Thank you Nancy Swanick ……… fifty years in charge of the Peveril of the Peak

Yesterday was a special event as family, friends and members of CAMRA came together to celebrate Nancy Swanick’s fifty years in charge of the Peveril of the Peak, which is one of the most loved traditional pubs in Manchester.

Back in the 1970s when pubs and breweries were falling over themselves to dump traditionally made beers in favour of that other stuff, Nancy maintained a house which offered and championed real ales.

And in recognition of that dedication to serving up good beer over half a century, three representatives from CAMRA along with members of the group presented Nancy with a special award and a painting of the Peveril.

Nik Antona who is the National Chair of CAMRA, presented a special award to “Theresa Nancy Swanick Licensee of the Pevril of the Peak, in recognition of 50 years in residence”, and spoke warmly of her steadfast commitment to serving up the finest ales and beers, reflecting that the Campaign for Real Ale was also celebrating its half century.

This was fallowed by the presentation by Heather Airlie of a painting of the pub.  Heather is the Chair of the City Branch of CAMRA and along with Steve Ingham who is Pubs Preservation Officer commissioned the painting from Peter Topping.

Peter’s painting was one of a series on Manchester pubs he did for the book, Manchester Pubs, The Stories Behind the Doors, City Centre.

The book tells the story of 78 iconic city pubs, focusing on their stories and arranged in 15 walks allowing the reader to wander a selected route, taking in the pubs and their surroundings.

At the outset Andrew Simpson who researched and wrote the stories and Peter who painted the paintings and sourced many fine old photographs were convinced that the Peveril of the Peak should be the cover pub.

A second edition of the book is now in preparation, and of the other two pub books, the one on Chorlton-cum-Hardy is currently out of print, but the other about Didsbury's pubs and bars is  available from www.pubbooks.co.uk

Leaving me just to say that it was a wonderful night, and to  thank CAMRA and the manager Nadim Hammad and staff of the "Peveril" who organised the Piper, along with a free bar and a selection of food to mark this significant event.

Location; Manchester

Picture; Nancy Swanick, receiving the CAMRA special award, 2021, from the collection of Peter Topping

Painting; Peveril of the Peak,  © 2013 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures, www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

* CAMRA, Campaign For Real Ale, https://camra.org.uk/

** Manchester Pubs, The Stories Behind the Doors, City Centre, Peter Topping & Andrew Simpson, 2016, Topper Publications