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 lost pub on Port Street ...... Mrs Ann Gleave and bit of a mystery

I am looking at a picture Andy Robertson took back in 2018 of no. 75 Port Street.

The White Lion as was, 2018

Andy told me that  "I have unwittingly taken photos of. This the White Lion on Port Street which is a pub on the 1849 map but not a pub by 1969. The building is unusual in that it now stands alone"

Once of course it was just part of a long line of properties, stretching down from Great Ancoats Street to Dale Street.

Like Andy I have passed it over the years, and watched as some of its neighbours were demolished, the car parks on either side were upgraded, and it gained and lost a mural painted on the gable end.

 It appears as the White Lion in the directory for 1822, and is lost as a pub sometime between 1909 and 1911.

In 1849, the landlady was Anne Gleave  who first appears in the Rate Books as the landlady two years earlier and continues on the books till 1857, although there is strong evidence that she died in 1855.

Either way by 1858 the new landlady was Harriet Gleave, and in the fullness of time I go looking for her.

The White Lion with its traditional lamp, 1908

For now, I want to say with Ann Gleave, who is also down in the census return as living at 54 Newton Street and was a shop keeper.

All of which is a bit odd, because the Rate books list a James Gleave living at the property which is described as a house.

Part of the answer may lie in the fact that Ann married James in 1847, both are listed as living in Newton Street and both James, and Ann’s father, described themselves as weavers.

But James  does not appear on the 1851census with Ann on Newton Street, all  of which is a bit of a mystery.

Still, I am content that we can give a name to the landlady which ran his mum back in the middle decades of the 19th century.

And soon after the story was posted, PJ commented, "The White Lion can be seen at the beginning of this brilliant drone footage of the Northern Quarter. Now with a stunning artwork on the side of the building. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c4IeTOSmZM "

Location; Manchester

Pictures; the White Lion, 2018, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and in 1908, m04847, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

What was lost is found .... the continuing story of Little Ancoats Street

 History hasn’t been kind to Little Ancoats Street.

Little Ancoats Street from Newton Street, 2019

It is one of those very narrow streets, which has never warranted much in the way of official recognition.

It once stretched from Dean Street, across Newton Street, and almost but not quite running out on to Lever Street.

Today the bit from Dean Street to Newton Street has vanished under a block of new build which was constructed in the last few years, and which wiped out the Lord Nelson pub, which was doing the business of serving beer and good cheer from at least 1841.

In that year the landlord was a Robert Walker, and a decade later it was run by a Mary Ann Belshaw and judging by the occupants listed in the Rate Books it appears to have changed hands frequently.

Little Ancoats Street from Little Lever Street, 2019

As for Little Ancoats Street, it  remains a bit of an enigma.  It shows up on maps of the early 1790s, but as yet there are no listings for who resided there in the directories, nor as yet can I find any entry in the census returns.

And that is slightly odd given that the southern side of the street consisted of residential properties during the middle of the 19th century.

Their absence from the street directories may just be because they were not worthy of inclusion, but they should appear in the census records, especially given that the surrounding streets are all included.

The stretch of Great Ancoats Street, and Ancoats Street which were either side of our street are there in the official records but not ours.

That said some of the buildings along the part of Little Ancoats Street from Little Lever Street may be the original residential properties shown on the maps of the 1840s and 50s, which may be as close as we get to their inhabitants.

But in time and widening the search I am sure the mystery of who lived in them will be revealed.

All of which leaves me with the Lord Nelson, which was demolished in 2010.  That building only dated from 1895, and while there is a suggestion that the original dates from 1830, the first reference I have is 1841.

Little Ancoats Street, 1851

Nor have the records revealed any details of either Mr. Walker  or Ms Belshaw, but I shall keep looking.

But as history often shows .... something always turns up.

And so today Derek Jackson emailed me with an extract from the 1841 census along witha death certificate for a Mr. James Owen who lived on Little Ancoat's Street.

They are a fascinating find, because with a name comes another opportuinity to search the records for the cenus returns and the stories of others who lived on this litte street.

I may even with Derek's permission explore the life of Mr Owen who was born in 1768, died in 1848 and who had been a "weaver", but on his death was described as a "labourer".

Now I have no idea if he was a handloom weaver that skilled occupation which was eclipsed by the coming of the power loom and the absorption of the trade trade into the factory system.

