120. Crescent, Crescent

Crescent, The Crescent. (c) garstonian at flickriver.

Slightly outside of our original boundaries, but a famous pub none the less, both for its history and its beer, means that the Crescent was definitely worthy of an inclusion in our blog.  The pub itself is sat somewhat out on a limb up past Chapel Street on the Crescent towards the University, but has become a destination for beer hunters and tickers alike due to its ever-changing ale selection.  At the time we were there, there was approximately 10 different brews on, though bizarrely the meathead in the corner still thought Fosters was the best option!  The hoppy IPA was lively but well kept and at 5% was a keen start to the day.  Inside the pub is cosy, with a small beer garden to the rear and numerous small surrounding rooms inter-connected around a central bar area.  The walls are faux Tudor effect, and I suppose only adds to the experience.

Crescent, The Crescent. (c) Adam B. at flickr.

As for the historical side, this is from the Crescent's own website: "The Crescent pub, Salford, is one of the most Historic Pubs of Salford.  A Grade II Listed Building built in the 1860s where Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels once drank and discussed revolution and the theory of Communism.  The German-born philosopher and Communist thinker, Engels, ran a mill in the town for his father in the second half of the 19th century while researching his classic work, The Condition of the Working Class in England.  At that time the pub was appropriately known as the Red Dragon."


Red Dragon, The Crescent. (c) Wallace Hunt at Salford Pubs of the 70s flickr [1].

In May 2011, the Crescent was subject to an article in issue 118 of Pint In Hand, the superb Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood magazine, which is reproduced below:

Salford is pretty much a graveyard of closed and derelict pubs, so it must be a great boon for the locals to have a hostelry like the Crescent.  It stands in the Crescent Conservation Area, the street once being listed as Windsor Crescent.  According to Salford City Council, it started off in the early 1800s as a terrace of 3 dwellings and presently has 3 stories and a Welsh slate roof.  I'm not sure when it became a pub, but I understand it was once known as the Red Dragon.  Continuously appearing in the Good Beer guide for nearly quarter of a century and surviving all that the Chancellor can throw at it, it obviously has to have that certain something extra. 

We entered the room to the right of the entrance, which I think is the tap room and definitely of a spartan type.  There were 9 beers available (from various breweries) on the bar, including a stout and a porter.  The beer quality was very good and we had a couple of pints apiece here while I had a wander through the other rooms.  The door to the left of the entrance leads into a small carpeted room that I imagine might be the lounge.  There's still a serving hatch here to the bar room.  At the top end and up a few steps is a tinier but more basic snug.  Here I found the jukebox and no less than 4 handpumped ciders on a miniscule bar counter.  Were they having a bit of a scrumpy promotion or mini-fest? 

I read afterwards that the Crescent also has a function room suitable for live turns and which holds about 100 people.  This is no mean hostelry in any sense of the word!  There was a fair number of customers present at the time of our mid-week visit and who seemed to come from just about every walk of life, which is normally the case for any good traditional public house.  Therefore I say unto you that the Crescent is another hostelry that I can recommend.

The Crescent. (c) Society for the Preservation of Beers from the Wood [2].

Website: www.thecrescentsalford.co.uk.

1. www.flickr.com/photos/61756486@N05.
2. www.spbw.com.