This oddly extended building on Fairfield Street, on the less-used approach to Piccadilly Station, looks like an old pub. Lo and behold, it was, as this 1969 photo confirms, with the front extension unmissable. It was the Bridge Inn, named after the dominating railway viaduct and bridge in the shadows of which it sits. These two 1903 photos show the rear of the pub, and hint at the houses that once stood in this now derelict area. It was a three-roomed house with a central bar, only the smoke room being fitted out in any comfort with carpets and soft seats. In the 1970s the Bridge Inn was a rare example of a central Manchester pub with a busy billiards table. Typical of the real ale desert that much of the city was in the '70s, the beer engines on the bar were for show only, and only keg Whitbread and Guinness was on offer [1]; a few years earlier Chesters was also served as the 1969 photo above shows.
1. The Manchester Pub Guide, Manchester & Salford City Centres (1975).
Is there a landlord register for 1960s for Manchester pubs
ReplyDeleteMy Father was the Landlord of The Bridge Inn from 1969 until his death in 1975. Kevin Martin Glynn 1925 - 1975 RIP Dad x
ReplyDeleteMy father was landlord also approx year1966 ish would love to find old photo and info please
ReplyDeleteMy mum & dad (Keith & Marjorie Wood), were the landlord and landlady of this pub around 1966,1967 1968? I can’t be exactly sure of the dates, as myself & my two younger brothers were all very young. I was told my mum and dad got thrown out by the brewery as my Mum drink all the takings?? I remember being take to the local hospital after being bitten by a rat that the cat had brought in. There was a vault room on the right as you went in the front door, no ladies or children were allowed in there. There was a lounge bar on the left I think? And there was a room towards the back with a piano inn. Stairs went up the middle of the pub on the left hand side to our accommodation on the first floor. We were told never to venture up to the next floor as the floors could cave inn?lol
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure if this was true as no one ever did go up there?
There was a garage next door where our cat got run over by one of the cars, it was found dead underneath one after it had been missing for several days.Fond memories Not!