The grim side to some of our Manchester pubs

Now I am back with Peterloo and the dastardly actions of the Manchester Yeomanry who on August 16th, 1819, charged a peaceful crowd in St Peter’s Fields, leaving many dead and wounded.

The Manchester Yeomanry in action, 1819

And over the last few days I have been exploring* the background of the 101 men listed in the Northern Star as participating in the outrage.**

We can track the occupations of 87 of them, and they represent a cross section of the population, with over a third drawn from the “people of plenty”, another 29% who made their living as publicans and shopkeepers, which left the rest as a mix of skilled, and manual workers, with the odd surprises which include a “Professor of Dance” and a quack doctor.

But today I am interested in the nine publicans.  They were William Bowker of the King's Head at 4 Old Shambles, John Beeston who ran the Windsor Castle in Salford, and later took over the George at 47 Deansgate, and William Benson of the Fox at 1 Jackson’s Row.

The Briton's Protection, 2016 as seen in the book

To these three we can add Mr. Burgess of the Hen & Chicken on 163 Deansgate, Parker Horsefield of the Briton’s Protection on Waterloo Street by Great Bridgewater Street, Edward Hall of the Blue Cap at 80 Greengate, Jacob Chadderton who offered up beer and cheer at the Wool Pack in Pendleton, John Reid of the Globe, Gartside Street and Samuel Lees of the Crown and Thistle, 9 Half Street, Manchester.

Of these I am pretty sure that only one of the nine pubs still in business is the Briton’s Protection, but some will have lasted longer than others.

So, while the Blue Cap on Greengate had vanished by 1850, the Windsor Castle on New Windsor in Salford was still there thirty-one years after Peterloo.

The Windsor Castle Salford, 1850

Had I come across this bit of information back in 2016, it might well have been included in our book on city centre Manchester Pubs, that said as the book is only about ones you can visit today that would have limited the inclusion of the Manchester Yeomanry landlords to just the Briton’s Protection.

That said, I see no reason why I shouldn’t pursue the remaining eight, starting with the Fox on the corner of Deansgate and Jackson’s Row which was still selling happiness or sadness in 1844, but now sits under Onward Building.

So in the fullness of time we  shall see just what can be found out about the two Salford pubs and their landlords, followed up by the more  Manchester landlords and their pubs.

The Fox, Jacksons Row, 1844

Location; Manchester and Salford

Pictures; "Manchester Heroes", Peterloo, print from etching by unknown artist, published by S W Fores, 1819, m07587, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass, New Windsor, Salter’s Street Directory, 1850,  The Fox Inn, Jackson’s Row, 1844, from the OS for Manchester & Salford, 1844, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/


*The Manchester Yeomanry, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2019/08/exploring-butchers-of-peterloo-101-men.html

**The Northern Star, Chartist newspaper, August 20th 1842

*** Manchester Pubs- The Stories Behind the Doors, Centre Centre along with  our two companion volumes,  Manchester Pubs- The Stories Behind the Doors, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, and  Manchester Pubs- The Stories Behind the Doors are available from www.pubbooks.co.uk and Chorlton Books

The Great Bank Note Robbery ........ a pub on Hilton Street and a mystery ......... the story we left out

Now I am pretty sure that the Great Bank Note Robbery took place in the Crown and Anchor on the corner of Hilton and Port Street on June 13 1868.

The Crown & Anchor, 2016

I can’t be sure because the press reports only referred to a “beer house in Hilton Street, Port Street.”*

But a trawl of the directories throws up just two beer shops on Hilton Street of which only the Crown and Anchor occupied the corner plot with Port Street and so  it must have been there that a Mr John Rhodes of 5 Stevenson Square was robbed of £1,500.

This was a lot of money but the story seems to have remained unreported for six days, which is all the more remarkable given that June 11th seems to have been a pretty slow news day.

In Parliament the Married Women’s Property Bill which would allow married women to be the legal owners of the money they earned and to inherit property went to its Second Reading, there was an explosion at sea on a yacht off Pontefract causing the death of two sailors and away on the Continent the Federal Council of North German States asked Chancellor Bismarck of Prussia to negotiate on their behalf “for the exemption of private property captured at sea in times of war.” 

The Crown & Anchor, 1851

And here in Manchester the Corporation debated how much space to give the Gas Committee in the new Town Hall to be built in Albert Square and what measures could be taken to prevent the Irwell flooding.

That said I rather think there may have been a scandal in the making given that there was a move to “appoint a committee to inquire and report to the Council as to the truthfulness or otherwise of certain reports which reflect very much to the discredit of the Council and Parks Committee in particular.”*

All of which pushed “the Great Bank Note Robbery” off the front page and when it finally did hit the paper it was confined to page six and as given just twenty lines.

