Dreamberry Wine

Many moons ago, I used to do the front covers (indeed one of my old covers appears on the bottom of this blog page), for a Sci-Fi paperback mailing list called "Dreamberry Wine".

It was run by a mate called Mike Don, who was once described as the "Anarchist Bookseller" of Manchester.

His dealings on the Manchester scene were many and varied, including a journalistic scoop that was picked up nationally by The Guardian, in which he exposed James Anderton's (The then Chief Constable of Greater Manchester), purchase of some somewhat dubious police equipment, to whit, sten guns.

This was during the Thatcher years, when left wing splinter groups were rampant in the North of England and 'paranoia' was the vogue. This was the period when many Lefties supported a 'fascist' military dictator, General Galtieri in Argentina (even with the 30,000 'Disappeared' left wingers that the regime had perpetrated), rather than UK forces in the Falkland Islands. Somehow, apparently it was the UK who lived in a "fascist dictatorship", because the stupid public kept "voting the wrong way" ... isn't that always the way with the proletariat, they have to be told what's good for them and who to vote for. Where's 'Uncle Joe' when you need him?.

I can't say that Mike and I's politics ever agreed very much, but he was not one of those who subscribed to the nonsense about the Falklands, and in any event it didn't stop us having a pint or two, and discussing politics, Blakes Seven and our shared interest in Sci-Fi.

After an anonymous comment on a link on the blog, from someone about "The Albert", the pub of choice for the 'intelligentsia of Rusholme' (Well, it had a Chess team and two quiz teams, that counted as intelligentsia in that area!).

I am adding this next couple of paragraphs and a couple of photo's (the only two I could find) about the pub.

The Albert Pub Rusholme

The place where Mike and I drank, was 'The Albert' on the corner of Walmer St/Albert St. This pub is described by the University of Manchester Students Union (UMSU) with the only comment "Real ale and Irishmen", they also describe some of the other pubs in the area in similar terms.

• The Huntsman - "Try it once, apparently"
• The Welcome - "The most un-welcoming pub (more so than The Huntsman) - expect piano to stop playing and everyone stare at you as you walk in" and "Unwritten rule: Locals only"

The other pubs are treated more gently, LOL, but they are only student reviews, so 'sod em'.

Anyway at that time, in the 1970's and 1980's, The Albert was popular with a lot of current students, and ex-students who had never gone home to rural Somerset, or wherever it was they had come from, and had continued drinking in the pub of their student youth. It also had 'a lot of Irishmen', who used it as an informal building site recruitment office.

This eclectic mix got on reasonably well, with a few cross borderer's like myself, mixing happily enough with both camps (They tended to sit in distinct areas of the pub). The whole establishment was run over by a rather urbane Irish landlord called Gerry who used a cigarette holder, and rather reminded one, of the camp comedian 'Larry Grayson' (for those old enough to remember him).

On the non Irish side, the pub was populated by and large with Social security workers, University Professors, and other social worker type employees i.e. They all largely worked for non commercial organisations at the tax payers expense (including me at that time), and who, by and large, followed 'right on' (The pre PC term) politics of the left. I needless to say was not of that persuasion, hence the often heated political discussions that generally remained non violent. It was this motley crew that filled the chess team and the two quiz teams.

One of the Irish regulars "Mick Reynolds" was an "All Ireland" finalist, and had a certain fame and glory on that account in the bar. I am informed that the pub has changed landlords a number of times since then, and that Mike Don is no longer a regular, but pops in occasionally.

Anyway while I was trawling the net I came across Mikes name, and I tracked him down (isn't the Internet great!), and got back in contact. He's still selling books, and produces a book list about once a quarter. I wasn't surprised to find that he hadn't exactly embraced the Internet, and was still hankering for a one finger type writer and photocopiers, but he now apparently had a steam driven PC of ancient vintage, and variable performance.

Taking my life in my hands I undertook to drag Mike as close to the 21st century as he was prepared to go, "leading a horse to water, and drinking" comes to mind, by setting him up with a web page (it's really easy with a googlemail account). This turned into an epic of a kind I wasn't expecting, because Mike only wanted something that was easily editable and based upon his listing formats. I had originally set up the web pages in table format because it was so neat, however editing the pages in this format was a bit cumbersome, and required an understanding of Tables in Excel or Word, that I gathered Mike was not keen to acquire.

So I had to do it again, and of course I kept thinking of improvements (Top Tip: Keep it simple and clean, don't do a 'Homer Simpson' and load your web page with every moving icon you can find!), but eventually I settled on a few external links, and a number of interlinked web pages. It's basic, and the formatting is not unlike the magazines (which should cheer Mike up immensely), but it does the job, and who knows Mike may go on to develop skills in this area and make it tidier.

Anyway, if you are into Sci-Fi, and want a regular supplier of well priced used paperbacks or hardbacks etc, then he was the man to go to.

Mike Don's Old Details

Update November 2020:

In another of those 'all things change' moments I found out that 'The Albert Inn' is apparently closed for good .... at least its boarded up, awaiting planning permission to change use.

Inside The Albert 2015

The Albert Inn Closed

 

It appears that demographic changes over the decades, have taken its Irish and white clientele away from the area. Its now a largely Muslim area, and so most of the 10 or more pubs alive and thriving in that immediate area in the 70's and 80's have now closed for the same reason. I knew them all as I played on the Albert pool team in the local league, so visited them all (even the notorious Lord Lyon/Nelson .... thankfully the even more notorious Huntsman was too small to have a pool table ).

 

In fact as far as I know, none of them have survived apart from The Claremont Inn on the Moss Side border .... as there are no customers left. Elsewhere in south Manchester, even 'The Whalley Hotel,' where I once worked briefly as a barman, and The Seymour (my first 'local' pub as a teen), also in Whalley Range, have closed according to the pub link .... many others are also long gone. Sad.

Update August 2021:

Sadly Mike Don passed away aged 77 this year.

I have taken down the links to his webpage, as the great bookman has finished his final chapter, and gone to the great book repository in the hereafter. 

He will be sorely missed by his many friends and collaborators in Manchester and elsewhere.