The Waggon at Birtle

Lovingly restored from, by all accounts, a wreck of a pub, The Waggon at Birtle now finds itself listed in the likes of The Good Food Guide and serves up award-winning menus, which change with the seasons and use the best regional produce from local suppliers.

For starters, think along the lines of goats cheese, walnut, beetroot and rocket salad or an unusual take on two of Lancashire’s favourite exports: tempura black pudding with Lancashire cheese and mustard vinaigrette, using sausage from Chadwick’s, the original Bury black pudding makers who can date their family recipe back to 1865. Mains might include catch of the day, sourced from Bury Seafoods, or salt-aged sirloin with shallot rings and dark peppercorn sauce, the steak direct from Albert Matthews family butchers based at Bury Market and selling only meat from traditional breeds reared on the Cumbrian Fells, Lancashire and Cheshire. Herb-fed chicken breast comes with butter crushed new potatoes and seasonal asparagus, when the time is right, and the Sunday roast is also decided on market availability – and when it’s gone, it’s gone. Those local connections continue into desserts, with various choices of Cheshire Farm ice cream and a British farmhouse cheeseboard, or there’s the house special Waggon ginger sponge or the likes of liquorice parfait with rhubarb, fennel and sambuca.

Drinks wise, and in true proud pub style, there’s a great selection of wines, spirits and beers, while the returning customers are proof of the friendly service and homely atmosphere. The phrase “warm and welcoming” was made for this place.

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