The second newspaper story, Manchester Guardian June 1868

The City Police had arrested Joseph Garner and his wife Harriet who lived in a court off Bury Street in Salford along with Hartley Tillotson and Paul Hampson.

A search of the property turned up two £5 notes while “on Tillotson £17. 15s,2d was found and on Hampson £2.2s 6½d [and] Mr Rhodes identified Harriet Garner as having been, in company with another woman, in the beer house where he was robbed.  When he (Mr Rhodes) left the house he saw Tillotson pass him.”*

Having been arrested they came up in the City Court on the 22nd but as no further evidence was forth coming the four were discharged.

And with that Mr Rhodes seems to vanish.  He is not listed in Stevenson Square in 1876 and there are no more references to the bank notes.  And he does appear an elusive chap I can’t find him on the census returns for either 1861 or ’71 and he was not in Stevenson Square much before the alleged crime too place.

When I told Peter the story we pondered on where in the Crown and Anchor the unfortunate Mr Rhodes would have sat and just how well he may have known Harriet Garner.

Of course we will never know, which is why sadly we chose not to include the story  in the book, but when you have read the entry on the Crown and Anchor you may well want to visit the pub and let your imagination flow.

And that just leave me to say that Manchester Pubs – The Stories Behind The Doors – City Centre is available  from www.pubbooks.co.uk  and the stories about how the book was written can be read by following the link A new book on Manchester Pubs,

Pictures; the Crown and Anchor and Anchor, 2016, and in 1851 from Adshead map of Manchester, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/ and an extract from the Manchester Guardian, June 16 1868, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

*Manchester Guardian June 11 1868

Thank you Nancy Swanick ……… fifty years in charge of the Peveril of the Peak

Yesterday was a special event as family, friends and members of CAMRA came together to celebrate Nancy Swanick’s fifty years in charge of the Peveril of the Peak, which is one of the most loved traditional pubs in Manchester.

Back in the 1970s when pubs and breweries were falling over themselves to dump traditionally made beers in favour of that other stuff, Nancy maintained a house which offered and championed real ales.

And in recognition of that dedication to serving up good beer over half a century, three representatives from CAMRA along with members of the group presented Nancy with a special award and a painting of the Peveril.

Nik Antona who is the National Chair of CAMRA, presented a special award to “Theresa Nancy Swanick Licensee of the Pevril of the Peak, in recognition of 50 years in residence”, and spoke warmly of her steadfast commitment to serving up the finest ales and beers, reflecting that the Campaign for Real Ale was also celebrating its half century.

This was fallowed by the presentation by Heather Airlie of a painting of the pub.  Heather is the Chair of the City Branch of CAMRA and along with Steve Ingham who is Pubs Preservation Officer commissioned the painting from Peter Topping.

Peter’s painting was one of a series on Manchester pubs he did for the book, Manchester Pubs, The Stories Behind the Doors, City Centre.

The book tells the story of 78 iconic city pubs, focusing on their stories and arranged in 15 walks allowing the reader to wander a selected route, taking in the pubs and their surroundings.

At the outset Andrew Simpson who researched and wrote the stories and Peter who painted the paintings and sourced many fine old photographs were convinced that the Peveril of the Peak should be the cover pub.

A second edition of the book is now in preparation, and of the other two pub books, the one on Chorlton-cum-Hardy is currently out of print, but the other about Didsbury's pubs and bars is  available from www.pubbooks.co.uk

Leaving me just to say that it was a wonderful night, and to  thank CAMRA and the manager Nadim Hammad and staff of the "Peveril" who organised the Piper, along with a free bar and a selection of food to mark this significant event.

Location; Manchester

Picture; Nancy Swanick, receiving the CAMRA special award, 2021, from the collection of Peter Topping

Painting; Peveril of the Peak,  © 2013 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures, www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

* CAMRA, Campaign For Real Ale, https://camra.org.uk/

** Manchester Pubs, The Stories Behind the Doors, City Centre, Peter Topping & Andrew Simpson, 2016, Topper Publications

Just thirty years ago on Withy Grove .......... from the new collection

Now I maintain and I maintain most strongly that some of the most fascinating images of the twin cities come from the last four decades.

The old black and white photographs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries are a passport back into a time before now but in their way so are those taken in the last four decades.

They show a Manchester and Salford which is almost like now but not quite and so bits are familiar but others might as well be from 1900.

It is like looking through a dirty window which offers up only half a picture.

All of which is an introduction into a new collection from John Casey which he has been kindly sharing with me over the last few weeks, and as he sends them across I have been featuring them.

Here are two of Withy Grove from the 1980s which will set people going.  For some it will be spotting the buildings they remember and for others it will be a revealing insight into what has gone.

What intrigue me also are the two pubs.  The Lower Turks Head was for a while closed and only reopened recently while the Hare and Hounds had a very different colour scheme.

