Today for the second time, walking our history from Chorlton pub to Chorlton pub starting at the Horse & Jockey

The Horse & Jockey, 2014

Chorlton’s pubs reflect the story of how the township changed from a rural community into a suburb of Manchester.

So why not walk the history in the company of historian Andrew Simpson and artist Peter Topping taking in all the historic pubs of Chorlton.

Starting at The Horse & Jockey and ending at the Post Box Cafe with the chance to purchase a guest beer.

 The earliest were just small beer shops consisting of one or two rooms and many lasted just a few years.

But as Chorlton expanded during the late 19th century, new pubs were built which were bigger and catered for the new more respectable middle class clientele.

The Bowling Green, circa 1900

The old Travellers Rest at the bottom of Beech Road was opened in 1830, and consisted of just five rooms of which the ground floor front room served as the pub while the Bowling Green dating from the 1780s was a ramshackle place but the biggest we had during the early 19th century.

Forty years later Mr Lloyd and Mr Platt opened their impressive stone fronted public house with its grand staircase, numerous rooms including a large meeting room and added a bowling green and tennis court.

Two of the oldest have survived although one no longer serves beer and can be compared with those built at the beginning of the 20th century, and the new wave of bars that have sprung up recently.

Along with the changing architecture there are plenty of stories of what went on behind the doors from dark deeds to official meetings as well as a range of social and cultural activities.

The Sedge Lynn, 2014

Starting at The Horse & Jockey the walk will take in eight of the most iconic buildings which reflect the changing architecture and history of Chorlton.

The walk will have supporting graphics and text at the venues along the way, there will be a description of each building and some of the events that occurred behind the doors with old pictures and paintings as it is now.

Along the way we shall be looking at The Horse & Jockey, The Bowling Green, The Beech, Franny & Filer, The Trevor, The Lloyds, and The Royal Oak finishing at The Post Box cafe where there will be a mini exhibition of the whole event and some guest beers on offer.

The Post Box, 2014

So there you have it less a pub crawl more a walk through our history and its free and a competition details of which are available from Chris at the Post Box cafe.

Paintings; © 2014 Peter Topping,
Paintings from Pictures,

 www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

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