But if so his eventual job as a labourer might be seen as another casuality of industrilization. 

And as you do the census return showed him living with his wife. and a an Ann Jones aged 20 and her daughter of six months.

So a thank you to Derek.

Location; Little Ancoats Street,

Pictures; Little Ancoats Street, 2019, from the collection of Richard Hector Jones, and in 1851,  from Adshead’s map of Manchester 1851 courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/


*Lost  Manchester Streets, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=Lost+Manchester+Streets

A lost pub on Fairfield Street

This is the Bridge Inn on Fairfield Street as it was in 1970.

And it is a pub I will have passed countless times on the bus on the journey to Grey Mare Lane and Ashton.

But despite living for a chunk of time in east Manchester and beyond in the 1970s, I can’t say I ever noticed the pub and certainly never went in it, and that is a shame.

I can track a pub with that name to this spot back to 1840, when it was surrounded by a mix of industrial and residential properties.

According to the 1911 census, the landlord was a Fred Lord, who with his wife Elizabeth managed the pub, assisted by Arthur Dixon who was the waiter and Ethel Jackson who was described as a domestic servant.

And along with these were the Lord’s daughter, young Vera Patricia, aged 3, and Mr. Lord’s widowed mother.

The same census offers both a   glimpse into the pub, and into its occupants.

It had eight rooms, and may already have been familiar to Elizabeth who had been born in Ardwick and to Elizabeth’s mother in law who was born just up the road in Bradford.

What strikes you are the little details.  Ethel Jackson was just sixteen, Mrs. Lord senior was already a widow at 52, and the Lord’s had moved around the city, having been in Gorton in 1908.

And for an official document Fred Lord was less than conscientious about completing the form accurately having, failed to ascertain exactly where his 22 years old waiter had been born, so while I know it was WR, which may have been Whalley Range, the county is shown just as an ?.

Of course, it may also be that Arthur Dixon didn’t know his exact birth place.

Someone I know will be able to supply a date for when it closed, but for now, that is it, other than to say there remain some stories of the surrounding buildings which we will return to.

Location; Fairfield Street

Pictures; the Bridge Inn, 1970, A. Dawson, m49287, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass and in 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson

Inside Tommy Ducks one day in 1960 ......... reflecting on where all the pictures went

Now one of the things that continues to puzzle me is the absence of pictures of the inside of Manchester pubs.

I suppose the grand professional photographers never saw it as a suitable subject while everyone else was too busy enjoying themselves to bother.

Of course tucked away in cupboards and family albums there will be a shedful of snaps recording birthdays, nights out and romantic moments but for obvious reasons these rarely get entered in to the archives.

There are exceptions.

I have some fine pictures by Bill Brandt of London pubs in the 1940s and Humphrey Spender’s Bolton pictures from a decade earlier but there must be loads more.

I can think of only a few in the collection from Chorlton and have yet to come across many from elsewhere in Greater Manchester.

All of which made this discovery of these three both a bit of a find and an introduction into a world of pubs which we have pretty much lost.

All three date from 1960 and were taken in Tommy Ducks on East Street, and come from a time long before the coffins or the display on the ceiling.

Back then it was a pub with little in the way of frills.

It served beer, offered companionship and like all pubs of the time, opened at 11, closed at 3 and reopened in the evening till 10.30 with an extension of just half an hour on Fridays and Saturdays.

And woe betide any landlord who infringed those licensing hours because they remained one of the reasons why they could lose their pub.

For most of us back then those time slots pretty much suited our lives.  During the week you were at work and while you might slip in for a pint at dinner time it was usually just the one.

Nor could most of us afford going down the pub every evening and even if you did 10.30 was a sensible time to be turfed out if you had to be at work for 8 in the morning.

And I have to say after a couple of hours I had had enough.  We always went down for the last hour, doubled up at last orders and went away satisfied.

That said it would only be in the morning when you smelt what you had worn the night before that the enormity of what you had inhaled from cigarette smoke really hit home.

Nor did it matter whether it was the vault or the saloon they were full of the stuff.

I can still remember the odd late afternoon in a city centre pub watching the sunlight mingle with the smoke and catching sight of the yellowing ceiling and paintwork which had once been white but was now a darkening yellow.