Many will know that these two along with another seventy six have been close to my heart over the last year as I worked with Peter Topping on the book Manchester Pubs*

I could at this stage make some quite valid links to John’s pictures of the two pubs and what the pubs look
like today as seen in the book.

But that would be outrageous self promotion.

Instead look out for the story on the Swan with Two Necks which never made the book but was caught on camera by John in the 1980s.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; Withy Grove in the 1980s from the collection of John Casey

You can order the book from www.pubbooks.co.uk or Chorlton Bookshop.

*A new book on Manchester Pubs, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20Manchester%20Pubs

So who did take a picture in their local pub?

Now faced with having a drink with friends and family in the local or taking a series of photographs of the inside, most of us I suspect will go for the drink.

And that might explain why there are relatively few interior pictures, and the few we do have mostly focus on people to the exclusion of the surrounding detail.

All of which is shame because looking at this shot of the inside of Tommy Ducks in 1960 offers us a wealth of information on how we lived.

It starts with that sign “WAITERS ONLY” which is a reminder that back in 1960 many pubs still employed a waiter who came and took your order and returned with the drinks.

I can still remember being asked politely to move down the bar because I was standing in the section reserved for the waiter, and you can also still come across those buttons on the wall in certain older pubs which were used to summon service.

If you are lucky the picture will also offer prices, the details of the last darts competition and pub day out along with a heap of other small bits of the past.

So there in the corner is a notice advertising the next film at the Odeon.

It was a British war film starring Bradford Dillman, Suzy Parker and Harry Andrew and centred around a Canadian officer who was sent on a secret and dangerous mission during the Second World War with false information in an attempt to mislead the Germans about the Normandy Landings of 1944.

It was released in 1960 and was one of those big cinemascope films.

So detail matters and that is why Peter and I are making an appeal for anyone with pictures of the inside of Manchester pubs to share them with us for our new book on 79 iconic Manchester pubs.

There is no money ............ local history books make very little money but you will have the pleasure of seeing your treasured local in the book with and a credit.  It’s the sort of thing that you will be able to tell your grandchildren

Location; Manchester

Pictures; inside Tommy Ducks, 1960, H W Beaumont, m50272, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council,http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

The Jolly Angler .......a city centre pub ..... soon to close its doors for the last time

The Jolly Angler is a pub either you know about and love or is one that someone told you about, because it was a bit off the beaten track.

For years it has stood as an almost isolated beacon surrounded by what had once been busy enterprises, of which a few still exist.

As later as the 1950s there were two saw mills, a clutch of engineering works, a heap of old canal warehouses and plenty of small terrace housing, all of which would have offered up a host of clients for the pub.

And now things are going full circle with the return of residential apartments within a few minutes walk of the pub.

But alas the pub is closing.

I picked up a tweet at the weekend from the landlord that, “It’s with a heavy heart that we tell all our @TheJollyAngler regulars, new visitors and visitors still to come that we will be closing after Xmas this year. The building is sold and will not continue to operate as a pub. We are gutted but grateful we have a few more months”.

Now isn’t the time to go looking for the plans someone will have for the area, and instead I shall just reflect that there are many who will remember it with fondness.

It featured in our book on city centre Manchester pubs, and is the first of the 76 which were serving up beer and good cheer, back in 2016 when we wrote and published the book.

That book was less a guide and more a history of the pubs, the people frequented them and the area where they were situated.

In all there were 78 drinking places, and four years ago all but two were open and doing business. Of the two that were no more, one had only just closed and the other was Tommy Ducks, which as Mancunuian  knows was an establishment we couldn’t leave out.

You can order the book, along with our Chorlton and Didsbury pub books,  at www.pubbooks.co.uk or the old fashioned way on 07521 557888 or from Chorlton Bookshop

Location; Ducie Street, Manchester

Pictures; The Jolly Angler, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and the interior, 2016, Peter Topping, Manchester Pubs The Stories Behind the Doors City Centre page 224

*Manchester Pubs The Stories Behind the Doors City Centre,Peter Topping & Andrew Simpson, 2016

Lost Manchester Pubs ........ the Llangollen Castle and the Old Green Man .... "wholly drunken men and semi-drunken women"

Now next time you are sitting beside Eric and he begins his long account of the demise of the British pub, here are two salutatory tales of pubs which deserve to have vanished off the face of the earth.

Davenport Court, 1849

I came across the two in a series of newspaper articles from the Manchester Guardian in 1870 and they were the Llangollen Castle and the Old Green Man.

Neither of which I suspect any of us would care to fall into.

The Llangollen Castle was at the entrance to Davenport Court which was off Deansgate hard by Victoria Street.

Today the stretch includes the Renaissance Hotel, and a car park.  But back in the 1870s it was a notorious spot where all manner of vice and worse bubbled away in what was a closed court which you entered by a narrow passage way from the main road.

