An issue sure to spark debate in a circle of 30 square miles around Manchester city centre is whether Boddies or Robbies is the best ale. Unfortunately, the Belgian firm interbrew who owns Boddingtons wants to shut Strangeways brewery, and so put the mockers on this debate once and for all.

As the cask is all that is made at Strangeways (and mighty fine it is too), the true taste of Boddies is about to disappear for ever. It uses water drawn from a well below the brewery to make the ale (er, perhaps best not to think too hard about that), so anything else will taint the taste of the beer (witness the taste difference between Dublin-brewed Guiness and what everyone else drinks brewed under licence elsewhere - no comparison).

Check out the campaign website