside . The only other connection at this station is the opposite journey, which pulls in at 8.45am the same day. It’s been this way for years. But it’s a situation which has left locals fuming. Amid growing concern, calls have been made for transport bosses to finally restore ‘proper’ services to the area. Here local democracy reporter Declan Carey looks at what can be done. As pressure continues to grow on Sir Keir Starmer following the Angela Rayner and Peter Mandelson sackings, veteran Manchester MP Graham Stringer has turned up the heat on the PM with a withering critique of his performance. In an interview with the M.E.N. the Blackley and Middleton South MP said the PM had ‘made too many mistakes’ during his seven months in Downing Street and warned he ‘needs to improve dramatically’. Stories about councils making daft little mistakes are bread and butter for local newspapers. And this one, from chief reporter Neal Keeling, is a classic of the genre. He reports how teacher Steve Jones was taken to court and fined £433 for dropping a cigarette butt on Market Street . The only problem was Mr Jones doesn’t smoke – and when the offence was supposed to have happened he was 250 miles away at a funeral directors in Kent. The reviews would make you think twice – and probably thrice – before checking in. ‘Absolute pits,’ wrote one guest.You’d be better off ‘sleeping your car’ wrote another. With an overall TripAdvisor score of just 1.5 out of 5, the Assheton Arms in Middleton might be Greater Manchester’s lowest rated hotel. But that wasn’t enough to put our intrepid reporter Emily Parker off spending the night there. You can find out how she got on here. Wednesday: Heavy rain changing to overcast by late morning, 20C. Roadworks: Temporary traffic lights due to water main work on Broadway in Moston . Expect delays.
