Hardy's Well, Rusholme, Manchester

Hardy's Well says "RELAAX" or, at least, there's a big sign on the front inviting you to. And in a pub that's this warm and welcoming, you can't really help it. It's a classic Mancunian watering hole, with a great range of real ales, a couple of pool tables and a friendly atmosphere. So it's hardly surprising it attracts students and locals alike.

You can spot Hardy's Well from a distance, mainly due to the huge Lemn Sissey poem about it that's painted in enormous letters on an outside wall. There's a sizeable beer garden that's visible from the road, too, which is furnished with quite a few picnic tables and, erm, an old red telephone box.

Despite having never been a student, I've found many occasions to sit in Hardy's Well.

I mention this because, by and the large, Hardy's is a student haunt. Mercifully though, the kind of student it attracts isn't the 'Get 40 shots down you and puke in a plant pot' type of young person, but rather, those looking for a night in with the beers and chat.

It's an incredibly laid back pub with a couple of pool tables and a really friendly staff. Landlord Clive and wing-commander Wolf (with his parrot - yes, a real one) are great hosts, always ready for a chinwag as they serve.

The beer is great and the Timothy Taylor 'Landlord' is a particularly good pint.

There's also a huge beer garden which is perfect when the weather is good. Views tend to be mixed on the gigantic Lemn Sissay poem that adorns the side of the building - personally, I find it a nice little touch even though it's not my bag.

It's a big old place that does well to feel intimate, with candle lit tables by the windows, little snugs and couches to the rear.

The worst bit is that Clive is selling up. Manchester is about to lose one of the most colourful landlords. Get in there and buy a pint from him while you can.

Decent beer, good prices and pool tables meant that I would often meet friends on Hardy’s Well during my student days.

A perennial student favourite, but undoubtedly fraying round the edges and in need of a little TLC. Also attracts a strange mix of locals, although they’re much friendlier than they look in my experience! Love the mural on the wall though..

Certainly not my favourite pub in Manchester, although popular with several of my friends - worth a visit to decide for yourself. Hardy’s Well is quite large, with pool table (or 2) and large wooden tables so is good for big groups. To me, I find that it struggles for a lack of character. Usually full of student clientele. It suffers for its location - it is neither situated next to the university or within the main student area, but in between. As you would usually travel between the two by bus, you would tend to have to make a special trip to Hardy’s Well - and I personally don’t think that it is worth the effort. To be fair drinks are cheap and well suited to a student budget.

I whiled away many a happy afternoon here during my mis-spent student days, and in fact, many of those afternoons turned into evenings. It was just about close enough to walk, about 10 minutes, and you had to walk because you didn’t want to drink-drive, and if you did drive, your car would definitely get broken into. The bitter situation has improved over recent years and I would like to take credit (along with our mates) because we whinged about it everyday for 4 years to Clive. He likes a drink too!

Used to spend alot of time here myself. very interesting mix of people cheap drinks pool tables and food on offer.

One of the only pubs I can really consider going into along the Rusholme Curry Mile, although technically this just falls outside the area. It sits as a lone building, a huge chunk of Victorian solid lego. Entering from South Manchester you can’t help but miss the huge poem which dominates the wall facing the beer garden - this is poem by local poet 'Lemn Sissay’ (you’ll see other works of his on various walls throughout the city).
An interesting mix of people enter and populate this pub, unsurprisingly given it’s location between Rusholme and the Student experiment that is Fallowfield.
Thankfully there is a good selection of real ales, proudly, it appears, making a comeback into the modern pub following years of 'cooking lager’ hell…or maybe my taste is just maturing?
Couple of pool tables for those who can play the game: I never could…I’m like a hustler who leaves before the punchline.
If you’re in Rusholme for a curry and fancy a pint beforehand (or after) then this is a good bet.

An interesting little boozer, right at the crossroads of the Curry Mile, the scally mile and the student mile. As such, it gets a very mixed crowd - usually fun, but with a tinge of scariness - which is fine if you’re in the right mood, I just wouldn’t recommend it as a first date pub!

Hardy’s Well is a proper old-skool pub in Rusholme. The prices are steady, the décor is authentic, and the atmosphere what you make it. It’s difficult to make any criticisms; it would probably be scraping the barrel to say that I once had a dodgy pint – although the memory of that pint will stay with me for a very long time. This said, all of the other drinks I’ve had here have been spot on. The pool tables play fairly evenly. Or is it just me, a bad workman blaming his tools? Or is this all one elaborate hustle so I can take your money?

aLii almost got it right in his review "what more do you want?"

I say "What more COULD you want?"

Not one pool table but TWO!

There is a house ale (Timothy Taylor, I think) and a rotating guest ale. The prices are reasonable.

The ex-pirate landlord, Clive, is a friendly chap who's also not bad in the kitchen, knocking up a mean pizza on request. His shipmates behind the bar are Wolfman and Karl (who looks a bit like Dominic Diamond from Gamezworld - remember?).

There are a good bunch of regulars, and strict rules about who's turn it is on the blackboard... which I think are totally necessary - one name, one game, dolts!

There's also a big poem on the wall outside, if you're into that sort of thing, a telephone box in the beer garden (yes it has a beer garden too!), and even has its own facebook group.

Hardy's Well... oh how I miss it...

Hardy's well is basically the best pub in Rusholme, not that there's all that much competition. Everything's right about this place. Decent beer, good prices, they have a pool table. What more do you want?