Looking down on Cornbrook and the ruins of the Railway Inn

Now the ruin of the Railway Inn has long fascinated me.

I first noticed it on the tram looking down on to Cornbrook and realized that I must have passed it on the bus countless times when it still served up pints and happiness.

That said I have no idea when it closed or what the future now holds for what is left.

I guess it will go sooner rather than later as the area is redeveloped.

There are people who remember drinking in there and in time they may share those memories.

Until then I shall be content to look at Andy Robertson’s pictures of what is left and compare it to R E Stanley’s photograph taken in 1958 when Cornbrook was still full of houses and customers.

What is all the more interesting is the smallness of the inside which is belied by Mr Stanley’s picture.

It stands on the corner of Cornbrook Road and Dover Street and in 1911 Jonas Barraclough dispensed the beer and the cheer.

It was a densely packed area of terraced houses and industry.

So walking down Cornbrook Road from Chester Road to Dover Street the causal visitor would have encountered the homes of a chinney sweep, a postman and stevedore along with factories making tinplate, paint and cut glass in between the premises of  Joseph Bradley Herbalist, Arton Snowden, fried fish dealer and a printing works.


Pictures of the Railway Inn today courtesy of Andy Robertson, and the Railway Inn in 1958, E Stanley, m 50339, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass