The Temple
Demi Sheridan, Editorial Assistant
Have you ever been in a public bathroom and thought to yourself, this would make a great little bar, no? Well maybe you should have. The Temple off Oxford Road is an underground bar which was once a public toilet dating back to the 1800s.
If you have no idea which bar I am referring to, it is possible you have walked right past it and not realised what you were missing. To enter this underground dive-like bar, turn onto Bridgewater Street from Oxford Road and head down the stairs. Be sure to hold onto the railings and take note of the tiled walls on either side. These features are pulled directly from Manchester’s industrial rising, the classic furnishings pay homage to the bar’s Victorian past and former life as a public convenience.
The Temple has a relaxed, almost effortless vibe. Similar to its sister bar – Big Hands perched on the other end of Oxford Road – the interior appears intentionally grimy to the perfect degree of cool. The obvious wear and tear of the establishment plays quite well into this theme.
The place is a back to basics dive bar. Think dim red lighting, peeling posters of Manchester bands, and of course the vintage jukebox fixed to the wall. The famous Temple Jukebox plays songs by local bands like Elbow (of course, Grounds for Divorce refers to this particular bar – ‘hole in my neighbourhood’), I am Koot and Badly Drawn Boy. There is a sense of escapism at play down here, hidden away from the chaos above.
Serving a range of continental beers – bottles and on draft – along with your choice of spirits, The Temple is a nice place to sit and chat with friends. Due to the lack of space (it was once a bathroom after all) you might be sharing your leg room with a keg or two, but in my opinion this adds to the cosiness and overall dive bar atmosphere.