And beside the entrance to the court, “keeping guard over it is a public house filled full to overflowing with wholly drunken men and semi-drunken women, and hard working labourers who are spending on prostitutes hard-earned money for want of which their wives and children are starving at home.

The whistle which gives token of the approach of suspicious-looking strangers, and the intense silence which succeeds it, indicate alike the commerce and the conversation carried on there.

The site of Davenport Court to the right, circa 1980s

The intruding and unwelcome visitor is greeted with muttered curses and regarded with furtive looks; he may be a ‘plain-clothes man’ taking stock, and too many know what that means to make his advent welcome.”*

Of course the Llangollen Castle may
not always have been a hub of all that is reprehensible.

In 1841 it was run by Thomas Griffiths who paid an annual rent of £48 to a Mr Carr.  The rent was far in excess of  the neighbouring houses which were paying between £7 and 8 a year.**

And Mr Carr seems to have cleaned up on Davenport Close owning all nine properties and may have seen the Llangollen Castle as the jewel in his portfolio.

How long Thomas Griffiths had served up pints is not yet clear.  In 1841 he was 65 so could have been pleasing the residents of Davenport Court for some time.***

That said I haven’t yet found an earlier date for the pub and will have to go and search the license records.
Nor have I even found a location for the Old Green Man which seems no less desirable.

“On the ground floor passing by the bar a long low room is reached, a mechanical organ is grinding away popular airs; and on long benches in front of the fire is a very mixed company of men and women...... The men are cadgers,- thieves ready to turn their head to anything, so long as it is dishonest; and the woman – their bloated, bruised and woollen faces tell too plainly that they have reached the lowest depths attainable by womanhood.”*

So, there you have it in the great sweep of pubs to visit neither the Llangollen Castle and the Old Green Man would be top of my list.

All of which is a nice lead into the two pubs books which feature 78 city centre pubs and 33 Chorlton pubs and bars.

They were published in December 2016 and May 2017 and are less a guide and more a history of all that is good, combining original paintings by Peter Topping, stories by me and lots of photographs.

You can order the books at www.pubbooks.co.uk email Peter at peter@pubbooks.co.uk the old fashioned way on 07521 557888 or from Chorlton Bookshop

Pictures; Davenport Court, 1849, from Manchester & Salford OS, Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/ and looking along Deansgate, circa 1980s from the collection of John Casey

*In the Slums, the Manchester Guardian, March 3 1870

**Manchester Rate Books, Davenport Court, 1841

***Davenport Court, 1841 census, Enu 30 3, Market Street, Manchester

So farewell the Ducie Bridge ……… much loved and missed

You have been closed since 2015, but acquired a facebook site all to yourself, and a place in that definitive book on Manchester Pubs.*

The Ducie Bridge Inn, 2016

But age, changing demographics and a developer’s plan has sealed your fate.

Soon, the demolition teams will make a start on wiping you away, and in your place will rise a new office block to be called 4 Angel Square.

And  200 years of pub history will disappear, but not completely, for in your time you upset the authorities enough to feature in the papers, prompting Peter and I to record that in 1870, the then landlord, a John Ashton tolerated “thieves and reputed thieves who were in the habit of assembling in the pub.”**

Giving evidence at the City Police Courts, Police Sergeant Potts said on one occasion he had seen “four convicted thieves, namely John Silk, John Harrison, Ellen Tucker and Margaret Tracey, besides 12 reputed thieves and a ‘ticket to leave man,’ as well as men at the door of the house who seeing him, ran in quickly and then others came running out.”***

In his defence Mr Ashton claimed that given that the area was in a low locality “if I do not serve them I may as well close the house for very few come into the house except thieves.”

The Ducie Bridge Inn, 1851

And that pretty much sealed his fate. Mr Ashton was fined £10 ordered to give security of another £20 to keep the peace for another 12 months and lost his license.

There is more, but for that you will have to turn to our book, Manchester Pubs – The Stories Behind the Doors – City Centre, which offers up the stories of 78 of our most iconic and historic pubs , grouped into 15 walks, and accompanied with 600 paintings, pictures and period maps.****

But all is not entirely lost as according to the planning application, Salford Archaeology will be undertaking a full and detailed dig of the site, concluding that the area “holds considerable potential to contain buried remains of archaeological interest, relating to both the later medieval and post-medieval settlement along Long Millgate, as well the 18th-and 19th-century workers’ housing and commercial buildings which occupied much of the site (Salford Archaeology 2019). 

