Today walking our history from Chorlton pub to Chorlton pub, starting at the Horse & Jockey on the village green

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 first walk will be today at 1pm, but  if you miss it we will be doing it all over  again the following Sunday on May 25th.

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

The Traveller's Rest circa 1900

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 old Travellers Rest at the bottom of Beech Road was opened in 1832, and consisted of just five rooms of which the ground floor front room served as the pub.

Thirty-eight 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.

These early drinking places  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 Lloyd's Today

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.

So there you have it less a pub crawl more a walk through our history and its free.

And there will also be a chance to take in the competition, details of which will be available from Chris at the Post Box Cafe.

The Post Box 2014, the end of the walk

In the meantime other paintings by Peter can be seen at the exhibition, CHORLTON-CUM-HARDY... A MOMENT IN TIME EXHIBITION. The Exhibition starts April 22nd till May 25th 2014 at Arison Gallery, 512 Wilbraham Road, Chorlton, M21 9AW. Telephone: 0161 881 6734, email: arison.gallery@ntlworld.com web: www.gladtobe.in

Paintings;,© 2014 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures,

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