Ordering that pint in the Horse and Jockey ……. back in 1793

The Inn on the Green looks the part, its low ceilings, small windows and half-timbered exterior could fool anyone into thinking this was a pub half as old as time.

It offered up its first pints some time in 1793 and is part of a building which dates back to the early 16th century.  

So, for those of a romantic but a tad less historical mind, the building was already into its second decade when Henry V111 walked up the aisle with Ann Boleyn, while two centuries on  some of its customers might well have shared horror stories about the Reign of Terror across the Channel which was consuming French aristocrats as well as Revolutionaries and heaps of innocent people.

It is a pub I often come back to,* partly because I like it but also because it features in much of our history, from being the place in 1848 where Samuel Warburton was arrested for participating in an illegal prize fight to a series of public inquests which shocked the Township and the subject of popular film,** as well as of course the home of many happy memories.

That said the half-timbered effect was only added at the start of the 20th century and for almost its entire existence the pub was confined to just the two rooms either side of the front door and the two above.

But on a fine summer’s day with its view across the green, I doubt many will be over bothered about it’s past ……….. even the fact that it was here that my first book, The Story of Chorlton-cum-Hardy was launched, accompanied by a large group of friends, interested historians and a folk group.***

Not that I shall elaborate, as that might be construed as outrageous self promotion.

Location; Chorlton Green

Pictures; the Horse & Jockey on an August morning, 2022, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

 

*The Horse & Jockey, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Horse%20and%20Jockey

**Bella’s Birthday, Frank Randle, 1949, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=Bella%27s+Birthday 

***The Story of Chorlton-cum-Hardy, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20new%20book%20for%20Chorlton