SalfordOnline

By Tony Flynn

Last week SalfordOnline.com called into Wangies pub on Liverpool Road, Patricroft, to have a chat with landlady Claire Pickup, who tells us about the pub and her plans for the future.

Claire who with her brother Mark have ran the pub for the past two and a half years and have turned a what once was run down pub into a thriving local, especially popular with music fans at weekends and the midweek jam nights.

Claire is certainly community minded and she sees the pub as being a community hub in Patricroft and is keen to instill the community spirit back into Patricroft, an area that she considers gets a bad reputation, an unfair criticism.

She is certainly doing her bit, just recently she held a fundraising day for the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD)and raised a whopping £1,000.

Real ale has made a return to Wangies after an absense of what must be some twenty years or more, there are currently three ales to sample and they are going down a treat with the locals both old and young alike, about time CAMRA paid the pub a visit then.

Plans are also afoot to introduce the Patricroft Ale Trail, this involves a guided walk around around the pubs of Patricroft and district where you can learn the history of the pub and the area whilst having the odd glass of ale.

Claire see's this as another way of bringing the community together, the more they know about the area and the pubs, hopefully the more they will appreciate them, and what better way to meet your neighbours and even strangers than to sit and have a good chat?

I was really pleased to see the good work that Claire and Mark are doing at the pub, and I can only see it going from strength to strength, so why not pop in, I can guarantee that you will be made more than welcome and who knows who you may meet in there?

Comment by Lee Taylor ( member )  15th May 2012 I must say that both Claire & Mark are doing a sterling job at Wangies. What was once a run down,troublesome characterless hole has become a vibrant community pub offering live music, real ales & decent pub grub ! all set in a trouble free atmosphere where you can sit & relax with friends, take in a band or two or play pool & darts. Keep up the good work ! Its a pity that there arent more pubs like Wangies in the Eccles area, perhaps they should take note on what can be achieved !