Everywhere is within walking distance if you have time.
It’s just before dawn on a spring morning in Bury, north Manchester. Appropriately, given we’re In the home of Black Pudding, the sky is steadily edging its way out of darkness.
As we wait for Bloom to open its doors, American comedian Stewart Wright’s slightly-adapted quote is swirling around my head. Wright suggested, rightly, that if you make time, you have time. As always, in the moments just before a big-ish challenge some big-ish questions enter the conversation & consciousness.
Can we do this? Should we do this? And, the kicker, why the hell are we doing this?
The this in question is an A-B journey. A North-South coffee-fuelled traverse from the top to the bottom of Manchester. From the home of black pudding in Bury to Stockport - historically, the base of the UK’s hatting industry and in the present day (according to the Guardian) the so-called New Berlin. In the middle? A 40-kilometre running route designed to visit as many Allpress wholesale cafes as possible.
How best to start this long run? A Long Black poured by Bloom owner Dan and a short chat about longevity. Dan and Bloom are nearing their 10th anniversary - a long time in the world of cafe ownership. Dan plays down an inquiry about any secrets behind their success. The long black tastes delicious though, which is all the answer I really needed about their staying power. Iconic coffee, local flavour.
We can’t stay local for long. Stewart is of course wright that anywhere can be reached on foot if you have time. But, with 40k to run it was time to get on. Pretty soon the streets of Bury were replaced by the parks and canal paths en route to the centre of Manchester.
In recent years Allpress has added a host of wholesale customers to its cafe roster. In total there are now approaching 30 cafes across the city. Great news for growth; less convenient news for two runners with Convene in Stockport as their final destination.
After a few hours on foot we reached central Manchester, where the destinations are as plentiful as they are varied. In no particular order our itinerary looked like this.
- Pit stop at Allpress HQ on Dantzic Street. Camera change, shoe switch and a brief batch.
- Quick skof at Trof.
- Companio Bakery pastry stowed in the running pack.
- Dash to Dishoom.
- Get Baked soft serve and a hard charge asap to ASAP.
- A final pick-me-up at Carhart WIP. After which, it was time to get in progress south again.
The final stretch
By the time we ran along Manchester’s infamous Curry Mile we'd reached that point in an adventure where everything started to feel wrong about Steven’s surmisations. Where once the distance was quietly ticked off as fast as the chatter, suddenly, as it does on all adventures, the conversation, speed per km and our heads all started to drop.
We were running out of time - and our end point looked like it might well not be within striking distance. However, as the iconic old viaduct synonymous with the New Berlin came into view the legs suddenly felt brand new again. Downhill, and downwind, we were soon in SK1, rounding one last corner and Convene-ing with Issie at one of the newest additions to Allpress’s Manchester roster.
Owner Issie’s welcome was warm.
A wholesome end to a wholesale journey.