Added to which if you touched the woodwork it had a slightly sticky feel which clung to your fingers.

Not that I was over bothered back then by such things because  that was just how it was.

In the same way the decor of most pubs I visited was pretty basic.  You might get the odd framed picture which unlike now didn’t trade on nostalgic Manchester.

Instead there would be the tired painting of an elk which competed with an equally faded photograph of a

pub day out to Rhyl and a dozen or so  posters for the breweries best bitter along with a hand written notice of the next four darts fixtures.

All of which brings me back to Tommy Ducks one day in 1960 when Mr H. W. Beaumont took his pictures, none of which I would have come across had I not featured Peter’s painting of the pub sometime before it was demolished in 1993.

Pictures; inside Tommy Ducks, 1960, H W Beaumont, m50721, m50272, and m502775, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

Painting; Tommy Ducks © 2011 Peter Topping

Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

Facebook: Paintings from Pictures https://www.facebook.com/paintingsfrompictures

That iconic Hulme pub ……. The Junction

 It began as a picture.

Faded glory, 2023

And for anyone who knows Hulme, it is that iconic building which is the Junction Hotel.

Today it is a sad looking place on the corner of Rolls Crescent and Old Birley Street.

But for those who remember the area before Hulme’s first redevelopment in the 1970s, the location was 141 Warde Street at the point where it joined Upper Jackson Street and Preston Street.

I can track it back to 1885 when the licensee was a  Jane Grange using the directories and may get an earlier date by visiting the licensing records.  As it is the Manchester Guardian carried reports of various properties in Warde Street being granted a license in 1880 and 1881.

So lots more still to do.

In happier times, possibly 1924

I do know that from 1895 till 1901 it was run by an Edwin Grange, who I am guessing was related to Jane Grange.  A decade later it was in the hands of a Mr. and Mrs. Mager who may have had family links with the Grange family.

Looking at all the records this was a big pub.  The Rate Books record that it had an estimated annual rental value of £300 and paid £250 in rates.

According to the 1911 census the building had 13 rooms and along with Walter and Florence Mager there were five living in staff, four of whom were barmaids and the fifth who was the cook.  

Ten years earlier the number of staff was ten and included a young Walter and Florence who were described as “Hotel Managers” under the direction of Edwin Grange.

The pub must have remained popular as in 1921 along with the licensee and his wife the business employed six staff.

I must confess I never went in, but plenty of my friends and colleagues did, with Ann Portus reflecting that she had “great memories"  of nights in the place.

Waiting for something to happen, 2023

It closed in 2016, although What pub still has a listing for it, with the entry that it is “Owned by Hydes brewery, this is the last traditional pub in an area that used to be a bustling hive of activity with a pub on every corner. 

Now the Junction's distinctive triangular shape stands isolated in an undeveloped area surrounded by a mixture of new build developments and historic buildings like the old Hulme Picturedrome which stands just across the way. 

Rumour has it there was once an underground tunnel between the two so that performers staying at The Junction (there was once accommodation on the long ago removed third floor) could get direct access to the theatre.

Entering via the small lobby at the point of the triangle, there is a short bar directly opposite you. The back room to the left of the bar has a pool table while a door on the left hand side leads to a fenced off paved beer garden”.*

Alas no more and despite a report in the Manchester Evening News in 2020 that “Historic pub set to be 'revitalised' into huge space boasting flats, events room and a ‘natural oasis in the heart of the city', as yet the grand plan hasn’t materilaised."**

Indeed the only planning application was for the “Erection of a canopy at rear of Public House including elevational alterations and erection of a 2 metre high mesh security fencing", but it was rejected***

A grand place, 1924

And that at present is that.

Other than to recommend that excellent book by Bob Potts, “The Old Pubs of Hulme and Chorlton on Medlock."*****

Location; Hulme

Pictures; Faded glory and waiting for something to happen, 2023 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, In Happier times courtesy of Tony Flynn, and A grand place, courtesy of Bob Potts

*What ?ub, https://whatpub.com/pubs/TRA/3787/junction-hulme

**Historic pub set to be 'revitalised' into huge space boasting flats, events room and a ‘natural oasis in the heart of the city', Adam Maidmen, March 12th, 2023, https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/hulme-junction-development-community-space-17909968

***Manchester City Council Planning Portal, Erection of a canopy at rear of Public House including elevational alterations and erection of a 2 metre high mesh security fencing, 083702/FO/2007/S1, https://pa.manchester.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=JKCE9XBC30000

***** Bob Potts, “The Old Pubs of Hulme and Chorlton on Medlock, 1997, and his earlier version “The Old Pubs of Hulme, Manchester, 1983, Neil Richardson

Lost and forgotten streets of Manchester ........ nu 82 Little Ancoats Street

History hasn’t been kind to Little Ancoats Street.

