There was never any particular reason for this other than it was always somewhere I passed on the bus from town home to Chorlton, and once on the bus it always seemed a faff to get off.
That said the place has dominated the corner since the 1890s.
From the outside it doesn’t seem to have changed much.
And the houses along Withington Road have also been demolished.
Like some of the other Whalley Range pictures I have been featuring I am hoping that these of the Whalley will stir a few memories which might appear as a post.
Of course it has now closed, and has been converted into residential use.
Those large buildings at the back were the bottle and barrel stores behind which was the bowling green for which the Whalley was famous. There was also a massive glasshouse where my pop used to grow loads of tomatoes, can still remember the smell when he had just sprayed them ( not very PC in todays world).At the time of this photo the back of the pub was closed with gates at either end, but you could slip thro' if you were brave. I will never forget that a friend of mine at secondary school had tried to nip thor' one day only to be greeted by Freda, our very large boxer. Now harm though she was as soft as my pocket but could give you a nasty lick.
ReplyDeleteThe Whalley Hotel was the headquarters of Whalley Range FC who played on Withington Road on the now St.Bedes Playing Fields. The players changed at the hotel and were then transported to the playing field on a horse drawn cart.The club as still in existence today and are the oldest club in existence in Manchester.
ReplyDeleteHi I can remember the hedges and the rose garden at the front of the hotel.The buildings at the back where the bottle and barrel stores and were gated at both ends. This lead onto the bowling green and greenkeepers cottage where I lived when I was very young.
ReplyDeleteIf the gates were open you could get through from Upper Chorlton Rd to Withington Rd, but you had to run the gauntlet of our boxer Freda, who was actually as soft as my pocket but could raise an almighty din. An old friend at secondary school tells the story of being pinned up against a wall by the old girl and given a hell of a licking.
My mum Mary Price worked for the Simpsons before we migrated to Australia in 1965
ReplyDeleteAre you sure of the dates. I was born in 1953 and my grandparents were the publicans then, Mr & Mrs Bowden,and I don't think they retired until the late 60's and I know they were still there as late as 1967
DeleteMy mother Mary Price worked for years for the Simpsons.
ReplyDeleteMet quite a few celebrities or Beatles Rolling Stones etc
Good day all.
ReplyDeleteAs a young apprentice engineer at Hawker Suddenly Aviation in Chadderton, I had to pay my unions fees to the AEU and they held there meetings in the upstairs room, the room with the curved window.
On entering the pub entrance from withington road you had to take a right turn up a very grand staircase if I recall it correctly.
The union reps were a stern lot of men,especially if you missed a payment, which I envarably did, being a young man with a taste of beernit Wasa common occurrence.
Wasn't there another hotel on Withington Road called the "Simpson Hotel"?
ReplyDeleteYes
DeleteI remember they had the most beautiful German shepherd….mum loved working for them as they were very kind to her
ReplyDelete