WHERE IS GREATER MANCHESTER'S BEST POOL TABLE?
Manchester is changing. This is of no surprise to anybody living nearby during the last 15 years. Gentrification has become a kind of buzzword, an easy label to slap on the things we dislike. But the real fear of gentrification is the homogenisation of culture, and with it, a loss of regional and social identity.
The rot of regeneration has already made its way down the A6, with Stockport being the hub of a great PR boom which aims to make the town more palatable for those with deeper pockets.
Stockport is home to many things, but there is a little known secret about the town that I grew up in. Stockport is the best place (in the Greater Manchester region) to play pool. How do I know this? Because in 2019, a friend and I set about making a list of every pool table we could find across Greater Manchester and systematically ranked them on an arbitrary scale so that we knew – wherever we might be – there was always a pool table of reasonable quality nearby.
In the sake of fairness, our scoring system used a two-game minimum that gave us both a chance to win and reduced chances of a bad score post loss. This logic is clearly flawed. But it does echo a kind of poetic sense of justice that makes total sense after a few pints.
While we tried to stay true to the scoring system, there were inevitable hiccups along the way that skewed our perspective. The table in the Tariff & Dale should probably rank higher than a 6, but the expensive drinks and wanky atmosphere were much to our personal distaste. Similarly, the very cruel 0 awarded to the Lost Dene was a grudge against one member of staff that claimed the table was broken, which contradicted their colleague that handed us the cues.
Our research was extensive, but the list showed that consistently, the highest-ranking tables came from the outer reaches of Greater Manchester, yet to be tainted by yuppies and £6 pints.
Pool is a distinctly unique game and has strong ties to working-class communities, an almost egalitarian pastime where tricks and tips are passed on through generations. To find a good table you have to rely on word of mouth; googling the phrase “pool tables in x” will give you a list of commercialised pool establishments (bowling alleys, themed bars, and the like), all of which are usually poor quality and often taken for granted. The best tables are found in the unassuming pubs on the outskirts of a town.
On a recent jaunt into Manchester City Centre, I fancied a game of pool. But when I consulted our coveted 2019 list, I noticed how many tables had either been replaced by the likes of foosball, table tennis, and shuffleboard, or the establishment had simply closed down entirely. The loss of venues like Footage, Black Dog Ballroom and Stockport’s once thriving cue sport hotspot, The Crucible, is a sad glimpse into the future of this region.
The gentrified homogenisation of nightlight culture has made me realise one thing: Stockport is losing its identity.
The rules of pool are hotly debated. Stockport rules are what I play by and expect everyone else to uphold. I’ve come to know that two shots for a foul (one if playing for the black) should only ever be played along the baulk line, with no back shots. Picking a pocket is entirely optional and usually for gloating purposes. Anyone who looks as though they came of drinking age within the last five years should be removed entirely from these kinds of debates, as the popular 8 Ball Pool app has greatly Americanised the understanding of the game.
Former Stockport resident and snooker legend Alex “Hurricane” Higgins made an admission which surprised many in his final television interview. When asked where he learned the tricks of his game and how he became so quick and so precise with a cue in hand, “Stockport.” was his answer.
During the height of his fame, Higgins won the 1982 World Snooker Championship and was living in the leafier suburbs of the SK postcode, and has since become a ghostly legend around the tables of south Manchester.
It is not uncommon to come across somebody who learned a thing or two from the George Best of the baize. Supposedly, it was quite easy to get a game out of the man, who was more intent on feeding his more sinister passion in life: alcohol.
What the story of Higgins tells us is that as pool tables across the country are left to a state of disrepair and disregard, we lose stories about local icons – supposed superstars – mingling with the common man. The bar sports that seek to replace pool do not have the same legacy of on the-spot rule changes, mythical comebacks, and unbelievable, unreplaceable trick shots.
Perhaps it was selective bias, but looking back on the list in 2024, the only 10/10 table that we found lay in The Magnet Freehouse in Stockport.
The Magnet, which was last year voted as ninth best pub in the UK by National Geographic, is home to the perfect pool table. The baize is well maintained, meaning that the balls, all of which are in a classic red and yellow colour, have an extremely smooth run with little to no drift. The cues are straight, and come in a variety of length and weight. And to top it all off, the pub has a quality selection of beers and a decent atmosphere whether you visit mid-week or at the weekend.
The tide of gentrification feels like a natural and unstoppable force. There are some benefits (the town centre feels safer and cleaner than ever before), but when prices increase in housing and in leisure, it ousts working-class people and their culture from their hometowns.
Data from Land Registry shows that the average house price in the UK has increased around 200% in the last 20 years. In Stockport the increase has been almost 400%. Perhaps we’re snookered. But as locals are priced further out of the town centre, just know that their cultural legacies, and their idiosyncratic pool rules, go with them.
Article published via STAT Magazine on 7/03/25 and is available here.
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