Little Ancoats Street from Newton Street, 2019

It is one of those very narrow streets, which has never warranted much in the way of official recognition.

It once stretched from Dean Street, across Newton Street, and almost but not quite running out on to Lever Street.

Today the bit from Dean Street to Newton Street has vanished under a block of new build which was constructed in the last few years, and which wiped out the Lord Nelson pub, which was doing the business of serving beer and good cheer from at least 1841.

In that year the landlord was a Robert Walker, and a decade later it was run by a Mary Ann Belshaw and judging by the occupants listed in the Rate Books it appears to have changed hands frequently.

Little Ancoats Street from Little Lever Street, 2019

As for Little Ancoats Street, it  remains a bit of an enigma.  It shows up on maps of the early 1790s, but as yet there are no listings for who resided there in the directories, nor as yet can I find any entry in the census returns.

And that is slightly odd given that the southern side of the street consisted of residential properties during the middle of the 19th century.

Their absence from the street directories may just be because they were not worthy of inclusion, but they should appear in the census records, especially given that the surrounding streets are all included.

The stretch of Great Ancoats Street, and Ancoats Street which were either side of our street are there in the official records but not ours.

That said some of the buildings along the part of Little Ancoats Street from Little Lever Street may be the original residential properties shown on the maps of the 1840s and 50s, which may be as close as we get to their inhabitants.

But in time and widening the search I am sure the mystery of who lived in them will be revealed.

All of which leaves me with the Lord Nelson, which was demolished in 2010.  That building only dated from 1895, and while there is a suggestion that the original dates from 1830, the first reference I have is 1841.

Little Ancoats Street, 1851

Nor have the records revealed any details of either Mr. Walker  or Ms Belshaw, but I shall keep looking.

But as history often shows .... something always turns up.

And so today Derek Jackson emailed my with and stract from the 1841 census along witha death certificate for a Mr. James Owen who lived on Little Ancoat's Street.

They are a fascinating find, because with a name comes another opportuinity to search the records for the cenus returns and the stories of others who lived on this litte street.

I may even with Derek's permission explore the life of Mr Own who was born in 1768, died in 1848 and who had been a "weaver", but on his death was described as a "labourer".

Now I have no idea if he was a handloom weaver that skilled occupation which was eclipsed by the coming of the power loom and the absorption of the trade trade into the factory system.

But if so his eventual job as a labourer might be seen as another casuality of industrilization. 

And as you do the census return showed him living with his wife , daughter and granddaughter.

So a thnk you to Derek.

Location; Little Ancoats Street,

Pictures; Little Ancoats Street, 2019, from the collection of Richard Hector Jones, and in 1851,  from Adshead’s map of Manchester 1851 courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://digitalarchives.co.uk/


*Lost  Manchester Streets, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=Lost+Manchester+Streets

Standing in Tommy Ducks ……. the legend and its history ….... part 1

Now, Tommy Ducks remains a legendary place in the history of the city.

There will be those who remember the underwear pined on the ceiling, along with the coffin that once took pride of place in the bar, and of course the ongoing debates about its name, and just how it came to be demolished on a night in February 1993.

I don’t remember the coffin, because by the time I was roaming the city centre pubs it had been removed by its owner to the Nag’s Head on Jackson’s Row, although to be accurate the coffin resided in the room to the left of the Lloyd Street entrance.

My friend Elaine who worked at Tommy’s, offered up the story of what happened to the coffin along with a press clipping from the Manchester Evening News and the story of how Mr. Ken Riggs who had run the pub through the 1970s took it with him when he left for the Nags’ Head leaving the new landlord, Mr. Ormod to substitute a headstone in its memory because “customers missed the coffin”.

All of which means that Tommy Ducks on East Street  had always been more than just a place to visit for a quiet drink.