The majority of these buildings were cleared in the 20th century, although a group of three 19th-century buildings survives on the site, which are of local archaeological interest”.****

All of which I think is quite exciting, and is some consolation for your passing, which of course will forever be remembered in Manchester Pubs – The Stories Behind The Doors – City Centre which is available  from http://www.pubbooks.co.uk/ 

Location; Corporation Street,

Pictures, The Ducie Bridge Painting, © Peter Topping, Miller Street,1851,  from Adshead’s map of Manchester, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

*Manchester Pubs- The Stories Behind the Doors—City Centre, Peter Topping & Andrew Simpson, 2016

**Manchester Guardian, March 30, 1870.

***Ticket of leave, issued to a criminal who had shown good conduct and was awarded certain freedoms including permission to get a job. Tickets of leave recorded details of employment and addresses.

****A new book on Manchester Pubs, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20Manchester%20Pubs


*****Manchester City Council Planning Portal, CDN/19/0860 | Discharge of planning condition 3 (written scheme of archaeological investigation) associated with planning permission 123438/FO/2019 | 5 Angel Square Corporation Street Manchester M4 4DU, https://pa.manchester.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=PZKEJSBCJ4F00

The General Garibaldi ......The Admiral Haddock, .......... and a heap of lost other Manchester pubs

The names of our pubs are as much about history, and location as they are about fashion and commercial considerations.

The Oxnoble in 1984

So, the old and venerable Oxnobel pub on Liverpool Road which opened in 1785 and took its name from a potato landed at nearby Potato Wharf, became the Ox for a short while. 

This was no doubt on the whim of a smart young thing in marketing, who decided the place needed rebranding. 

It was a decision which came with a series of large paintings of the said animal, which I suppose was to reflect the new shortened name.

To what extent this proved a sound commercial decision is best left to the observation that the pub is now again the Oxnoble, reinforcing its history and connection to the area.  That said the painting are still there.

Pubs of course do change their names, which are often to do with national events, as much as they are to a new marketing campaign.

The Fox Inn 1910, Byrom Street, 1854-1933

The Ball and Nimrod in Didsbury was renamed the Nelson Inn after the naval hero, while others picked up new names on the personal choice of the landlord.

The Gladstone Arms on Deansgate had been The Two Cocks, The Grosvenor also on Deangate had traded as The Commercial, and the Moulder’s Arms on Chorlton Street became Ingham’s Hotel.

In some cases, these just originated from the name of the new owner or landlord.  In Hulme “four nineteenth century licensees named their houses after themselves.  They were George Kennet of Kennet’s Hotel on Bristol Street; James Platford of Platford’s Hotel on Stretford Road; Joseph Bedale of the Bedale Arms on Chester Street and George Bentley of Bentley’s Hotel, Upper Moss Lane”. *

The original handwritten records, 1908-84

While other landlords fell back on their place of birth, local occupations, and some went for regiments.

Now the extent of the variety of such names has been brought back to me as I digitize a list of pubs drawn from the old Licensing Records for the City and surrounding areas.

And here I have to say that the original research was not mine, but that of Bob Potts who undertook the task during the early 1980s. 

The project took him four years, and during the that time he swapped the County Records Office in Preston for the Licensing Department at the City Magistrate Court in Crown Square, and trawled hundreds of pubs.

Unfortunately, there is an unexplained gap in the Licensing Records for the period 1830 through to 1872, which Bob assumes were destroyed “during the transfer of Licensing Records from Minishul Street to Crown Square sometime in the 1960s or 70s”.

But despite this, Bob has produced a unique data base of the pubs in the city centre.

And as you do during the course of transcribing them, I was drawn to the General Garibaldi and The Admiral Haddock.

Garibaldi's soldiers, Varese, 2014

Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian general and nationalist, who contributed to the unification of Italy and the creation of the Kingdom of Italy. 

As such he appealed to many politically progressive people across Europe and beyond during the middle decades of the nineteenth century, and particularly here in Britain.

In 1865, Nottingham Forest chose their home colours from the uniform worn by Garibaldi and his men in that year.  A school in Mansfield, was also named after him, along with the Garibaldi biscuit and a style of beard. **

So, given the City’s progressive politics which it is not surprising that his name also was bestowed on a pub, which the records show opened in 1864 at 7 Gartside Street, and only closed in 1968. 

That said it doesn’t show up on maps or the directories of the period and remains a disappointing mystery.

But it is there and reminds us of the interest in Garibaldi in 1864 which saw the City Council discuss how they were to honour the man on his visit to the city in that year

Less disappointing is the story of the Admiral Haddock, not to be confused with the fish or the character in Tintin.

Admiral Haddock actually existed.  He was born in 1629, died 84 years later and served in the navies of the Commonwealth and the restored Stuart Kings, and pops up in two letters by Samuel Pepys.

Parsonage Lane, 2016 from Deansgate

The pub was situated at 3 Parsonage Lane, which is that narrow Lane that runs from Deansgate back to Parsonage, and today the site is a car park. 

But from 1780 until 1904 this was the Admiral Haddock, variously also called the admiral Haddock and Parsonage House.

