Mild Magic – beginnings

This is the first of a few posts about 2026’s Mild Magic, Stockport and South Manchester CAMRA‘s annual celebration of mild. Last year I wrote: I visited 48 pubs during MM so I won’t comment on every single one, just note down what comes to mind as I go along. But what if I did “comment on every single [pub]”, by “just [noting] down what comes to mind as I go along”? Challenge accepted! At the Smithfield Market Tavern, the Blackjack/Newbarns Six MPH Mild was just superb: a rich, enveloping dark mild with depths beyond depths; but for the a.b.v. you could have badged it as a dubbel. Lovely stuff, and well worth the NBSS 4.5 that we won’t be able to give it for much longer. The Victoria Tap was quiet, giving me a chance to get acquainted with one of a selection of “short pub walk” books. Unfortunately the shortest one I could find still seemed rather long, and featured a pub described as a must-visit despite being closed at lunchtime and not offering food, or cask beer. Maybe I’ll stick…