Looking through the wealth of material on the pubs including the speculation on its name and its origins I decided to go back to basics, and trawl the historic records.

Once, numbers 8 and 10 East Street were part of a long row of terraced houses, which were there by 1848 and were built sometime between then and 1819.

From the 1840s through to 1864 what became Tommy Ducks was just a residential  property, consisting of just four rooms, with a cellar.

The 1860s Rate Books show that both the house and cellar were rented out s dwelling places.*

But during 1864 a James Robinson moved in and opened up a beer house, at which point both the rent and the rates doubled, from a rent of £9 to £18 and a new rate of £15 from just £8.

The Robinson’s tenure was short and mid way through 1867 the place was taken over by Thomas and Charlotte Duckworth, who were granted a license for selling beer under the title of the Princess Tavern.

They had already run beer shops across the city.  In 1861 they were on St James Street, off Charlotte Street, dispensing cheer and beer, and four years later were doing the same on Hancock Street which was off Rochdale Road.

And while I haven’t yet made a link, there was an Ellen Duckworth running a beer house at 20-22 Hancock Street in 1863.

The Duckworth’s remained at East Street into the early 1880s, although the business is listed in the name of Charlotte in 1878.

And that pretty much is it,  for the rest of the 19th century and through the next it continued to operate as a beer house rather than a pub and is listed as such as late as 1950, and there are images of it with the old Princess Tavern name alongside that of Tommy Ducks.**

During those two centuries, it was surrounded by industrial units, saw most of the rest of the terrace disappear, including the intriguing court, called Faulkner’s Square.

Leaving me just to invite anyone with memories of the pub to participate in a “SHORT LOCAL FILM OPPORTUNITY”, the organiser of which have written, 

“We are looking for interviewees on a project about the legacy of the Tommy Ducks pub, which used to stand opposite of the Midlands Hotel on what is now lower Mosley St. 

This legendary pub is remembered in countless stories, including those of its peculiar decor and unfortunate demolition. 

We are hoping to explore the mythology and memory of the pub through personal testimony/interview. 

If you have stories and memories to share, either via Zoom or face to face (in the outdoors) in a COVID risk-assessed and friendly environment, please email tilliequattrone@gmail.com.”

Location; Manchester

Picture; Elaine at Tommy Duck's courtesy of Elaine Archer, the pub in 1978/9, from the collection of Andy Robertson and East Street circa 1903 from Gould's Fire Insurance Maps, 1880-1903, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/   EasStreet in 1950, from the OS map of Manchester & Salord 1950

Painting; Tommy Ducks © 2011 Peter Topping

Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk

Next; more on the Duckworth family

Manchester Rate Books, 1860-1900, Census records, 1841-1911 and Directories, 1841-1911

**Tommy Ducks, 1972, m50660, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

Pubs I think I might have drunk in ..............

The trouble with being 72 is that lots of things I did blend into a heap of vague memories.

So, I might well have drunk in the Anson in Longsight.

Of course, being a pub the memories do have a habit of becoming even more hazy.

Not so Andy Robertson who took a wander across Longsight recently and recorded a few lost pubs, adding “this is the ex-Anson Hotel on Beresford Rd, Longsight. 

It was one of the many typical such "estate " pubs that sprang up everywhere in the thirties. 

Nearly all are closed and many demolished. 

Many have been put to other uses like the Anson which houses an Asian food outlet/wholesalers and other businesses. 

Many buildings still exist today here in Manchester, e.g., Southern Hotel in Chorlton, Yew Tree in Wythenshawe. 

Evidence of its pub existence can be seen in the Outdoor sign and Threlfalls sign, which must have been hidden for many years.”

Now if you trawl the newspaper records for the early decades of the last century, you can come across reports of the both the breweries and the City Council conduction polls of the residents to ascertain support for a proposed pub, and not unsurprising in most cases the vote went the way of Bolly Brewer.

Location; Longsight

Pictures; the Anson, 2022, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and the Anson in 1971, by B Garth,  m49180, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

What Andy saw at Clayton Bridge

Now I like Andy‘s picture of the Railway which is on Berry Brow at Clayton Bridge.

It is a pub I never visited, but I bet there will be someone who can offer up happy stories of the place.

