Stories from Cornbrook ….. no.2 the sad demise of the Railway

The Railway was a pub whose history and sad lingering demise pretty much sums up the end of the old Cornbrook.

The Railway, 2003

For many commuters it was that forlorn set of half demolished walls which could been seen from passing trams, and which over the years shrank in size till it became just an empty overgrown plot of weeds.

Once and there are those who remember drinking there it was a seven roomed property spread over three floors facing on to Cornbrook and Dover Road.

It may be that the tallest part of the pub was an addition for a building which dates back to the early 1870s.

The records show that it was dispensing beer and cheer by 1871 and judging by its rateable value was slightly larger than its neighbouring beer shop a few doors away.

The Railway, 1958

We can track its owners and its landlords through the late 19th century and for almost all of that time the tenancy was held by Henry and Ann Hodgkinson, who were there from 1874 through until 1895.

Sad left overs, 2018

They are an interesting family and reflect that flow of population around the country.

So, Henry had been born in Derbyshire and his father was an agricultural labourer while Ann came from Warwickshire.  They were married in the small mill town of Ashton-Under-Lyne, were running the Angel Inn in 1871 on Market Street in Ashton, and three years later were on Cornbrook Road.

The records show that Henry died in 1874 and Ann continued to run the beer shop for the next 20 years.

History has recorded very little of her presence in Cornbrook, but for a while the remnants of the pub offered up glimpses of its interior and here we are indebted to Andy Robertson who over the last two decades made regular trips photographing the Railway’s slow slide into waste ground.

Bits, 2018

Undeterred by the debris he encountered he has built up a collection of images of both the outside and the inside, including the remains of a door, several doorknobs and the fire place and chimney breast of one of the downstairs rooms.

Inside, 2018

It was a piece of urban archaeology which he continued to record until the site was finally cleared and now offers up the promise of yet another development and more new residents.

I doubt that there will ever be a plaque or information board acknowledging the story of the Railway and more especially that of the Hodgkinson family, but the interested traveller can uncover a bit of the story of Cornbrook just a few minutes’ walk from the tram stop entrance.

The first is the Trafford Arch which stands on the site of the “Kkovah works which was a “five storey factory built in 1871 in the elegant Venetian style” 

The Plaque, 2018

According to plaque at the foot of the memorial arch “Kkovah was a brand name for confectionary, lemon curd and jelly”. There is more but where would the fun be if we revealed the full story with its tales of disasters new enterprises and the coming of the Bridgewater Way. 

Almost gone, 2018

I could say more but these and heaps more stories will  feature in the new book being written on The History of Greater Manchester by Tram which will explore that section of the network from Cornbrook via Deansgate Castlefield and onto Exchange Square.*

The first Trafford Bar to East Didsbury was published earlier in the year and is already proving a popular read.

It is available from Chorlton Bookshop, and from us at www.pubbooks.co.uk, price £4.99*

Location; Cornbrook

Metro stop entrance, 2024

Pictures; Bits of Cornbrook, 2024, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and All that was left of the Railway, 2003-2018, courtesy of Andy Robertson, and the Railway, 1958, E Stanley, m 50339, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

*A new book on the History of Greater Manchester By Tram, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20the%20History%20of%20Greater%20Manchester%20by%20Tram