Mild Magic – points East

This is the third of a few posts about 2026’s Mild Magic, Stockport and South Manchester CAMRA‘s annual celebration of mild, covering Droylsden, Stalybridge and yet more town centre pubs. “At the Angel Inn in Manchester there lives the girl for me,” or so an old folk song says. But it probably wasn’t the Angel, where I went with the girl for me (viz. my wife). I had a half of Wantsum Black Prince while listening to a conversation about Vienna lager between the bartender and another punter, conducted for some reason at very high volume. It was a nice mild, though. Wantsum hail from deepest Kent, so it must be quite a rare spot. The vibe at the Marble Arch was a lot more relaxed; the large group of retirement-age men at another table kept themselves to themselves (there’s always a group of retirement-age men at another table). The Marble Rye Coffee Mild wasn’t the best I’d had it, but it was still pretty good; I followed it with a keg IPA, as you do. I hadn’t been to the Abel Heywood…