Cask is a well-loved pub on Liverpool Road in Manchester. It has an excellent selection of continental beers and a cosy beer garden.

Head to the Cheese Hamlet in West Didsbury for a huge range of cheese, must have deli items, and preserves.

With only 11 screens (only!), this is one of the smaller multiplexes in Greater Manchester – but its advantage is its location in the lush surrounds of Didsbury, not far from a roster of good bars, cafés and restaurants.

A pub just off Chapel Street in Salford with a bit of a difference. As well as the usual selection of beers, wines and ales; The Kings Arms has a regular programme of theatre and comedy in its upstairs room.

The Lowry Hotel is a stylish five-star hotel in Salford, very close to Manchester city centre.

Mr Thomas’s Chop House first opened as a public house in 1870. It has beautiful arches and Victorian tiling, does classic British cooking and has an excellent wine list.

Iconic Manchester pub adorned with the sorts of bottle green, yellow and brown Victorian tiles that are a reclamation yard’s dream – this gem of a boozer is named after Sir Walter Scott’s novel of the same name and was a favourite hang-out of Eric Cantona.

Affleck & Brown is a bar in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. Housed in the Smithfield building which was once the location of the Victorian department store of the same name. Enjoy cocktails, beers, wines and coffee.

Award-winning cocktail bar in Manchester’s Nothern Quarter.

A bar in Manchester’s Northern Quarter for fans of television and cinema science fiction. Enjoy food and drink amongst a off-beat selection of movie memorabilia.

The original restaurant in the Bem Brasil chain. Expect barbecued meat from a traditional Brazilian grill.

Eastern Bloc Records is the record store for ‘the true vinyl purist’, and specialises in electronic music.