Somebody must have a photograph of the inside of the Lloyd's before its conversion over a decade ago. There may even be the plans that were used in transforming an old Victorian pub into to a welcoming modern open plan place.
But if they exist I have yet to find them. In fact so far I have yet to come across any pictures of the inside of any of our pubs and hotels here in Chorlton. Now there must be some, after all there are plenty of the outsides of all of the pubs and these date back to the late 19th century and on through in to the next century.
I suppose pictures of the interiors of pubs fall into two groups. There are the promotional ones done by the brewery and those private snaps taken during a happy and alcoholic evening. The sort of promotional ones we are familiar with from web sites will not have survived I fear, and as for those private pictures most will concentrate on the people and not the surroundings.
So back to the Lloyd's. I remember it before its modernization. Like many big pubs of the period it consisted of smallish rooms an old fashioned bar and a wide staircase. I might be wrong but there may also still have been waiter service. But my memories of the place are a bit like that much used phrase describing the 1960s, “if you can remember the decade you weren’t there.” Which pretty well sums up my nights in the place. We often went there on election night, and the three pints in the Lloyds saying thank you to the Party workers, and then the many pints more in the Press Club after the count meant that memories of the old pub are vague.
So I was very pleased when Peter asked me to add a story for his painting of the Lloyd's. These have become a feature of the blog over the last two months with Peter painting the picture and me writing the story.
The Lloyd’s was built in 1870 and arose out of a partnership between George Lloyd who owned the land and James Platt who built it and the partnership is recorded on a stone inset into the wall. But once Platt died the place was renamed the Lloyd. During the 1880s it was bought by a William Roberts and it was the landlady a Mrs Crabtree who by all accounts “improved the place considerably in various particulars”* and it may have been her who encouraged the bowling green members to build their own club house which was open on Wednesdays during the season. I am still puzzling where the lawn tennis club she also encouraged played but it may have been on the open land along side Whitelow Road.
You can get a fine view of the bowling green from the dining area. My friend Keith has long been associated with it and speaks warmly of his evenings at the annual dinners the club has held.
Peter has his paintings on display at a number of places across Chorlton and can also be seen on his facebook site https://www.facebook.com/paintingsfrompictures
Picture; ©Peter Topping 2011 www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk
*Thomas Ellwood, Chorlton historian writing in the 1886
But if they exist I have yet to find them. In fact so far I have yet to come across any pictures of the inside of any of our pubs and hotels here in Chorlton. Now there must be some, after all there are plenty of the outsides of all of the pubs and these date back to the late 19th century and on through in to the next century.
I suppose pictures of the interiors of pubs fall into two groups. There are the promotional ones done by the brewery and those private snaps taken during a happy and alcoholic evening. The sort of promotional ones we are familiar with from web sites will not have survived I fear, and as for those private pictures most will concentrate on the people and not the surroundings.
So back to the Lloyd's. I remember it before its modernization. Like many big pubs of the period it consisted of smallish rooms an old fashioned bar and a wide staircase. I might be wrong but there may also still have been waiter service. But my memories of the place are a bit like that much used phrase describing the 1960s, “if you can remember the decade you weren’t there.” Which pretty well sums up my nights in the place. We often went there on election night, and the three pints in the Lloyds saying thank you to the Party workers, and then the many pints more in the Press Club after the count meant that memories of the old pub are vague.
So I was very pleased when Peter asked me to add a story for his painting of the Lloyd's. These have become a feature of the blog over the last two months with Peter painting the picture and me writing the story.
The Lloyd’s was built in 1870 and arose out of a partnership between George Lloyd who owned the land and James Platt who built it and the partnership is recorded on a stone inset into the wall. But once Platt died the place was renamed the Lloyd. During the 1880s it was bought by a William Roberts and it was the landlady a Mrs Crabtree who by all accounts “improved the place considerably in various particulars”* and it may have been her who encouraged the bowling green members to build their own club house which was open on Wednesdays during the season. I am still puzzling where the lawn tennis club she also encouraged played but it may have been on the open land along side Whitelow Road.
You can get a fine view of the bowling green from the dining area. My friend Keith has long been associated with it and speaks warmly of his evenings at the annual dinners the club has held.
Peter has his paintings on display at a number of places across Chorlton and can also be seen on his facebook site https://www.facebook.com/paintingsfrompictures
Picture; ©Peter Topping 2011 www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk
*Thomas Ellwood, Chorlton historian writing in the 1886
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