Which offers just a tad of a mystery, because Parsonage House was the former home of Thomas La Warre and was demolished in 1897, and given that this was on Parsonage Lane, it follows that this was our pub, but that didn’t close till 1904.

The name Parsonage House is linked to the pub on a variety of directories and maps throughout the 19th century and is listed in the Rate Books for the 1890s as belonging to various people and by 1897 to Cronshaw’s Alexandra Brewery who were based in Erskine Street, Hulme.

So, I suspect that there is much more digging to do. 

One route of which will be those Rate Books which should take the story back to the beginning of the 19th century.

Parsonage Lane 1851

And in the meantime, I shall continue transcribing Bob’s handwritten records to excel that powerful spreadsheet and data package.

Not just because the records need updating to a new platform but also because the list offers up a fascinating insight into the development of pubs and beer shops across Manchester as the city grew.

Location; Manchester

Pictures; The Oxnoble, 1984, m50193, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass, The Fox Inn, circa 1914, courtesy of Debs Brack, Parsonage Lane, 2016 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, Parsonage Lane, 1851,  from Adshead’s map of Manchester, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/

*Potts, Bob, The Old Pubs of Hulme and Chorlton-on-Medlock, 1997, page 5

** Giuseppe Garibaldi, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Garibaldi

When history met a beer festival and became a story

Now looking out of Manchester Central at a grey city skyline was to be reminded that what was going on inside the exhibition hall was so much better.

Looking out on a grey skyline, 2019

Yesterday was the last day of the CAMRA Beer and Cider Festival, and over the last four days we had observed lots of very happy people, enjoying the beer and cider, comparing notes, and generally just having a good time.

The guests included the dedicated, who selected the drinks they were interested in, completed the check list awarding points, exchanged opinions, and then went off for a different brew.

They mingled happily with those who, while they enjoyed the beer, were less interested in point scoring.

Inside with the beer and cider, 2019

And finally, there were those who saw it as their mission to down as many pints as they could, admitting only the distraction of a challenge on Mr. Porky’s stall where if they could successfully get five ping pong balls in a series of beer glasses, they won a packet of pork scratching.

All of this we observed from our stall, promoting the two Manchester pubs books we published in 2016 and 2017. *

Both of which are not guides to the pubs, but the stories of the pubs, and the surrounding area, richly illustrated with paintings by Peter Topping.

Plenty of people came up to us and commented how much they had enjoyed the first book on the city centre pubs, were back for the one on Chorlton-cum-Hardy and were pleased that we were working on the Didsbury edition.

Quite a few, also shared fresh stories of Manchester pubs.

But of all the encounters on the four days, the best was from young Karl who on the last day bought a copy of the city centre book for his sister, discovered he was in the book and promptly came back and purchased a second copy.

Karl with Andrew Simpson and Peter Topping

Leaving me to reflect, that if you have to promote a book a beer and cider festival in an iconic old railway station is a pretty neat choice.

Location; Manchester

Pictures, inside GMex at the Beer and Cider Festival, 2019, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, Karl meets Andrew Simpson, 2019, courtesy of Peter Topping

*** Manchester Pubs- The Stories Behind the Doors, Centre Centre and Manchester Pubs- The Stories Behind the Doors, Chorlton-cum-Hardy are available from www.pubbooks.co.uk and Chorlton Bookshop

The railway station, a beer festival and a change of name ........ Manchester Central

Now, when you spend your working day in the past, somethings pass you by.

Looking out from Manchester Central, 2017

Which is pretty much why I was surprised that GMex had changed its name to Manchester Central, and more so when I went on to discover that the change of name happened in 2007.

That said while I struggle to remember the new name, alternating between Manchester Central and Central Manchester, I do understand the logic, because for 89 years the site was home to Central Railway Station.

And while a lot of work went into transforming it into an exhibition centre it is still recognisable as a railway station, which English Heritage describes as, “Railway station, now exhibition hall and car park.

Beer, cider and good conversation, 2017

1876-9, by Sir John Fowler, for Midland Railway Company; altered. Iron and glass on brick undercroft, with brick side walls. Rectangular plan. 

Single segmental-vaulted vessel of 15 bays with 210-foot span, built on extensive undercrofts; pilastered 2-storey south side with 3 windows on each floor of each bay, those at ground floor round-headed and those above square-headed; segmental arched roof with ridged bands of glazing. 

C20 glazed canopy to entrance at north end. Vaulted undercroft with intersecting tunnel vaults. Intended entrance block at north end never built”. *

I could say more but I think English Heritage has nailed it.

Central Railway Station, 1979

As a railway station it closed in 1969 and reopened as GMex in 1986 and has been hosting events ever since.

