It is a pretty forlorn looking building.
It was once in happier times the Cross Keys.
Back then the large numbers of mills, warehouses and terraced housing will have kept the place busy.
Not so now as Andy’s pictures shows it has passed its best.
But in the best of all possible worlds anything is possible, and with the fast gentrification of those bits of the city which we all thought neglected and forgotten I reckon there is every chance that what was once the premises of “Elizabeth Louise Bergin ..... Licensed to sell by retail all Intoxicating Liquors to be consumed on or off the premises” will be open again for business.
And I am open to suggestions as to what it might be. The sensible money will I guess be on a cafe/restaurant, with an option on a smart designer office, or retro clothes shop.
Now there is plenty of new residential property already just a little further up Radium Street, all of which might offer up customers.
A sneaky look at the Planning site hasn’t revealed any developments as yet but it abuts a set of derelict buildings and an open space, so if it fails to catch the eye of an innovative entrepreneur I guess its fate lies with a developer.
Well we shall see.
I shall just close with some more contrasting images of the place as it is and was and reflect that my first experience in a pub in the city was one with the same name, where the landlord turfed us out because we had long hair.
Now despite this being 1969 he may well have thought we some how brought the ambiance of the place down a notch, but none of us had hair which did much more than tickle our ears and we were on Minishull Street.
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That said we returned three months later on one of those opportunistic forays having seen him leave.
By then we really had got long hair but the challenge was hollow.
He never returned that afternoon and the beer tasted bad.
It would be idle to speculate on what the landlord/lady of the Cross Keys on Radium Street would have made of us.
Given the time and place I guess we would have not
even got over the door step.
But things change which brings me back to the future of the Cross Keys.
I rather think there will again be pints across the counter mixed I suspect with some interesting New World wines.
Now that should be worth a visit.
Pictures; the Cross Keys, 2015 from the collection of Andy Robertson and in 1962, T Brooks, m10189, and by L H Price, m49465, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
And just after I posted the story Neil came up with this interesting addition to the story, The Cross Keys Pub Radium Street, http://manchesterhistory.net/manchester/tours/tour12/crosskeys.html from A Manchester View, http://manchesterhistory.net/manchester/Manchesterview2.html
Back then the large numbers of mills, warehouses and terraced housing will have kept the place busy.
Not so now as Andy’s pictures shows it has passed its best.
But in the best of all possible worlds anything is possible, and with the fast gentrification of those bits of the city which we all thought neglected and forgotten I reckon there is every chance that what was once the premises of “Elizabeth Louise Bergin ..... Licensed to sell by retail all Intoxicating Liquors to be consumed on or off the premises” will be open again for business.
Now there is plenty of new residential property already just a little further up Radium Street, all of which might offer up customers.
A sneaky look at the Planning site hasn’t revealed any developments as yet but it abuts a set of derelict buildings and an open space, so if it fails to catch the eye of an innovative entrepreneur I guess its fate lies with a developer.
I shall just close with some more contrasting images of the place as it is and was and reflect that my first experience in a pub in the city was one with the same name, where the landlord turfed us out because we had long hair.
Now despite this being 1969 he may well have thought we some how brought the ambiance of the place down a notch, but none of us had hair which did much more than tickle our ears and we were on Minishull Street.
By then we really had got long hair but the challenge was hollow.
He never returned that afternoon and the beer tasted bad.
It would be idle to speculate on what the landlord/lady of the Cross Keys on Radium Street would have made of us.
Given the time and place I guess we would have not
But things change which brings me back to the future of the Cross Keys.
I rather think there will again be pints across the counter mixed I suspect with some interesting New World wines.
Now that should be worth a visit.
Pictures; the Cross Keys, 2015 from the collection of Andy Robertson and in 1962, T Brooks, m10189, and by L H Price, m49465, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
And just after I posted the story Neil came up with this interesting addition to the story, The Cross Keys Pub Radium Street, http://manchesterhistory.net/manchester/tours/tour12/crosskeys.html from A Manchester View, http://manchesterhistory.net/manchester/Manchesterview2.html
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