Blacksmith's Arms, Downing Street

Former location of Blacksmith's Arms, Downing Street. (c) googlemaps

The Blacksmith's Arms stood where Grosvenor Street meets Downing Street, just before the start of London Road, on the right hand side (where the industrial unit is, above).  Today, the Mancunian Way - seen in the near distance - divides Downing Street from London Road. In the 1800s, when the Blacksmiths Arms stood, it was Medlock Street to the right and the then non-culverted River Medlock that marked their intersection [1].  Unsurprisingly, the large pub was named after the smithy adjacent to it.  To the rear of the Blacksmiths Arms was a timber yard then a pleasant looking area of ponds and landscaped greenery, an extension of the already established Ardwick Green jut to the south-east which still survives to this day [1].

1. Manchester (London Road) 1849, Alan Godfrey Maps (2009).