And that brings me to the Beer and Cider Festival organised by CAMERA, which is currently in play at the posh front end of the hall.** 

I say the posh end, because from where Peter and I have a stand, we command an excellent view of the great station clock, glass window and a mix of old and contemporary buildings.

Manchester Pubs, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, 2017

We are here promoting our two Manchester pub books, and last night which was the opening day we sold a lot.***

Not that this is an outrageous piece of self-promotion, just the usual self-promotion.

What was nice, were the people who came up to us having bought the book at the last festival in 2017 and commented on how much they had enjoyed the central Manchester edition and were pleased that we had now added one on the pubs and bars of Chorlton-cum-Hardy.

And we will be back today, meeting old friends and making new ones until the festival’s close on Saturday evening.

The conversation will drift over the relative merits of the beer and cider, the two pub books and for me memories of the building after the railway trains had departed, and the building became just another car park.

Manchester Pubs, special edition, 2017

Leaving me just to say our stand is close to the official camera presence and we will be pleased to see you.

Manchester Pubs is available from www.pubbooks.co.uk

Location; Manchester

Pictures, inside GMex at the Beer and Cider Festival, 2019, and the railway station in 1979 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Historic England, https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1270514 

** The Festival began on Wednesday night and finishes on Saturday.

*** Manchester Pubs is available from www.pubbooks.co.uk and Chorlton Bookshop or from us at the festival

Down at Sam’s Chop House with a night Mr Sam would have approved of

Now I think Mr Samuel Studd would have approved of the party held in his famous Chop House on Back Pool Fold.

There was a selection of fine food from the new menu, some brilliant musicians and the sort of atmosphere that everyone there will remember with fondness.

It was less a re-launch and more a celebration of the restaraunt’s history which goes back over 140 years.

And as part of that celebration, Sam’s commissioned a special souvenir edition of the book Manchester Pubs, The Stories Behind the Doors, which carries Peter’s painting of the Chop House on the front cover.*

Mr Samuel Studd opened his restaurant under the grander name of Sam’s London Chop House in 1872.

Back then it was situated in Manchester Chambers on the corner of Market Street and Pall Mall and moved to its present location in the 1950s.

We told its story in the book and the entry stretched to four pages and seven images ranging from Peter’s painting to some nice contemporary photographs of the interior with a couple from the past.

And that entry was just one of the 78 which featured many of our most iconic pubs running from the Northern Quarter down to All Saints.  

Most date back to the 19^th century with the odd one which could claim to have been selling pints when King George 111 lost the American colonies and a few that have not yet celebrated their 21^st birthday.

But in writing about them we wanted to tell their story, from the people who worked in them, drank in them, to the houses, factories and warehouses that surrounded them.

In that respect it has become as much a history of our city as it is a record of the 78, and has been seen by many as a celebration of a unique British institution which the owner of Sam’s warned was at risk, with on average twenty-seven closing each week.

All of which made the night at the Chop House even more special, and one to remember.

And for any of the other pubs in the book who want to have their own souvenir edition with their own painting on the front cover it can as they say be arranged, by contacting us on the link or the phone number below.

You can get a copy of the commemorative edition the book from Sam's Chop House or order the original book at www.pubbooks.co.uk or the old fashioned way on 07521 557888 or from Chorlton Bookshop

Location; Sam’s Chop House, Back Pool Fold

Pictures; on the night, 2017 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, cover of the souvenir Sam’s Chop House edition from Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures, www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

**A new book on Manchester Pubs, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20Manchester%20Pubs

Eric, the Manchester Pubs book and the Bodleian Library not forgetting Trinity in Dublin

Now you know you have arrived when you get an email that begins, “on behalf of the Legal Deposit Libraries” with a request to hand over five copies of  one of your books.

The libraries in question are, “the Bodleian Library Oxford University, The Cambridge University Library, National Library of Scotland, National Library of Wales and Trinity College Dublin.”

The email continues “in accordance with the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 or the Irish Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000, as appropriate, I would like to request that the following title(s) be deposited with ourselves."

The book in question is Manchester Pubs - City Centre : The Stories Behind the Doors which came out in late December.

Like many people I was vaguely aware that a copy of all published books is sent to the British Library and assumed that the others I had written were sitting on a shelf but never realized that another five libraries had a call on what was produced.

Three of the four books were published by commercial publishers and I assume they saw to it that copies made their way to the named five along with the British Library.

But as this one was self published the person from legal Deposit Library came knocking at our door.

On one level it is rather flattering, but I am intrigued to know what an undergraduate visiting Trinity Library or a Latin scholar sitting in the Bodleian will make of Eric’s opinion on the Hare and Hounds in Shudehill or would feel the need to correct Eric’s huge historical mistakes when talking about the Old Wellington in Exchange Square.

But then they might just enjoy reading about the 78 iconic Manchester Pubs and be tempted to go looking for the sequel on Chorlton’s Pubs and Bars due out later this year.

