http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18029 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/18029 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17814 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17814 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17425 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17425 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16810 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16810 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16290 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16290 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13272
Decked out in leather sofas and dark wood tables it could fall into the trap of being yet another Bar 38 or Pitcher & Piano but it's all saved by well cooked food and service that just falls neatly into place.

Get in there and pretend you're in St Anne's Square. It's just as far, as owld Will Mossop would no doubt pipe up.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13272 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12412
The parks are very enjoyable when hungover the morning after, before a bacon sandwich in one of the many coffee shops.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12412 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12198
But the eclectic music has a strange way of always making you dance. Beatles followed by some ska followed by elvis then some country, doesn't work you say? It does in Mojo.

PS - Make sure you check the map before you go here, as it's tucked down a dodgy looking backstreet!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12198 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/9041 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/9041 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8975 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8975 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8972 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8972 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8968 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8968 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8967 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8967 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8953 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8953 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8936 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8936 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8928 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8928 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8926
After that, you could go further up Tib Street and drink in Centro and then have another pint in the Copper Kettle, a pub whose restoration ran out of money - look at the ceiling on one side of the pub, and then the other. One side was restored, the other remains as it was when the building was almost derelict. However, if you choose to hit Great Ancoats Street at this stage, all there is from there is street and no canal. Instead, after Yadgar, I suggest you go back towards Piccadilly and locate the Mother Mac pub, on a side street off Oldham Street. This, I imagine, will remain like something out of Victorian times even long into another era in which Manchester aspires to make its eastern central section resemble a damper, rainier New York.

From Mother Mac's, you could stock up on samosas at Marhaba, one of the other remaining low-price curry houses in the city centre, or maybe buy some bread and head towards the canal - there's an entrance on to the towpath on Ducie Street, which is the road bearing left as you reach the ramp leading towards Piccadilly Station. Once on the canal, the geese are very 'people-friendly' - in other words, mind your fingers.

Continuing up the canal, you'll reach steps at Great Ancoats Street. Following crowds towards the ground, my final stop is the Bank Of England pub. It's not just a no-frills pub - it's a no-stitching-at-all pub. The toilets are signposted by a male and female pointing figure silhouette shapes, but the male silhouette says 'women' on it and the female one 'male' - everyone turns the wrong direction the first time, like one of those psychological tests where they write 'blue' on a red-coloured board. Once you've survived this delightful obstacle course, remember, you've still got a football match to watch, and the return leg into town afterwards to negotiate. As is often said of Manchester City, it's the 90 minutes in the middle that ruins the experience.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8926 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8909 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8909 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8904 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8904 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8903 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/8903