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With the Fletcher Moss taking the title of our Pub of the Week, we spoke to Martin about what it's like running the long-standing community asset, how its affirmed its reputation, what it does for the locals and those in need, and how it's become a bit of a hot-spot for some very famous names in comedy.

Hospitality is in my blood - my grandparents ran a pub up in the North East, so I grew up around the trade. I officially started out behind the bar when I was 18, and by the time I turned 22, I was already managing my first pub up there.

I moved down to Manchester in the early 90s to work, but taking over The Fletcher Moss in April 2012 felt like coming home. I’ve been managing here for 14 years now, and I absolutely love the people, the venue, and the surrounding community. It’s a brilliant local community to be a part of.

I also love working for Hydes, this is the longest tenure I’ve had as a general manager and working with them really does feel like I’m part of a big family. Community involvement is very important to Hydes and is strongly encouraged and that’s not very common these days with most business operations.

The pub is named after Fletcher Moss, who was a prominent local alderman and dignitary. He was one of those legendary local characters whose legacy still lives on in Didsbury.

He is best remembered for gifting his historic estate in Didsbury to the city in 1915, which is now famously known as the Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden.

The pub itself was originally called The Albert, but the name was changed in 1998, which is also when we built our conservatory. One thing that has never changed, though, is our heritage, we have always been a Hydes-owned pub, proudly preserving that classic British brewery tradition right here on the block.

Generally speaking, Guinness is a massive seller for us. But as a proud Hydes brewery pub, our real crown jewel is our cask ale selection. We sell every single one of the Hydes cask ales, and the Fletcher Moss Ale is a unique, permanent, highly popular fixture on our bar, it’s actually a fantastic upgrade of the classic Hydes 1863 recipe.

Lately, we’ve also seen a major increase in people opting for 0% alcohol options, so we make sure we cater heavily to that crowd too.

Our absolute biggest and most unique claim to fame just happened recently when The Fletcher Moss was officially named among England’s '500 Best Pubs' by The Telegraph! To be personally visited, reviewed, and selected by renowned pub expert Will Hawkes for such a prestigious guide is an incredible honour.

Out of thousands of establishments across the country, we were chosen for our timeless charm, atmosphere, and beautifully kept cask ales. It’s a massive testament to the hard work of our team.

Beyond that, we were also proud runners-up for the CAMRA Pub of the Year award about four years ago, so we’ve got a bit of a pedigree for excellence here!

We get our fair share of Manchester legends! The brilliant comedian Jason Manford popped in recently.

We have a fantastic local band called The Bet Shop Boys who play here regularly; Jason happens to know them, so he turned up and jumped on the mic to sing a few tunes with them, which the locals loved.

We also have Phil Mealy, star of the cult BBC comedy Early Doors, as one of our regulars. He’s a fantastic character and a genuinely friendly guy. Just a few months back, he brought his co-star, fellow comedian, and writer Craig Cash in for a pint. Having two absolute icons of British comedy hanging out at The Fletcher Moss was a real pleasure.

Everyone in Didsbury is just so welcoming and friendly. They take immense pride in the area they live in.

Being a North East lad originally from Middlesbrough, tight-knit communities mean everything to me, and Didsbury has that in spades.

We’ve built a wonderful, inclusive community feel inside the pub. On any given night, you’ll see people spanning from ages 18 to 80 - as I often like to say, we welcome everyone from boxers to barristers!

My team and I work incredibly hard to keep it a safe, warm environment where people can simply come in, make friends, and chat. At the end of the day, that’s exactly what a proper British pub is supposed to be about.

We actually have a specific table on the right-hand side of the pub where drinks have been known to literally fly off and smash with absolutely no logical explanation!

We’ve even caught it happening on our CCTV cameras. Customers definitely comment on it, and it's been happening for the past ten years or so. The building dates back to the early 1900s, so there’s plenty of history here - I guess there’s got to be something structural, or supernatural, going on!

The best way to support us is simply by continuing to visit and keeping this pub thriving as an important local community hub. Because we don't serve food, it actually works heavily in our favour - our customers know exactly what to expect when they walk in: great beer, great chat, and great company, alongside the best outside drinking space in Didsbury!

We are also a proud stop on the famous Didsbury Dozen pub crawl, which can bring up to 100 separate pub crawl groups through our doors on Saturdays and keeps the local hospitality economy booming, particularly for some of the smaller local pubs.

Supporting us also means helping us support others. We've championed the Francis House Children’s Hospice in Didsbury for over ten years, raising over £30,000 to ensure the money stays local. We raise funds through our packed Monday acoustic nights and popular Tuesday quizzes.

Plus, next month, I’m confronting my fears and doing a charity skydive to try and raise another £1,500 for them. I'm trying not to think too much about the jump itself right now, but I'm completely focused on hitting that target for such an incredible cause!

The Fletcher Moss is on 1 William St, Didsbury, Manchester M20 6RQ. Follow on Facebook.