‘Please raise your glass to the wonder that was Nancy’
12:47, 30 Jul 2026Updated 12:56, 30 Jul 2026
Nancy Swanick kept a watchful eye on the Peveril of the Peak pub for over 55 years(Image: Supplied)
The landlady of a historic Manchester pub, who has been at the helm of the venue for over 55 years, has sadly passed away.
Peveril of the Peak, on Great Bridgewater Street, has constantly been recognised as one of the city’s best pubs and just this week had also earnt the distinct honour of being named the best pub in the country in a list by Time Out London.
Since January 1971, the pub – which earned the local nickname of The Pev – has been under the watchful eye of Nancy Swanick. In a post on social media this morning, her family announced that Nancy had sadly passed away on Tuesday (July 28).
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The post wrote: “We are sad to say that our beloved Nancy, landlady for over 55 years, passed away peacefully on 28th July. Nancy always kept up to date with news about The Pev and we told her about our new accolade of Best Pub in the UK a few days ago.
“The Pev will stay in the Swanick family and we will continue to cherish it as we did Nancy. The pub will remain open thanks to our brilliant staff and, if you pop in anytime soon, please raise your glass to the wonder that was Nancy. With love, the Swanicks.”
Peveril Of The Peak is one of Manchester’s most iconic pubs(Image: Manchester Evening News)
The cosy and ‘unpretentious’ Grade II-listed venue has been a part of Manchester since 1820 and is distinctly known for its green-tiled exterior. It also has a number of surviving interior features from the Victorian era.
Back in 2021, The Pev marked Nancy’s 50 years behind the bar with a big celebration. At the time, she was believed to be Stonegate Group’s oldest serving publican. A mother of three, her son Maurice, who had joined her in running the pub, described her as an ‘astute businesswoman’.
“My mum’s always fought hard not to have anything changed in the pub,” son Maurice told the Manchester Evening News five years ago. “She’s fought tooth and nail to not have any modernisation or things like that. She’s a very proud Irish lady and her word goes!”
Whilst, at the time, Maurice said her involvement in the pub had reduced slightly in recent years, he remarked that she ‘still has the final say on management’. But he added: “Mam is not only the longest-serving, but also the best landlady in the country.
Nancy with Robbie Coltrane in 1996 as three episodes of Cracker were filmed at the pub(Image: Supplied)
“She’s always run a firm but fair ship, and the number of familiar faces we see on a repeat basis is testament to the homely atmosphere she’s created.”
Earlier this week, Time Out London’s top spot ranking of The Pev in its 22 Best Pubs in the UK list recognised Nancy’s impact, whilst highlighting the drinking spot was ‘the kind of pub that’s so perfect, it deserves to serve as the venue for the wetting of your head, your wedding and your wake’.
The pub has appeared on screen in a number of TV productions over the years, most recently with Netflix’s hit Fool Me Once including The Pev in key scenes. An early Oasis photo of Liam and Noel Gallagher, taken in the 90s by Kevin Cummins, also solidified the pub in cultural history.
It has also been frequented by a number of famous faces, including football legend Eric Cantona and late actor Robbie Coltrane, who even posed for a photo with Nancy when three episodes of Cracker were filmed at the pub in 1996. It has also been visited by the likes of Bill Tarmey, Freddie Flintoff and Steve Coogan.
Nancy’s pub had just this week been named the best pub in the country by a national publicaiton(Image: Manchester Evening News)
In 2013, she told reporters she had no plans to retire from the pub. “I don’t know if I could ever do it,” she explained, “I’ve been here so long it’d be a wrench to leave. “We have regulars who were there on my first day who still come in for a drink, they’re like family now.”
She previously recalled how when she first started her career at the pub, a pint of mild cost one shilling and six pence and a bitter was one and nine pence. She raised her three children in the living area above the pub.
The Peveril of the Peak’s name is said to have many meanings, with some believing it comes from Sir Walter Scott’s 1823 novel of the same name. However, it is largely believed that the name recognises the horse-drawn carriage that made the long journey from Manchester to London in the space of two days.
Earlier this year, beer writer Matthew Curtis featured the pub in his acclaimed Manchester’s Best Beer Pubs and Bar guide where he suggested there was ‘perhaps no pub in Manchester more iconic than the Peveril of the Peak’. He added: “Manchester is very lucky to have a pub as special as this.”