Hardy’s Well

Located close to the curry mile on Wilmslow Road in Rusholme, opposite Platt Fields, this is the pub once known as the Birch Villa. It is much changed since those days, and is popular with students. I used to frequent this pub before and after City matches at Maine Road. Nothing special about the décor, but it does feature comfy sofas!

What can I say about this place… it doesn’t do great food… It’s not cheap but it’s a bonefide institution. I’ve been coming here post football every Wednesday for 5 years. Great beer garden and a fantastic launching pad for the curry mile… plus there is a belting poem on the outside wall courtesy of Lemn Sissay.

Hardy’s well is quite possibly the only pub in Rusholme worth mentioning, therefore making it the best alternative for those who live at the bottom end of the curry mile too far from Varsity and too far from Fallowfield.
Good atmosphere, sometimes bustling with students, alright prices and a pool table, which is a rarity in the pubs in student-​townlands, definitely worth a visit on a pub golf crawl or for a summer drink in its outdoor area.

Few of our friends live right next to Platt Field’s Lane, so sometimes we go there to see them. We eat in rusholme some stuff and then obviously we want something to drink, and to be fair, that’s the only pub that looks alright from that area. I actually liked it from the very first beginning. People from the bar are way too friendly. Really nice and smiley, they ask you different questions about your day and so. You can buy whatever you want, from beer to cocktails. If you fancy a little snack, that’s the place where you can find some pickled eggs or some pork scratching.
I love the variety of stuff, for instance you can play on the quiz machine or you can have a game of pool. If you fancy a cigarette, feel free to visit their beer garden which is really cool.
Last time we went there for quite a while and I remember that the guy from the bar was asking us to drink up cuz they want to close the pub. We were still having fun, and telling each other how cool this pub is.

Hardy’s well is a haven for drinking outside in the sun. It is one of the very few places along the Oxford Road corridor that has a generous beer garden and an atmosphere to match. The staff are very friendly and the draught beers are reasonably priced, which makes Hardy’s a great place for just sitting and chatting, indoors or out. There’s also 2 pool tables and an interesting mix of furniture so you can create a bit of a den (if that’s what you like to do) All of this is subtly underscored by a welcome selection of British bands on the playlist I would recommend Hardy’s Well to anyone looking for somewhere that’s not overly busy but never empty and where you can always depend on that first pint refreshment.

Well it’s good to know Hardy’s well. I was worried about that Hardy. No no no, wait a second there, this is a PUB. In that case I’d better get my Unilocal on and tell you all whether it’s any good or not, capiche?
This place is located between Fallowfield and Rusholme, thus is frequented by students… frequently. But don’t let that put you off if you’re not the academic type. Hardy’s Welcoming as well as Well. Wow, this review is something of a tongue twister. Let me begin again minus bad puns. You’re unlikely to find you’re traffic light-​coded (have you ever seen those traffic light parties? Red for I’m taken, green for I’m up for it… I really want to know what that hazy amber area is all about), pyjama party-​attending, shot-​drinking students in here, no siree. This is a place for the more discerning of scholar. After all, it has poetry on the wall. It’s chilled, it’s cool, it has pool tables and the staff make great hosts with their friendly, quirky vibe.
Plus the décor is a lovely bricolage of many different styles, and the cosy couches and snug little corners make for a great place to while away the hours comfortably and happily. The big draw here is the outside patio for sun days and smokers alike, but in addition to this the drinks are cheap and good quality and the crowd is pleasant. I’d recommend it as a great place to meet up for drinks before heading to the Curry Mile or a super gathering for students. Quite lovely.

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.

If you’re looking for prelash before hitting the curry mile this is the best go to. Huge wooden tables and a few pool tables at the back make it perfect for big groups. The well has reasonably priced ales and the like; outside is a nice garden that can be a welcome bolthole for those summer days across the road from the park. A big old place that remains its intimacy, the well is about chillaxing with the gang and a few pints. Staff are friendly, chatty and one of them has a parrot or so the rumour goes, whether it’s in the building is something that needs to be found out. On the side of the block that is hardy’s is a poem by Lemn Sissay not my cup of tea but nice to try and read it when you’re a tad tipsy.

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.

I’m going to concur with popular opinion here and say Hardy’s Well is perfectly average. As a pub it succeeds on the fact that it is in a well-​traveled location, serves a range of ales and beer, and has the requisite pool tables and quiz machine. Add a beer garden on top of that, and food deals, and you have a good foundation for a very good pub.
I can’t explain exactly why it doesn’t seem to build on it properly to me, as it again falls down to that vague, abstract concept of ‘atmosphere’. It may be because it sits between student and adult lands, teetering uncertainly over the dark void between, from which there is no escape.
Plus it has a terrible poem on the side of it. That much alliteration is never healthy.

Hardy’s Well. I think its named after wells (water ones) from Thomas Hardy’s novels, which seem to feature regularly as the symbol of depthlessness. Of course, the well is also a watering hole, and so is a pub. But what depth is there to this pub? What lies beneath its pretty normal exterior? Well, quite a lot.
Its got a wide range of beers including a crisp pint of Heineken, all for around £3. Its got friendly staff and nice authentic pub-​style décor, plenty of comfortable seating and some pool tables and quiz machines.
It also does some good quality Pizzas for around £6, which I can recommend. Though for me they would have to be a lunchtime meal. Five minutes from curry mile, the perfect place for dinner, Hardy’s Well is an ideal place for a pre-​curry pint or two.
Its also got a huge paved garden area, and though its right on Oxford road, its set away from the street by a few meters and, when it gets busy in the summer, you can forget you’re on a busy road. Due to its large rooms, big tables and average population, it’s a great place to meet if you’re in a large group, such as a football team or religious society (one of each of these I know, but neither of which I am part of, meet here regularly).

This bar seems popular enough with the local student population, probably because Hardy’s Well is quite large, there are two pool tables, and rather large tables which will suit large groups of friends! But for me, I find that it struggles for a lack of character, thankfully though. there is a good selection of real ales, proudly, it appears, making a comeback into the modern pub. If you’re in Rusholme for a curry and fancy a pint beforehand (or after) then this is a good bet.

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!

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’ hellor maybe my taste is just maturing?
Couple of pool tables for those who can play the game: I never couldI’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!

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?