The New Oxford

The New Oxford is an independent free house at 11 Bexley Square, in the Chapel Street quarter of Salford that has become one of Greater Manchester's most concentrated stretches of independent food and drink. The pub dates from the 1830s and trades as a two-roomed corner house; a careful refurbishment restored much of its Victorian character — bottle-green banquette seating, an original 1800s clock with gold detailing and an early-1900s stained-glass window — while opening up the interior and converting the former kitchen into a snug. It is one of Salford's most decorated real-ale pubs, a repeat CAMRA award winner, with a central bar carrying 11 handpumps and over 20 fonts.

Beer is the whole point here. The cask line-up runs to nine changing beers plus two regulars — the house Moorhouse's New Oxford Pale Ale and Thornbridge Jaipur — sourced regionally with at least one dark beer usually on, and it is backed by a celebrated stock of more than fifty Belgian beers. The pub holds mini beer festivals at the end of most months, hosts live music at weekends, is dog-friendly, and spills out onto a partitioned drinking area in Bexley Square itself. It opens from noon daily, until midnight most nights and 1am on Fridays and Saturdays.

What sets it apart for non-drinkers is that the alcohol-free offering is treated with the same seriousness as the cask and Belgian lists. Guinness 0.0 pours on draught — a genuine tap pour rather than a can — alongside Erdinger Alkoholfrei, the classic Bavarian wheat beer in its de-alcoholised form, and Asahi 0.0, with booze-free ciders rounding out the range. Manchester's Finest singled the pub out in a January 2026 round-up of the city's best alcohol-free drinking, calling the offering "comprehensive". In a traditional 11-handpump free house that kind of depth is rare, and it means someone off the drink can settle in for the evening on a properly built round rather than a token soft drink.