Sawyers Arms, Deansgate, 2010. (c) Pubs of Manchester.
The Sawyers Arms claims to be the oldest pub in the city; a claim which is difficult to prove one way or another and depends on your definition I suppose, i.e. first licensed premises, date of construction, premises on same site. The Crown & Cushion and English Lounge sites are older [1], however, Sawyers it is still certainly one of the oldest, if not the oldest. These archive photos show it in 1973 and 1990. Below are two 1960s snaps which show how the impressive old masonry which was perched on the Wilsons house was removed for some reason.
Sawyers Arms, Deansgate, 1968. (c) Alistair Mutch [2].
Another of its claims to fame is that Sawyers was one of George Best's locals in the '60s and '70s but as a modern day pub, it's fairly non-descript and is typical, I suppose, for the boozers in its immediate vicinity around this rather dull end of town. Whilst it does food, this is fairly standard type fayre (two for £8 stuff) and would be more of a "might eat on a Friday dinner" sort of place. In recent times, they've attempted to spruce it up and modernise it, but this has really only lead to it being even more bland unfotunately.
Sawyers Arms, Deansgate. (c) Manchester Pub Surveys [3].
Real ale was on with Copper Dragon and a couple of others being served, but regretably we have to advise that they weren't particularly well kept and weren't too clever. Indeed the Sawyers own ale was so bad that I asked for it to be replaced, which fortunately they did without query, so an extra mark for that at least. A pub which you might call in as part of a crawl I would suggest, but maybe not one for a session till they sort the ale out.
Sawyers Arms, Deansgate. (c) Manchester Pub Surveys [3].
Real ale was on with Copper Dragon and a couple of others being served, but regretably we have to advise that they weren't particularly well kept and weren't too clever. Indeed the Sawyers own ale was so bad that I asked for it to be replaced, which fortunately they did without query, so an extra mark for that at least. A pub which you might call in as part of a crawl I would suggest, but maybe not one for a session till they sort the ale out.
2. Manchester and Liverpool Public Houses Compared: 1840-1914, Alistair Mutch.
3. The Manchester Pub Guide, Manchester & Salford City Centres, Manchester Pub Surveys (1975).
3. The Manchester Pub Guide, Manchester & Salford City Centres, Manchester Pub Surveys (1975).
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