The Drum, Peter's painting and an excellent story from Pubs of Manchester

This was the Drum in Stretford.

Although it is equally likely that many will remember it variously as the Drum or the Bass Drum and now  it has gone.

Peter painted the place just before Derek the demolition man got going on what had become a sad and forlorn looking building.

Now I have written about the pub before as well as the Angel which had stood on the same spot for centuries and I had wondered about doing a new story on its final demolition and the rise of that fast food place which now inhabits the site.*

But that has been done already by that wonderful Pubs of Manchester, so I shall just direct you to the link below which will smoothly and with less time than it took to order a pint bring transport you to what happened as Peter’s painting was drying.**

Painting; The Drum,© 2014 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk
Facebook:  Paintings from Pictures

*The Drum on Chester Road, soon to be a distant memory along with the Angel Hotel which stood on the same spot from 1780, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Angel%20Hotel%20Stretford

**Drum / Bass Drum, Chester Road, http://pubs-of-manchester.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/drum-bass-drum-chester-road.html

And time called on two more iconic and favourite buildings

Well it was only a matter of time before the Drum and that grand looking building on Pollard Street were demolished.

Both featured on the blog during the year and yesterday Neil Simpson announced that the Drum was no more.

And in much the same away Angie a few weeks ago had passed that building hard by Great Ancoats Street and photographed the scaffolding surrounding it.

Planning permission had been granted for its demolition some time ago so I think we were all surprised when it clung on for so long.

All that is left is to speculate on what might take their place.

I think the site of the Drum will become a fast food out let while on Pollard Street I guess it will be more residential property.

And with that in mind I shall go looking in the planning applications.

*The Drum Stretford, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Drum%20Stretford

**Pollard Street, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Pollard%20Street

Painting; The Drum,© 2014 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk
Facebook:  Paintings from Pictures

Picture; of the building on Pollard Street, courtesy of AngieThomas

Looking for the Angel Inn on Chester Road and finding William Mason, Samuel Watson and the Drum

The Drum, © Peter Topping, 2014

I had no idea when I wrote about the Drum on Chester Road that it would stir up such strong feelings.*

There were those that mourned its passing, citing its iconic shape and the many good nights they had spent there.

And equally there were those who were less complimentary about the pub and argued that its demolition in favour of a fast food restaurant was a long time coming.

It even gave one political party the opportunity to argue for what it thought was best for this corner of Stretford.

Now I had never been inside and despite the mixed comments I wish I had.  Likewise it is a pity that I never got to buy a pint in its predecessor which was the Angel Hotel.

The first Angel Hotel opened its doors in 1780 and served not only those who lived around it but also acted as a coaching stop.

It was demolished by 1890 for a large brick building with an arch leading to the Bowling Green directly behind the pub.

By 1951 the arch had gone and just twenty year later so had the pub replaced by the Bass Drum which became the Drum.

The Angel Inn, 1854 marked in red

So the site has had an association with beer and good nights out for a long time.

And as you do I went looking for William Moss who was the first publican back in 1780.  Sadly I could find very little other than a possible reference to him marrying an Alice Anderson at St Mary’s in Eccles.

But I did turn up one of his successors who was Samuel Watson who in 1836 was on the electoral register on the strength of being the “Owner of the Angel Inn public house and 4 acres of land.”

He was still there in 1841 with his wife Mary, their three children and five others who were listed as farm servants.

Theirs would have been a busy spot with plenty of properties to the south along the main road that ran out to join Back Lane, which if they had a mind would have taken them by degree all the way to Chorlton.

But that as they say is another story.

In the meantime other paintings by Peter can be seen at the exhibition, CHORLTON-CUM-HARDY... A MOMENT IN TIME EXHIBITION. The Exhibition starts April 22nd till May 17th 2014 at Arison Gallery, 512 Wilbraham Road, Chorlton, M21 9AW.

Telephone: 0161 881 6734 email: arison.gallery@ntlworld.com
web: www.gladtobe.in

Painting; The Drum,© 2014 Peter Topping, Paintings from Pictures
Web: www.paintingsfrompictures.co.uk
Facebook:  Paintings from Pictures

Picture, the Angel Inn and Stretford, from the OS for Lancashire, 1841-53, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/

* The Drum on Chester Road, soon to be a distant memory along with the Angel Hotel which stood on the same spot from 1780, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/the-drum-on-chester-road-soon-to-be.html

The Drum on Chester Road, soon to be a distant memory along with the Angel Hotel which stood on the same spot from 1780

The Drum, 2014

I went looking for the Drum on Chester Road this week.

It’s not hard to find, its shape gives it away and it has been a bit of a landmark for a long time.

That said I had never been inside and I have yet to meet any one who did.

But there will be many who do have memories of drinking in the place and I hope they come forward.

This is especially important given that I doubt the Drum will be with us for much  longer.

It has been closed for sometime, was subject to a planning application in 2013 to demolish the building and replace it with a fast food drive in restaurant and currently the plans have resurfaced in the local media so I guess I  will soon be a done deal.

The Angel Hotel, 1894

And with its passing will go a tiny bit of drinking history because there has been a pub here on this spot since 1780.

Back then it was known as the Angel Hotel and “was much used by stage coaches and by buses passing through the district for the picking up and setting down of passengers, [and like many inns] ale was brewed on the premises.”*

The first licensee was William Moss who in the fullness of time I will try and bring out of the shadows.

The original was an L shape and shows up on Greenwood’s map of 1818 and the 1853 OS for Lancashire.

This was demolished by 1890 for a large brick building with an arch leading to the Bowling Green directly behind the pub.

By 1951 the arch had gone and just twenty year later so had the pub replaced by the Bass Drum which became the Drum.

Forlorn and empty, the Drum, 2014

Now there are six fine images of the Angel spanning the 19th century through 1971 when all that is left is to the hole.

But all six images are the property of Trafford Council and are held in their Local Studies Centre in Sale, and alas they are very particular about who is allowed to reproduce them.

Suffice to say without paying a fee I cannot so I won’t.

Instead you will have to be content with my picture of the Drum which will soon pass into history.

Now I hear someone mutter will my picture be available to the Local Studies Centre and of course the answer is yes, but I suspect they already have more than a few of the Drum.

So there it is, catch it now before it goes for good.

Picture; from the collection of Andrew Simpson, detail of the Angel Hotel, from the OS for South Lancashire, 1894, courtesy of Digital Archives Association, http://www.digitalarchives.co.uk/

* Trafford Lifetimes,  http://legacy.trafford.gov.uk/content/tca/display_image.asp?ImageID=1393