I came across one advert offering it for sale which describes the property but has no mention of its history.*

In the fulness of time I will go looking to see if there are any requests for planning permission and see if I can find it in the rate books and track back to a date when it was built.

But then someone might be able to help.

Location; Berry Brow, Clayton Bridge

Pictures; The Railway, 2022, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*The Railway, https://assets.savills.com/properties/FB8D486B-ABAB-4A39-A495-BA3D20F71D46/8389428%20-%20Railway,%20Manchester.pdf

The Lord Nelson on Newton Street …… no longer will it celebrate the Battle of Trafalgar

Now I am the first to admit that the title is a tad contrived.

The Lord Nelson circa 2010

But the 27 ships of the Royal Navy were commanded by Admiral Nelson when it engaged a larger force of French and Spanish ships at the Battle of Trafalgar.

The outcome was a victory for the Royal Navy, although Nelson died during the battle, and like so many victorious commanders he gave his name to a string of pubs across the country.

Here in Manchester and Salford, Pigot’s Directory for 1828-9 listed six pubs bearing the Admiral’s name and one of these was the Lord Nelson on Newton Street, when it was run by a Robert Walker. Mr. Walker is a shadowy figure, and I can find no reference to him in the Rate Books till 1840, but he will be there, I just haven’t found him yet.  

But then I can’t locate him on the census returns.  There are lots of Robert Walker’s in Manchester in 1841, but not one of them was a publican.

So I shall have to revert to the pub, which in Michael’s picture carried the date of 1895, which will be when it was rebuilt.

The Lord Nelson, 1851

The early pub was quite a substantial one taking up a largish footprint according to several maps from the middle decades of the 19^th century.

 Leaving me just to add it closed around 2010 and was demolished the following year, after which it became a building site between 2016 and 18, and is now one of those modern buildings the city seems to throw up from Ancoats across to Deansgate.*

 Pictures; The Lord Nelson, circa 2010, courtesy of Michael Markey, and the pub in 1851, from Adshead’s map of Manchester, 1851, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, https://digitalarchives.co.uk/

 *Pubs of Manchester, http://pubs-of-manchester.blogspot.com/search?q=lord+nelson

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

The George & Dragon moves down Ardwick Green

Now I am never surprised at how a story takes you off down a research path which ends up somewhere totally different to where you expected.

2021

So it is with the former George and Dragon on Ardwick Green South which is one of those big “Workers Palaces” ..... all glass, brass fittings and of course gallons of beer.

Andy was wandering Ardwick last week and photographed the building, and then helpfully went back and found its mirror image from 1973.

Many of us will remember such pubs, which were full of small rooms and waiter service, allowing for romantic and clandestine meetings, away from prying eyes.

And in the network of surrounding terraced houses this was a major consideration if you wanted your first date to be kept relatively secret from family and friends.

1973

Today the former pub is still faced on one side by Ardwick Green, but those rows of houses which stretched back from the pub have gone, and have been replaced by new apartment blocks, turning Cresswell Street which ran beside the George and Dragon into a short cul-de-sac.

Just what that former Cresswell Street and surrounding area was like can be gleamed from another picture from the Local Image Collection dated 1963.

It offers up a memory of a Manchester which has pretty much vanished, and lives only in scenes from early editions of the TV soap Coronation Street and photographs of the  City and Salford pre clearance days.

1963

This was pretty much what I expected, but not the mystery that the pub had moved.

Looking back into the archives in the mid 19th century it was located a little further down Cresswell Street, and according to that excellent source for pub history,  “was a low, white-washed hostel standing well back from the road and built in 1758 it stood for 113 years before being demolished in 1871”. *

And that was confirmed by a search of the directories and rate books.  In 1851 the tenant was a John Dawson and the establishment was listed as a “Public House and Brewery”, with a rateable value of £63 which was on a parr with the surrounding buildings.

But it would appear the place didn’t command a high reputation because in the early 1870s there were objections to its replacement with a new establishment.*

1849

All of which means we are just at the beginning of the story, which I suspect will take the search for more on John Dawson, and then  to track the history of the old pub using the rate books back from its demolition in 1871, to its opening in 1758.

Along the way that will offer up the names of other publicans, and more stories. 

One of which I am sure will be the reconcilation of the puzzel over the size of the pub.

