The IRA bomb on 15th June 1996 injured more than 200 people and decimated parts central Manchester, including historic buildings such as the Corn Exchange and Royal Exchange. The bomb also saw off Seftons, which was then trading as the badly-named but decent enough Paddy's Rat & Carrot, another of my underage drinking haunts. It had an old parrot in a cage in there, and in the aftermath of the bomb there were concerned calls about its welfare [1]!
Seftons, Corporation Street, 1996. (c) Manchester online.
The Wilsons house Seftons, seen here in 1956 during redevelopment of the area, featured in the 1960 film Hell Is A City. This is documented by Levy Boy, as demonstrated in the photo below (Higgits Passage is fictitious, it was Cromford Court before the Arndale). The building of the Arndale Centre almost swallowed Seftons up but just managed to incorporate it (or a version thereof). It became a Chef & Brewer pub with Wilsons, Websters and Chesters the ales of choice. It was also the first pub in Manchester to have a video jukebox, which was a real novelty at the time. Seftons was a great bar to sit in the window and watch the world go by, and only a few yards from the Old Wellington and Sinclairs when they were situated in the Old Shambles. It may also briefly have been known as the Isaac Newton before Paddy's.
Seftons, Corporation Street, 1960. (c) Levy Boy.
1. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/after-the-bomb-came-the-fallout-1328934.html
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ReplyDeletegrate back in the day pub
ReplyDeleteI remember the downstairs toilets and all those mirrors!
ReplyDeleteMany a grate drink in that boozer, happy daze!!!
ReplyDeleteThe BlueDynamo
I remember the huge plates of food they served upstairs, barman was called Graham when I used to drink there, the managers later moved to Rosie’s bar off Fountain Street..
ReplyDeleteWorked there for years and remember many of the regulars, particularly the gang from Burtons. Happy days indeed
ReplyDeleteIt was certainly the ‘Isaac Newton’ in the early eighties; and was one of the very first pubs in Manchester to have a ‘Space Invaders’ machine (which was the table version, not the upright machine).
ReplyDeleteIt opened as "The Samuel Pepys" in the mid-70s, but had to change its name after "Sam's Chop House" claimed they had prior dibs on the name. Thus it swiftly became "The Isaac Newton".
ReplyDeleteTerry, who ran it, had been banqueting manager at the Piccadilly Hotel, and brought a certain style and quality with him. There was an excellent restaurant upstairs and a very popular bar downstairs, which also served very good home-cooked lunchtime food.
At some point in the 80s I think it became Sefton's again, probably after Terry left, and lost some style as it moved with the times.
By the time it was lost to the bomb it was only about 20 years old but had lost lready it's original charm and unique atmosphere.