The Castle Hotel selling beer since 1778 and still going strong on Oldham Street

Oldham Street, circa 1910

I was back in the Northern Quarter recently.*

We don’t go as often as we should and that is a pity because you can always be rewarded by a nice bit of history, some quirky shops and of course those pubs which have survived the commercial rationalization of brewery outlets, the planners determination to tidy place up and various periods of urban blight.

And so to Oldham Street, which I remember as a thriving shopping centre in the 60s, which degenerated after the Arndale and has now come alive again as a place to buy interesting things you won’t find in the chain stores.

Like many who grew up in the 1950s and set up home in the 70s I am always drawn to the Pop Boutique store which opened in 1994 and pretty much sells everything from vintage clothing to all manner of things your everyday vintage junkie might find interesting and even buy.

Junk, 32 Dale Street

I guess part of the attraction is just to speculate on what we did with the ghastly table mats from the 1972 or the equally awful plastic flowers given away by a soap company in the 50s.

And having tired with that place I never tire of the Castle.

It dates from the late 1770s has undergone changes of name and appearances but remains a fascinating little pub.

I first went there in 1971 and sat in one of the back rooms debating politics and drinking the bitter.

It is a remarkable survival of the sort of drinking place you could have found on almost any street corner in the city centre from the 18th century onwards.

Castle Hotel

Now at this point I shall hand over to the experts and the wonderful Pubs of Manchester Past and Present blog, http://pubs-of-manchester.blogspot.co.uk/ which tells the story of the pubs both in the city and the surrounding area.

And of course the individual stories provide a powerful collective history of Manchester and the people who have lived here.

*http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/if-it-wasnt-for-houses-in-between-you.html

**http://www.pop-boutique.com/

Window of Junk

Picture; courtesy of Pubs of Manchester Past and Present blog, http://pubs-of-manchester.blogspot.co.uk/ Oldham Street, circa 1910 from the collection of Rita Bishop and Junk, 32 Dale Street from the collection of Andrew Simpson