It was the pub which progressed from being a hotel, went on to have a connection with a snooty fox and ended its days as the Mersey Lights.
The Mersey Hotel opened on November 30th, 1939 and was an impressive place which according to the Manchester Evening News was a “modernistic and scientifically built hotel, with “a futuristic design”, but also reflected “the spirit of the past”, with its half-timbered exterior and grand entrance.
Inside, the hotel was divided into several rooms including a Lounge, Smoke Room and smaller areas, which were decorated with paneled walls and murals.
And in a nice touch of recognition to the “workmen who for the last 12 months have been building the premises”, Groves and Whitnall, who had spent £40,000 on its construction, “arranged that the workmen, including, foreman, joiners, carpenters, bricklayers, plasters, plumbers and other artisans shall have the honour of declaring this magnificent new hotel officially open”.*
We might find this a cynical marketing ploy, but I like to think it was genuine, and as the advert proclaimed, “The Opening Ceremony … performed by the Craftsmen who built it”, represented “A Pageant of Labour”.
A full forty years later I occasionally called in for a drink , and would sometimes be tempted to stay on for the big show, for like many of these big interwar pubs, the Mersey offered live entertainment, which had included, Little and Large, Les Dawson, Bernard Manning and Freddie and the Dreamers.
It is a little surprising today to realize that the Mersey, along with the Princess Club, in Chorlton, the Golden Garter in Wythenshawe and pubs like the Princess on the Parkway attracted many of the top entertainers of the 1960s and 70s, including the Drifters, Bob Monkhouse, Billy J Kramer, Lonnie Donegan and Tom Jones and plenty more.
In later years, Mersey Hotel became the Snooty Fox and later still the Mersey Lights.
At which I have to confess that to write more about this lost pub will only get me into trouble with Peter Topping who co-wrote our book Manchester Pubs The Stories Behind the Doors Didsbury
So I shall just tell you that it is available from us at www.pubbooks.co.uk
Location; Didsbury
Pictures; courtesy of Sally Dervan
*The Mersey Hotel, Princess Parkway, West Didsbury, Opens Tomorrow Noon, The Manchester Evening News November 29th, 1939
Inside, the hotel was divided into several rooms including a Lounge, Smoke Room and smaller areas, which were decorated with paneled walls and murals.
And in a nice touch of recognition to the “workmen who for the last 12 months have been building the premises”, Groves and Whitnall, who had spent £40,000 on its construction, “arranged that the workmen, including, foreman, joiners, carpenters, bricklayers, plasters, plumbers and other artisans shall have the honour of declaring this magnificent new hotel officially open”.*
A full forty years later I occasionally called in for a drink , and would sometimes be tempted to stay on for the big show, for like many of these big interwar pubs, the Mersey offered live entertainment, which had included, Little and Large, Les Dawson, Bernard Manning and Freddie and the Dreamers.
It is a little surprising today to realize that the Mersey, along with the Princess Club, in Chorlton, the Golden Garter in Wythenshawe and pubs like the Princess on the Parkway attracted many of the top entertainers of the 1960s and 70s, including the Drifters, Bob Monkhouse, Billy J Kramer, Lonnie Donegan and Tom Jones and plenty more.
In later years, Mersey Hotel became the Snooty Fox and later still the Mersey Lights.
At which I have to confess that to write more about this lost pub will only get me into trouble with Peter Topping who co-wrote our book Manchester Pubs The Stories Behind the Doors Didsbury
So I shall just tell you that it is available from us at www.pubbooks.co.uk
Pictures; courtesy of Sally Dervan
*The Mersey Hotel, Princess Parkway, West Didsbury, Opens Tomorrow Noon, The Manchester Evening News November 29th, 1939
I remember it very well, is it no longer there?
ReplyDeleteWould like to see photos of inside Mersey Lights, used to go there I the 1980s. Good Times!
ReplyDeleteGreat night in the mersey lights in the 1980 what a shame its gone another iconic building to ruble even remember the off licence in the corner
ReplyDelete