Wellington, York Street

Wellington, York Street, 1968. (c) David Pryer with permission.

The Wellington was hidden away off Grosvenor Street on York Street, and was closed in 1963, an old Threfalls house [1].  It's pictured above in 1968 thanks to David Pryner.  However, the Wellington appears to have had a renaissance as it received rave reviews in the 1975 Manchester Pub Guide [2] and was photographed here in 1973 for the archives.

The Wellington is described as a reminder of the Manchester drinking houses of a long-gone age, with nicotine stained rooms and a cramped corner bar.  Locals would moan about "bloody students" and the ale was excellently kept Whitbread, Tetley and "Chesters fighting mild" (the infamous dark mild that resulted in "Chesters cases").  The Wellington even had a football room - football cuttings covered the wall, a bearded George Best was on the ceiling and there was table football.

Sounds like a cracking boozer - shame it was deceased not long after this glowing 1975 review (according to a hand-written note in the Pub Guide) [2].  Today in this area of All Saints, we have The Pub (left) and Sand Bar (far right) and the Wellington stood down York Street on the right, on the site of the new building behind the no entry sign.

Former location of Wellington, York Street. (c) Google 2011. View Larger Map..

1. The Old Pubs of Hulme & Chorlton-on-Medlock, Bob Potts (1997).
2. The Manchester Pub Guide, Manchester & Salford City Centres (1975).