About 10 years ago I was roaming along Red Bank in a part of Manchester city centre I was hopelessly unfamiliar with. On either side of me were tall stone walls topped with railway bridges, boxing me in and hiding the sun from view. Not another soul was to be seen. I sincerely hoped I was in the right place.

Thankfully, a few moments later, I was met by a smiling face that had emerged from a red door in the side of one of these dark, Mancunian trenches. Here was Mark Welsby, the founder of The Runaway Brewery and soon he was leading me on a quick tour and tasting. Although it was a while ago, I still remember being thoroughly impressed, especially with his sweet, chewy and resinous American Brown Ale.

As the years passed I got to know Mark increasingly well, especially after I relocated to Manchester myself in 2020. But more recently we’ve become very familiar, as in 2023 he moved Runaway to Stockport, opening a small brewery and taproom a mere 10 minute stroll from my own front door. This means that rarely a week goes by without me bumping into him or his wife and business partner Sam, because the space they’ve built in Stockport is wonderful, and the beer is tasting better than ever.

Located in a former metalworks, opposite Stockport’s brand new £140 million bus terminal and right on the banks of the River Mersey as it begins its journey westwards to Liverpool, Runaway has built a space the local community can be proud of. Featuring seating across two levels, twelve beers on tap (including two on cask) and pizza from another excellent local business, Honest Crust, in a roundabout way, it's a shining symbol of Stockport’s continuing redevelopment.

But more than that, it’s a sign of Mark’s intent. When the brewery moved here in April 2023, he signed a 10 year lease. This is where the next stage of this brewery’s development is to be, and it's here for the long haul.

In the latest episode of the Pellicle Podcast—and as part of a wider, more concerted effort to focus on what’s happening within the Manchester Beer Scene—I chat to Mark about the origins, and first decade of The Runaway Brewery, before discussing what it means to have relocated, after embedding itself within the Stockport community.

We’re able to produce The Pellicle Podcast directly thanks to our Patreon subscribers, and our sponsors Loughran Brewers Select. If you’re enjoying this podcast, or the weekly articles we publish, please consider taking out a monthly subscription for less than the price of a pint a month.

Should we scrap the pint measure? Or is the very notion of doing so rooted in prejudices like classism?

These were the questions I asked following the September 2024 publication of a study led by researchers at the University of Cambridge. Back then my focus was singular: why indeed did such a study focus specifically not just on beer, but on pubs? Its focus was to look at alcohol consumption rates, and investigate if reducing the size of the available measures would in turn reduce the rate of alcohol consumed.

Following the study’s publication, I contemplated why it focused on the pub, when around 60% of alcohol is now consumed in the home. It eventually led to bigger questions, such as where the pint measure fits within the fabric of British culture itself. This, I felt, was the perfect subject for an old-fashioned debate.

Once again, this summer we headed up to FyneFest to host our Meet the Brewer tastings and panel discussions, and we decided to kick off Friday evening with this very topic of conversation. I was pleased to welcome back two previous Pellicle podcast guests, in the form of Rooster’s Ol Fozard and Lost Cause Brewing’s Vik Kastenbauer Stronge. It was also a pleasure to welcome Chris Shepherd from Cambridge-based Pastore brewing, for what I hope won’t be his only appearance on this podcast.

While the festival got underway around us, we kicked our debate into action. You might say that being members of the beer industry, this is a side of the discussion loaded with some bias. But you’ll also hear some really interesting questions from the audience, including former CAMRA national executive chair Colin Valentine, and some other surprising guests.

As conversations around alcohol and health continue I’m sure this is a discussion that will come back around pretty soon. But in terms of the pint as a British cultural reference point, this is a fascinating panel, and one I hope you enjoy.

We’re able to produce The Pellicle Podcast directly thanks to our Patreon subscribers, and our sponsors Loughran Brewers Select. If you’re enjoying this podcast, or the weekly articles we publish, please consider taking out a monthly subscription for less than the price of a pint a month.

It’s fair to say I’ve developed something of an obsession with Theakston’s Old Peculier. Ever since deputy ed. Katie Mather and I sat down and had a couple of pints in Manchester’s The Salisbury a year or so ago, it’s become a cornerstone of my drinking habits. Katie went on to write a very fine profile of this majestic beer, and following that the brewery reached out and invited me to the brewery for a tour.

Politely, I asked if, while there, I’d be able to record an interview with its former managing director, now chair, Simon Theakston. His wing of the family acquired the brewery from previous owners Heineken in 2003, bringing it back under family control for the first time since 1987. Simon and his brothers share the same grandfather as would-be heir, Paul Theakston, who in 1993, seemingly in defiance at his family brewery’s loss of independence, founded Black Sheep Brewery (which has now entered its own tumultuous phase.)

To my delight, they agreed, but getting to the brewery itself was an issue. I don’t drive, and the market town of Masham, North Yorkshire, where the brewery is located, is a fair way from the nearest train station. Thankfully the brewery found a solution. Current MD Richard Bradbury offered to pick me up from Sheffield station, as he commuted to work from his home in Derbyshire. This gave me a great opportunity to chat to Richard about his own background—how his career started at Bank’s in his home of Wolverhampton, and how he worked on various Heineken brands before landing the role at Theakstons—during the drive over. Richard also kindly agreed to sit in on the podcast, and he shares some useful perspective within.

What was most interesting about meeting and chatting to Simon himself, was explaining to him my aims and intent, and what Pellicle is all about. He seemed genuinely thrilled that our young magazine is so dedicated towards the coverage of cask beer, and afterwards kindly allowed me to ask questions at will—including, yes, about beer duty and the Small Brewers Duty Reform Coalition (SBDRC).

Simon also gave me an in depth tour of the brewery, including a look at its vintage (and that’s an understatement) grain mill, and the famous Steel’s masher that helps contribute towards the unique character of Theakston’s ales. My favourite part of the tour—other than when Simon poured me a pint of Old Peculier from the wood—was the fermentation room. Here in this corridor lined with open Yorkshire squares, the unmistakable aroma of Old Peculier was at its most potent. I also got to have a peek inside the cooperage, where in house journeyman cooper Euan Findlay builds the very casks that dispense this hallowed beer.

During the interview we get into all the good stuff, including the history of the brewery, and its current objectives as an old brewery in a very different market. We also dig into a bit of beer politics. It’s a very satisfying conversation, and one I hope you enjoy as much as I have done cutting it together. If you do enjoy this episode, do consider leaving the podcast a rating or review in the app you use to stream it, and sharing it with any friends who you think might find it interesting.

We’re able to produce The Pellicle Podcast directly thanks to our Patreon subscribers, and our sponsors Loughran Brewers Select. If you’re enjoying this podcast, or the weekly articles we publish, please consider taking out a monthly subscription for less than the price of a pint a month.