In 1911 it was occupied by Joseph Roffo, his wife Annie, and his brother and two servants , by according to the cenus recorded that the pub consisted of just five rooms which belies its size.

As for the end of the George and Dragon I will just point you to the link back to Pubs of Manchester, because as I always argue  other people’s research should always be read in the original.

Location; Ardwick Green

Pictures; the former George and Dragon, 2021, from the collection of Andy Robertson, and the George and Dragon, 1973, m49653, and in 1963, m49650, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass and the former site of the pub in 1849, from the OS map of Manchester and Salford, 1844-49, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, https://digitalarchives.co.uk/

*Pubs of Manchester, http://pubs-of-manchester.blogspot.com/search?q=george+and+dragon

Looking for pubs in Gorton .......... the Haxby Hotel

The Haxby Hotel in Gorton had a short life.

The Haxby Hotel, 2021

It was opened in 1933, closed in 2007 and was converted in “to a single residential dwelling” three years later*

It was part of that move to open large new pubs, which as well as catering for the new estates which were being built across the city were designed with the car in mind.

Along with the Haxby Hotel, licenses were granted at the same meeting for "The Princess Hotel at the junction of Princess Road, and the Seymour Hotel, in Upper Chorlton Road”.**

The stone inscription, 2021

The first licensee was a John Robert Fenton who had held the license of the Moulder’s Arms on Great Ancoats Street and made it clear that the new Haxby Hotel was “to be constructed at his home in Gorton”.

The Haxby Hotel, 1965

Interestingly “the Rev.R.H. Royle, rector of Our Lady and St Thomas’s Church, Gorton, supported the application [because] 'it would give his people a chance of getting refreshment at a decent place.  

At present there were 10,00 people in his parish and one fully licensed hotel.  He was convinced, he said that it was better on the whole to drink in public than to drink in private at home'”.**

A position which some representatives of the church establishment were less happy with a year later following “a postcard vote on the question of a fully licensed hotel for the Gorton estate. The poll had been taken at the direction of the Housing Committee with a majority of 524 in favour out of a total poll of 968”.***

And in 2021

Almost ninety years later those opponents might feel a little vindicated given that all three new hotels have since gone, and while the Princess and Seymour were demolished to make way for new build, at least the Haxby Hotel has survived.

Mr. Fenton meanwhile had moved on and in 1939 it was a Bryan Stanley who was calling orders.

Pictures, the Haxby Hotel, 2021, from the collection of Andrew Simpson and the hotel in 1965, T Brooks, m49750, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http://images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass

*Manchester City Council Planning Portal, 088847/FO/2009/N2

**Three new hotel licenses, Manchester Guardian, February 5th, 1932

***Hotel for Gorton Estate, Manchester Guardian, February 3rd, 1933

No more the Church Inn ........... on Cambridge Street

Farewell the Church Inn

Happier Times, 2015

You were a pub I never visited, 

But friends spoke highly of you

And of that long tradition of dispensing beer

Which stretched back to 1852.

My sources  tell me that  long before you sold beer and cheer*

You were one or two residential dwellings, 

And had celebrated your fifteenth birthday

Before the old Queen came to the throne in 1837.

And now you have gone …… closed in 2016, and demolished in 2021

In your place will rise “62 units and associated landscape

2015

And highway works”**

It wasn’t easy I understand

And the proposed plans were turned down twice, before final acceptance.

No more will shouts of last orders drift across Cambridge Street

And in their place will be heard the sounds of earnest and not so earnest students

Unhappy times, 2019

My old friend Andy recorded you in happier times, 

And may even have ordered up a pint of J W Lees

But his last visit was to view a hole in the ground

A sad end to the Church Inn

Location; Hulme

Pictures; The Church Inn, 2015-2019, from the collection of Andy Robertson 

Hole in the ground, 2021

*The Church Inn Hulme, Manchester, Heritage Appraisal, Stephen Levrant,  Stephen Levrant Heritage Architecture Ltd, https://www.heritagearchitecture.co.uk/

**Planning application 125654/FO/2019 | Erection of a nine-storey purpose built student accommodation building comprising 62 units and associated landscape and highway works, following demolition of existing structures | Former Church Inn 84 Cambridge Street Manchester M15 6BP, Manchester City Council Planning Portal, https://pa.manchester.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=Q23IPBBC03O00