Taking that new tram journey .......... the competition

To celebrate  the opening of the new Second City Crossing today here’s the competition.

Name the pubs you might visit along the route.

You don’t of course have to stop and visit each one  ....... which would lead to a very interesting journey.

No it will be suffice to name the pub along with the nearest metro stop.

To add to the fun you can also nominate two more pubs nearby to your choices with just a sentence on why they should be included.

Some will mutter this nothing more than another outrageous bout of self promotion and of course it is because those who want to cheat might just turn to the book Manchester Pubs The Stories Behind the Doors City Centre where all could be revealed.

But the terms and conditions of the competition include the stipulation that you must proffer a metro ticket for the journey which is clearly dated from Sunday.

And that is it.

Except to say the journey starts from the Deansgate Castlefield  stop.

You van leave your compeition entry as a comment on the blog or go to the facebook page ManchesterPubs - City Centre

Location; the Second City Crossing

Pictures; travelling the tram, 2017 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*A new book on Manchester Pubs https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20Manchester%20Pubs

Manchester Pubs is available fromwww.pubbooks.co.uk  or Chorlton Bookshop

From the Northern Quarter to Ontario ........ stories of 78 iconic Manchester pubs

So we are now being read across Canada from the sun kissed Pacific to the cold waters off New Brunswick and on from  the forests of British Columbia to the Great Lakes ......... 

All because at this moment the news letter of British Home Children is winging its way across the country.


You can see the full page at, http://media.wix.com/ugd/186d15_43f36f4d3bc847dca227883bb7472439.pdf

Stories from the Beer Festival .... no 2 hiding from Eric

Now it was day two of the Beer and Cider Festival hosted by CAMRA in GMex and we were well over due a visit from Eric.*

Of all the people who contributed to our book on Manchester Pubs Eric has a special place.

I can’t say it is down to what he added to the book.

His stories, and his memories were at best inaccurate and more often just downright made up, but his presence has been felt in a fair few of the 78 pubs featured in the book.

We only bought him the one pint but there were the hapless punters who made that cardinal mistake of catching his eye and were then doomed to a night of uninterrupted conversation which only paused when Eric made it clear he “needed a wee bit more of the beery stuff” to carry on with his tales of ghosts, abandoned young maidens and disreputable landlord most of which were indeed pure invention.

And given that there were hundreds of different beers and ciders on offer at the Festival we reckoned he might show up and visit us as we sat selling the book.

But he failed to show and by a little after 2 pm on that second day we had sold the entire print run which had amounted to 200 copies.

The 200 had arrived at Peter’s house on December 21st and so in a month they were all gone prompting a reorder which will come in a couple of days.

Leaving aside Eric we met some very interesting people most of whom bought the book and were full of their own stories of Manchester pubs.

Nor was that all for as quite a few we encountered had travelled down from Scotland, across from Yorkshire and up from the south there were plenty of tales of breweries, pubs and other beer festivals which were fascinating.

Manchester Pubs is available from www.pubbooks.co.uk 

Location; Manchester

Pictures, inside GMex at the Beer and Cider Festival, January 19-21 2017f rom the collection of Andrew Simpson

* The Festival began on Wednesday night and finished on Saturday.

Stories from the Beer Festival .... no 1 meeting old friends

Now if you write a book about Manchester Pubs and in particular the people who drink in them you shouldn’t be surprised if you met them at the beer festival in GMex hosted by CAMRA.*

Looking out from GMex, 2017

What did surprise me was that we met up with three in a matter of a few minutes.

It began when Mike Davey’s wife bought a copy of Manchester Pubs soon after the Festival opened on day two.**

Just a little later Mike came over to announce that he was made up by finding a picture of himself in the book.  “There I am” he told us “in the Marble sitting in my favourite seat.”

And while Mike was with us Yvonne McVitte was buying her copy , and yes she too was in the book!

In her case we had encountered Yvonne, her husband Craig and two friends in the Castle back in September.

The "Four" in the Castle, 2016

Peter couldn’t resist recording their stay in Manchester in the Castle with a photograph given that Yvonne and Craig were down from Glasgow and their friends had travelled across from Yorkshire.

It was a smashing picture made all the better because we met up with them again later in the Crown and Kettle which in turn meant that they appeared on the blog in a story.***

Now what we knew and Yvonne didn’t was that the picture of the four also appears in the book.

* The Festival began on Wednesday night and finishes today.

Location; Manchester

Pictures, inside GMex at the Beer and Cider Festival, January 19-21 2017, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, and the four in the Castle,2016  from the collection of Peter Topping 

 * The Festival began on Wednesday night and finishes today.

**Manchester Pubs is available  from www.pubbooks.co.uk 

***A new book on Manchester Pubs, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/A%20new%20book%20on%20Manchester%20Pubs