Stockport’s diverse hospitality sector has once again garnered recognition after featuring in a list in the Daily Telegraph highlighting England’s top 10 pub towns.
The list highlighted towns offering both an affordable pint as well as a traditional pub culture, with Stockport the only town in the North West to receive a mention. Other towns to earn a mention in the article include Hastings on the South Coast, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, and brewing heavyweight, Burton-on-Trent.
In the list compiled by the paper’s travel writer and author of its England’s 500 Best Pubs guide, Will Hawkes, two Stockport town centre establishments were mentioned by name: The Crown, situated beneath the town’s iconic viaduct, as well as The Magnet, on the A6. Hawkes praised the two pubs for their traditional Northern feel and the “quality of their beer” respectively.
Commenting on all the state of pubs in place in his top 10 list and in towns across England, Will Hawkes wrote:
“The truth is that, whatever their perceived deficiencies, plenty of English towns are full of excellent pubs – most of them the sort of community-focused places that some assume are a thing of the past.”
Recognition for all of Stockport’s pubs follows recent successes for Robinsons Brewery, which has been brewing beer in the town for nearly 190 years. The sixth-generation family-run brewer was awarded the title of Best Brewing Pub Company at the 2026 Publican Awards, one of the most competitive awards programmes in the UK pub industry.
The quality of its brewing has also been recognised with two gold medals at the so-called ‘Oscars of brewing’. Both its Helles lager and Old Tom dark ale received Gold Medals in their respective categories at the International Brewing Awards 2026.
Robinsons Brewery tops £100 million turnover for the first time 
North West business activity returned to growth in April 
Stockport firm acquires electrical engineering specialist