The not so safe bridge over the Mersey circa 1865

The old bridge 1865

This is one of the oldest pictures in the collection and dates from 1865.

We are on the bank of the river Mersey and just beyond the bridge is the pub.

“The pub was built in the 18th century and so might count as the oldest in the township.  It was known variously as the Old Greyhound and the Boat House, before reverting back to the old Greyhound.  Briefly it was called Jackson’s Boat and then the Greyhound from 1834.

The names may in part be explained by the origins of the site.    At some point a farmer called Jackson farmed the land and kept a boat for ferrying passengers across the river.

The pub sometime after 1881

Later still Samuel Wilton built a bridge in 1816 over the river at this point at a cost of £200.  

But the ferry and the right to transport passengers across the Mersey were still in place in 1832 when the pub and the surrounding land were put up for sale.

The advert throws some light on how the relationship between owner and tenant. The land and pub were owned by John Marsland and tenanted by a George Brownhill who seems to have benefited from the ferry charges.  The sale in 1832 went to Edmund Howarth who may well have placed Samuel in as tenant.”*

The old bridge and the missing central support 1865

And so back to the bridge which by 1865 was in a pretty poor state.

The central section had been swept away and judging by the way it slops down in the middle could not have made travellers feel particularly safe.

It did however survive until 1881, although the loss of the support on the Chorlton side a year earlier made a new bridge a necessity.

This was opened on October 14th 1881 which was all to the good given that the old one was washed away a few hours earlier.

But the new one like the old one had a secure door at the southern end which the landlord would open only after having been paid the toll.

Pictures; from the Lloyd collection

*THE STORY OF CHORLTON-CUM-HARDY