Castle Hotel, Oldham Street to re-open

Kevin P says..“ Fabulous news. I quite liked the squalor, put me in mind of Dickens for some reason. Done well though this will be a winner. ”

Rob says..“ Hard one for Hill and Booth, because the temptation might be to go down the Bay Horse route and crank up the volumes after nine, get in Stella and turn it into a youth club.”

Trevor Nolan says..“ What's going to happen to the big Czech Republic flag?”

Trevor Nolan says..“ Or for that matter Damien the ex-landlord is he still motorcycling around the world like Ahasuerus”

S Hollings says..“ Good luck to The Castle, great news if done right”

outragedofm1 says..“ Whilst I applaud the noises made by Rupert to get this pub back on the rails, it's probably worth mentioning that the Castle still managed to make the reliably bizzare Short List for the Pub of the Year Food and Drink Festival awards despite the rough interiors, absence of food and (corroborated by CAMRA) vinegary beer. Oh and being out of business before the awards were announced. I wonder which oddities we can look forward to being included this year, eh Jonathan? ”

bee says..“ ”

bee says..“ it'll never beat Fridays...”

Evo says..“ Absolutely baffling how this placed managed to be in last years pub of the year shortlist, damien clearly had ambitions elsewhere and the pub was showing blatant signs of neglect from it's not so recent heyday. the 'couldn't be bothered' attitude was seeping into all aspects of the place and the only saving grace was the continued eclectic array of new music on offer, most of which was seemingly organised and set-up by students with no other affiliation. Like I say, it seemed like a 'lazy' choice from Manc Conf for the shortlist and stunk of someone rarely frequenting the place throughout the last year but putting it forward on the back of previous performance and because they think a characterful building is all you need to create a successful manc boozer. Anyone who went in there during it's peak surely can't deny the place was a shadow of it's former self. I expect better from Manc Conf.”

Editorial Comment says..“ Dear Evo, can we reiterate once and for all that the Manchester Food and Drink Festival is not Manchester Confidential's event and that we only have one judge on the panel amongst many others. Nor given the amount of money that City Life have spent sponsoring the event do we think that they'll be best pleased that you think it was us. Although thanks for assuming we are the obvious choice for sponsorship of a food and drink festival. We agree. Hey Gordo, should we take over?”

Evo says..“ Fair enough, and apologies for over-estimating your influence on the awards. The rant still stands though, regardless of where responsibility lies”

rosie says..“ @Evo.are you a poor man's Avo?”

stretch says..“ yawn...”

Jo says..“ Let's just be clear-it was not a "victim of the smoking ban." Damien had no interest in the place and ended up doing a runner. ”

Anonymous says..“ Jo. Slightly unfair comments there. You can't say Damien had no interest, he just didn't have the experience required in such a tough market with no backing from the brewery. He was also mourning the loss of his mother and then step dad. Give the lad a break. Great news about the Castle re-opening though. Hope it doesn't go all trendy with extortionate beer prices though. ”

Mark says..“ ManCon, any chance you could pass on my email addy to Johnny/Rupert? As a happy regular during the gutting end of the last phase, I'd be really interested in keeping abreast of this and offering help on the atsy side if at all possible.”

Mark says..“ Or even the artsy side. Gah.”

Anonymous says..“ As a former employee at the Castle Hotel I once tried to clean in there and gave up as things started falling apart without the grot! It was part of the place, as were many things such as the water that used to run down the walls when it rained, the tar stained walls and ceeling and the memory of my first ever trip of climbing behind the band in the back room to experience the toilets.... I know that Damien felt a lot of pressure to fill Caths shoes that he was so abruptly shifted into and also that Robinsons were not very helpful concerning fixtures and fittings that needed urgent repair (mainly the roof) although I'm not condoning what he did and I agree that Damiens heart just wasn't in it and making it the great place that it once was.”

Castle Regular says..“ Can people please stop having a go at Damien! He tried bloody hard after he took over from Cath. There was more live music under his short term as landlord than at any other time. True he may not have had the experience to carry this out but as a tenant he had not the finances to make the improvements. Don't forget Robinson's put no money into this place for nearly 20 years. A loosing battle. I wish Damien all the best and shame on all of you that snipe so pathetically. I hope Rupert and Johnny make a great go of it with it seems, some financing from English heritage. Well done chaps.”

Mike Waterfoot says..“ What great news. Just what I needed when everything else is doom, gloom and dispair. I with she new owner all the very best and I look forward to seeing them and hopefully all the new and the old customers”

Net says..“ We love Rupert Hill! Nice one - I love it when people see sense!”

Anonymous says..“ The Castle was a magical place! it will be hard to recreate that atmosphere there used to be whether it was the quality staff and regulars or the load bearing posters keeping the back room from falling down we had many a fun night in this blinder of a boozer”

SpawnMeister666 says..“ I've seen my name mentioned repeatedly in the rants here, so felt the need to respond.

Firstly, thanks to those people who have stood up and defended my honour and intentions.

For the record, I served my first pint in the Castle when I was 13 years old, and to walk out of the bar 22 years later, with all that went on in between, and have people effectively claim I was never interested in the place, was harsh in the extreme.

I gave everything I had to that bar, and those people that saw the 50/60 hour shifts I pulled some weekends to try and keep it afloat are aware of just how much effort was put in there.

As has been pointed out by others, the Castle was falling apart due to more than 20 years of neglect from the brewery, and there was no real support in place for me in my first venture as a pub manager.

That being said, in the 11 months from taking over to the smoking ban coming in, I had trade at approximately 20%; up on the previous 12 months. The smoking ban was what killed the place, and what took all of my hard work and reduced it to nothing.

That being said, this article was NOT about me, or even my mother, the correct spelling of whose name is actually Kath, but is about the partnership taking over.

I personally would like to take this opportunity to publicly wish Rupert and Jonny the best of luck, and am happy to hear the renovations that the licensee's before my mother took over were begging for are finally being carried out.

Maybe this is one of those cases where in the long run the best that could happen for the business was for the brewery to be put in a position where they needed to do something to keep the place afloat, instead of relying on someone who was committed to the place through family ties to constanly battle against the odds.

Again, good luck to Rupert and Jonny, and if I ever head back to the UK I will pop in for a pint to have a drink for old times sake.

Damien”

Editorial says..“ Damien, good luck to you. We've changed the name to Kath....should have known that, apologies.”

rev porl says..“ They should keep Marks mosaic of Kath in there for the sake of continuity and as a nod to the illustrious past. Plus, it's a wonderful piece and she was a wonderful lady.”

crazyjohn says..“ Are there any bar jobs going? x”

Anonymous says..“ When is this re opening?”

Jenn says..“ See the facebook fan page for updates (cant do links sorry-you'll have to cut and paste!) http://www.facebook.com/inbox/readmessage.php?t=1038553723893#/pages/Manchester/The-Castle-Hotel-66-Oldham-Street-Manchester-M4-1LE/71688336476?ref=share”

atrotter says..“ good news at last, especially in the current financial climate and with pubs closing every week. I used to survey this pub for the CAMRA GOOD BEER GUIDE, Had to sample all the real-ales, and i still here to tell the tale...seen rupert in there a few times when been in with MANDY LOU + DEN. don't make it too arty-farty though we like our pubs trad + a bit basic.. ”

WTF! says..“ ManCon Seriously gets worst by the day!”

Gordo says..“ Care to elaborate WTF! ?”